Question of the day
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The setup…
The Illinois Senate on Tuesday passed and sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker a bill that would pave the way for people to use robotic “personal carrying devices” in Illinois.
Those are robotic devices designed to follow their owner around, carrying items that might be too heavy or bulky for the person to carry themselves. One, known as the Gita (pronounced “jee-ta”) is produced by the Italian automotive company Piaggio, which is best known for its Vespa brand of scooters.
Gitas, however, have been slow to enter some markets where laws dealing with traffic and pedestrians haven’t caught up with the new technology.
House Bill 245, which passed the House March 11, would establish a legal framework for using such devices in Illinois. It would provide that the devices be designed to stay within 10 feet of their owners and that the owners or operators have the same rights and obligations of pedestrians, except that they would have to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians on a sidewalk or crosswalk. It also provides that the devices cannot be used to transport a person.
In addition, the bill would give local governments authority to enact their own regulations for how the devices are used within their jurisdictions. It also contains a number of consumer protection provisions that would limit legal remedies for damages or injuries caused by the devices or their operators.
* Here it is…
My inner curmudgeon is trying to imagine a couple hundred of those things rolling around the West Loop on a Thursday afternoon.
* The Question: Caption?
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Durkin and Brady: A study in contrasts
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
Think Big Illinois Executive Director Quentin Fulks released the following statement after the House Republicans’ press conference where they continued to advocate for preventing Illinois voters from having a say on the fair tax:
“As the fair tax amendment inches closer to passage, Republicans in Springfield are growing increasingly desperate to stop it and make sure Illinoisans don’t have the chance to have a say on the fair tax on the ballot in November 2020. It’s not often that voters have the opportunity to have a direct say on the policies impacting them and their families, and Republicans in Springfield are trying to deny them of that opportunity.
“We hope legislators will do what’s right, and give Illinoisans the chance to decide on the ballot whether they want a tax system that works for everyone, or just the wealthy few.”
* From the other day…
Illinois House Republican leadership will brief their members Monday on a balanced budget proposal which they say the governor’s office won’t listen to, according to an internal caucus memo obtained by Capitol News Illinois on Friday.
“While Governor Pritzker has been occupied hosting cocktail parties, the House Republican Caucus budget team has been working diligently to ensure we are on sound footing offering a budget plan that doesn’t rely on additional tax increases on Illinois families and small businesses,” Deputy Republican Leader Tom Demmer, of Dixon, said in the memo. […]
Meanwhile, spokespersons for Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said the Senate leaders met twice this week to discuss the FY 2020 budget.
* From earlier this month…
But beyond that, Brady said things are moving to an end-of-May conclusion.
“We’re hopeful that we can work on a collective gaming entertainment bill, sports betting, that could provide capital resources for vertical (building projects). We’re still hoping that the details can be worked out that the infrastructure investment is equitable around the state,” Brady said.
He said a recent upward bump in state revenue causes concern about how the state budget “is going to be laid out.” But he said the governor is “very accessible,” and they talk “frequently.”
* My most recent newspaper column…
The measure was not gaining a lot of traction and then proponents asked the construction unions to chat. The unions listened and suggested some changes to make the bill more labor friendly.
The unions recommended an amendment containing “responsible bidder” requirements, which assure that the contractors meet certain levels of qualifications (and that usually means unionized workers). The provision was added, as were Project Labor Agreements, which require building contractors to enter into labor agreements before commencing work. An income tax credit was also added for projects in areas hit hard by poverty and unemployment.
All of a sudden, the bill took off. Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, who has been looking for union support ever since anti-union Gov. Bruce Rauner was defeated, even signed on as a co-sponsor. The bill sailed out of the Senate on a unanimous roll call.
* From Friday…
“Members of my caucus, who were part of the capital working group, received a briefing on the governor’s proposal this afternoon,” said Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady. R-Bloomington. “We look forward to these discussions continuing as we work toward a plan that addresses our state’s critical infrastructure needs and creates jobs.”
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Capital bill roundup
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kristen McQueary…
But even fiscally conservative Republicans tend to get behind big capital bills. Building roads and bridges and schools is what government is supposed to do. A well-run government can essentially competitively bid a bond sale, get a low interest rate and pay back the bonds with a dedicated revenue stream, like sales and income taxes, backed by the full faith and credit of the state, over 30 years.
But nothing is ever typical in Illinois. Pritzker wants to increase the state’s take at the pump from 19 cents a gallon to 38 cents a gallon. That’s in addition to municipal taxes drivers already pay at the pump — Chicago and Cook County both charge extra — a motor fuel tax, an environmental impact tax and a regional transportation tax. This is why Illinois, and particularly Chicago, always outpaces other Midwestern states on fuel prices. It isn’t the price of the gasoline itself. It’s all the taxes folded into the pump price.
I wasn’t aware that basic sales or income taxes, which normally flow to GRF, are used as “dedicated” revenue streams for capital bills. You can most certainly bond using GRF money. It usually costs more without a dedicated stream, which would be separate from what normally flows into the general fund.
* Anyway, a number of states have raised their gas taxes in recent years. The US Chamber took a look at nine Republican-led state legislatures which hiked their gas taxes since 2016 (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia). In six of those states, Republicans have since faced the voters and were overwhelmingly reelected…
Apples and oranges probably, but still.
* Meanwhile, everybody wants more…
An infusion of $2.8 billion to Chicago-area mass transit agencies — to be doled out over six years under a capital plan proposed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker — is great, but not enough, a top transit official said this week.
The CTA, Pace and Metra need that much on a yearly basis, Kirk Dillard, head of the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the three transit agencies, said Monday.
The way the money is being generated — by selling state bonds— will not provide the stable footing the three transit agencies need for longterm planning and investment, RTA officials quickly noted as they perused an outline of Pritzker’s plan that was released over the weekend.
Standing in contrast to this are a litany of proposed new, vehicle-related taxes that will help produce $23 billion for roads and bridge projects and presumably keep bearing fruit beyond the scope of the six-year capital plan.
”If we make it more expensive to drive and we don’t fund transit at the same time, I think it’s unfair to the working people of the state of Illinois,” Dillard said during a speech at the City Club of Chicago. “You’ve got to give them freedom of movement.”
Metra is sitting on a billion dollars in bonding authority.
* Hands are out everywhere…
From outdoors enthusiasts to school superintendents, more Illinoisans are hopeful that Gov. J.B. Pritzker will sign a capital-spending bill, soon.
Locally, folks with some capital ideas include the La Salle elementary school board and a group of 30 northern Illinois residents who took a bus trip last week to Springfield to push for financial and perhaps staffing support for the Hennepin Canal.
One school’s need
Tuesday night, La Salle schools superintendent Brian DeBernardi said he is monitoring things to see if the district can get some aid for an impending, half-million-dollar asbestos-abatement and locker room remodeling and renovation project at Lincoln Jr. High.
“I hope they have matching grants for shovel-ready projects,” he told the school board members, noting that this project is one of them. He said he will notify all the people he needs to contact for the project, which the board is scheduled to vote on in June.
* More…
Lawmakers and advocates praised Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for allocating funds for affordable housing in his proposed capital plan, but said Tuesday his proposal is not nearly enough to properly address the infrastructure need that exists in Illinois.
In a preliminary plan called “Rebuild Illinois” and shared with legislators Friday, the governor allocated $175 million to build and improve cost-effective housing options primarily for seniors, those who are homeless, and people with disabilities.
But Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez and Sen. Mattie Hunter, both from Chicago, were joined by community leaders from across the state in calling for the General Assembly to allocate nearly six times that amount.
Allison Clements, executive director of the Illinois Housing Council, said increasing the level of funding available for permanent, supportive housing to $1 billion would provide a “golden opportunity.”
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It’s just a bill
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Zorn…
The bills that comprise the Reproductive Health Act are just the sort of counterpunch that demonstrators and other concerned citizens are demanding. Yet despite the national uproar, the proposals are still languishing in committees with a little more than a week to go until the end of this legislative session. And Pritzker, who campaigned as a champion for choice, has stayed on the sidelines.
The proposals underscore women’s rights to make “autonomous decisions” about whether to remain pregnant. They repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 that requires minors to inform a parent or legal guardian or get a waiver from a judge before having an abortion. They lift restrictions on late-term abortions and require private insurance plans to cover abortion services.
And, as chief House co-sponsor Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, emphasized to me in an interview Tuesday, the measures repeal dormant statutory provisions calling for criminal penalties against abortion doctors and allowing localities to effectively ban abortion clinics by imposing medically unnecessary requirements on them.
“Those laws were passed long ago and then blocked by the courts,” Cassidy said. “But they didn’t go away. They’re still on the books. An adverse federal court ruling could reinstate them immediately.”
In early March, opponents blasted the Reproductive Health Act as “extreme” for turning access to abortion into “a positive good in Illinois law.”
That was before the nation saw repeated examples of what extremism on abortion really looks like, and before we took the full measure of the harsh intentions of abortion’s most determined foes.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Senate Bill 1966 was advanced to the full House on Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee on a vote along party lines. Sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Willis, an Addison Democrat, an amendment to the bill would require new FOID card holders and those renewing their license to provide a fingerprint. It also would increase application fees from $10 to $50, and reduce the time a license is valid from 10 years to five years.
Willis said the purpose of the bill is to “keep up” with FOID revocations and create better communication between local and state law enforcement agencies.
“One of the reasons that we saw that revocations were not followed up as best as they could was because there was no money in resources to be able to do that,” Willis said.
State Police Lt. John Thompson testified Tuesday about the challenges his agency faces with the limited funds it receives for FOID revocation enforcement.
He said the fee of $10 for 10 years isn’t enough to sustain the nearly 1,000 applications the department receives daily.
* More…
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst asked Willis if she had concerns about the state managing a database with millions of gun owners’ fingerprints.
“I think it makes the state safer, in all honesty,” Willis said.
“Would you support mandatory fingerprinting for all citizens in Illinois?” Windhorst asked.
“If it makes the state safer, yeah,” Willis replied.
State Rep. Art Turner, D-Chicago, raised concerns about FOID fee essentially going from $10 for 10 years to $100 for the same amount of time.
“You could make a criminal out of a person who doesn’t get it renewed if they can’t afford the price at the time,” Turner said. “That’s a light bill. That’s groceries.”
* Other stuff…
* SIU Board could soon be among most student-dominated in higher education: Legislation introduced by state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, to give votes to both student members on the SIU Board of Trustees — one from the Carbondale campus, one from SIU Edwardsville — is on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk after clearing the House and Senate, Stuart announced Monday.
* Illinois House OKs bills regulating drivers’ headlight modifications and digital activities
* Airport tenants could be prosecuted for delinquent taxes
* Illinois Charter School Battles Coming To A Head As Bill Advances
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Turnover
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Backers of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax released polling yesterday that lumped together constituents in 16 House districts held by Democrats, and claimed to show constituent support for Pritzker’s “fair tax” plan.
But individual district polling was nowhere to be found. Nor was a simple question on the progressive tax amendment itself.
In-district, live polling from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates shows why. Voting for the progressive tax amendment – regardless of the rates – could result in turnover in at least five House districts held by Democrats.
Full polling details: House District 49 (topline, crosstabs), House District 51 (topline, crosstabs), House District 96 (topline, crosstabs), House District 111 (topline, crosstabs), House District 112 (topline, crosstabs). Polling conducted March 24-25 for House District 112; March 20-21 for 49, 51, 96 and 111.
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Cannabis roundup
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is an interesting development…
A statement from Brian C. Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois, the state’s civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Illinoisans:
“Equality Illinois is proud to endorse SB 7, the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act. LGBTQ people use cannabis at more than double the rates of non-LGBTQ people according to data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health sponsored by the US Department of Health & Human Services. The criminalization of cannabis use therefore disproportionately harms the LGBTQ community. By legalizing cannabis for recreational use by anyone over the age of 21, SB 7 has the potential to reduce the number of LGBTQ people caught up in Illinois’ criminal justice system.”
“We are strongly encouraged by the bill authors’ attempts to put racial and restorative justice at the heart of SB 7. Communities of color, including LGBTQ communities of color, have been disproportionately harmed by cannabis criminalization. A 2013 report issued by the ACLU highlighted that despite roughly equal rates of cannabis usage by white and African American communities in the United States, African Americans were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis position than white Americans. The current bill places justice for communities of color at the center by seeking an equitable solution to the historic disproportionate impact of criminalization in communities of color by the War on Drugs.”
“We know SB 7 will continue to evolve as the bill authors and supporters seek to lay the foundation of a new legal industry that is good for all of Illinois’ working families. We look forward to continuing to engage as the bill moves through the General Assembly.”
* Always keep in mind that the people who argue for the status quo are in essence protecting an illegal and sometimes violent criminal network from legal competition…
A Naperville man faces felony charges after police say he shot two men during a drug deal late Saturday. Yusuf Syed, 19, of the 200 block of Concord Road, was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and one count of possession of cannabis with intent to deliver.
Your friendly neighborhood licensed cannabis dispensary owner will not shoot you.
* Not a good look…
Republicans said Tuesday that it’s unlikely any member of the GOP will even consider voting to legalize marijuana, so long as its includes the Black Caucus’ priorities — including a robust expungement program — that they aren’t prepared to support.
Oof.
* More from Hannah’s story…
Senate sponsor State Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields) told The Daily Line Tuesday that Welter’s complaints — or the complaints of any other lawmaker who doesn’t appreciate the devastating effects that cannabis prohibition has had on black and brown neighborhoods — belies his lack of understanding of the equity issue the Black Caucus and other progressives are fighting for in bill negotiations.
“I do not understand how we can legalize and normalize the use of a product and then give rich people in suits the ability to participate in an activity that has destroyed whole communities,” Hutchinson said. “I don’t understand how you can look at one of those things and not see the nexus for the other…how is it that you think this is not connected or worth talking about. And frankly, believing it’s not worth talking about says more about the person making that statement than the issue at hand.”
Hutchinson also said she didn’t buy the Republican line that the governor’s office was choosing to turn away from Republican votes on the bill in favor of Black Caucus votes.
“It’s a false choice,” she said. “I don’t accept that choice.”
House sponsor State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) agreed, calling it a “false dichotomy,” adding that it’s also “premature” for Republicans to take a stand on a bill that hasn’t even been finalized yet.
Yep. A new draft is coming. Everybody should just chill out for a minute.
* The sponsors say this will be fixed as well…
Since its inception, the Illinois medical marijuana program has been shrouded in secrecy, with the government denying requests for information about who owns the grow houses and dispensaries.
Lawmakers had said they would rectify that issue when it came to legalizing marijuana for recreational use — but the proposed law appears in part to maintain secrecy for organizations applying to operate retail pot stores.
On page 150 of the 533-page bill, the measure states that all application information for adult-use dispensing organizations, down to their addresses, is exempt from the state Freedom of Information Act and “not subject to disclosure.”
All complaints and investigations of the retail stores, except for criminal records, also would be kept secret under the proposal.
The passage seems to conflict with a later section governing licensed cannabis businesses, which states that all cannabis business applications to the state are subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
Looks like a drafting problem.
* Other stuff…
* Medical marijuana growers would get first shot at retail market in Illinois under proposal to legalize recreational sales: Cresco Labs more than doubled the amount of marijuana it could grow at its Joliet facility last year and has construction underway to do the same at its Lincoln facility. It also added technology and automation to make its products consistently on a large scale for a recreational market, spokesman Jason Erkes said. Bedford Grow has four grow rooms at its cultivation facility in Bedford Park, each with a layer of cannabis plants. But a space currently used for storage could be converted into eight more grow rooms, said Paul Chialdikas, vice president of sales and marketing. It could further increase capacity in each room by going vertical and adding layers of plants. Given all the expansion underway, Chialdikas said a shortage is unlikely. Still, operators will have to prove they can meet demand.
* 5 things you didn’t know were in the Illinois weed bill: 1. No drive-through dope. Dispensaries shall not operate drive-through windows or cannabis vending machines, the legislation says. (They also cannot operate a dispensary if its video-surveillance equipment isn’t working, nor can they have fewer than two people working at the dispensary at any time while the dispensary is open.)
* Lynn Sweet: My visit to a retail cannabis store in Los Angeles: Lots of products, hipster vibe
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* I told subscribers about this development earlier in the week…
As the General Assembly moves toward its May 31 adjournment with issues such as a state budget, graduated income tax, and the legalization of sports gambling and recreational marijuana still to be decided, an ambitious package of energy market reforms will likely have to wait until the fall veto session or later before moving forward.
The expected delay comes despite calls for urgency from activists and energy interests from coal to nuclear and renewables. The ultimate goal of the stakeholders involved is to merge several energy-related bills into a comprehensive reform package that drives renewable energy production in Illinois.
“There’s a lot of shifting ground in the energy space right now in Illinois. But given all the complicated policy initiatives facing the Legislature right now, this session, I think it’s fair to say energy related concerns have been relegated to the back burner for now,” state Sen. Bill Cunningham said earlier this month.
Cunningham, D-Chicago, is the chair of the Senate’s energy committee and sponsor of Senate Bill 1781, dubbed the “Path to 100 Act,” aimed at moving the state toward 100 percent renewable energy by expanding on Illinois’ 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act, or FEJA.
* The Clean Energy Jobs Act has also reportedly been back-burnerized. Coincidentally, the coalition promoting the legislation is out with a poll today. From the polling memo…
Tulchin Research recently conducted a statewide survey among 500 likely November 2020 voters in Illinois in order to assess attitudes about the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a bill currently before the State Legislature that would set a path for Illinois to be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2050. Our poll finds that nearly 7 in 10 (68%) support the Clean Energy Jobs Act based on a basic description of the bill and that support is broad-based, extending across the state and across the political spectrum.
Our poll finds that Illinoisans overwhelmingly support the Clean Energy Jobs Act based on a basic description of the bill. Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) support the Clean Energy Jobs Act, including more than a third of (35%) who say they strongly support the bill, while just 20% oppose it and 11% are undecided.
Here is a description of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a bill being considered by the Illinois State Legislature.
The Clean Energy Jobs Act sets a path for Illinois to be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2050, removing all carbon electricity production by 2030. This act would create jobs and provide job skills and training so there is equal economic opportunity in clean energy industries throughout Illinois. And the law would eliminate pollution by encouraging the use of electric vehicles, especially by municipal bus and car fleets.
Based on what you know, do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose the Clean Energy Jobs Act?
Total Support 68%
Total Oppose 20%
Don’t Know 11%
Support – Oppose +48
* More…
Sorry for the blurriness. Click here for a better copy.
* They also asked a coal question…
Coal-fired power plants are closing in Illinois mainly because they can no longer compete economically with cheaper, cleaner electricity sources. 49%
Coal-fired power plants are closing in Illinois mainly because of too much regulation and pressure from environmental groups. 27%
Don’t Know 24%
* Methodology…
From May 2-6, 2019, Tulchin Research conducted a statewide survey among 500 likely November 2020 voters in Illinois. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 4 percentage points.
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* As is noted in the Sun-Times, I told my subscribers about this story earlier in the week…
In a promotional video advertising her online cannabis investment workshops, state Sen. Patricia Van Pelt assured those who would attend that she wants to “help some people get rich.”
The video, posted online in January, shows Van Pelt talking to a crowd about the prospect of becoming “marijuana millionaires” and says her knowledge of the industry will help people invest in it and make money.
Less than four months later, those seminars and another cannabis-related business Van Pelt is involved with are being investigated by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, a source confirmed to the Chicago Sun-Times.
It’s unclear exactly why the investigation was launched. But as Van Pelt was marketing the investment seminars and leading a company that intends to obtain licenses to grow and sell marijuana in the state, she also was named as co-sponsor of a bill to legalize the drug statewide.
After Van Pelt’s investments in cannabis-related businesses were made public last week in a report by WCIA in Champaign, the Chicago Democrat swiftly removed herself as a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 7, the measure that would lift Illinois’ prohibition on recreational weed. She had been listed as a co-sponsor for just over a week.
In an interview, Van Pelt downplayed her role in shaping the bill and said she removed herself because she didn’t want to become a “lightning rod” for criticism of the legalization effort. […]
While Van Pelt told the Sun-Times that she wouldn’t be involved in shaping the legalization bill, she has not committed to abstaining from votes on the measure.
* This is what she told me last week about withdrawing her co-sponsorship…
I’ll be reviewing the legislation once it’s in its final form to determine if I should vote on the bill. It doesn’t make sense to be a chief cosponsor of a bill that I may not end up voting for
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
On Monday, thousands of voters gathered and marched demanding Illinois pass the RHA. The time is now for action — so that Illinois is not dragged into the past.
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Yet another reason why I love my blog commenters
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yesterday’s question was “Gov. Pritzker is to the looming end of the spring session as ____ is to ____?” Check out Earnest’s answer…
Sorry to be so literal, but
as the warp is to the weft.
I had no idea what Earnest was talking about until I talked to someone who does a lot of weaving. Check out Wikipedia’s definition…
Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is drawn through and inserted over-and-under the warp.
I asked about the “looming” end of session and Earnest replied with a looming-related answer.
I love you people.
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