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Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Danny Solis has been summoned to the witness stand…


* H/T to Hannah Meisel for putting this on my radar…


* Democratic Party of Illinois…

Last week, the Democratic Party of Illinois filed a friend of the court brief in a Republican challenge attempting to prevent the counting of mail-in-ballots received after Election Day. The original challenge, brought by Congressman Mike Bost and two 2020 Trump electors, was rejected by the District Court, and they have now appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The Republican National Committee is backing the appeal despite “promoting a ‘bank the vote’ program to get Republicans to pledge to vote by mail,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Current Illinois statute protects voters by ensuring that mail ballots that are timely cast will not be thrown out due to postal delays or other circumstances outside of voters’ control. The lawsuit could invalidate thousands of mail-in ballots, including those of military members serving overseas, if they are postmarked on or before Election Day but received after.

DPI’s brief urges the court to affirm the district court’s decision that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring this case and their claims fail on the merits.

“Republicans will stop at nothing to roll back our voting rights and suppress the voices of Illinoisans, including the brave men and women serving in active military duty, because they know it’s their only hope for winning elections with their losing records and disastrous agendas. The Democratic Party of Illinois is committed to always defending our values and our fundamental rights against attacks from extremists, and this case is no exception. Safeguarding the right to vote is foundational to a strong and functional democracy. It is fundamentally un-American and antidemocratic for Republicans to continue their attempts to silence Illinoisans when the will of voters is not on their side,” said DPI Chair Lisa Hernandez.

* Preliminary NTSB report on the Yellow Line crash has been released. Tribune…

The operator of a Yellow Line train hit the brakes in the moments before the train struck a snow plow on the tracks in mid-November, a preliminary report issued by federal investigators shows.

The operator also tried to use the train’s emergency brakes. A system designed to reduce sliding by the train’s wheels while braking activated, according to the report, issued Tuesday. Still, the train failed to stop, slamming into the snowplow and injuring more than a dozen people.

CTA estimated the crash caused about $8.7 million in damages to equipment, the report shows. […]

The operator knew the snowplow would be on the tracks for training, but didn’t know exactly where, federal investigators wrote.

Emphasis added by me.

* Press release…

State Senator Mike Simmons announced the launch of the 7th District Small Business Restoration Grant with $2.5 million in funds available to assist small businesses located in the 7th District. […]

“This initiative is in direct response to what we’ve seen, and will provide a much needed boost to entrepreneurs and mom and pop small businesses across our district who are struggling.”

The 7th District Small Business Restoration Grant is intended to provide funds to small businesses who have missed out on previous funding opportunities, are in danger of closure, are facing financial hardship and identify as historically underserved. Simmons secured funding in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget to provide one-time, $10,000 micro-grants to qualified small businesses operating in brick and mortar sites within the 7th District. […]

Applications for the 7th District Small Business Restoration Grant close Feb. 2, 2024 at 5 p.m. To apply or learn more about eligibility and application requirements, visit 7sbrg.org.

* Here’s the rest of your roundup…

    * Crain’s | The Civic Federation names a new chief: Joe Ferguson, the former inspector general who investigated the city’s response to the murder of Laquan McDonald, will become president of the Civic Federation of Chicago, succeeding Laurence Msall in the watchdog role nearly a year after his death. Ferguson, 63, says he plans to focus on some of the same issues as he did during his 12-year tenure at the Chicago Office of Inspector General, notably police reform and public safety that started to become part of the federation’s portfolio under Msall. Ferguson also wants to “help a very new mayoral administration find its feet and make progress in some areas,” he says.

    * Tribune | Will County judge shares frustration with pace of criminal case against New Lenox gun shop owner, business partner: Defense attorney Jack Friedlander told the judge his team received 300 pages of discovery last week and the grand jury transcript an hour before a court proceeding Dec. 5. Friedlander asked for a continuance to review the material. […] [Will County Judge David Carlson] called the delay for grand jury transcripts an “oversight.” Pointing to the two Secret Service agents in the courtroom, Carlson said he was ready to scold them for the delay in the case. In a previous hearing, Carlson said he understood the agents were not cooperating, but it turns out that wasn’t true.

    * Injustice Watch | Unsealed records reveal new details about Illinois appellate judge’s alleged role in decades-old fraud scheme: Judge Carl Walker was never charged and denied any wrongdoing in mortgage frauds perpetrated by a real estate client. But a controversial 2003 raid on his law offices has reemerged in an effort to remove him from hearing a case.

    * Muddy River News | After losing to Pritzker, Bailey using Miller playbook in attempt to join her in Congress: Bailey is going with the Miller playbook to beat Bost. He has called him an establishment RINO (Republican in Name Only), bashing Bost’s “liberal” voting record and pledging fealty to former President Donald Trump, the tough guy who doesn’t have the cojones to debate his opponents. While most of Illinois is geographically red, the big blue dot of Chicago and the smaller blue dots in Metro East and many college towns still have the majority of people and votes, which is why Democrats have all of the statewide offices and super majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.

    * Pioneer Press | Evanston plans event to select descendants for reparations funds: The committee expects to be able to disburse payment to at least 80 direct descendants in 2024, according to the letter, and those selected will be contacted in March to decide how they would like to spend the money. A majority of those in the ancestor group have been awarded funds from the city’s cannabis dispensary tax revenues, with 26 of 140 ancestors, those who were 18 and older at the time and directly experienced racist housing policies in Evanston from 1919 to 1969, awaiting disbursements or continuing to weigh their options.

    * Daily Herald | Elgin mayor proposes using $6M in discretionary funds to lessen lead pipe replacement debt: The city has been replacing lead service lines using $13.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act and voted Wednesday to approve accepting a $2 million loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The city planned to sell $20 million in general obligation bonds next year for the program, but Kaptain’s proposal would drop that down to $14 million.

    * Pioneer Press | Skokie Village Board violated Open Meetings Act, Illinois Attorney General finds: According to the public access counselor’s review of information sent by Johnson and Van Dusen, the village board adjourned its open meeting session on Oct. 2 at 8:10 p.m. to go into a closed session to discuss pending litigation. “The closed section verbatim recording confirms the allegations in Trustee Johnson’s Request for Review, which stated that during the relevant portion of the closed session meeting, the Board approved the June 5, 2023 closed session minutes with Trustee Johnson abstaining,” according to the public access counselor’s opinion.

    * SJ-R | Injunction levied against the city of Springfield for “discriminatory” housing ordinance: A federal court has blocked the city of Springfield from enforcing a local housing ordinance that prevented people with disabilities from living within 600 feet of each other, over a year after damages were awarded in the case.

    * Patch | 2 Run For Elmhurst State House Seat: Elmhurst Alderman Marti Deuter is running as a Democrat to succeed Jenn Ladisch-Douglass, a Democrat who decided not to run again after one term. The Republican candidate is Elmhurst resident Dennis Reboletti, who is the elected supervisor of Addison Township.

    * Austin Weekly News | Illinois Senate President Don Harmon reflects on 20 years of change and calls for solidarity with migrants: “We need to do a better job of using these opportunities to create a more durable social infrastructure, so that we are prepared to handle the next crisis that comes around the corner, because once this one is addressed, another will inevitably come,” Harmon, of the 39th district, said.

    * Tribune | Rylie O’Meara: Chicago’s warming shelters are not adequately caring for the unhoused in winter: In my role on the board of Chicago Street Medicine and as a third-year medical student at the Stritch School of Medicine, I regularly go on “street runs” with medical providers who travel to locations in the city where people experiencing homelessness congregate and provide them with medical care. Unsurprisingly, cold weather injuries are common among those with no indoor refuge during a Chicago winter.

    * Chicago Mag | Cops vs. Counselors: Rebecca Neusteter, executive director of the Health Lab at the University of Chicago Urban Labs, which is formally evaluating the CARE pilot, says the biggest implementation hiccups are often mundane ones — “even basic questions like procuring vehicles and making sure people’s schedules align” — products of melding teams of first responders from different city agencies, with their own workplace cultures and systems. Then there’s this vital consideration: What if it had been a social worker, not a police officer, facing a bat-wielding Quintonio LeGrier? Are unarmed mental health professionals equipped to handle potentially violent situations?

    * Chicago Mag | Joe Shanahan: The Metro and Smartbar owner, 66, on DJ’ing, meeting Bob Dylan, and battling cancer: Metro was the building I could afford. It was rundown, in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood. We were duct-taping the pipes because they’d burst in the middle of a Saturday night. At first, neighbors were unhappy that we were causing such a ruckus, but then they began to realize, Oh, there are people around here at night who aren’t breaking into the cars. There’s a caretaker’s unit in the building, and I lived there with a .38 under my pillow and a cat that chased the rats out. Those first 10 years, it was pure adrenaline.

    * AP | Shohei Ohtani’s Dodgers contract has $680 million deferred: Ohtani’s record-setting deal, agreed to Saturday, calls for annual salaries of $70 million, according to details obtained by The Associated Press. Of each year’s salary, $68 million is deferred with no interest, payable in equal installments each July 1 from 2034-43.

    * WICS | Hunters encouraged to support Illinois Deer Donation Program for community meals: Hunters still have time to donate to the Illinois Deer Donation Program, as the 2023-2024 hunting season ends. Donated deer help feed individuals and families in east-central Illinois, and hunters do not have to pay the processing fee at partnering meat processors.

    * Tribune | 4,000 days of prayer: A man’s journey out of Chicago street violence to a trucking convoy honoring the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Since he was released from prison in October 2019, Romero commemorates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe every December with hundreds of other truckers in a pilgrimage the weekend preceding the holiday, on Dec 12. They join thousands of devotees who visit the shrine walking, running, biking and horse riding, making the Midwest celebration the second largest one after Mexico City and the Des Plaines shrine the most visited monument of its kind in the U.S.

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NAACP IL President causes furor with horrific remarks about new arrivals

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NAACP Illinois State Conference President Teresa Haley talked about asylum seekers during the group’s October president’s call…

* From Ms. Haley’s remarks…

There’s an average 10 to 15,000 a day. So they’re up to about 80,000 immigrants on the West Side of Chicago on the South Side, where they’re dumping them off in parks, abandoned schools and finding every apartment that they can find to put them in.

OK, first of all, 80,000? Not even close.

* Back to Haley’s comments…

And we’re seeing families on the street and we’re like, oh my God, we’re not used to seeing families on the streets. But Black people have been on the streets forever and ever. And nobody cares because they say that we’re drug addicts, we’ve got mental health issues.

But these immigrants have come over here, they’ve been raping people. They’ve been breaking into homes. They’re like savages as well. They don’t speak the language and they look at us like we were crazy, because we were the only people in America who were brought over here against our wills and were slaves, sold into slavery. But everybody else who comes over here? We’re so kind we’re so friendly. You need some clothes, you need a place to stay? We’re gonna make it happen. So brother, I feel your pain. I’m right there with you. I’m trying not to be a [N-Word] but you know, I’m pro-Black.

Haley is currently vying for a seat on the NAACP’s National Board.

* Now-former DuPage County NAACP President Patrick Watson, who told me today that he saw Haley make the comments in real time, released this statement announcing his resignation from the organization a while back…

NAACP State Conference President Teresa Haley is caught in yet another tirade “…, but these immigrants coming over here, they been raping people, they been breaking into homes, they’re like savages as well, they don’t speak the language, and they look at us like we were crazy because we were the only people in America brought over here against our wills and were slaves, sold into slavery… not trying to be a “N”…,.” This captured recording is not the only time NAACP Illinois State Conference President, Teresa Haley, uses her powerful platform in a manner that sets up a destructive atmosphere as Illinois NAACP State Conference President. Teresa Haley is also Springfield Branch President and a candidate seeking election to the National NAACP Board of Directors representing Region Three.

We live with the horror of persons being shot, shot at, exploited, shunned, burned out of houses and homes, and murdered due to being immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, being Black, surviving being Black and male in hostile environments. We live with the news of LGBTQIA persons being harmed, missing, and being un-alived. A person in a leadership position should exercise care of her heart and words and not be flippant when speaking about how the LGBTQIA community wants to be described and acknowledged. No group of human beings should be described as, We have all these new diverse people at NAACP National. When dealing with the annual reports with National, we had people wanting me to call them they, them, it, what the hell is that?.

I cannot remain part of this, expected to nod in agreement and applaud to that which is abhorrent to me. I therefore resign as President of the DuPage County NAACP. “I will remain allying with the communities abhorrent to Ms. Haley, mistaken in her words that advocating powerfully and effectively for the descendants of the formerly enslaved means to denigrate others struggling to find their way. Those granted positions must not allow themselves to become agents of hate speech and divisiveness, she should resign and sit to answer for her words” said Patrick Watson

Watson told me Haley made disparaging remarks about LGBTQ+ people at the November meeting, which was not recorded.

* Gov. Pritzker was asked about Haley’s remarks today…

Reprehensible remarks. I would hope that she would apologize for the remarks. I also think that people should recognize that immigrants to this country are all around us. My family’s an immigrant family from a couple of generations ago. Virtually all of us came here from somewhere else. And so remarks like that are a commentary on our entire society. Extraordinarily inappropriate.

I reached out to Ms. Haley earlier today and haven’t yet heard back. But the reporter who brought up the topic with Pritzker has apparently talked to her and quoted her as saying “AI can generate anything.”

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Gov. Pritzker says he hasn’t yet spoken to AG Raoul about crisis pregnancy center lawsuit settlement

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Background is here and here if you need it. Gov. JB Pritzker was asked by a reporter today if he agreed with Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s decision to come to an agreement with the Thomas More Society to not enforce the new state law which added crisis pregnancy centers to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act…

I haven’t spoken with the attorney general about his decision.

Looks like the guy who came up with the idea for the bill (Raoul) didn’t give a personal heads up that he was settling to the guy who signed that bill into law (Pritzker) and repeatedly defended that signature, including on CNN in August…

I’m confident this is constitutional. It’s legal.

* Anyway, the governor continued…

What I can say is it’s my understanding that the existing Consumer Fraud Protection Act will do what’s necessary to keep organizations like the crisis pregnancy centers from providing misinformation, disinformation and allow people to sue under that act. So it’s my understanding that the reason that the Attorney General made the decision to do this was it was not necessary to have this separate piece of legislation.

* But why have the new law then?…

Again, I think that there was an idea that came from the legislature. It’s a good idea to protect people when they’re seeking health care from having their healthcare provider lie to them. And so that was the impetus behind it.

Um, the idea came from AG Raoul.

* Was there an overreach by the legislature, because this is the second time the state has agreed not to enforce a law (judicial campaign limits)?…

What I can tell you is that the people who are on the losing end of a vote in the legislature often decide that their recourse is to take this thing to court, because they didn’t win in the battleground of the legislature. And so that’s been their choice to do that. They’ve done that on quite a lot of things, the vast majority of which we have won on, those of us who have advocated for a law. And occasionally, a decision is made. This was not a decision, by the way, against the state. This was a decision made by the Attorney General simply to fall back on the existing law, because it does what’s necessary.

Please pardon all transcription errors.

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A new take on ribbon cutting

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Press release…

Today, Governor JB Pritzker joined mHUB leadership, local elected officials, business leaders, and members of Illinois’ entrepreneurial community to celebrate the ribbon cutting and grand opening of mHUB’s new headquarters. The new innovation center is receiving $9.6 million in funding from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to continue advancing technology solutions for a clean tech economy through energy infrastructure, grid modernization, and long-energy storage.

“To make Illinois a leader in clean energy innovation, we need institutions like mHUB that convene public and private sector interests towards a common goal, such as protecting the future health and economy of our state by developing new solutions to our climate crisis,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “The State is proud to recognize mHUB for the work it’s doing to scale the early-stage technologies needed to modernize, decarbonize, and incentivize industry, while protecting our most vulnerable communities.”

mHUB is a hardtech and manufacturing innovation center launched in 2017 to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that promotes growth, advancement, and innovation solutions in the manufacturing industry. The community includes over 500 active and alumni startups and small business that are supported by a coalition of product designers and developers, entrepreneurs, engineers and manufacturers, corporate leaders, industry experts, mentors, and investors.

The new location will also provide more equitable access to Chicago’s south and west side to enhance mHUB’s partnerships with community-based organizations and uplift historically underrepresented communities.

The State’s funding will help propel clean energy and sustainable manufacturing innovation to advance the Pritzker administration’s clean energy goals as outlined in the landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). With its manufacturing and sustainability-centered work, mHUB is one of the state’s most active investors in climate technologies.

* It’s kinda hard to see because of the photog hogging the shot, but Pritzker used a plasma torch to cut the “ribbon”…

“Nobody injured, nobody died.”

…Adding… Another angle is here.

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Question of the day: 2023 Golden Horseshoe Awards

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The 2023 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Democratic Illinois State Representative goes to Rep. Lance Yednock…

While I don’t always agree with his positions on the issues, he is a principled, respectful and hardworking legislator who is well-liked and respected by so many around the Capitol. He gets along well with people across the political spectrum, and has been a great leader for the moderate voices in the House. What a class act. He will be missed!

* The 2023 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Republican Illinois State Representative goes to Rep. Norine Hammond…

Norine Hammond is what more lawmakers should aspire to be. She works her sprawling district hard. She seems to know everyone and what their pressing issues are. She knows how to work with Dems to get things done. Even when you disagree with her, she never lets anger or emotion take over.

Being a former district staffer she understands taking care of things back home means working for everyone, not just the GOP but everyone. In Springfield she knows her stuff and understands how government works and how to cut through things and get to the heart of issues.

Illinois could use a lot more Norine Hammonds.

Some very solid nominations were made yesterday, so thanks for that and congrats to our winners!

* Today’s categories…

    Best Democratic Illinois State Senator

    Best Republican Illinois State Senator

As always, explain your nomination or it won’t count. And please do your best to nominate in both categories.

* This is your daily reminder to click here and help Lutheran Social Services of Illinois buy Christmas presents for their foster kids. So far, we’ve helped LSSI buy presents for 2,086 foster children. That’s just so amazing, but they serve 2,530 kids, so please click here.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Another update to today’s edition

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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*** UPDATED x2 *** Elections have consequences

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Buried deep within the Chicago Public Schools board agenda for Thursday’s meeting is a proposed resolution entitled, “Resolution Regarding Values and Parameters for New Five-Year Transformational Strategic Plan, SY25-SY29.” And buried deep within that proposed resolution is this passage, which was spotted by some readers who are Chicago parents and who then forwarded it to me…

3) transition away from privatization and admissions/enrollment policies and approaches that further stratification and inequity in CPS and drive student enrollment away from neighborhood schools

It sure looks like the resolution, if approved, would eventually move the district away from charter schools and selective enrollment schools. These are, of course, longstanding policy goals of the Chicago Teachers Union, which helped elect one of its own as mayor.

I reached out to CPS for comment earlier today. I’ll let you know if they respond.

*** UPDATE 1 *** CPS responded and confirmed…

The Board’s resolution aims to guide engagement and development in partnership with the District on a new strategic plan with an emphasis on strengthening all neighborhood schools as a critical step toward supporting all students and closing opportunity and achievement gaps. Work on the District’s next five-year Strategic Plan has begun and will continue this spring with community engagement and outreach, beginning with the District’s Shape Our Future Survey as well as current engagement sessions about the District’s facilities master plan. The new strategic plan will be approved by the Board of Education in the summer of 2024.

While CPS will work with the community and its City partners to co-design the strategic plan, the parameters set a vision for the District to develop a plan that shifts away from a model which emphasizes school choice to one that elevates our neighborhood schools to ensure each and every student has access to a high-quality education in a supportive and welcoming school.

Specific community engagement sessions about the development of the new strategic plan will begin in February.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Hmm…


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*** UPDATED x1 - House sponsor says she’s ‘heartbroken by the decision to back down on our promise to Illinois women’ *** Thomas More Society declares victory over AG Raoul

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* More background is here if you need it. Tribune…

The state would drop enforcement of a new law Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative backers said was aimed at deterring deceptive practices by anti-abortion pregnancy centers under a proposed agreement between the Illinois attorney general’s office and several organizations that challenged the measure.

A federal judge in August temporarily blocked the law from being enforced in a scathing opinion that called it “both stupid and very likely unconstitutional.”

If finalized and signed by a federal judge, the agreement to make the judge’s decision permanent would mark a rare victory for anti-abortion groups in a deep blue state with some of the nation’s strongest reproductive rights laws, and a blow to Pritzker, who signed the measure into law last summer and who has promoted Illinois as a national beacon for abortion rights.

* The proposed agreed order…

It is hereby ORDERED that Defendant Kwame Raoul, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of Illinois, and those persons identified in Rule 65(d)(2), specifically, Illinois Attorney General Raoul’s officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, all in their official capacities, as well as other persons who are in active concert or participation with those persons are permanently enjoined from enforcing the amendments to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act set forth in Senate Bill 1909 of the 103rd General Assembly, Public Act 103-0270, against Plaintiffs National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and its 81 Illinois members; Women’s Help Services d/b/a 1st Way Life Center & Focus Women’s Center; Rockford Family Initiative; Relevant Pregnancy Options Center; and Pro-Life Action League

Emphasis added.

* Thomas More Society press release…

Pro-Life Ministries Victorious Against State of Illinois’ Attack on Pregnancy Centers

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has agreed to an order permanently prohibiting the State of Illinois from enforcing a law that declared pro-life speech to be a “deceptive business practice” and defined as “consumer fraud” the sharing of certain information about the risks of abortion. Thomas More Society attorneys today filed, together with the Attorney General, a Joint Motion to Enter an Agreed Order, imposing a Permanent Injunction on the Attorney General. The Joint Motion was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, for the signature of U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston.

In July, Thomas More Society attorneys sued the Attorney General over the law—known as Senate Bill 1909, or SB 1909—representing the pregnancy center umbrella group National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), along with Illinois pregnancy centers Women’s Help Services and Relevant Pregnancy Options Center, and sidewalk counseling organizations Pro-Life Action League and Rockford Family Initiative. The Agreed Order provides for a full recovery of attorney’s fees by Thomas More Society.

Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation, who served as lead counsel for NIFLA and the other plaintiffs, hailed the victory as a significant win for pro-life ministries and free speech in Illinois—which will also serve as a warning to other states across the country that attempt to target pro-life ministries with discriminatory laws.

“The federal court was spot on in holding that SB 1909 is ‘both stupid and very likely unconstitutional,’” stated Breen, recalling Johnston’s preliminary injunction order. “SB 1909 exempts abortion facilities and their speech, while exclusively regulating pro-life organizations and their speech, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment. This law is just one of a number of illegal new laws enacted across the country that restrict pro-life speech—we hope this permanent injunction, with full attorney’s fees, serves as a warning to other states that would seek to follow Illinois and try to silence pro-life viewpoints. We are honored to represent NIFLA and other life-affirming organizations to protect them from unjust laws like SB 1909 that seek to put a halt to their good work.”

Thomas Glessner, Founder and President of NIFLA, stated: “We are elated that a permanent injunction has been issued against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and SB 1909, which ensures this unconstitutional law will never go into effect. This is a huge win not only for NIFLA and our wonderful attorneys at the Thomas More Society but especially for pregnancy centers in the state, who serve the thousands of women in Illinois who are facing unplanned pregnancies—all at no cost. SB 1909 was an absolute weaponization of government that unfairly and unconstitutionally targeted pregnancy centers simply because they refused to refer for or perform abortions. Let this be a stern example of what awaits those who attempting to pass and enforce similar laws—look to Illinois and save taxpayer dollars for actually helping their communities instead of going after organizations that help women and their families.”

The Joint Motion follows an August 3, 2023, preliminary injunction entered by Johnston, which blocked Illinois’ enforcement of SB 1909. That court order was issued one week after Illinois enacted SB 1909. Thomas More Society attorneys filed the lawsuit against SB 1909 one hour after the law was signed.

* Personal PAC CEO Sarah Garza Resnick…

While we would have liked to see the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act take full effect, we have full confidence that Attorney General Raoul will continue to investigate and hold bad actors accountable to the existing Illinois’ Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act. The lawsuit brought by the Thomas More Society is yet another example of extreme right wing groups trying to push their anti-choice agenda by any means necessary.

What people in Illinois need to know about so-called “crisis-pregnancy centers” (CPCs) is that they are run with the express purpose of preventing as many people from obtaining abortions as possible. They use a wide range of tactics to achieve this end, from simply setting up shop next to abortion providers so as to confuse and mislead patients, to actively deceiving the people who walk through their doors with regards to their private medical details, such as how far along a pregnancy is. CPCs outnumber abortion providers in Illinois 3-to-1, and they are putting pregnant people at risk. Where CPCs are using deceptive or fraudulent practices to achieve their stated goal of preventing abortions, they must be held accountable.

Apparently, the AG’s office has told folks on his side that he can use existing state consumer fraud laws against the clinics. But, if that’s the case, why spend the political capital to pass a bill and go through all this? This was his legislative initiative, after all.

* Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action…

“All people should have equitable access to the reproductive health care they need and deserve. Planned Parenthood of Illinois stands by its patients ability to access reproductive health care including abortion, without being deceived, intimidated or misled. Planned Parenthood Illinois Action continues to fight for the rights of people to get the information they need to make a decision about reproductive health care that is best for their bodies, their lives and their future.”

I’ve reached out to others for comment. I’ll let you know.

*** UPDATE *** House sponsor Rep. Terra Costa Howard…

Today’s decision by the Illinois Attorney General to back off from the fight against so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” is a disappointing setback in our battle to protect every woman’s right to reproductive autonomy and freedom.

The decision whether to bear a child is one of the most profound and personal choices a person can make, and no one should try to interfere with that decision by using scare tactics or outright deception. By passing the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act (SB 1909) into law, we empowered the Attorney General to hold these centers accountable if they use pressure tactics or provide misleading information to keep women from accessing abortion care.

As the House sponsor of this bill, I am heartbroken by the decision to back down on our promise to Illinois women that these deceptive centers and their staffs will face legal consequences if they tell lies or conceal important health information from the patients who walk through their doors. This settlement undoes so much hard work by so many advocates, organizations, and legislators, who stood together against the pressure tactics of these forced birth extremists.

This decision is especially painful given yesterday’s ruling by the Texas Supreme Court that denied Kate Cox’s right to end a doomed pregnancy and preserve her own health and fertility. Since the Dobb’s decision in 2022, Illinois has been a beacon of hope to American women across our country. So this move to dismantle SB1909 is a gut punch to millions of women beyond our state.

One last point: It is deeply unfortunate that these centers are trying to hide behind the First Amendment. Let us be clear: The First Amendment does not give a shady used-car salesman the right to lie to you about the mileage on a car. A scammer does not have the right to lie to you about a fraudulent investment. And a deceptive forced-birth zealot does not have the right to lie to you about your health, your medical choices, or your right to make your own decisions about your body and your life.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition (Updated)

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Open thread

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Under proposed agreement, Illinois would drop enforcement of law deterring deceptive anti-abortion practices. Tribune…

    - If finalized and signed by a federal judge, the agreement to make the judge’s decision permanent would mark a rare victory for anti-abortion groups.
    - Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office would be “permanently enjoined” from enforcing the law.
    - In a statement Monday evening, AG Raoul did not explain why he entered into the agreement but said it “in no way affects my ongoing work protecting women’s rights to access the full range of reproductive health services.”

* Isabel’s top picks…

    * WBEZ | Chicago scraps plans for migrant tent camp in Morgan Park: City officials say a plan to shelter migrants on a vacant lot in Chicago’s Morgan Park neighborhood has stalled because of a “lack of urgency” as the city turns to alternative housing options for migrants. The decision comes less than a week after the state of Illinois rejected the city’s first attempt to house migrants in winterized basecamps on top of contaminated soil in Brighton Park. An outside environmental report deemed the site at 38th Street and California Avenue as toxic. Construction had already begun before the state pulled the plug.

    * Center Square | Illinois’ gun ban registry rules in federal court Tuesday: While a three-judge federal appeals panel has since sided with the state, the law is still being challenged. Two cases are pending in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Tuesday afternoon, attorney Kostas Moros said plaintiffs will argue for the Southern District of Illinois federal court to delay the Jan. 1 registration deadline.

    * Tribune | Migrants arriving by busload in Rosemont and Cicero are sent away, but welcomed in Oak Park, as suburbs respond differently to crisis: Police in Rosemont allowed migrants to get off the buses if they had someone picking them up, but threatened to impound the bus and arrest the driver for endangering the passengers if he let them out, Mayor Brad Stephens said. The Village Board planned to consider an ordinance Monday to back up such measures. Cicero approved a measure to fine bus companies $750 per person for letting out homeless migrants, spokesman Ray Hanania said.

Governor Pritzker will be in Chicago to celebrate the grand opening of the new mHUB innovation center at noon. Click here to watch.

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

    * WCIA | New professional licensing system coming to Illinois: “This new law will move us one step closer to streamlining the state’s licensure process to help connect residents with good jobs and alleviate workforce shortages across our communities,” Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs), who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said. “By providing IDFPR with this support, we will help promote an effective and streamlined licensure process for all Illinoisans.”

    * Center Square | Prosecutors push back against ex-Madigan chief’s bid for acquittal or new trial: Mapes in November asked for an acquittal, or in the alternative, a new trial in a motion before Judge John Kness. Mapes and his attorney argued that mistakes by prosecutors and the judge required an acquittal. Prosecutors pushed back on those claims in a 50-page motion in response. “At trial, the government presented ample evidence of Mapes’ repeated lies in the grand jury on March 31, 2021,” prosecutors wrote. “His motion for judgment of acquittal … ignores this evidence.”

    * Sun-Times | 100 secret recordings, 36 witnesses later, feds winding up case against Burke — but will defense call Solis as ‘hostile’ witness?: Burke’s defense team has promised to summon former Ald. Danny Solis to the witness stand — finally giving Burke the chance to confront the man who famously turned on him while wearing an FBI wire.

    * Daily Southtown | Calumet City Ald. Monet Wilson threatens legal action over Mayor Thaddeus Jones’ liaison appointment: Wilson said she recalls the roles being created by Jones when he first came into office but does not recall a more recent conversation that would have triggered the two latest appointments. The role of community liaison does not exist in the Calumet City municipal code.

    * Crain’s | Johnson wants recommendations to ’streamline’ city’s development approval process: Johnson will also create a new position of “director of process improvement” within the mayor’s office to implement the proposed changes. In a press release announcing the executive order, Johnson is quoted as saying the city’s current “processes are overly cumbersome and counterproductive for commercial and housing development.”

    * Capitol News Illinois | Secretary of State helps launch first-of-its-kind state ID program for inmates exiting Cook County Jail: Inmates released from Illinois prisons have been receiving state IDs at no charge since late 2020 when state leaders launched a pilot program, which was subsequently expanded statewide and codified into state law earlier this year. But doing the same with detainees in county jails has proved much more difficult. Prison inmates have more stable and predictable release dates, but jail detainees may stay for as long as years while awaiting trial, or as short as just a few hours.

    * Chalkbeat | Chicago Public Schools is tapping principal Joshua Long to lead its special education department: The department — known as the Office of Diverse Learners Supports and Services — serves nearly 52,000 students with disabilities and has been without a chief since June. That’s when Stephanie Jones stepped down amid fallout from Chicago’s violations related to the use of restraint and timeout of students. The department has also struggled in recent years to ensure students with disabilities are getting services they’re legally entitled to under federal law.

    * Tribune | Republican National Committee backs effort to block mail-in ballots received after Election Day: The RNC, which is promoting a “bank the vote” program to get Republicans to pledge to vote by mail, joined with the National Republican Congressional Committee in filing a court brief in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the effort to nullify ballots received by Illinois election authorities after Election Day. … The case could have far-reaching consequences. During the 2020 pandemic year general election, when mail-in voting increased, as many as 266,417 votes were counted in the two-week period after Election Day, according to court documents.

    * AP | Speculation about eventual rate cuts is rising, but Fed is set to leave interest rates unchanged: With inflation edging closer to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, its policymakers are facing — and in some cases fueling — hopes that they will make a decisive shift in policy and cut interest rates next year, possibly as soon as spring. Such a move would reduce borrowing costs across the economy, making mortgages, auto loans and business borrowing less expensive. Stock prices could rise, too, though share prices have already risen in expectation of cuts, potentially limiting any further rise.

    * NYT | This Economy Has Bigger Problems Than ‘Bad Vibes’: The economy is growing. Wages are up. Unemployment is low. Income inequality is narrowing. The fearmongering about inflation proved to be, well, wrong. According to many economy watchers, Americans should be sending the Biden administration a gift basket full of positive vibes — and votes. Instead, consumer confidence polling paints a different picture. A recent Times/Siena poll found that only 2 percent of registered voters said economic conditions are “excellent,” and only 16 percent said they were “good.” While economic indicators suggest that the economy is healthy and growing, the American public doesn’t feel that way. Why the perception gap?

    * AP | Epic Games wins antitrust lawsuit against Google over barriers to its Android app store: Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, filed a lawsuit against Google three years ago, alleging that the internet search giant has been abusing its power to shield its Play Store from competition in order to protect a gold mine that makes billions of dollars annually. Just as Apple does for its iPhone app store, Google collects a commission ranging from 15% to 30% on digital transactions completed within apps.

    * NYT | Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Woman Who Sought Court-Approved Abortion: The court ruled that the lower court made a mistake in ruling that the woman, Kate Cox, who is more than 20 weeks pregnant, was entitled to a medical exception. In its seven-page ruling, the Supreme Court found that Ms. Cox’s doctor, Damla Karsan, “asked a court to pre-authorize the abortion yet she could not, or at least did not, attest to the court that Ms. Cox’s condition poses the risks the exception requires.” Texas’ overlapping bans allow for abortions only when a pregnancy seriously threatens the health or life of the woman.

    * NYT | Why Are So Many American Pedestrians Dying at Night?: What’s even more perplexing: Nothing resembling this pattern has occurred in other comparably wealthy countries. In places like Canada and Australia, a much lower share of pedestrian fatalities occurs at night, and those fatalities — rarer in number — have generally been declining, not rising.

  10 Comments      


Live coverage

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Live coverage is back, sorta. This will be different than the old Scribble Live feed because Twitter broke itself and almost everything else it touched. These new feeds do not update instantly. There’s a bit of posting lagtime, but it’s much better than nothing. We are also limited to just 20 Twitter sources. The service may also not last long. We just can’t give you any guarantees about this. You can still click here or here to follow breaking news the way we’ve done since Twitter stopped Scribble Live from working…

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Live Ed Burke Trial Coverage

Tuesday, Dec 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* These new feeds do not update instantly. There’s a bit of a lagtime and you have to refresh the page every now and then. The service we’re using may also not last long. We just can’t give you any guarantees. You can still click here to follow the Ed Burke trial on Twitter. Posts without a Twitter author name below them are from online news sources via Bing…

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Raoul, anti-abortion groups to file proposed agreed order in crisis pregnancy center case

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Thomas More Society in August…

At an August 3, 2023, hearing in United States District Court, a federal judge granted a motion requested by Thomas More Society attorneys for a preliminary injunction seeking to immediately halt Illinois’ new law attacking life-affirming maternal health care centers. The lawsuit, National Institute of Family Life Advocates et al. v. Raoul, asserts that this law—enacted on July 27, 2023, and amending the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act—was designed to target pregnancy help ministries solely because of their pro-life message.

“Free Speech won today in the Land of Lincoln—pro-life advocates across Illinois can breathe a sigh of relief they won’t be pursued for ‘misinformation’ by Attorney General Kwame Raoul,” stated Peter Breen, Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation for the Thomas More Society. Breen argued the case on behalf of National Institute of Family Life Advocates and other pro-life ministries, including pregnancy care centers in Illinois.

“Across the nation, pregnancy help ministries are being discriminated against by laws that target their life-affirming work,” said Breen. “The injunction granted today sends a strong, clear message to the country that the First Amendment protects pro-life speech.”

* From the judge’s injunction…

In reality, SB1909 reduces the ability of pregnant women to receive information necessary to make an “autonomous” and “informed” decision. Instead of that autonomous decision, SB1909 would cabin a pregnant woman’s decision-making process by allowing only the limited data approved by the state, instead of allowing her to hear both sides’ advocacy and information before making an abortion decision.

The bill was essentially written by Attorney General Kwame Raoul and was based on a Connecticut law which had withstood judicial scrutiny. Raoul was its top advocate…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office pushed for the law during the General Assembly’s spring legislative session, has often told the story of a visit to an abortion clinic where his driver was stopped by CPC volunteers who carried clip boards and attempted to divert him from going into the facility, instead saying they needed to check him in first.

A spokesperson for Raoul’s office did not return a request for comment Friday, but last week he told reporters that he was “confident” the law would be upheld in court.

* Well, here’s AG Raoul today…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following statement in the case of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates et al. v. Kwame Raoul. Raoul’s office filed a proposed agreed order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division.

“As filed, this proposed order is agreed to by the parties in this case and in no way affects my ongoing work protecting women’s rights to access the full range of reproductive health services. Furthermore, this proposed order does not alter Illinois’ Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act or my office’s preexisting authority under the act, and I remain committed to protecting consumers against all deceptive practices.

“Patients in Illinois can be assured that as states continue to enact draconian restrictions on access to reproductive health care, I will not waver in my efforts to ensure that Illinois remains an oasis of reproductive freedom in the middle of our nation.”

The proposed order wasn’t included in the release. It won’t actually be filed with the court until tomorrow. But I’ve talked with some pro-choice people this evening who are quite unhappy with this turn of events. Expect reactions tomorrow.

…Adding…. Apparently the AG will agree not to pursue legal claims under the new law, but reserves the right to legally challenge under the state’s Consumer Fraud law, which he believes covers the topic. That begs the question of why he pushed so hard and expended the political capital to pass this new law in the first place.

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IDNR removed 750,000 pounds of silver carp from the Illinois River in ten days

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This is quite a haul. IDNR press release…

Illinois Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists, with support from contracted commercial fishers and biologists from the Illinois River Biological Station, wrapped up a 10-day intensive harvest operation in the Starved Rock pool of the Illinois River, resulting in the removal of an astonishing 750,000 pounds of silver carp between Nov. 27 and Dec. 6.

This is the largest single removal effort IDNR has undertaken and is believed to be a record for freshwater harvest within the United States.

“Clearly, this removal technique is highly effective, but it is also highly dependent on water levels and water temperature,” said Brian Schoenung, aquatic nuisance species program manager for IDNR. “This past week provided near perfect conditions, which facilitated the record-breaking haul of fish.”

IDNR uses funding support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to contract with commercial fishers. These fishers, under supervision by IDNR staff, annually remove more than 1 million pounds of invasive carp from the Starved Rock, Marseilles, and Dresden Island pools of the Illinois River, especially targeting the Starved Rock and Marseilles pools.

These efforts help prevent invasive carp from becoming established in the Great Lakes by reducing the population pressure on the electric dispersal barrier system near Romeoville.

Reducing the numbers of adult fish in this area, where small fish have rarely been found, suppresses adult populations and upstream migration, reducing the risk of invasive carp nearing the electric dispersal barrier. During the past 13 years, such efforts have contributed to a nearly 95% reduction in the density of fish in these upstream areas, further protecting the Great Lakes. […]

The seine operation used in on the Illinois River is an experimental effort to expand removal of silver carp. A seine is a fishing net that surrounds fish on the sides and underneath and brings them to the bank. It’s most effective in cool water when silver carp cannot jump out over the net.

Last year, crews utilized the seine to remove 350,000 pounds of invasive carp. As experience has grown, so has the effectiveness of this technique, culminating in the 750,000 pounds removed this month.

In total, such removal efforts contribute to approximately 1 million pounds of invasive carp removed from Illinois waterways annually. In 2023, the most recent catch will bolster total annual removal to 1.7 million pounds.

These efforts would not be possible without the support of Illinois-based invasive carp processors who provide trucks daily for removal and disposal of the fish. Both Sorce Freshwater in Peoria and Aquatic Protein in Beardstown provided trucking and removal support.

* For comparison, the annual Redneck Fishing Tournament harvested about 20,000 pounds of fish near Bath, Illinois this past summer. But the tournament has some rules which limit their catches…

“The fish were huge this year. We dodged more than we probably caught, but it was a lot of fun,” John Patterson, a participant, said. […]

The fish hurl themselves right out of the water. The goal is to see how many you can net or knock into your team’s boat. Our boat had nine unexpected jumpers, at one point even having three at once.

[Patterson didn’t win a Golden Horseshoe today, but he did get this post.]

  16 Comments      


Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Today’s top stories

ProPublica writer Vernal Coleman tells the story of an infamous Indiana gun shop that is linked to hundreds of recovered guns in Chicago.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate how decades of flooding and exposure to sewage have affected Cahokia Heights residents’ health.

State-wide news

    * WGLT | A report on nutrient pollution in Illinois’ waterways shows more work is needed: “Nutrient levels in Illinois waterways continued to increase in 2021 and 2022 compared to baseline measurements, and the NLRS partnership anticipates the strategy will likely fall short of its 2025 interim goals, particularly for phosphorus,” the report notes. “This is despite multi-sector investments in resources and practices that support nutrient loss reduction across the state.”

    * Daily Herald | Are electric vehicle owners paying enough for Illinois roads?: An additional $100 fee charged to electric vehicle owners in Illinois generated more than $8.8 million for the state in the last year. That’s up more than $3.3 million from a year ago, and is earmarked for road construction projects in the state, according to Illinois Secretary of State figures.

    * Cannabis Business Times | Illinois Governor Signs Bill Waiving Cannabis Transporter Fees: The legislation, Senate Bill 1559, also restricts the Illinois Department of Agriculture from making available or accepting new license applications for cannabis transporters until January 2027. […] “The [multi]-year moratorium on new transporter licenses will allow the current, smaller independent transporters to secure contracts and grow their businesses,” Pritzker said in a press release. “License holders will also have a [multi]-year holiday from paying annual fees to further aid these small businesses as the industry develops.”

    * Sun-Times | Illinois hunters harvested 76,232 deer during firearm season, down from 2022: For the first modern season where certain rifles were allowed during Illinois’ firearm deer season, the impact appears negligible or minor on harvest totals. Illinois hunters harvested 76,232 deer (preliminary numbers) during the two parts of firearm season, down slightly from 76,854 deer in the 2022 firearm season. The weather being almost too nice first season may have had a bigger impact than use of rifles.

    * Sun-Times | $40M project highlights pastor’s 25-year effort to bring affordable housing to North Lawndale: Developers of a mixed-income complex in North Lawndale hope to inspire residents to return to a community where a lack of affordable housing has driven people away. The six-story, 65-unit Grace Manor has been spearheaded by the Rev. Marvin Hunter, pastor of the nearby Grace Memorial Baptist Church.

    SJ-R | Springfield Parks District seeks state OK to install video gaming terminals at golf course: Among them, the Springfield Parks District wants to add video gaming at a local golf club which is pending approval from the Illinois Gaming Board. Executive Director Derek Harms told The State Journal-Register that the district recently applied to install video gaming terminals at the Bunn Golf Course clubhouse. IGB confirmed it had received the application in October and was in the process of reviewing it.

    * Patch | Long Grove Student Wins Voting Sticker Contest: Lake County: Annika, a seventh-grader at Woodlawn, was the winner of the 6th through 8th grade category and the overall grand prize winner for all ages. “Annika’s exceptional artistry secured the grand prize, earning the honor of having their design transformed into the official Lake County ‘I Voted’ sticker in 2024,” Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said in a press release.

    * Press Release | Illinois Beverage Association announces selection of Madeline Norris as Executive Director: Skilled in policy analysis, negotiation, relationship management, and legislative process strategy, Norris previously served as Legislative Director for Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel. “My team and I are excited to take on this new role as Executive Director of the IBA” stated Norris. “The opportunity to serve the IBA’s bottling, manufacturing, and franchisee members throughout the State of Illinois is a great honor and privilege, every day these members serve Illinois residents by providing the most popular, innovative, non-alcoholic beverage choices of every type in the world.”

What’s going on in the Windy City?

    * Block Club | City Says It Has ‘No Immediate Plans’ To Build Far South Side Tent Camp For Migrants: An assessment of the lot at 115th and Halsted streets “is ongoing but will be complete soon,” Ronnie Reese, Johnson’s spokesperson, said in a statement to Block Club. […] “There are no immediate plans to erect a base camp at the site,” Reese said. “We are still in talks with Ald. Mosley and the State of Illinois around the possibility of using the site for temporary resident housing.” State officials are “currently not involved with that site,” Jordan Abudayyeh, deputy chief of staff for communications at the governor’s office, said in a statement to Block Club. “…If we are asked by the city to fund and operate a shelter there, we will ensure IEPA signs off on environmental reporting,” Abudayyeh said.

    * Sun-Times | Near West Side ventures seed growth in Chicago manufacturing: In mHUB’s case, it will cut the ribbon Tuesday on its new home. It has taken over a nearly century-old building with a clock tower at 240 N. Ashland Ave. and given it a new address to suit its purposes, 1623 W. Fulton St. The 80,000 square feet will afford mHUB more space for prototyping and testing compared with its former base on Chicago Avenue.

    * WTTW | Private Trash Haulers Rarely Face Punishment for Illegal Pickups, City Data Shows: Despite scores of noise complaints from frustrated residents jolted awake by garbage trucks, private trash haulers have been slapped with just five tickets for illegal pickups during quiet hours over the last two years. That’s according to a WTTW News analysis of data obtained from the Chicago Police Department and the city’s 311 nonemergency line.

    * Tribune | Chicago homicides in 2023: 588 people slain. Here’s how that compares with previous years: After a two-year spike during the pandemic and national outrage over police accountability, Chicago began to see a decline in homicides in 2022. In 2021, 797 people were slain — 25 more than in 2020.

    * People’s Fabric | Crooked Chicago Cop Crew Seen in Videos Stealing Guns, Drugs, and Cash: Four Calumet District tactical unit officers were stripped of their police powers after filing false reports—in one instance, they even let a man wanted for murder walk away smoking his blunt.

News from outside the Land of Lincoln

    * Chalkbeat | How researchers see AI helping university admissions officers comb through college essays: The possible use of AI in admissions, however, raises questions about how universities would responsibly use it, especially because college admissions officers have said essays might carry more weight in the wake of the Supreme Court decision eliminating the use of race-based admissions. […] To develop the AI tool, D’Mello and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania used more than 300,000 anonymous, 150-word essays submitted to colleges in 2008 and 2009. Those essays focused on extracurricular activities and work experiences.

    * Reuters | Texas woman who asked court to allow emergency abortion will leave state for care: A woman who had asked a court for an order allowing her to get an abortion under the medical emergency exception to Texas’ near-total ban will leave the state to receive care while the state’s highest court considers her case, her lawyers said in a court filing on Monday.

    * Metro News | Gubernatorial candidate Mac Warner: ‘The election was stolen, and it was stolen by the CIA’: For Warner, who has served as West Virginia’s Secretary of State since 2017, the claim was a variation on a consistent public position of casting doubt on the presidential election. Warner is now vying to become West Virginia’s chief executive, touting his long record in the U.S. Army and his two terms as the state’s chief elections officer. Polls have shown him running behind some of the other candidates, but he has picked up a key endorsement from the former president’s orbit and hopes for more.

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The DSA and the Eastern Bloc

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I noticed something over the weekend and was curious if you saw the same sorts of parallels. Tribune…

[Ald. Andre Vasquez] has been painted as an anti-law enforcement extremist by his social media critics on the right, yet the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America renounced him in 2020 for a budget vote that maintained Police Department funding.

The alderman is no longer a member of the local DSA, but he still labels himself a socialist — just a realistic one. “When you have movements of people who rightfully, and justifiably, are angry at government, it feels like the only energy people know is angst,” he said in a recent interview. […]

“It’s a microcosm of the big problem — the big question on the left … How much purity can we demand?” [Steve Weishampel, a member of the Chicago DSA and former co-chair] said. “I would not want to elect a socialist who, just like at the end of ‘Animal Farm,’ starts to look like all the others. … They have to stay radical. They can’t become a normie.”

* From US Rep. Mary Miller’s endorsement of Darren Bailey…

“Darren is MAGA to his core, and I was so honored when President Trump came to Illinois last year for a rally to endorse me and Darren as pro-Trump, America First candidates in 2022.” […]

Bailey responded to the announcement by sharing with Illinois Review that Congresswoman Mary Miller’s endorsement is further confirmation of the strong grassroots support he has from the America First movement in the 12th District race.

“Mike Bost is hoping that special interest cash from lobbyists and establishment elites will paper over his liberal voting record, but the truth is the voters know better. They know I am the true conservative in this race, which is why I have the endorsement of one of the most conservative members of Congress – Mary Miller.”

The rhetoric is quite similar. The difference in this particular case is that Ald. Vasquez easily won reelection this year, but Bost might not do the same in March.

Anyway, I’m curious if y’all think this is a fair or even accurate comparison.

  39 Comments      


Google can be your friend

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The rise in crime in Chicago’s Bucktown area is real and undoubtedly scary. But some folks are lashing out at straw men, and members of the news media have too often amplified their false claims. Here’s a particularly egregious example from Block Club Chicago…

Bucktown residents vented frustrations about a recent rise in burglaries, thefts and armed robberies in the neighborhood at a public forum Thursday evening, peppering state lawmakers with safety concerns and calling on them for legislative action.

“Neighbors are feeling terrorized. They’re fearful. They’re scared,” said Steve Jensen, board member of the Bucktown Community Organization, which hosted the forum. “I personally would like to see stricter consequences for crimes so that when the idea pops in peoples’ minds, they think twice.”

Robberies in the Shakespeare (14th) Police District, which includes Bucktown and parts of Wicker Park and Logan Square, are up 59 percent as of Nov. 26 of this year compared to 2022, according to city data. The district has seen a 129 percent jump in robberies in 2023 versus this period in 2019. […]

Jensen said he wanted to give residents the opportunity to voice their concerns directly to lawmakers. In his view, a “watering down” of laws, including raising the felony theft threshold from $250 to $1,000, has allowed burglaries to proliferate. […]

When pressed by neighbors about whether state leaders would commit to sponsoring a bill that would bring the felony theft minimum back down to $250, [Rep. Jawaharial Williams] vowed to meet in the middle.

“Let’s go to $500,” Williams said. “Absolutely, I’ll do that.”

1) The state’s felony theft minimum is set in statute at $500. A five-second Google search (Illinois felony theft law) by the reporter, or Rep. Jawaharial Williams or the two other legislators in attendance would have shown that.

2) Burglary is a different crime and is set in statute as a felony. Again, the Google can be your friend (Illinois burglary law).

3) Robberies are mentioned at the top of the story. Robbery is a felony in Illinois. Again, a five-second Google search (Illinois robbery law) would have cleared that up.

4) It’s not directly mentioned above, but this is not a Pre-Trial Fairness Act issue, either. Robbery, residential burglary and vehicular invasion are all detainable offenses. (Pre-trial Fairness Act).

5) The bottom line is perpetrators can’t even be sentenced if the police don’t catch the alleged criminals. And, yes, the local state’s attorney doesn’t prosecute retail thefts as felonies below $1,000, but people are up in arms about much different crimes. Either way, this is not a sentencing law issue.

  29 Comments      


Question of the day: 2023 Golden Horseshoe Awards

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The 2023 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Government Spokesperson/Comms goes to Jason Rubin…

He does a lot of work out of the spotlight, but Jason Rubin is a huge reason that the Governor’s office communications shop functions with such efficiency and competency. Jason works with all the state agencies on everything they release to the press every day. The one two punch of Jordan Abudayyeh and Jason are an unrivaled team in Government comms - Rubin deserves recognition for the quiet and steady work he puts in every day.

A very special shout-out to Henry Haupt, who recently retired.

* The 2023 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Statehouse-Related Public Relations Spokesperson is a tie: Monique Garcia…

Calm, cool, collected, knowledgeable, ever-present. Just a few adjectives that describe her. Seamlessly juggles the needs of an impressive list of demanding clients. Overlays her comms knowledge with deep knowledge of the state house and the overlapping political and social environment.

Becky Carroll…

Becky has a long, diverse career in Ilinois politics and government. She is thoughtful, heartfelt and passionate. The job she did managing Protect Illinois’s Families on the gun control issue led to major results.

Congratulations!

* On to today’s categories…

    Best Democratic Illinois State Representative

    Best Republican Illinois State Representative

We will also have a lifetime achievement award this year.

Make sure to explain your nominations or they won’t count. And please do your utmost to nominate in both categories. Thanks!

* We’ve raised almost $52,000 to buy Christmas presents for foster kids in Lutheran Social Services of Illinois’ program. Please click here to help. Thanks so very much!

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to today’s edition (Updated numerous times)

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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‘Members of the press outnumbered the protesters’

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NBC 5 last Thursday morning…

While controversial migrant base camps in the Chicago neighborhoods of Amundsen Park and Brighton Park won’t move forward, a former Catholic school in Portage Park is set to become a migrant shelter, holding as many as 350 people. […]

Residents of Portage Park, however, are set to protest the move during a rally Thursday afternoon, citing a lack of transparency from the city, and saying they weren’t included in the process.

Video is here.

* NBC 5 Thursday afternoon…

Outside of the former St. Bartholomew Catholic School in Portage Park, a group of residents and community members shared their concerns and complaints with city leadership, now that the building could be slated to become a temporary migrant shelter.

“They have no clue what they are doing,” said Patrick Gibbons. “They have to take care of their own people before they take care of anyone on the outside.”

Residents said a lack of safety is their main issue with the plan.

“I really don’t feel safe with any new strangers walking around the neighborhood,” said Wally Prusko, a longtime resident. “I wish things wouldn’t go in this direction and I hope things can worked out.”

* But, as Block Club Chicago reported, aside from the news media, hardly anyone actually showed up…

A lightly attended protest outside the former Catholic school Thursday, organized by Belmont Cragin resident Patrick Gibbons, included denouncements of the shelter plans from a South Side pastor, a Republican candidate for a suburban congressional seat and a few Portage Park neighbors. Members of the press outnumbered the protesters.

At least Gibbons is finally in his own part of the city for a change. Another “protester,” Anthony Wilson, lives on the South Side.

Anyway, good on Block Club for not going out of its way to gin this up.

* OK, on to the weekly report. On Friday, the city said 30 buses had arrived during the previous week, but only 575 asylum-seekers were in staging areas, with 399 at police district stations and 176 at O’Hare Airport. That’s an overall drop of 44 percent from the week before, when 1,032 were in staging areas.

Two police district stations near St. Bartholomew were literally overrun with asylum-seekers a few weeks ago, with tents set up outside. Those folks have since been moved out, which may be why people in the neighborhood aren’t so concerned about the new shelter.

* More from Isabel…

    * Journal & Topics | Elk Grove Village Enacts Ordinance To Prevent Migrants From Being Housed In Village : The ordinance says it is unlawful to rent or provide the occupancy of any public sleeping units to any person who has been outside the United States within the prior 12 months unless that person has documentation from a certified infectious disease physician that the person is not now or within the prior 60 days, diagnosed with a communicable disease. The ordinance mentions malaria and tuberculosis specifically along with any other communicable disease.

    * Tribune | Johnson administration begins filing lawsuits against operators of ‘rogue buses’ of migrants: The city has filed 55 lawsuits since it implemented new rules about when and where buses can arrive in mid-November, the Law Department said. The lawsuits address 77 total buses accused of violating the rules, and public records show at least some cases are seeking fines against the bus companies. … The mayor’s office is now seeking the ability to impound buses that don’t follow the rules and fine owners up to $3,000. Chicago police would write the citation, Jeffrey Levine, deputy corporation counsel for the city, told aldermen at a committee meeting Friday. The city could also cite companies by mail, if the bus information is captured on camera.

    * CBS 2 | Chicago migrant crisis: Records shed light on contract for tents, city cracks down on buses: We are also keeping tabs on the environmental review for the second proposed migrant tent location in Morgan Park. Sources told us the review was supposed to be completed on Friday. Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st), whose ward includes the area, told us he has not received anything yet.

    * Crain’s | City moves to step up enforcement on bus companies bringing migrants: The city is adding impoundment to the list of penalties on private bus operators that don’t obey rules on where and when to drop off migrants they’re bringing to Chicago. The additional penalties were teased last month when Mayor Brandon Johnson announced new rules around how the city will care for asylum-seekers arriving here, including issuing 60-day exit notices to migrants living in city shelters.

    * Tribune | Waiting in fear: A migrant mother struggles to find health care in Chicago: Migrants interviewed by the Tribune staying at city-run shelters and police stations say they are worried about their health and that of their children. Esperanza said health care was not an option for her in Venezuela. Hospitals were understaffed and treatment was too expensive, she said. “The operation I needed at Hospital Universitario in Maracaibo would have cost me $2,000. That just wasn’t feasible,” Esperanza said.

    * WGN | St. Sabina Church helps migrants in Chicago with donations: Migrants have been coming to St. Sabina for quite some time now. The giveaway included things like teddy bears, bus cards, clothes and hygiene products. “We are spending somewhere between $12-15,000 a week on coats, cards, McDonalds,” Father Michael Pflegere said. He said the vast majority is from donations but as the group grows, more help is needed.

    * ABC Chicago | Legal aid clinic helps Venezuelan migrants apply for temporary protected status, work authorization: “We don’t have a Venezuelan consulate, so if they don’t have a passport, it makes things even more complicated,” said immigration attorney Nubia Willman. Dozens of lawyers, law school students, and translators volunteered their time on Saturday to help the native Spanish speakers navigate the process, which includes filing out 31 pages of government forms, all in English.

    * Chicago Defender | A Venezuelan Exodus: UIC Prof Explains What Helped Fuel Migrant Crisis: Nicole Jeanine Johnson: As this is a recipe for disaster, how have these factors contributed to the country’s mass exodus? Soledad Álvarez Velasco: So the fall of the oil prices in the global economy, commodities, sanctions and the internal collapse of its state has provoked this massive exodus. We haven’t witnessed any exodus of such magnitude in the region ever in the scope of its 14 years. Since 1999, up until the present, [nearly] 8 million Venezuelans have left their country.

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A rethink may be in order here

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

Imagine a lobbyist approaching a legislator and promising that if the member voted for a specific bill, the lobbyist would contribute to their campaign committee.

Lobbyists have been convicted here for doing just that, going back to at least 1982.

Legislators would be violating state law if they made that deal. The statute prohibits legislators, candidates and others from promising “anything of value related to State government,” including any “action or inaction on any legislative or regulatory matter, in consideration for a contribution to a political committee, political party, or other entity that has as one of its purposes the financial support of a candidate for elective office.”

So, when I saw a recent candidate endorsement questionnaire, that’s the first thing that came to mind. But after I thought about it and did some research, I decided my initial impression may be wrong. Even so, I came away from this believing organizations that send out these questionnaires need to rethink their approaches, and legislators definitely need to study what they’re signing.

Equality Illinois’ latest endorsement questionnaire informs candidates: “We will consider your votes on the following bills as well as your responses to the following questions.”

The first question involves legislation to fully implement the Keeping Youth Safe and Healthy Act from 2021. “Will you recommit to voting for this initiative?” legislators are asked.

To be clear, it doesn’t look like they’re violating state law, nor are the many other groups that ask similarly worded questions. As you can see above, the law as written is aimed at legislators and candidates, and the criminal case law in question (People v. Brandstetter) was a straight-up offer of a $1,000 campaign contribution for a vote.

Equality Illinois’ CEO Brian Johnson said the questionnaire was vetted by longtime elections attorney Michael Dorf, who Johnson said, “sees no legal issues with our questions or our process.”

Equality Illinois’ Johnson insisted “a positive answer on any one question does not guarantee an endorsement, nor does a negative answer on any one question guarantee a non-endorsement.”

It is instead a “totality of factors,” including their voting history, their “level of support for the LGBTQ+ community broadly,” their “partnership with LGBTQ+ community groups,” their “connection to the LGBTQ+ community” and their answer to the four questions posed to them. Those questions are part of a “holistic picture,” Johnson said.

Illinois is among “a minority of states that doesn’t require the teaching of sex ed,” Johnson said, and that’s what the bill on the questionnaire is about — making sex education mandatory in public schools.

Illinois law allows school districts to opt out. “LGBTQ+ kids are literally dying,” Johnson said, pointing to a decline in the number of schools offering sex ed during the past few years. “LGBTQ+ youth have higher rates of bullying, higher rates of mental health challenges and higher rates of suicide. When schools refuse to teach public health and safety education, LGBTQ+ kids suffer, some with their lives.”

So, Johnson said, “Knowing whether a candidate is willing to support legislation that will save kids’ lives — while not dispositive — is very important to our board in making their endorsements.”

Jay Young of Common Cause Illinois told me, “The prohibition in Section 5-30 applies to legislators and candidates and not to groups like Equality Illinois, so there isn’t anything unlawful about their questionnaire.”

But does that mean legislators and candidates could be the ones in hot water if they pledge to vote for a bill on an endorsement questionnaire?

Common Cause’s Young wondered whether candidates and legislators “shared the same understanding about providing a “holistic” picture that Equality Illinois claims to be looking for.

“I’m not sure that that comes across fully in the language of the questionnaire that plainly states, ‘We will consider your votes on the following bills as well as your responses to the following questions.’”

Also, would the group really endorse someone who answered “no” on that very important question? Johnson said they could in certain circumstances, like if a strong supporter opposed it over a local issue or faced a homophobic opponent with a decent chance of winning.

The bottom line, though, is associations, legislators and candidates really need to think these things through. Are the groups putting legislators and candidates in any sort of jeopardy? And are the legislators and candidates opening themselves up to criticism … or worse?

Yes, these groups need to know who they’re dealing with. I can certainly see the nuance here. But others may not be so inclined.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Open thread

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* I hope y’all had a relaxing weekend! What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Chicago steps-up enforcement on “rogue” buses that drop off asylum seekers without notifying the city.Tribune…

    - The city has filed 55 lawsuits since it implemented new rules about when and where buses can arrive in mid-November.
    - 77 total buses are accused of violating the rules.
    -The rules also require intercity buses to apply for approval from the city to drop off passengers.
    - The mayor’s office is now seeking the ability to impound buses that don’t follow the rules and fine owners up to $3,000.

* Related stories…

* Isabel’s top picks…

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

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Live coverage

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Live coverage is back, sorta. This will be different than the old Scribble Live feed because Twitter broke itself and almost everything else it touched. These new feeds do not update instantly. There’s a bit of posting lagtime, but it’s much better than nothing. We are also limited to just 20 Twitter sources. The service may also not last long. We just can’t give you any guarantees about this. You can still click here or here to follow breaking news the way we’ve done since Twitter stopped Scribble Live from working…

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Live Ed Burke Trial Coverage

Monday, Dec 11, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* These new feeds do not update instantly. There’s a bit of a lagtime and you have to refresh the page every now and then. The service we’re using may also not last long. We just can’t give you any guarantees. You can still click here to follow the Ed Burke trial on Twitter. Posts without a Twitter author name below them are from online news sources via Bing…

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Reader comments closed for the weekend

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Even though comments are closed, you can continue voting on our two Golden Horseshoe Award categories. I’ll still see them.

* Fundraising has definitely slowed to a crawl. This always happens, but I’m still going to remind you at least once every weekday. So, click here if you haven’t yet contributed to our effort to buy Christmas presents for foster kids or if you think you can give just a little bit more. We’ve now gathered enough money to buy presents for 2,053 foster children. But Lutheran Social Services of Illinois serves 2,530 kids. Thanks!

* Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of Sen. Scott Bennett’s unexpected death. Treasurer Michael Frerichs was a longtime friend and he posted his thoughts about the anniversary on Facebook. Excerpt…

It’s been a year, and I still can’t believe Scott is gone. He was one of my closest friends, and he’s so greatly missed.

Scott was such a good husband to Stacy and father to their young twins, Sam and Emma. I recently became a father of twins myself, and I wish that Scott could have met Theo and Max. I admire Stacy’s strength during the past year and know the cherished memories she and Scott made as a family have helped sustain her. […]

In the State Treasurer’s Office, we honor part of Scott’s legacy by promoting and continuing to grow the IL ABLE program that he sponsored to allow people with disabilities and their family to save money without losing federal benefits. That program now bears his name, as does a portion of Interstate 74 that he frequently traveled in East Central Illinois.

In the year I’ve had to mourn Scott’s unexpected passing, I’ve only become more thankful that I’m able to call Scott my friend.

* From American Songwriter…

Denny Laine had a career that most musicians would envy. He was a co-founder of two of the most prominent bands in rock and roll history—Wings and The Moody Blues—earning him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of The Moody Blues. Though the lineup changed several times, McCartney and Laine remained steadfast throughout Wings’ decade-long history.

While McCartney’s wife Linda was his main songwriting collaborator in Wings, Laine also frequently wrote with McCartney, the two producing some of Wings’ most famous songs. Laine passed away in December 2023 at the age of 79, leaving behind a legacy of timeless music. […]

Arguably the most famous song McCartney and Laine wrote together for Wings is “Mull of Kintyre.” … Though not technically a Christmas song, it was deemed the No. 1 Christmas song in the U.K. in 1977 when it reached the top of the Singles chart the week of Christmas Day.

It’s December, and that means we end each week with a holiday song. This one is close enough…

Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Dark distant mountains with valleys of green
Past painted deserts, the sunset’s on fire
As he carries me home to the Mull of Kintyre

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New laws (Updated)

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The governor signed 17 bills into law today. Click here for the list. Let’s take a look at some press releases. Sen. Glowiak Hilton…

Professionals seeking licensure through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will soon see improvements to the process thanks to a newly signed law championed by State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton.

“We have plenty of folks in Illinois who are ready to work but are left waiting due to the burdensome licensure process,” said Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “We have taken a positive step to modernize, streamline and expedite the licensure process.”

IDFPR administers licenses for over 100 different professions including nurses, barbers, roofers, social workers, dentists and others. In Illinois, over one million people need a professional license or registration to work.

House Bill 2394 addresses the backlog of licenses and registrations by creating an expedited and competitive bid procurement process for software to modernize the way IDFPR processes licensing.

The measure also requires the department to extend the expiration date or renewal period for any profession licensed by them if the agency secretary finds that there is a significant operational need to do so or it is necessary to avoid undue hardship on a profession’s licensees.

“This new law will move us one step closer to streamlining the state’s licensure process to help connect residents with good jobs and alleviate workforce shortages across our communities,” said Glowiak Hilton. “Providing IDFPR with this support will move us further down the path toward an effective and efficient licensure process for all Illinoisans.”

House Bill 2394 was signed by the governor Friday and takes immediate effect.

* Sen. Rezin…

The state of Illinois has officially taken the next step necessary to pave the way for the development of new nuclear reactors, as the Governor signed Illinois Senate Deputy Minority Leader Sue Rezin’s (R-Morris) legislation, House Bill 2473, to lift the nuclear moratorium on small modular reactors (SMRs) this afternoon.

“Illinois has a long, successful, and safe history of nuclear energy generation,” said Sen. Rezin. “The signing of House bill 2473 will ensure that our state can remain a leader in the energy sector by offering us the ability to utilize the amazing advancements in new nuclear energy technology.”

House Bill 2473 lifts the ban on next generation nuclear reactors less than 300 MW beginning January 1, 2026. Additionally, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Office of Homeland Security will be directed to establish rules for reactor decommissioning, environmental monitoring, and emergency preparedness by January 1, 2026. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will also provide consultation.

“Today’s bill signing moves us one step closer towards our goal of energy independence by allowing clean, reliable energy production in Illinois,” said State Representative Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa). “By leading on this issue, Illinois is signaling to the rest of the country that we are open for business and ready for much needed economic development.”

Furthermore, House Bill 2473 authorizes the Governor to commission a new study to research the State’s role in guiding the development of new nuclear technology and makes conforming statutory changes, including updating references to IEMA-OHS in preexisting Illinois law.

“Lifting our state’s archaic moratorium on new nuclear energy construction will allow for companies that have been developing new advanced nuclear energy technology the opportunity to invest in Illinois,” continued Sen. Rezin.

House Bill 2473 passed out of the General Assembly during its November veto session along a large bipartisan roll call in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

* Sen. Belt…

A new law spearheaded by State Senator Christopher Belt was signed into law Friday that will allow the City of Venice to acquire property to develop new essential health care and recreation facilities for residents.

“The transfer of this property shows the collaborative efforts between both state and local authorities working together to address the needs of our community,” said Belt (D-Swansea). “Not only does this jumpstart community revitalization in the area, but Venice and surrounding communities have long deserved new facilities that will be useful for the everyday life of residents.”

The new law authorizes the state to deliver a property, previously owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation, to the city of Venice. The acquired property will be used for community revitalization in the area, which aims to establish essential facilities, such as a comprehensive health care center, a community recreation facility and a new mortuary with a chapel.

“By providing this property to Venice, we are unlocking opportunities for growth, development and improved quality of life for our residents,” said Belt. “I will always be committed to investing in communities all over the Metro East.”

Senate Bill 385 was signed Friday and takes effect immediately.

* Sen. Castro…

Cook County taxpayers can rely on a standard, 30-business-day period to file property assessment appeals in the coming tax years, thanks to a new law led by State Senator Cristina Castro.

“A uniform filing period ensures clarity and reliability for homeowners in different townships when it comes to the appeals deadline,” said Castro (D-Elgin). “With suburban taxpayers seeing across-the-board increases to the value of their property, it’s an important moment to make sure they have the ability to file, argue and support their appeal to the assessor.”

The Cook County Assessor’s filing deadlines for taxpayer complaints can change from year to year and from one township to another. While the assessor’s office established a deadline of 30 calendar days for filing complaints this year, the available business days for filing varied from 19 to 22 days, depending on the township. Castro’s measure establishes a uniform filing period to ensure all Cook County homeowners have adequate time to address their complaints to the assessor.

The new law requires the Cook County Assessor to accept assessment appeals from taxpayers for at least 30 business days after an increased property assessment is mailed to the homeowner or published on the assessor’s website — whichever is later.

“Appealing the assessed value of your home shouldn’t be a complex and grueling process that people have to scramble to complete quickly,” Castro said. “Local governments need to have clear, simple and reasonable rules and filing periods so everyone in the community has the ability to voice their concerns.”

Senate Bill 1988 was signed into law Friday.

…Adding… Illinois State Medical Society…

The doctors of Illinois thank Gov. Pritzker for signing HB 2394 to address the professional licensing processing delays at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). This measure, backed by the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS), allows IDFPR to update its antiquated systems, which we hope will result in avoiding the snafus doctors and other healthcare professionals experienced when applying for or renewing a professional license. We look forward to an improved, expedited and more transparent process for physicians seeking new Illinois medical licenses and those renewing in the years to come.

In addition to the Governor, ISMS thanks IDFPR Secretary Treto and the bill sponsors, Representatives Morgan, Hauter, Mah and Senators Glowiak and McClure for championing this cause on behalf of the citizens of Illinois. Because it is the citizens – our patients – who are most affected by these delays when it impacts whether they have access to the healthcare professionals they need and deserve.

* Sen. Villivalam…

A new law led by State Senator Ram Villivalam will introduce more water safety instructions into school curriculum for youth in preschool through sixth-grade following a recent tragedy that occurred in the 8th District.

“With water safety instruction, more of our youth and families will be equipped with the tools to protect themselves and others,” said Villivalam (D-Chicago). “This legislation is an important step toward saving lives and ensuring better water safety education across the state.”

Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children age 5-14 after car accidents, and at age 15, drowning rates triple. For every fatal child drowning, another eight children receive emergency care for non-fatal drowning injuries.

“Today marks a turning point in our children’s safety,” said State Representative Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago). “We promised to provide comprehensive water safety education, and we delivered. I’m thankful to Governor Pritzker for joining us in this effort by signing this legislation into law earlier today.”

Villivalam’s measure seeks to prevent as many of these deaths as possible by beginning water safety instruction in preschool.

“Drowning is the number one reason a child will die before kindergarten and the number two killer for all of childhood,” said Halle Quezada, a teacher and mother who lives in the district Villivalam represents. “When my four-year-old had fire safety in school, she was eager to make sure our whole family knew how to survive a fire. With this bill, we hope Illinois families will have water safety plans too and we can finally reverse these terrifying statistics.”

House Bill 2104 requires school boards supported wholly or partially by the state to provide water safety instruction that incorporates evidence-based water safety materials and resources from preschool through sixth-grade.

“Water safety education in schools is the fastest approach to reach the largest audience and make a significant impact in the shortest amount of time,” said Dave Benjamin of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. “We teach kids how to navigate those threats in school and we are proud of Illinois for following the research and taking a step to change the horrifying statistics around drowning.”

* Sen. Ventura…

Illinois is now leading the way toward a cleaner, greener future thanks to a new law championed by State Senator Rachel Ventura that will require state-owned vehicles to be zero emission.

“To tackle the ongoing climate crisis, Illinois needs to be a frontrunner in clean energy investments,” said Ventura (D-Joliet). “One such way to help is by investing in zero emission vehicles to deliver big gains for both our environment and our economy.”

Senate Bill 1769 will require passenger vehicles purchased or leased by the state to either be a manufactured zero-emission vehicle or converted into a zero-emission vehicle by 2030. Exceptions will be made for law enforcement and IDOT vehicles.

Highway vehicles release about 1.4 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year — mostly in the form of carbon dioxide — which contribute to the global climate crisis. The continuous adoption of zero-emission vehicles has the ability to move the nation close to an 80% decrease in transportation greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Ventura’s measure will play a major part in reducing emissions at the state level – ensuring Illinois keeps its promise to build a healthier, more equitable and energy efficient state following the passage of the historic Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021.

“I’m proud to see the state implementing tangible solutions to meet clean air standards as transportation is the leading source of air pollution,” said Ventura. “I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure our state is taking bold and substantial steps toward 100% clean energy reliance.”

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Campaign update: Circling the wagons

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Isabel’s afternoon roundup

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

Some stories of interest

    * Capitol News Illinois | Chicago utility pushes back against state oversight, asks for further rate increase: In November, the Illinois Commerce Commission forced a yearlong pause on the company’s controversial pipeline replacement program while it investigates whether the program adequately prioritizes replacing high-risk natural gas pipes throughout Chicago, where the utility serves about 875,000 customers. The company alleged in a filing with the ICC last week that a “misunderstanding” in last month’s ruling will prevent the company from conducting emergency repairs and other “critical” work.

    * Sun-Times | Chicago police Sgt. John Poulos, whose fatal shootings of 2 men led to about $2 million in City Hall payouts, now running for judge: Sgt. John Poulos — whose career as a Chicago cop has been marked by two controversial fatal shootings and a push by the police superintendent to fire him in a misconduct case — is now running for judge in Cook County with the help of a Democratic Party insider and $500,000 in loans from his wife. … Poulos’ campaign committee is chaired by Tim Egan, the chief executive officer of Roseland Community Hospital, who ran two unsuccessful campaigns for the Chicago City Council from the 43rd Ward and now is the 2nd Ward Democratic committeeperson.

    * Shaw Local | McHenry County sheriff addresses deaths of 4 jail inmates this year: In acknowledging the inmate deaths, the statement said the office “has been fully transparent in providing information in conjunction with McHenry County Sheriff’s Office General Orders, policy and procedures, state laws and the consideration of affected families.” […] Despite its assertions of transparency, the office, led by Sheriff Robb Tadelman, did not proactively release any information about Sabo’s death or his identity at the time it occurred and confirmed it months later only after multiple inquiries by the Northwest Herald. It also remains unclear which agency is heading up that investigation. The McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team, or MIAT, is the agency the sheriff’s office cited in its Thursday release as handling the probes into the recent inmate deaths.

* IDHS press release…

The Illinois Department of Human Services’ (IDHS) State-Operated Developmental Centers (SODCs) are amplifying COVID-19 testing and infection-prevention policies as a response to increased cases among residents and staff.

SODCs provide residential programs to people with intellectual/developmental disabilities who have severe medical and/or behavioral needs. IDHS operates seven developmental centers in the state.

Across the state, COVID-19 laboratory confirmed cases and COVID-19 related hospitalizations have increased by nearly 50% since early November, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

As of December 6, there were 58 residents, out of approximately 1,650 total, and 35 staff, out of approximately 3,500 total, who have tested positive for COVID-19 since November 20, with nearly all presenting mild symptoms.

SODC staff have provided positive residents and patients with treatment, including antiviral medication as appropriate. Only one resident is hospitalized, and they are in stable condition.

According to the release, 30 residents and 10 staff were infected at Waukegan’s Kiley Developmental Center. Another 15 residents and 10 staff were infected at Park Forest’s Ludeman Developmental Center. And 12 residents and 12 staff were infect at Kankakee’s Shapiro Developmental Center. More at the link.

* Meanwhile…

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that with the holidays approaching, data indicate that the impact of respiratory viruses is being felt across the state with 44 counties now at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the CDC’s national COVID Data Tracker, as of the week ending November 25. COVID-19 hospitalization data indicate that 39 counties are at medium level and five are at high level, while statewide, there were 1,039 new hospitalizations reported, an increase of 20% over the previous week.

Data also show that broad acute respiratory hospitalizations are increasing across Illinois including COVID-19, flu and RSV. IDPH officials are especially concerned about pediatric ICU (PICU) capacity which is limited in many areas of the state. [Emphasis added.]

What’s going on in the Windy City?

City Council shared its new seating policy for public meetings which include neededing an ID and a reservation to sit in the main chamber. WBEZ reporter Mariah Woelfel has the story.

The city is adding impoundment to the list of penalties on bus companies bringing in asylum seekers. Crain’s reports that this applies to bus operators that don’t obey rules on where and when to drop off migrants they’re bringing to Chicago.

Rest of the roundup

    * NBC Chicago | Hourly minimum wage in Illinois set to increase on Jan. 1: For Illinois residents, the new year will once again bring an increase in the state’s hourly minimum wage as part of a three-year gradual increase to a statewide $15 minimum wage for non-tipped workers.

    * Press release | Illinois Collaboration on Youth Partners with Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children-All Families Initiative: With 1 in every 3 youth in foster and adoption care identifying as LGBTQ+, it has never been more dire for all foster care and adoption agencies to tend to the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youth. Apart from working closely with ICOY, our ACAF program works with over 135 agencies across the country to help them better implement LGBTQ+ inclusive practices and policies. Collectively, these agencies serve more than 1 million clients annually in 36 states and employ more than 26,000 employees.

    * WGEM | Quincy housing problems described as ‘not good’: The Great Plains Action Society’s itinerary concluded Thursday by attending Quincy’s Human Rights Commission meeting. That’s where they heard about the status of affordable housing in Quincy. Commissioners received updates from both the YWCA and Safe and Livable Housing committee. Representatives from both organizations described the status of affordable, livable and available housing as “not good.”

    * Daily Herald | Election season is here: Races to watch in Kane and DuPage counties: A three-way race will decide who becomes the Democratic nominee for the recorder position in DuPage. Meanwhile, Democrats in Kane will determine which of the two candidates for recorder moves on to the general election.

    * Sun-Times | Why youth homelessness is a big problem in Cook County: Young Black men are disproportionately affected by housing instability, and youth in foster care or who have experienced the death of a parent or caregiver are also at high risk, a recent Chapin Hall study found.

    * Chalkbeat | New data shows hundreds of Chicago Public Schools bus routes with fewer than 10 students: However, the data does not include students who have 504 plans — another type of legal document for students with disabilities — or homeless students, who are also entitled to transportation. District officials said the routes may include those students. One week before the data was captured, the district said it had routed a total of 8,105 students. […] Chalkbeat’s analysis of the route data for 7,350 students with IEPs found: There are an average 6.9 students with IEPs per route. 785 of the more than 1,000 routes have. 10 or fewer children with IEPs. 59 routes — or 5.4% — transport one child with an IEP.

    * WAND | 240 volunteers needed urgently for Sangamon County Toys for Tots program: Over 200 volunteers are urgently needed for Sangamon County Toys for Tots program. The Toys for Tots warehouse at White Oaks Mall is set up as a store for one day (Dec 15). There are ten tables, five for boys and five for girls, ages 0-2, 3-5, 6-7, 8-10, 11-18. Families who apply and are approved show up at an assigned time slot and get to pick out what toys they want for their children.

    * Crain’s | Wrigleyville’s oldest dive bar to Malört: Quit stealing our mixology ideas: Nisei’s Malört infusions date back to 2016 when a few employees stumbled upon an old box of candy canes behind the bar and decided it best not to let them go to waste. As any bartender would do, they dropped the peppermints into their favorite bottles of liquor — and so candy cane Malört was born. “It became a bar sensation for us,” Capone said.

    * Tribune | University of Chicago buys Hyde Park mansion once owned by late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for $3.4M: Built around 1900, the 5,112-square-foot brick house, at 5725 S. Woodlawn Ave., was designed by the Rapp & Rapp architectural firm, which was widely known for designing movie palaces. The mansion was built for Cora Howland, who was the daughter of onetime Chicago Mayor John A. Roche, and her husband, lawyer and professor George C. Howland, who was part of U. of C.’s original teaching staff and who also wrote editorials for a time for the Tribune, according to Susan O’Connor Davis’ book “Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park.”

    * NYT | Amazon Is Cracking Down on Union Organizing, Workers Say: In disciplining the employees, Amazon has raised questions about the extent to which they are free to approach co-workers to persuade them to join a union, a federally protected right. The general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board has said Amazon is breaking the law through a policy governing the access that off-duty workers have to its facilities, which Amazon invoked in the recent firing. The board is seeking to overturn the policy at an upcoming trial.

    * NYT | How Much Can Forests Fight Climate Change? A Sensor in Space Has Answers: Now, high in orbit, a new way of seeing forests is making it clear that, even when under assault, protected areas can still be a crucial buffer against climate change. Scientists are using laser technology to gauge the biomass of forests all around the world, which lets them calculate how much planet-warming carbon the trees are keeping out of Earth’s atmosphere.

    * AP | FDA approves 2 gene editing therapies that may cure sickle cell disease: In the U.S., an estimated 100,000 people have the disease and about a fifth of them have the severe form. Sickle cell is most common among Black people and 1 in 365 Black babies are born with the disease nationally. Scientists believe being a carrier of the sickle cell trait helps protect against severe malaria, so the disease occurs more often in mosquito-prone regions such as Africa or in people whose ancestors lived in those places.

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Southern Illinoisan newspaper journalists say goodbye to their community after new owner fires all employees

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Paxton Media Group released this after acquiring the Southern Illinoisian in September…

PMG Group Publisher Bill Evans will add The Southern to his stable of media properties located in southern Illinois and western Kentucky. No stranger to southern Illinois, Evans has led the PMG-owned NBC television affiliate for the region, WPSD-TV in Paducah, KY, for the last 23 years. He is also publisher of Paxton’s flagship newspaper The Paducah Sun, and weekly newspapers in Mayfield, KY; Benton, KY; Eddyville, KY; Princeton, KY; and Metropolis, IL.

“The SI naturally fits our footprint for community-based journalism. The team of journalists I have the opportunity to lead from our Paducah and southern Illinois newsrooms has covered many of the important stories impacting our hometowns in southern Illinois. I look forward to expanding our coverage. We have the resources to allocate to covering southern Illinois,” said Evans.

* Today is the last day for all reporters and photographers at the paper after Paxton announced they would let all union-represented journalists go. From the News Guild in November …

The Unions of Lee Enterprises is denouncing plans by Lee Enterprises to sell The Southern Illinoisan newspaper to Paxton Media Group under terms that will result in the elimination of all the local journalists who currently work for it.

Despite pronouncements by Paxton Media on Oct. 27 that it will foster “community-based journalism” and “expand” coverage through the purchase of The Southern Illinoisan, the entire union-represented newsroom has been told they should clear out their desks by Nov. 24.

This ill-advised sale transaction ignores not only the needs of the Carbondale community and the paper’s current employees, but the rights of investors who are being denied the opportunity to benefit from a better offer, from a local benefactor who would actually save jobs.

Paxton Media representatives have been telling major Southern Illinoisan advertisers and community leaders they are “saving” the local paper by acquiring it. These statements are both deceitful and disgusting.

* This week, reporters looked back at their time at the paper and give hints at what’s next for them. From the Southern Illinoisan Editor-in-Chief Jackson Brandhorst…

And that’s just it. The end of an era.

Gratitude. That’s all I can express.

To the incredible staff here who, despite consistently facing tumultuous times, persevered through every sticky situation, every vapid comment and every schedule changing setback, thank you. […]

Despite the overwhelming amount of grief I feel toward leaving this area, these people and the status of the happenings in the place that I grew up, it’s impossible for someone with as much confidence as I have in myself not to be optimistic about my future.

I am not entirely sure about what is next for The Southern, I wish it the best for the sake of the community. But I am sure about its past and that I won’t be a part of its future.

* Southern Illinoisan Photographer Byron Hetzler…

When I first moved to Carbondale almost nine years ago I didn’t know how long I would stay. I had lived in Colorado for nearly 30 years after moving there from Iowa, where I had grown up and gone to school. I even kept my Colorado phone number in case things here didn’t work out and I decided to move back. When people would ask me where I had lived before moving to Carbondale and I would tell them Colorado, the response was always the same, “why in the world did you move here?”

But here we are, just short of nine years of working as a photographer at The Southern Illinoisan. In that time I have come to call Carbondale and Southern Illinois home. Now, due to unexpected, yet not totally unforeseen, circumstances, my time, at least at The Southern is ending.

Not only is my time, as well as that of my colleagues, here at The Southern coming to an end, but I have come to realize that this will likely be the end of my career as a photojournalist. The nature of the journalism world has changed dramatically over the 40 years since I decided to make a career out of it — how that came about is a story for another day, so maybe this is a good time to move on anyhow. […]

And finally to our readers. It has been an honor being able to share my images of Southern Illinois news, sports and life with you. Some of you have been kind enough to reach out over the years and let me know how much you have appreciated my work — that means a lot, more than you probably realize.

Unfortunately for me, and my fellow coworkers at The Southern, this is the end of the line as far as our work here is concerned. I plan on staying in the area, at least for the time being. We’ll see what this next chapter has in store for me.

Click here to see Hetzler’s favorite photos from his time at the Southern.

* Sportswriter James Dent…



* I spent about three years sitting on the sidelines of SIUC games with Southern photogs while I was at the Daily Egyptian. It’s a bleak thought that their coverage will no longer continue…



  15 Comments      


Report examines Illinois women’s political power

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Press release from the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University…

From late 2021 to summer 2023, we conducted nearly 200 interviews with political leaders and practitioners like you in five states (Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania). Those interviews are the heart of our new report, Rethinking Women’s Political Power, which is now available as a microsite at rethinkingpower.rutgers.edu.

This report examines specific political ecosystems in our selected states to illustrate that increasing women’s political power is a multi-site, multiracial, and bipartisan endeavor. It provides a deeper, more thorough understanding of the factors that shape women’s access to political power both within and across states, and specifically interrogates differences in experiences, as well as obstacles and opportunities for women’s expanded political power, by race/ethnicity, party, and position. It is also the first of multiple publications reliant on this interview data. Next up are more state-specific analyses that we plan to share in briefing and book format.

* Chapter two really goes into Illinois, especially the rise of Democratic women representation…

The number of Democratic women serving in Illinois’ state legislature increased by 58% from 2010 to 2021, the year that long-time Speaker Michael Madigan (D) resigned from leadership of both the state House and the Illinois Democratic Party. Women were key to growing the Democratic majority in the legislature, representing over half of all newly-elected or appointed Democratic legislators in this period and increasing their proportion of the Democratic caucus from 36% in 2010 to more than 50% by 2021. In the same period, the number of Republican women state legislators in Illinois dropped. And this decline was not simply a function of Republican losses; women dropped from 23% to 19% of their party’s state legislators and were just 23% of Republican legislators elected for the first time from 2010 to 2020. As of November 2023, women are 41.8% of Illinois state legislators, including 53% of Democratic and 19% of Republican legislators. […]

Without a value-based motive for increasing women’s political representation, Madigan’s political program benefitted only some women, particularly those deemed by Madigan and his team as most electable in swing districts. For the most part, that translated into recruitment of white, moderate women in suburban districts, leaving other women – racially/ethnically diverse and more progressive – to fend for themselves. Commissioner Josina Morita (D) made this distinction, saying that Democratic leaders were looking for “a party player [who] would toe the party line and they tended to be white women who were socially progressive and fiscally moderate, and just kind of ran on the party line,” adding, “They weren’t real progressive types.” State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D) clarified that while Madigan hoped to recruit women he could control, “[He] accidentally brought some good strong women onboard, but definitely accidentally.”

Democratic political consultant Alex Sims included Madigan’s approach as part of a broader Democratic strategy at the time. She said, “It was very frustrating in 2015. It was the Wendy Davis time. It was the time when a lot of Democrats thought white women in the suburbs were what’s going to win the Democratic Party everything. …And so the Democratic Party would invest a lot of money in those efforts.” She added, “But that’s not to say that the white female vote in the suburbs isn’t an important vote…[but] it’s also a little bit about investment and who’s been with you for so long.” Black women were and continue to be the most reliable Democratic voters but were not primary beneficiaries of Madigan’s efforts. As U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D) pointed out, “It was about [Madigan] at the end. …Because I’ll give you an example. I was the Democratic nominee for [state] treasurer, right? The Democratic Party of Illinois didn’t help me one bit. I’m Black and I’m a woman [and they] did not help me one bit and I lost because of lack of money, so, yeah.”

Click here to read the entire report.

* Republican women lawmakers voiced how their party is falling behind…

I find that in the Republican Party they are trying harder to get a mix because…we lost a lot of Republican women. They were turned off by our party so the idea is now to make a push for getting more women to run for office because of that and because we need to get to those people that are undecided or turned off by the party. So I feel that there’s a big push here now. But we are certainly more open and willing to bring in more women now because we need to bring back these women that were so turned off [by] our party.”

- Evelyn Sanguinetti (R-IL) Former Lieutenant Governor

I know the House Republicans, [we] were always involved in looking for candidates and we love to have women. The problem is…a lot of times [women] don’t want to do it or they don’t pass the litmus tests that are now being imposed.”

- Christine Radogno (R-IL) Former State Senate Minority Leader

* Here are some comments from women members of the Democratic Party…

I’m seeing over time though…we’ve had representatives of our party attend our meetings [of Lake County Democratic Women] which is great but again it felt like they really didn’t want us to exist. They felt there was some kind of competition there instead of seeing that this is a benefit to them. …When I talk to party leadership [about our organization’s work] they will say, ‘But we already do this, right, within the party.’ Not with intentionality. ….The competition really lifts everybody because you have to do better if they are doing better. So we’ve actually seen…our local party working much harder than they did [to support women].”

- Melinda Bush (D-IL) Former State Senator and Founder of Lake County Democratic Women

The toxicity of our politics [gives me pause for concern]. It’s definitely a disincentive for…everyone, but I think it’s particularly a disincentive for women because the vitriol that we get is much worse. I lost count of how many people over the last two years during the pandemic got their first death threat and called me first, [telling me] ‘You were the first person I thought of to ask what I should do about this,’ because I’ve been getting them forever as a lesbian, as a woman, as a big target – they’ve been coming for me for a long time. So that was a really interesting moment. The first time somebody called me…[I thought] ‘Oh God, I didn’t realize that’s who I was, you know.’”

- Kelly Cassidy (D-IL) State Representative

I would say there’s a support infrastructure to some degree [for women in Illinois politics]. And it’s in silos. …There is some support system [for women in politics in Illinois] but it’s not centralized. There’s no real centralized support system. That’s my view.”

- Heather Wier Vaught (D-IL) Democratic Lobbyist and Consultant and Former Chief Counsel to Speaker Michael Madigan

  13 Comments      


Proposal to save suburban, Chicago public transit transit includes tax on services, parking and raising RTA sales tax

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Sun-Times…

Chicago-area public transit faces a crisis when federal COVID-19 dollars run out in two years, forcing transit agencies struggling with reduced ridership to make major service cuts.

With this fiscal cliff looming, regional leaders tasked with saving public transit sent a set of policy recommendations to state lawmakers Thursday.

Lawmakers now face politically tough choices to raise $1.5 billion in new funding and implement sweeping organizational reforms recommended by the report, called the Plan of Action for Regional Transit.

They must consider new taxes, consolidating the four regional transit agencies under one board and changing fee structures, according to the 130-page report prepared by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning at the behest of the General Assembly.

* From the report…

PART recommends transit funding solutions that put these priorities into action for 2026 and beyond. The revenue options explored include savings and system-generated revenues, as well as a set of baseline revenues that include:

    • Full state funding for paratransit.
    • Full state funding for existing reduced fare mandates.
    • A modernized state sales tax base that includes services, delivering needed revenues for the transit system, state, counties, and local communities.

The regional transportation system would also benefit from additional revenues, including flexing federal funds for transit and new road revenues (e.g., tolling, parking taxes, and vehicle registration surcharges). […]

The package further relies on durable sources that should be implemented to make the system’s funding more fiscally sustainable, progressive, and climate-friendly: expanding the sales tax base to include a broad range of services, increasing commercial parking taxes in downtown Chicago, and imposing a regional surcharge on vehicle registrations. If the region and state are unable to reach consensus on these revenues, other durable revenues outlined below could replace them, such as a higher parking tax, a higher vehicle registration surcharge, or a payroll tax.

To meet immediate funding needs, some diminishing sources will be needed to achieve transformational investment. Raising the RTA sales tax rate in combination with a sales tax base expansion would provide funds that are critically needed to avoid the transit system’s financial collapse. However, as more appropriate sources are identified and implemented, this temporary RTA sales tax increase can sunset. Similarly, increasing tolls for passenger cars on existing toll highways and dedicating that increment to transit provides the funds needed in the near-term, while other solutions that provide greater ties with road usage, congestion management, and climate outcomes — such as road usage charges and congestion pricing — should be explored over time.

* Tribune…

The report came from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which was tasked by the legislature with drafting recommendations as the region’s public transit agencies face a combined $730 million budget hole once federal COVID-19 relief funding starts running out in 2025. Transit agencies have warned that failure to plug the hole could lead to catastrophic service cuts and fare increases. […]

The recommendations also address service, including improvements to the bus system, adding “transit ambassadors” to boost safety and the perception of safety, and moving to one fare system across all types of public transit, instead of maintaining largely separate fares for the CTA, Metra and Pace. […]

The recommendations could include simply strengthening the RTA and keeping the separate agencies, or folding the three transit agencies into one entity, an idea that has been floated before but never gained traction. Whether the concept would gain enough traction this time around remains to be seen.

* Daily Herald last week…

The state and other stakeholders will resolve a looming $730 million annual shortfall facing Metra, Pace and the CTA in 2026, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday.

The funding gap emerged after COVID-19 decimated ridership. It’s an issue transit agencies across the U.S. are facing, Pritzker said at a Crain’s event.

“We need subways and trains and buses and it’s vital to our economy. We’re going to do whatever is necessary,” said Pritzker, who also mentioned fares but without specifics.

“The General Assembly and I and the federal government, we all have to address it,” he noted.

* WTTW…

“We know that the cost of inaction is greater than the cost of action,” said CMAP Executive Director Erin Aleman. “We are at a decisive and pivotal juncture with an opportunity to make a transformative change.”

“The longstanding underfunding of transit operations coupled with the unprecedented challenges spurred by the pandemic have brought us to a critical inflection point in transit’s history,” said city of Chicago COO John Roberson. “We cannot shy away from the scale of the funding needs our transit system faces. It is significant, but the value transit provides for the city and for our region is immeasurable.”

In addition to more funding, the plan CMAP came up with proposes unprecedented changes to the way transit is run. One option would give more power to the regional authority overseeing CTA, Metra and Pace.

The other, far bolder option would create a single regional transit agency, essentially combining the current hodgepodge of transit agencies into one.

* Nationally…

    * Governing | Navigating the Fiscal Crisis in Public Transit: The biggest crisis facing U.S. transit agencies since the COVID-19 pandemic began is the so-called fiscal cliff — the steep drop in fare revenue that resulted from ridership losses and the looming expiration of federal relief funds that were provided to temporarily fill the gap. In separate events on Wednesday, two of the biggest transportation-focused nonprofits in the country convened discussions on how agencies can navigate their financial challenges, with perspectives from transit advocates, researchers and industry leaders. The Eno Center for Transportation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, held an event called “Climbing Down From The Fiscal Cliff: Lessons From Transit Advocates.” TransitCenter, a New York-based advocacy group, hosted a webinar called “Transit’s Last Fiscal Crisis: Identifying Sustainable Funding Solutions for Agencies.”

    * Bloomberg | Commuters Ditched Public Transit for Work From Home. Now There’s a Crisis: As pandemic aid dwindles, the nation’s biggest transit systems face a roughly $6.6 billion shortfall through fiscal year 2026, according to a Bloomberg tally of the top eight US transportation agencies based on passenger trips. Rising labor costs and inflation are hitting as farebox revenue stagnates after ridership collapsed. Those eight agencies serve regions that combined contribute about $6 trillion annually to the national economy. Local officials are pressing for help. Last month, the California Transit Association asked the state for $5.15 billion over the next five fiscal years. Without more money, transit officials across the country warn that the public can expect steep ticket price increases and drastic cuts to train and bus schedules, while long-planned expansion projects are on the chopping block. That pleading worked for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority when state lawmakers recently approved a massive bailout.

    * GovTech | How Important Is Surveillance Tech on Public Transit?: A poll conducted to determine why riders haven’t returned to the service revealed public safety and cleanliness concerns. More than half of 1,000 survey respondents had witnessed or been a victim of a crime on BART. Meanwhile, 85 percent of BART riders who have reduced or eliminated their usage said they would ride the system more often if it was significantly cleaner and safer. In early 2023, BART announced new public safety initiatives, most visibly, doubling the amount of officers on trains.

  33 Comments      


AG Raoul, others file antitrust lawsuit against NCAA

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Crain’s…

The NCAA is still forcing some athletes sit out a year following multiple transfers — and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul won’t stand for it.

Raoul and attorneys general in six other states filed a federal antitrust lawsuit on Thursday, challenging the NCAA’s transfer rules as “an illegal restraint on college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education.” […]

Six weeks ago, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the NCAA expressing concerns over the eligibility of second-time transfer Aziz Bandaogo, a 7-foot center for the University of Cincinnati basketball team whose appeal for a waiver was denied on Nov. 10.

Yost wrote that the decision was not only wrong “as a matter of common sense and decency, it is likely illegal” and raises antitrust concerns as an illegal restraint of trade.

* Thursday press release…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today filed a federal antitrust lawsuit challenging the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) transfer eligibility rule as an illegal restraint on college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education.

The NCAA rule requires college athletes who transfer among Division I schools to wait one year before competing in games, unless the NCAA waives the rule for a particular athlete. The NCAA began automatically exempting first-time transfers from the regulation in 2021 but has continued to enforce the rule for subsequent transfers and deny waivers for no legitimate reason.

Raoul and a bipartisan coalition of six attorneys general filed their lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to keep the NCAA from enforcing the rule.

“The Transfer Eligibility Rule unfairly restricts collegiate athletes and is not implemented in a consistent and straightforward way that is easy for athletes and their families to understand,” Raoul said. “I filed this lawsuit to bring fairness to this flawed system and ensure the needs of collegiate athletes and their families are prioritized and respected.”

Since its founding in 1906, the NCAA has expanded its rulebook beyond field contests to regulate off-the-field competition among its member institutions and manage the burgeoning business of collegiate sports. Some regulations are essential for the administration of college sports, the coalition’s lawsuit acknowledges. However, Raoul and the attorneys general argue, certain rules lacking a clear procompetitive benefit may run afoul of the nation’s antitrust laws, which are rooted in the belief that market forces yield the best outcomes.

In justifying the one-year waiting period for second-time transfers, the NCAA cites the promotion of academic well-being and the preservation of athletic amateurism. Raoul and the coalition call the connection between the rule and these goals “pretextual”; note that these purported goals can be accomplished through less-restrictive means; and argue that the harm it does to athletes, universities, and fans far exceeds any supposed benefits.

According to Raoul and the coalition, the one-year waiting period constitutes 20% of the total time allotted by NCAA regulations for the completion of a college athlete’s full eligibility – and, as such, could prove devastating for athletes seeking to optimize their career and welfare by transferring to schools that better suit them.

The NCAA often describes the college athlete experience as transformative, with competition playing a key role. By preventing students from competing, however, it hinders the full realization of this experience. Students deprived of the opportunity to compete in their chosen sports are denied the benefits that competition offers in preparing them for life, as acknowledged by the NCAA, and often suffer financial harm.

The lawsuit is here.

Thoughts?

  15 Comments      


Question of the day: 2023 Golden Horseshoe Awards

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The 2023 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Democratic State House Staff Member is a tie. Kendra Piercy…

It’s an understatement to say that it’s rare to see the Speaker of the House present a bill in committee, but we saw it this year and who was sitting right next to him? Kendra Piercy, Deputy Counsel to the Speaker. She was the legal leader of the House Dobbs / Reproductive Rights Working Group. She was the reason there was a last minute lame duck Cannabis transporter bill. And probably most importantly in the business we are in (and also for an award like this), she is a genuinely kind individual who is beloved by those that get to work with her.

* And Kylie Kelly…

It’s hard to find a more dedicated or loyal staff member than Kylie. As this Caucus rebuilds itself, Kylie is the woman behind the curtain. Respected on both sides of the aisle by members and staff alike, she manages Caucus members successfully and remains extremely humble.

Honorable mention is awarded to Taylor Howard.

* The 2023 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Republican State House Staff Member goes to Jen Passwater…

First of all, how does she find the time to still staff the Judiciary-Criminal Committee? In addition to being Deputy Counsel, she now also serves as a Senior Advisor to Leader McCombie, so on basically every important or sensitive issue, Jen is there. And despite working on the most divisive and controversial subjects, from the freedom caucus to the Black Caucus, she is liked and respected by everyone. And she does all of this while still staffing 2-hour Jud-Crim hearings!! I don’t get it. Seriously can we do something about this??

Runner-up is Lauren Hund. Honorable mention is awarded to Frank Strauss.

Congratulations to everyone!

* Today’s categories…

    Best Government Spokesperson/Comms

    Best Statehouse-Related Public Relations Spokesperson

That second category is new, but there are a lot of Statehouse types who run or work for PR firms, so let’s give it a try.

As always, make sure to explain your votes or they won’t count. And do your very best to nominate in both categories. Thanks.

* We didn’t raise much yesterday to give Christmas presents to foster kids. Still, every little bit helps. We’ve raised enough so far to buy presents for 2,045 foster kids served by Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, but they have 2,530 children in their program. So, please, click here. Thank you so much.

  14 Comments      


Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Open thread

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?

  2 Comments      


Isabel’s morning briefing

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: WCIA’s breakdown of what laws will go into effect in 2024…

    - Gov. Pritzker signed more than 150 laws that go into effect next year, many on January 1st, 2024.
    - Youthful offenders under 21 can no longer be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
    - An update to the state’s parole system, which incentivizes people on parole to obtain a degree, recommending early termination with a good post-release track record, and expanding remote check-ins with a parole officer.
    - October will be designated Italian-American Heritage Month.

Click here for the full list.

* Isabel’s top picks…

    * Capitol News Illinois | State health plan declares racism a public health crisis: A new state health report pinpoints racism as a public health crisis while also noting Illinois needs to improve in the areas of maternal and infant health, mental health and substance use disorders. The broad goals are laid out in a draft of the State Health Improvement Plan, which will be finalized and presented to the Illinois General Assembly next year. The SHIP is part of Healthy Illinois 2028, a five-year plan outlining the major public health crises the state hopes to address.

    * Tribune | Recommended changes to transit head to state lawmakers, who could debate expanded sales tax and consolidating agencies: The report, drafted by regional planners after meetings with community organizations, lays out recommendations to address public transit funding, governance and the experience of riding buses and trains, as the region’s three public transit agencies face a looming financial cliff and languishing ridership numbers. Among the options included are additional taxes, such as expanding the sales tax base, and two options to revamp oversight of the region’s separate transit agencies.

    * Crain’s | Illinois in multistate lawsuit over NCAA transfer rule: Raoul and attorneys general in six other states filed a federal antitrust lawsuit on Thursday, challenging the NCAA’s transfer rules as “an illegal restraint on college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education.”

* Two SIU athletes are mentioned in the complaint…

* Here’s the rest of your morning roundup…

  10 Comments      


Live Ed Burke Trial Coverage

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* These new feeds do not update instantly. There’s a bit of a lagtime and you have to refresh the page every now and then. The service we’re using may also not last long. We just can’t give you any guarantees. You can still click here to follow the Ed Burke trial on Twitter. Posts without a Twitter author name below them are from online news sources via Bing…

  Comments Off      


Live coverage

Friday, Dec 8, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* Live coverage is back, sorta. This will be different than the old Scribble Live feed because Twitter broke itself and almost everything else it touched. These new feeds do not update instantly. There’s a bit of posting lagtime, but it’s much better than nothing. We are also limited to just 20 Twitter sources. The service may also not last long. We just can’t give you any guarantees about this. You can still click here or here to follow breaking news the way we’ve done since Twitter stopped Scribble Live from working…

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