* The Sun-Times has edited its story, so I updated my headline and here’s the revised version…
A Cook County judge Friday ruled that a referendum question funding homelessness prevention in Chicago via a real estate transfer tax increase should be struck from the March primary ballot, dealing a major political blow to the measure’s biggest proponent, Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The ruling represents a big win for the real estate industry and development groups that sued to block the ballot measure.
Judge Kathleen Burke also rejected the Chicago Board of Elections’ efforts to dismiss the case and she also denied a motion by the city to intervene in the case.
While the referendum question was in flux, voters were already weighing in through mail ballots and in-person early voting. A spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections previously said the results of any votes already cast would not be made public if the referendum question were to be struck down. […]
The suit asserted the referendum measure is a “textbook example” of a time-honored legislative tactic known as “log-rolling” — combining a politically unpopular proposal with a popular one to sugar-coat and, therefore, convince voters to swallow the bitter pill.
I assume there will be an appeal, but the clock is ticking.
A Cook County judge ruled today that votes on the March 19 city ballot measure to increase the real estate transfer tax on properties over a $1 million will not be counted.
Even so, the measure’s proponents are still telling voters to go to the polls.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Burke ruled in favor of the Chicago Building Owners & Managers Association, who sought to block the Bring Chicago Home initiative, which would have used revenue from the higher transfer tax to fund programs for homeless people. As a result of her ruling, the question will remain on the ballot but the votes will not be counted.
Burke did not elaborate on her reasoning and abruptly left the court after a two-hour session. Advocates for the transfer tax proposal, dubbed Bring Chicago Home, say they plan to appeal.
Nearly four years after Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration gave the OK for the General Iron scrap-metal operation to move to the Southeast Side, he’s agreed that the state of Illinois will take a tougher look at the likely environmental impact in the future before allowing such pollution-producing businesses to move into low-income areas.
The deal made public Friday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency commits Illinois to consider the impact of allowing more polluting industry in low-income neighborhoods already burdened with environmental and social stresses.
Under the agreement, sparked by a complaint from Southeast Side groups, Illinois environmental officials will beef up their oversight of polluters who are setting up operations or expanding. New measures include more notifications to residents and possible public meetings. Prior violations of environmental laws may trigger additional pollution controls or monitoring. Site locations of polluters near schools, day cares and health centers will get more scrutiny.
Community organizations, health and environmental advocates and other politicians made the case to Pritzker in 2020 that he should deny a state permit to allow construction and a pollution-control plan for the General Iron car-shredding operation that was being moved from Lincoln Park. Pritzker’s environmental officials said they had no choice but to approve the project at East 116th Street along the Calumet River.
The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus called a press conference Wednesday to offer their responses to Governor Pritzker’s annual budget address.
“The stability and progress that was mentioned by Governor Pritzker today has helped many communities, but we expect that help to trickle down to the Black community,” said State Representative Carol Ammons (D-Chicago), Illinois Legislative Black Caucus House chair. “Our goal is to not just put it into the budget, but to get it out to our communities. We look forward to redressing investments in the Black community, because as we invest in the Black community everyone knows that is an investment all other communities benefit from.”
Black Caucus members joined to address the parts of the governor’s budget proposal relating to the ILBC’s four-pillar legislative agenda aimed to rid Illinois of systemic racism. Members echoed a resounding responsibility to speak to the issues in the Black community that do not quite translate into the budget investments.
Black Caucus members called for investments to improve academic opportunities for low-income and minority students, investments in trades in communities of color to foster economic development, and increased investments in public safety and gun violence prevention in disadvantaged communities. Despite previous budget proposals including investments to counter-act inequities across a wide range of issues, data shows little improvement in these inequities.
“We saw a proposed budget that acknowledges a handful of issues that disproportionately affect Black communities, such as gun violence, maternal mortality rates, and economic access and equity,” said State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago), Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Senate chair. “The ILBC fought hard to enact four key pillars to reform Illinois and dismantle systemic racism across the state. I look forward to fighting alongside my colleagues to ensure adequate funding reaches the communities that need it most as we move forward with budget negotiations.”
The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus also announced they will release a document entitled, “Leveling the Playing Field: Using the General Fund Budget to Invest in Building an Equitable State and Eliminating Structural Racism” with dollar figures listed alongside issues mentioned at the press conference.
Today, a new article from the Illinois Answers Project detailed how Clerk of the Circuit Court Iris Martinez improperly exposed the names of thousands of juvenile defendants to the public in violation of state law. In January, Martinez’s office added a feature to the court system’s online case search system to allow the public to look up criminal court records. However, for weeks Martinez’s office did not realize the feature exposed the names of juvenile defendants, which are supposed to be sealed under state law, potentially risking the privacy and safety of these young people.
Martinez is the top political backer of State Sen. Natalie Toro (20th District) and was key to her appointment to the position in July. Multiple members of Toro’s family, including Toro’s aunt – a disgraced former Cook County Judge – work as top deputies in Martinez’s office.
20th District State Senate Candidate Graciela Guzman’s campaign manager Caitlin Brady released the following statement in response:
“Iris Martinez’s catastrophic failures continue to undermine criminal justice reform, all while political protegee Natalie Toro follows directly in her footsteps. Is Toro willing to call out her chief political patron for her disastrous term in office, or will she simply continue to use big money ads to hoodwink voters and lie about her previous endorsement from the FOP? It’s time for Natalie Toro to come clean about her relationship with Iris Martinez.”
Although [Ald. Ray] Lopez points to his differences with [US Rep. Chuy] García, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other top Democrats, he has longstanding and deep ties to one of the party’s most powerful figures of the past half-century — the recently convicted former Ald. Edward Burke.
Even as the federal corruption case against Burke toppled him from power, the former alderman’s ties to Lopez have grown closer, records show. Lopez has moved his ward office and political operation into Burke’s old headquarters at 2650 W. 51st St.
A little more than five years ago, that same building was raided by federal agents, and Burke was charged soon after that. The city has paid $21,000 to the entity that owns the building since July, according to records.
Lopez’s campaign headquarters are in the building’s rear unit, which is listed as the address for Lopez’s political fund, the 15th Ward Democratic organization and the congressional campaign.
The landlord is none other than Burke himself. According to Cook County and state records, the building’s owner is a company whose managers are Burke and daughter Jennifer Burke.
That company gifted $1,750 in “headquarters rent” to Lopez and his ward organization, state campaign finance disclosure records show.
* A silver lining, at least his heirs will sell the team?
* Crain’s | AT&T wireless nightmare was triggered by company work on network expansion: “Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack,” an AT&T spokesman said in a statement. “We are continuing our assessment of today’s outage to ensure we keep delivering the service that our customers deserve.”
* Vital City | Learning about ShotSpotter — and Gun Violence — from Chicago: Our research in Chicago found that police officers stopped their patrol cars more often and closer to the location of reported gunfire when responding to ShotSpotter alerts than 911 calls, as measured by GPS coordinates of patrol vehicles. The recovery of illegal firearms increased in police districts covered by ShotSpotter, particularly at the scenes of fatal shootings. However, ShotSpotter did not reduce the occurrence of shots-fired calls for service, fatal shootings, non-fatal shootings or other violent felonies committed with firearms. The introduction of ShotSpotter in police districts had no impact on gun-violence crime clearance rates (the proportion of cases solved by police).
* Crain’s | After Alabama ruling, Duckworth moves to protect in vitro fertilization: “We were right to be worried that IVF could be next,” Duckworth said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This ruling effectively labels women in Alabama who undergo IVF as criminals and their doctors as killers. Congress must pass my bill to establish a statutory right to access IVF and other ART services nationwide.”
* Tribune | Top cop offers harsh critique of COPA after agency recommends CPD fire 28 officers: In the last eight weeks, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has recommended the Chicago Police Department fire 28 officers — an “unprecedented” number, CPD’s top attorney told the Chicago Police Board. But the avalanche of new disciplinary cases now sitting with Snelling is a byproduct of the City Council’s decision to approve most of the new CPD union contract last year — unanimously, without a single question posed to city negotiators.
* Daily Herald | Board of Review member says panel’s decision to increase Arlington Park property about ‘fairness’: If approved, the value would still be lower than what the Cook County assessor’s office set earlier this year. In a news release issued Thursday, Cardenas said he voted along with Larry Rogers Jr. to increase the assessed value of the former horse-racing track now owned by the Chicago Bears to $124.7 million out of “fairness to the Bears and fairness to Arlington Heights taxing bodies.”
* Sun-Times | Official at center of Little Village implosion debacle tapped as city’s acting buildings chief: Mayor Brandon Johnson named Marlene Hopkins acting commissioner of the Department of Buildings after firing her former boss last week. Almost four years ago on Easter weekend, Hopkins and another buildings department official were in charge of making sure that the implosion of an almost 400-foot chimney was performed safely.
* Bond Buyer | S&P lowers outlook on Chicago’s GO bonds to stable: S&P Global Ratings has revised the outlook on Chicago’s general obligation bonds to stable from positive, the rating agency announced Thursday. S&P affirmed its BBB-plus rating on the bonds.
* Sun-Times | Retiring WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling: ‘It seems like what I did meant something to people’: “I thought: ‘Oooh, I’m not funny, I’m not much of a showman. What’s my schtick going to be?’ ” Skilling says. “And I always worried about that. Well, it turns out, I guess, in retrospect, my schtick is that I dug into the science of weather. And, I’ll tell ya, it used to scare the devil out of the news consultants. They’d look at you grimly and say, ‘jetstream, dew point?’ Nobody knows what that is. All they want to know is: Is it going to rain tomorrow?’”
* Reuters | Chicago corn’s race to $4 more significant than meets the eye -Braun: Projections released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October implied the cost per bushel to raise corn domestically in 2024 would be around $4.80, down from 2023. CBOT December corn CZ24, which represents the upcoming harvest, has undergone its biggest February slide since 2013, settling at $4.53-1/4 on Thursday.
*Sun-Times | Former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould is the new head football coach at Rolling Meadows: Multiple sources have confirmed that former Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould is the new head football coach at Rolling Meadows High School. Gould replaces Sam Baker, who held the job for four seasons. Gould met with the Rolling Meadows players on Friday morning. Some local media members were at the school for the announcement but they were not allowed to speak with Gould.
* WaPo | An ectopic pregnancy put her life at risk. A Texas hospital refused to treat her: Norris-De La Cruz ultimately received emergency surgery about 24 hours later at a different hospital in the area, at which point her ectopic pregnancy had already started to rupture. The OB/GYN who performed the procedure said that, if Norris-De La Cruz had waited much longer, she would have been “in extreme danger of losing her life.”
* USA Today | Caitlin Clark inches closer to Pete Maravich’s scoring record as Iowa hosts Illinois: The fourth-ranked Hawkeyes (23-4, 12-3 Big Ten) were routed 86-69 by Indiana on Thursday and now find themselves two games out of first place in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, which they play in the regular season finale on March 3. Clark is averaging a nation-leading 32.4 points, 8.5 assists, and seven rebounds this season. Next up for Iowa is Illinois (13-12, 7-8), which is coming off an 86-66 win against the Hoosiers on Feb. 19.
* I wouldn’t have expected to see a press release like this, but I did, so here it is…
Illinois AFL-CIO and Chicago Federation of Labor leaders support medical-aid-in-dying state legislation
SPRINGFIELD (February 23, 2024)—A bill introduced in the Illinois Senate last week that would allow medical aid in dying for those suffering from terminal illnesses is supported by the principal officers of both the Chicago Federation of Labor and the Illinois chapter of the AFL-CIO.
The legislation—SB3499, the End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, initially sponsored by Senate Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes and State Sen. Laura Fine, would make Illinois the 11th state to give terminally ill individuals the option to experience a peaceful death by requesting and self-administering medication.
“Our Illinois unions have a long history at being at the forefront of positive social change, and this is another example of them leading the way,” said Amy Sherman, Midwest Advocacy Director for Compassion & Choices Action Network Illinois, a member of the Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition. “The majority of Illinoisans - 7 out of 10 likely voters in a 2023 Impact Research poll - want this compassionate option. Advocates, especially those experiencing terminal illnesses or who have witnessed loved ones suffer at the end of life, are grateful to see key labor leaders support this legislation.”
“When a worker chooses to join a union, they exercise a fundamental right to engage in collective action to even the field with their employers,” said CFL President Bob Reiter. “And when faced with a terminal diagnosis, people should also have a choice when planning their end-of-life care with their medical providers.”
“Terminally ill patients deserve autonomy and compassion as they weigh end-of-life care options with their medical provider. Dying people should have the power to choose what brings comfort and peace of mind for themselves and their families,” said Tim Drea, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. “Just as we fight for the rights of workers to choose to join a union, we must also fight for individuals to have control over their own medical care, especially when faced with a devastating prognosis.”
The Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition is a statewide partnership dedicated to raising both awareness and support across Illinois for medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults. The coalition’s goal is to authorize medical aid in dying and ensure that terminally ill people who want it can access it. The coalition’s partners include ACLU Illinois, Compassion & Choices Action Network Illinois, and Final Options Illinois. Learn more about their work at illinoisoptions.org
* The Question: Do you agree with their arguments? Explain.
Friday, Feb 23, 2024 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois ranks #9 in the U.S. for reported gas leaks, shows a study conducted in June 2022 on methane gas leaks. Frequent leaks are resulting in death, injury, and other damage to our health and environment. Pausing critical replacement of our aging natural gas lines is dangerous for everyone.
When Governor Pritzker’s appointees on the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) shut down the natural gas line Safety Modernization Program in Chicago, it not only wiped out 1,000 jobs, but also subjected residents and business owners to the unnecessary danger of aged gas infrastructure that is no longer allowed to be replaced.
Tell Gov. Pritzker and the ICC to restart the program, lives are at risk. Transitioning to electric without a plan will cost homeowners thousands of dollars. We need to fix our dangerous natural gas lines for our safety.
New state legislation targets titanium dioxide and four other synthetic ingredients — brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye No. 3 — that have been linked to serious health problems, including hyperactivity, nervous system damage, reproductive issues, hormonal impairment and even cancer.
I recently stood with state Sen. Willie Preston and Rep. Anne Stava-Murray to introduce the Illinois Food Safety Act, which aims to ban these harmful chemicals in candy, soda and other ultraprocessed foods sold here. […]
As secretary of state, I oversee the state’s organ donor registry, one of the largest organ and tissue donation programs in the nation, which depends on healthy organs for individuals suffering from life-threatening diseases or injuries. Unfortunately, we’re seeing far too many chronically sick individuals in need of transplants these days and far fewer healthy organs available.
The goal of our legislation is to help ensure Illinoisans — and especially our children — eat safer and healthier food. What the bill doesn’t do is equally important: It doesn’t take food off the shelves, it doesn’t force companies to eliminate brands or products, and it doesn’t restrict the manufacturing or distribution of products with those ingredients, so long as they aren’t sold in Illinois.
State Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, introduced House Bill 4709 that would amend the current state statute that says if a county board chooses a school to be a polling place, then the school district must make the school available for use as a polling place.
“At my son’s elementary school, I have to buzz through two doors and show an ID just to talk to the secretary. There’s a disconnect between that safety measure and the safety measures we have in place for polling,” said Hirschauer.
Right now, the law says the school is encouraged to close school for Election Day, which is in November. The law makes no mention of closing schools for primaries or consolidated elections. […]
Lakeview Junior High School is currently used as a polling place in Downers Grove and Superintendent Andrew Wise said when there are distractions where the entire community is let in while school is in session, it raises anxiety.
“It raises anxiety in our students, in our faculty and staff because there are people in the building that have not been granted permission to be inside for the day for a specific purpose,” said Wise.
One proposal could support the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s goal to reclaim land stolen from them more than 200 years ago. The measure would allow Illinois to transfer ownership of Shabbona Lake State Park to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. […]
Chief Shab-eh-nay is the great grandfather four generations removed of Joseph Rupnick, Chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
“In the 1850s when Chief Shab-eh-nay traveled to his home after we were forcibly removed from Illinois to Kansas to make sure the nation was settled, the government stole the land and illegally auctioned off more than 1,200 acres of his land that was rightfully and legally ours,” Rupnick said. […]
“The governor has shown his support conceptually,” said Rep. Mark Walker (D-Arlington Heights). “The details of this deal are not finally settled. But the Department of Natural Resources has been cooperative and helped with this. We’re going to get there.”
A bill would require public K-12 schools with names, logos or mascots containing Native American tribes or aspects of Native American culture to change them. It’s sponsored by state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford.
“The presence of native mascots, logos and names harm native children. They harm native children,” said Megan Bang, director of Northwestern University’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research.
She said research shows mascot names like Warriors, Indians and Braves hurt Native American kids. […]
The bill only impacts public K-12 schools. It does not impact the University of Illinois’ nickname, Fighting Illini.
Two Illinois bills seek to create the Motor Vehicle Insurance Fairness Act, which would create a review process for car insurance rate increases in the state.
HB4611, introduced by [Rep. Thaddeus Jones], and SB3213, introduced by Sen. Javier Cervantes (D-District 1), will be heard in the General Assembly’s Insurance Committee Monday. […]
Guzzardi filed a similar bill last year in the House. It never made it out of the Rules Committee after a review by it and the Insurance Policy Subcommittee.
A consumer advocacy group in California, Consumer Watchdog, says an insurance review process in their state has saved consumers from $3 billion in auto insurance hikes since 2002.
The Illinois legislature has the opportunity to enact long overdue protections from the harmful effects of so-called “crime-free” housing and nuisance property ordinances.
These ordinances, known as CFNOs, are local laws that encourage landlords to evict or exclude tenants based on their contact with the criminal legal system or calls for police help. The Community Safety through Stable Homes Act, introduced earlier this month by state Rep. La Shawn Ford (H.B. 5314) and state Sen. Karina Villa (S.B. 3680), will provide important protections for Illinois tenants and property owners. The legislation would prevent local governments from imposing penalties based on a tenant’s contact with police. It would also prohibit local policies that encourage or require landlords to use broad criminal background checks or to evict tenants based solely on their contact with the police or alleged criminal or nuisance behavior. […]
The harms caused by CFNOs are well documented and persistent. These ordinances are drafted very broadly and give wide discretion to the local officials charged with enforcing them — often the police. As a result, they can affect innocent tenants who are not at fault for the alleged criminal or nuisance activity and who may even be attempting to report crime or request police assistance. A family in Granite City, Illinois, for example, faced the possibility of eviction under the city’s CFNO based on the alleged criminal activity of the adult daughter, who did not even live with the family in its home.
For more than a decade, advocacy organizations have targeted harmful CFNOs through litigation, local policy advocacy, community outreach and education. The issue has historically united unlikely coalitions. Advocates for tenants have come together with advocates for the rights of property owners, who risk facing unfair penalties for failing to evict tenants under the ordinances. Civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as groups with an economic libertarian focus such as the Institute for Justice, have taken legal action in response to the civil rights threats CFNOs pose. These efforts have generated important successes, but municipalities throughout the country — including more than 100 in Illinois — continue to enforce some form of CFNO.
* Sen. Mike Porfirio…
State Senator Mike Porfirio introduced legislation that would require public colleges and universities to waive transcript evaluation fees for refugees of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“In waiving these fees, we can invest in the academic journey of Iraqi and Afghan refugees while helping them,” said Porfirio (D-Lyons Township), who served alongside Iraqi and Afghan translators during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as a police advisor during the war in Afghanistan. “We have a moral obligation to support those who have served shoulder to shoulder with us.”
Currently, transcript evaluations assess foreign transcripts as part of an admission process for higher education institutions. These evaluations are used to establish a U.S.-equivalent GPA, verify the accreditation of the schools where the applicant obtained or will obtain their degree, and benchmark completed coursework to determine if the applicant has met the prerequisite coursework requirements for their intended program.
Some institutions require applicants with foreign transcripts to pay a fee to outside vendors to evaluate the transcripts. Transcript evaluation fees vary widely in price, but they usually cost over $100. Porfirio’s bill would require higher education institutions to waive these fees for Iraqi and Afghan refugees.
The ailing local news industry in Illinois would receive compensation from Big Tech companies and benefit from state tax incentives and a new journalism scholarship program under sweeping legislation introduced in the general assembly this month.
“It is the most ambitious package of local journalism policy that I’ve seen,” Anna Brugmann, policy director for the nonprofit Rebuild Local News, said of two bills introduced by state Sen. Steve Stadelman, a Democrat who chaired the bipartisan Illinois Local Journalism Task Force.
“Employment in newsrooms has drastically declined,” Stadelman said. “A third of the newspapers in Illinois have closed over the years. Clearly there is a crisis in local journalism.”
The Journalism Preservation Act would require Big Tech companies such as Google and Facebook to compensate news organizations for the content that they share, display or link to on their platforms. The Strengthening Community Media Act offers a broad array of incentives, tax breaks and scholarships intended to repopulate local newsrooms. Included in that bill is a provision that calls for 120 days’ written notice before a local news organization may be sold to an out-of-state company.
With tax season approaching, millions of Illinoisans won’t be seeing a bump up in a widely used state tax credit known as the standard exemption after lawmakers throttled a planned increase in the credit for the 2023 tax year.
Tucked within a 558-page revenue package, the little-noticed tax change came about last spring with passage of the state budget omnibus package approved by the Democratic-led General Assembly and enacted by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. […]
Prior to the 2023 tax year, the standard exemption increased 10 times under an automatic escalator tied to inflation put into effect in 2012 by former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who served as the state’s chief executive between 2009 and 2015. The change roughly a decade ago had overwhelming bipartisan support in the legislature.
But the standard exemption will remain flat this tax-filing season at $2,425 for those who declare adjusted gross income of $250,000 or less individually or $500,000 or less for married couples.
An inflation-indexed tax credit that millions of Illinoisans receive would rise for the 2024 tax year under a $93 million proposal by Gov. JB Pritzker, but the increase is short of what current law dictates and what legislative Republicans and former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn want.
The possible increase in the standard exemption from $2,425 to $2,550 per person was included within Pritzker’s proposed $52.7 billion budget proposal he outlined Wednesday.
Pritzker’s proposed change would amount to slightly less than $25 in savings for a family of four over 2023 tax year levels, according to calculations by WBEZ. […]
When Pritzker and Democrats instead decided last year to keep the $2,425 amount in effect for the 2023 tax year, the law was written so the inflation escalator would resume for the 2024 tax year and continue in place through the 2028 tax year.
That meant the standard exemption would automatically rise to $2,775 for tax year 2024.
That’s $225 more than what Pritzker is now proposing — setting up a scenario where lawmakers doing nothing on the governor’s proposal this spring actually would be more generous for taxpayers than what Pritzker is floating.
But the bottom line is the governor essentially decided to skip an increase in the standard exemption during a major inflationary year and then restarted the cost of living clock, likely because it would’ve been an even bigger hit to the budget than the $93 million this will cost.
* Here’s more…
* ABC Chicago | Pritzker proposes eliminating sales tax on groceries, mayors worry about revenue loss: In the city of Northlake, where there are four grocery stores, the mayor is genuinely worried about the impact on his community if lawmakers approve the governor’s plan, because it’s all money that goes back to communities. “Well, it’s a noble idea. I mean, that’s great. Nobody wants to pay taxes, especially on groceries. But I think there’s a whole string of unintended consequences going all the way down to the local level,” said Mayor Jeffrey Sherwin.
* Capitol News Illinois | Budget reaction: Retailers, municipalities critical of Pritzker’s proposed tax changes: The IML particularly criticized this year’s proposal in light of continued underfunding of the state’s local government distributive fund. Municipalities are currently getting less than 7 percent from the state’s income tax, although last year’s budget contained a small increase. That’s less than the 10 percent cut municipalities were getting prior to the passage of a state income tax hike in 2011.
* Center Square | Retailers push back on Pritzker’s proposal to cap sales tax credit they claim: Retailers receive a discount of 1.75% of the sales tax they collect from sales as reimbursement for collecting taxes for the state. Pritzker wants to cap the claim at $1,000 a month. His administration said the move would raise about $101 million for the state and $85 million for local governments.
* Capitol News Illinois | With budget proposal and fiery address, Pritzker paints himself as progressive pragmatist: The governor was met with big applause from Democrats in laying out his proposed “Healthcare Consumer Access and Protection Act,” which would, in part, ban “prior authorization” requirements for mental health treatment. Pritzker characterized the practice of prior authorization as a way for insurance companies to deny the care that doctors have prescribed.
* WCIA | Pritzker highlights proposed education investments in budget address: “I propose we stay on plan and increase Smart Start funding by $150 million in year two to create 5,000 more preschool seats, continue growing childcare and reach thousands more families with critical early childhood services,” Pritzker said. The governor plans to have universal Pre-K in Illinois by 2027.
* STLPR | Illinois Gov. Pritzker pitches plan to reduce Black maternal deaths in latest budget: Pritzker, a Democrat, presented the plan Wednesday as part of his budget plan for the fiscal year that begins in July. The budget includes $4.4 million to study the state’s maternal mortality rate and create a plan to help pregnant women and new mothers. It also includes $1 million to help midwives and other community-based providers open practices and gain Medicaid certification and $5 million to bolster the state’s home-health visiting program for low-income and young families.
* Press Release | Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus outlines priorities following governor’s budget address: “Our State’s prosperity is intertwined with the success of our Latino community, our state budget must prioritize equitable investment in healthcare, education, and jobs for Latino families,” said House Latino Caucus Chair Dagmara Avelar (D-Bolingbrook). “While we recognize positives in Governor Pritzker’s proposal, we’re committed to further enhancements. We will continue our united mission to serve our communities faithfully.”
* WQAD | Here’s what QCA leaders had to say about Illinois Gov. Pritzker’s State of State address: The Quad Cities Chamber applauds Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for a continued commitment to balanced budgets, which creates stability and certainty for businesses and residents. The Chamber sees areas for opportunity and collaboration as the State deliberates on final budget allocations and particularly in our focus areas of workforce and business and economic growth.
* ICYMI: ShotSpotter microphones have been hidden from police and the public, now the secret locations of microphones are revealed. WIRED…
- Nine cities have more than 500 sensors installed, including Albuquerque, New Mexico; Chicago, Illinois; Washington, DC; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Las Vegas, Nevada.
- SoundThinking equipment has been installed at more than a thousand elementary and high schools; they are perched atop dozens of billboards, scores of hospitals, and within more than a hundred public housing complexes.
- An analysis of sensor distribution in US cities found nearly 70 percent of people who live in a neighborhood with at least one SoundThinking sensor identified as Black or Latino.
- In February, a leaked internal report from the State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois’ Cook County found that nearly a third of arrests stemming from a ShotSpotter alert had nothing to do with a gun.
* Sun-Times | Who to vote for? Too often, it’s about who’s first on the ballot.: Many voters told the Sun-Times they would feel more assured in their picks — and, experts say, a significant share of non-voters might be more inclined to join the process — if they had better access to clear, unbiased information to help them make choices.
* WAND | Native Americans hope Illinois lawmakers can transfer stolen land, ban racist school mascots: Illinois lawmakers could pass several pieces of legislation this spring to help Native Americans across the state. One proposal could support the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s goal to reclaim land stolen from them more than 200 years ago. The measure would allow Illinois to transfer ownership of Shabbona Lake State Park to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.
* Daily Herald | 11th District GOP congressional candidates complain of ‘moral decline’ in U.S.: Hathaway-Altman, a chief sales officer with a travel company who unsuccessfully sought the nomination in 2022, raised the issue during her opening remarks. She proclaimed the U.S. is experiencing a “sharp” moral decline. When asked to clarify, Hathaway-Altman said Americans don’t focus enough on families and family values.
* Effingham Daily News | Write-in candidates vie for GOP nomination in 102nd District: Incumbent Adam Niemerg is being challenged in his bid for reelection by Jim Acklin of Ogden and Edward Blade of Toledo. Niemerg began pursuing a write-in campaign after the Illinois State Board of Elections elected not to place his name on the ballot for failure to have his nominating petition notarized. He was the only candidate who filed a petition to have his name placed on the Republican ballot.
* Daily-Journal | Governors State awarded $500K grant for addictions studies scholarships: The grant will provide tuition scholarships, internship stipends and wraparound support for students attending. Funded through the Illinois Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery and the Illinois Certification Board, this initiative is part of a new workforce incentive program for certified alcohol and other drug counselors (CADCs) in Illinois known as the CADC Workforce Expansion Program.
* Daily-Journal | Bourbonnais preparing ordinance dealing with migrant buses: “We took a little longer to review and be sure about enforcement and legality,” Mayor Paul Schore said. During Monday’s meeting the board’s attorney, Patrick Dunn, said he looked at several recently passed ordinances, including the city of Kankakee and Manteno.
* Telegraph | Resolution opposing sanctuary status passed in Madison County: The resolution declares opposition to “sanctuary state status,” directs the county administration to “take no discretionary action” supporting sanctuary state policies, and encourages citizens to “actively advocate” for changes in state policies and federal immigration laws.
* Sun-Times | Why is Jerry Reinsdorf spending millions buying up parking lots around the United Center?: Over the past 19 months, a Reinsdorf-connected company has spent $44.7 million buying vacant lots from two politically connected families that have long offered discounted parking deals to fans of the Bulls and Blackhawks, records examined by the Chicago Sun-Times show. A third family has refused to sell its parking lots.
* Paul Sullivan | Jerry Reinsdorf’s about-face on the White Sox possibly leaving Chicago is history — and hypocrisy — repeating itself: The good news for Chicago White Sox fans is the team eventually will be up for sale, according to Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. The bad news is it won’t happen as long as Reinsdorf is alive. Before he does go, Reinsdorf — who turns 88 Sunday — wants to leave Chicago with a special gift: a shiny, new ballpark for the Sox that would anchor the redevelopment of The 78 site in the South Loop. Sox fans would enjoy the gift long after he’s gone, and Reinsdorf believes the city and state would benefit as well.
* Axios | Billionaire George Soros steps up to save Chicago radio stations: Billionaire George Soros’ investment firm is poised to take control of Audacy, which owns several radio stations in Chicago. The 93-year-old progressive philanthropist is set to become the latest owner in Chicago media to have political leanings, stepping in after the publicly traded radio and podcast company filed for bankruptcy in January.
* Sun-Times | Hard liquor sales proposed at rooftop clubs surrounding Wrigley Field: At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) introduced an ordinance that would pave the way for selling hard liquor at the rooftop clubs surrounding Wrigley, clubs primarily owned by the Cubs. For now, rooftop patrons can buy only beer and wine.
* BND | 52 Swansea homes evacuated due to ‘potentially hazardous substance’ in sewers OK’d to return: That investigation led to the discovery of “a potentially hazardous substance within the sewers,” according to a Facebook post from the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency. Emergency responders didn’t know what the substance was or where it was coming from, but based on initial readings, determined it could be considered flammable and/or explosive, Whitaker said.
* SJ-R | Doughnut shop that opened in the 1930s is moving from its longtime Lincoln location: Generations of Lincolnites have perched atop the low-seated stools at the Formica countertops that “V” off the Mel-O-Cream doughnut display case stocked with everything from long johns to old fashions, cake to cream filled, apple fritters to tiger tails. But that six-decade tradition is set to come to an end Sunday with the last deep-fried pastry passing the counter at 704 Keokuk St. Lincoln’s original home to Mel-O-Cream is closing as owners relocate the business to a newly constructed structure at 227 N. Kickapoo St., just two blocks north of the Logan County courthouse square.
* WPSD | Shawnee National Forest Snake Road closes early for spring migration: A news release from Shawnee National Forest said the road is closed biannually during the animals’ migration season. The 2.5-mile-long road is regularly closed March 15 through May 15; however, forest officials closed the road early due to higher seasonal temperatures. The road is closed to vehicles, but is open to people travel on foot. The gradual, two-month migration attracts people from across the country who want to witness the diversity of reptile and amphibian species along the single stretch of road. Visitors may see volunteers assisting the Forest Service with counting snakes, people, and cars that visit the area.
* SJ-R | Local artists help tell authentic stories while showcasing Black history in central Illinois: Tori, as Kolanowski likes to be called, said that her art she creates is meant to do more than just to inspire younger Black audiences, but to teach fundamental history of Illinois. “My art, especially with the pieces I’ve put forth in museums, has gotten a lot of feedback from the people I was reaching out to while creating these pieces,” Kolanowski said. “One of my pieces I used lots of central Illinois history of the Black community … it encouraged a lot of people who I had shown (the art) to, to look further into the history and these peoples names and the stories behind them.”
Former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke asked Wednesday for a new trial or acquittal in spite of a federal jury’s resounding verdict late last year finding him guilty of racketeering and other crimes.
That jury found Burke, 80, guilty in December of 13 charges that included racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. The panel also found that Burke committed racketeering acts in all four schemes outlined in his sweeping May 2019 indictment. […]
Burke’s lawyers pointed Wednesday to commentary by Kendall, who described the Field Museum scheme at trial as “an extremely odd attempt extortion count.” They argued her skepticism was well-founded, insisting that the law requires an attempt to extort “property.”
“There was no property here, only a potential job interview with the museum, and one which was never requested by Mr. Burke,” the defense attorneys wrote.
A charity organized by Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard has been told by the Illinois attorney general’s office to stop soliciting or accepting contributions, and that it must register with the state.
Separately, a law enforcement source confirmed federal authorities, including the FBI, are conducting an investigation targeting Henyard. The course said the probe has included recent interviews by investigators both inside and outside of Dolton, but is in the early stages and no charges have been brought.
The attorney general’s letter, dated Wednesday and sent by certified mail, notes the Tiffany Henyard CARES Foundation is not in good standing and states the attorney general has sent multiple letters advising, among other things, that it is not registered with the state.
However, the foundation hasn’t responded “and we have not been advised why there has been a delay,” according to the recent letter, sent by Pasquale Esposito, deputy bureau chief of the attorney general’s Charitable Trust Bureau.
* WBEZ | U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García faces a Democratic primary challenge from the right: Even as he identifies as a “deep-blue Democrat,” Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez appears frequently with some of the country’s most popular right-wing cable TV news hosts — who count on him to share their views and loudly criticize his fellow Democrats. On Fox News in December with host Jesse Watters, Lopez said, “Most of the Democratic voters feel as though this party no longer represents them, that it’s been lurching too far to the left.”
* WBEZ | Eileen O’Neill Burke says she’s running for state’s attorney because ‘our justice system is not working’: O’Neill Burke is aiming for voters unhappy with Foxx’s leadership and convinced the county needs to pursue a more traditional approach to prosecutions in order to combat crime. It’s a message that is resonating with more conservative voters and donors. But O’Neill Burke’s Democratic primary opponent, Clayton Harris III, and other critics have said she is seeking to move the prosecutor’s office backward to a time of soaring incarceration rates and wrongful convictions. Harris won the Cook County Democratic Party’s endorsement in the race to replace Foxx.
* Tribune | FOP seeks extension of moratorium on moving CPD disciplinary cases through police board: The FOP argues that a handful of officers currently facing serious disciplinary charges will be “irreparably injured” if the Feb. 25 deadline is not extended, according to the motion presented to the judge Wednesday. “Because the City Council voted once again to reject the Arbitration Award, Police Officers represented by the (the FOP) are continuing to be denied their statutory right to grievance arbitration to resolve disciplinary disputes,” the union wrote in its Tuesday motion. “If the Court does not continue the current stay of Police Board proceedings and instead allows it to expire on February 25th, these Officers will be irreparably injured by being forced to proceed before the Police Board.”
* Tribune | ‘All hell was breaking loose’: Mystery deepens in case of Highland Park man accused of $400 million crypto hack on FTX: Powell was also believed to be involved with a violent Indiana-based gang known as the “ChoppaBoyz,” whose founding members were under indictment in a drug-related home invasion in South Bend and also were accused of robbing two of Powell’s associates in Utah as they carried a quarter of a million dollars in fraud proceeds back to Indiana, the affidavit stated. But the only charge that ever surfaced against Powell was a misdemeanor gun count filed in Lake County.
* Block Club | Devastated By Floods And Confused By FEMA, West Siders Form Their Own Recovery Group: The volunteer-run group advocates for neighbors, organizes crews to help with cleanup, helps people connect with repair companies and much more. Their work is particularly urgent due to the negative impacts mold can have on people’s health, especially since many flood victims have now been exposed to it for months as it spread through their homes.
* South Side Weekly | Sidewalk-Plowing Pilot Planned for Next Winter: Despite the North Side having the most complaints, a preliminary analysis of city data shows a higher concentration of snow clearance fines imposed on the South Side. The Weekly obtained documents from the Department of Administrative hearings that shows eight of the ten community areas with the most hearings for fines per capita are on the South Side. Englewood, which ranks forty-ninth in 3-1-1 complaints, had the most administrative hearings per capita since 2019, and the highest amount of fines levied. Lincoln Square, which ranks first in 3-1-1 complaints, was twenty-second in administrative hearing dockets per capita.
* Block Club | Unsanctioned Building Next To Puerto Rican Museum To Be Demolished Next Week: The demolition is a “giant step in the right direction” said neighbor Kurt Gippert, who has been vocal in his opposition to the unsanctioned construction. Gippert and his wife started a petition two years ago calling for the demolition of the structure on public land and for more community transparency. The petition received over 2,000 signatures.
* Tribune | R. Kelly’s appeal argument calls reasons for long sentence too vague, but court warns he could wind up worse off: Much of the brief hearing was dedicated to discussing whether Kelly should be resentenced. But in the end, Kelly’s lead attorney Jennifer Bonjean noted, his fate really hinges on what happens on appeal in his New York federal case, a racketeering conviction that got him a whopping 30 years behind bars. “That’s his life sentence,” Bonjean said during the 30-minute hearing at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. “If that sentence sticks, he will probably die in prison.”
* Crain’s | From Daytona Beach, NASCAR offers post-mortem on ‘incomplete’ Chicago Street Race: “Our work is incomplete,” said Julie Giese, president of the Chicago Street Race. After more than a decade working at the Daytona International Speedway, Giese now lives in Chicago and is focused entirely on organizing the summer event. “There’s a lot that we wanted to do in Chicago, and the weather prevented us from doing a lot of it.”
* SJ-R | New look, but familiar feel: Springfield bar reopens following renovations: Brewhaus Bar is breaking open the shelves once again, opening for the first time since renovations shut down the business last year. Owner John O’Riordan held a soft open Monday, Feb. 12 for the establishment, opening the doors and inviting patrons back into the bar they know and love, with a new atmosphere to it.
* WBBM | Chicago accused of failing to protect migratory birds: ‘We’re frustrated’: The Bird-Friendly Chicago Coalition is expressing its frustration with the city of Chicago over its failure to act on bird-friendly design requirements for new construction. […] They’re frustrated, in particular, with the Department of Planning and Development. New York City is among those who have already done this.
* Sun-Times | New White Sox TV voice John Schriffen is ready for inevitable scrutiny: “Nothing comes easy,” Schriffen said. “Chicago is a hard-working town where people have to earn everything they get. And that’s how I grew up. Both my parents were teachers, working-class family. Everything I’ve gotten in my life I’ve had to earn the hard way. I don’t want it to be any different here.”
* Block Club Chicago | How Chicago’s Black Steelworkers Struggled, Thrived And Survived The Industry’s Rise And Fall: While many Black workers spent years in the toughest positions, Hardy and his coworker William “Bill” Alexander were exceptions. Known as “Ramjet” for his speed and efficiency, Hardy moved from laborer to oiler to bridge operator at Interlake/Acme with relative ease before being drafted for the Vietnam War in 1967, he said. He returned to Chicago in 1969 and was back at the mill within a few weeks. He was soon promoted to a bridge, or overhead crane, operator. His coworkers — many of whom also served in Vietnam at various points — “really gave me respect” as a combat veteran, he said.
* AL | Woodfin says if anti-DEI bill passes, he would urge athletes to leave Alabama: Senate Bill 129, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road and filed on Tuesday, resembles 2022 and 2023 proposals sponsored by Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville. The bill would forbid public schools from affirming “a divisive concept,” with such examples as teaching that “slavery and racism are aligned with the founding principles of the United States” and that “fault, blame, or bias should be assigned to members of a race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.”
* Bloomberg | AT&T says most of mobile network restored: The federal government is investigating whether the outage was caused by a cyberattack, according to two US officials familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
Seen these ads? They’re paid for by people who want to raise your utility rates. But JB Pritzker and his administration stood up to them, rejecting their plan to raise rates and holding down prices in Chicago.
TV news announcers: A win for consumers. Voted to cut a request from People’s Gas to increase rates. The companies requested a record high rate increase, but that won’t be the case.
Now, Chicagoans will save hundreds of dollars because we have a governor who’s working for us.
The bottom line is that organized labor and the business community are demanding far more robust infrastructure spending, while the governor’s people point to very real cost considerations for consumers. The Pritzker folks believe they will win that political fight.
* White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf sat down with Greg Hinz and talked over lunch. From the article…
• Said financing the stadium would require not only $1.1 billion in subsidies from an existing tax on Chicago hotel rooms but also up to $900 million in infrastructure work that already has been authorized but not funded by a tax-increment financing district that covers The 78 property. Such a move, however, will require legislative and possibly City Council approval.
• Indicated he’s on a fast track, hoping to begin preliminary construction work later this year and play in the new stadium by the 2028 season.
• Conceded that the Sox and the Bears may be competing for the same public-revenue source, the hotel tax, to pay for new Chicago arenas, but said the two family-owned teams are trying to work out a mutually beneficial deal. One thing that’s off the table: sharing a stadium. “It doesn’t work,” Reinsdorf said. “You end up having a stadium that is no good for football or baseball.”
• Said he’s unsure what will happen to Guaranteed Rate and adjoining parking lots if the Sox move downtown. Constructing hundreds of new housing units and retail space is one possibility, and converting the stadium itself into a smaller home for the Chicago Fire soccer team is another possibility, he said.
* Reinsdorf also told Greg that the project would generate tax revenue of $200 million a year - except he also wants to capture all the sales taxes generated. From an earlier Crain’s article…
Reinsdorf is also seeking to create a tax-overlay district surrounding the proposed stadium that would capture the state’s portion of sales taxes generated in the area — estimated at roughly $400 million over an undisclosed period — to be set aside to subsidize the stadium and back the new bonds.
…Adding… Good point in comments…
By the way, how much of that $200mm in tax revenue is offset by the closing of Comiskey?
Alabama doctors are puzzled over whether they will have to make changes to in vitro fertilization procedures. Couples have crammed into online support groups wondering if they should transfer frozen embryos out of state. And attorneys are warning that divorce settlements that call for frozen embryos to be destroyed may now be void.
Throughout Alabama, there is widespread shock, anger and confusion over how to proceed after the state Supreme Court ruled Friday that frozen embryos are people, a potentially far-reaching decision that could upend women’s reproductive health care in a state that already has one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws. […]
Interviews with physicians and attorneys in Alabama, as well as advocates on both sides of the issue nationwide, paint a confusing path forward for IVF clinics trying to interpret the ramifications of the ruling. Although physicians hope the Alabama legislature will limit the impacts of the ruling, they warn that the most dire consequence of the ruling is that some Alabama IVF clinics may be forced to suspend their operations.
“Under the current Alabama ruling, patients nor physicians nor IVF labs are going to be willing to have frozen embryos,” said Mamie McLean, a physician at one of the state’s largest fertility clinics, Alabama Fertility Specialists. “So if we are faced with two potential embryos that need to be transferred, modern practice would say transfer one and freeze one. But under this ruling, it may not be safe to freeze embryos so we will be forced to transfer two embryos … which increases the lifelong health risks to both mothers and children.”
* Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs’ op-ed in the Tribune…
The new battlefield over abortion rights centers on the use of in vitro fertilization. It’s a battle that is highly personal for me and my wife, Erica.
Last summer, we became the parents of twin sons Max and Theo. For this blessed event to happen, we needed reproductive health care. Erica has endometriosis, a condition that makes it difficult to conceive a child naturally. It affects an estimated 11% of women in our country, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In vitro fertilization made it possible for Erica to conceive and for us to start a family.
Now Alabama, Florida and Missouri want to take away a woman’s right to use IVF to have a child, emboldened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 disastrous Dobbs decision that took away the constitutional right to abortion.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe, the “personhood” debate took center stage, with Republicans attempting to define a fertilized egg or embryo as a legal human entity. During IVF, a doctor collects eggs from a woman, sperm is used to fertilize the eggs outside the body and one fertilized egg is implanted at a time.
For Erica, a doctor collected eggs during four rounds. Five days after fertilization, we had four embryos. After testing, only one of them was viable. “Personhood” laws would consider the unviable collections of cells people, and doctors or their patients would be considered to have committed a crime by disposing of them.
After [the Indiana Attorney General’s office] consistently heard from student, parents, and teachers about objectionable curricula, policies, or programs affecting children, we launched the Eyes on Education portal.
Our kids need to focus on fundamental educational building blocks, not political ideology - either left or right.
Eyes on Education is a platform for students, parents, and educators to submit and view real examples from classrooms across the state.
The Office of the Attorney General will follow up on materials submitted to the portal that may violate Indiana law using our investigative tools, including public records requests, and publish findings on the portal as well.
To view examples or submit to the portal, select the school corporation and name of the school and upload your documents.
Upon submission, someone from our office may contact you for additional information or clarification.
Submissions to the portal will be reviewed and published regularly.
Last week, Tennessee state lawmakers passed HB 878, which states “a person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage.”
In Tennessee, only certain people can “solemnize” the “rite of matrimony,” including state notary publics, government officials, and religious figures, according to state code. […]
Camilla Taylor, deputy legal director for litigation for Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ legal advocacy group, said that the law is an effort to “roll back recent progress by the LGBTQ community.”
“Tennessee House Bill 878 would be patently unconstitutional,” Taylor said in a statement to CNN. “Public officials don’t get to assume public office and then pick and choose which members of the public to serve.”
Two dozen protesters gathered near a Texas superintendent’s home on Wednesday to support a Black teen who has been suspended for most of the school year over the length of his dreadlocks.
Hairstylists, children and activists filled a neighborhood entrance in Baytown, about 26 miles east of Houston, chanting “Justice for Darryl George” and carrying signs with hashtags like #DoesMyHairOffendYou and #MyHairIsNotAThreat.
They gathered near the home of Barbers Hill Independent School District Superintendent Greg Poole, one day before a judge is set to hear arguments to determine whether the district can continue to punish George for refusing to change his hairstyle. George and his family have refused to cut his hair, setting off a months long battle between the family and the school district. […]
Janaie Roberts, a loctician, set up a salon chair during the demonstration and styled protesters’ dreadlocks in a show of support. “I’m an advocate for natural hair. This is how we express ourselves, so it’s not fair for us to be held back,” she said. “Just like we have freedom of speech, we have the freedom to be ourselves.” […]
George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, has been in in-school suspension or at an off-site disciplinary program for most of the school year. His ordeal started in August, when school officials said that George’s hair, which he wears in neatly twisted dreadlocks away from his face and neck, violates a district dress code regulating the length of boys’ hair.
UPDATE Texas Judge rules in favor of the school district. NBC…
After just a few hours of testimony in Anahuac, state District Judge Chap Cain III ruled in favor of the school district, saying its ongoing discipline of George over the length of his hair is legal under the CROWN Act. For most of the school year, George has either served in-school suspension at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu or spent time at an off-site disciplinary program.
“We appreciate the court giving clarity to the meaning of the CROWN Act,” said Sara Leon, an attorney for the school district.
The school district did not offer any witnesses to testify before the ruling, instead only submitting evidence that included an affidavit from the district’s superintendent defending the dress code policy.
End of update.
Sen. Mike Simmons’ Jett Hawkins Law took effect in 2022. The law prevents school boards, public and charter schools from banning hairstyles historically associated with any race or ethnicity.
…Adding… From Sen. Simmons….
“It’s well past time for the state of Texas to let go of the past and respect Darryl George, a 17 year old Black youth who is wearing his hair authentically and doesn’t need harassment from school officials. That harassment is also now against Texas own laws under the new CROWN Act, so I hope the trial underway delivers justice to Darryl and millions of Texans of African descent and respects the intent of the CROWN Act. It’s time to turn the page in this dark and ugly chapter, just like we did in Illinois in 2021 when we passed the landmark Jett Hawkins Act.”
When disabled Texans used to visit abortion clinics, staffers would remember them. They may have needed in-clinic accommodations or American Sign Language Interpreters, and they appeared infrequently. Still, they came.
But more than a year since performing abortions became illegal in the state of Texas, disabled people have become a “missing population” at the clinics still providing abortions out of state, said Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, an abortion provider.
“We’re not seeing them traveling over the border,” Miller said. “They just represent a group of people that are falling through the cracks.”
Other than the internal statistics of some abortion providers, abortion fund groups that help pay for the procedure or its transportation costs, and advocacy groups, there’s no central data tracking how many disabled Texans have sought abortions.
This year 35 states will participate in a $2.5 billion federal nutrition program that will help low-income parents buy groceries for their children when free school meals are unavailable during the summer months.
But Texas, which has 3.8 million children eligible for the program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has opted not to join this national effort. If it had, qualifying families would have received $120 per child through a pre-loaded card for the three summer months. The USDA calculated that Texas is passing on a total of $450 million in federal tax dollars that would have gone to eligible families here.
The reason for the pass is simple, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. When the USDA notified HHSC officials of their new Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT program on Dec. 29, that gave the nation’s second largest state only six months to get it up and running and that’s not enough time, said Tiffany Young, a spokesperson for the state agency.
Although the summer program would involve two other agencies as well – the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Agriculture – HHSC would have to bear the brunt of the work because they would have to coordinate and direct the distribution of the preloaded cards to qualifying families.
Newsmax has joined the legions of conservative media outlets and figures who have trashed a pair of Florida GOP bills that ostensibly aim to curb so-called “liberal media” by loosening the definition of defamation.
“Newsmax strongly opposes both bills and any proposed law that makes it easy to sue media companies,” Chris Ruddy, Newsmax’s CEO, said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “Free speech and a free press are the most fundamental of our constitutional rights and must be zealously safeguarded.” (Newsmax maintains a headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, and Ruddy is a West Palm Beach native and a friend of former President Donald Trump.)
The bills—House Bill 757 and its Florida Senate companion, SB 1780—would lower the threshold for defamation in Florida, allowing public officials to sue journalists and media outlets if an anonymous source says something the official believes to be false. The bills passed out of a Florida House committee on Wednesday in a 14-7 vote, and it is next headed to a Florida House vote.
Whatever the right-wing legislative effort’s intentions, these conservative critics say, it would be an affront to the First Amendment and would ultimately harm right-of-center media.
The Utah State Board of Education could conduct a hearing on whether a school library book or other materials should be removed statewide under a compromise between state lawmakers that led to final passage of HB29 on Wednesday.
The House voted 52-18 to approve the compromise legislation.
A conference committee of Utah Senate and House of Representatives members agreed to language that gives the state school board the option of holding a hearing after three school districts or two school districts and five charter schools determine the materials are pornographic or indecent, which under HB29, triggers removal of the materials statewide.
The board could decide not to hold a hearing, which means the book or materials would be removed from collections statewide.
BOST CAMPAIGN RELEASES TV AD HIGHLIGHTING PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT
Congressman Mike Bost’s campaign today released its fourth television advertisement of the 2024 election cycle. The ad, titled “Own Words,” will air district-wide on cable, broadcast, and satellite television, as well as on streaming services.
Gov. JB Pritzker plans to take on the state’s health insurance industry this year by calling for legislation to curb many of the standard practices they use to hold down costs and boost profits.
He plans to outline those reforms in his State of the State and budget address Wednesday, according to an advance excerpt of his speech, kicking off a process that will eventually require approval from lawmakers.
Pritzker’s “Healthcare Consumer Access and Protection Act” will include a package of proposals aimed at controlling strategies that insurers use to reduce the amount of health care patients receive.
It also includes new requirements for insurers to offer enough in-network doctors to meet consumers’ needs, as well as state regulatory control over rate increases in the large group insurance plans similar to regulations lawmakers approved last year for small group policies.
Local seniors would receive relief from high property taxes under new, progressive solutions backed by state Rep. Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, expanding property tax freezes and refunds for low-income seniors.
“It is of utmost importance that we continue to prioritize legislation that benefits all groups in Illinois, and these two key bills reaffirm my commitment to expanding opportunities for the senior community, especially those who are struggling financially,” said Avelar. “With these pivotal bills, we are uplifting a community that needs it most. By providing more resources and lenient paths to receive tax freezes or refunds, we are lifting a burden off our senior community who rely on these benefits to get by.”
Avelar is sponsoring House Bill 2529 and House Bill 3511, which will expand benefits to low-income senior citizens. House Bill 2529, the Senior Property Tax Freeze, will increase the maximum income allotment for low-income senior citizens to receive benefits by $10,000 — from $65,000 to $75,000, reaching a key audience who were not able to benefit from this tax freeze previously.
House Bill 3511 proposes an important amendment to tax legislation, particularly benefiting senior citizens. Under this bill, seniors would be eligible for a property tax refund, irrespective of whether they applied for the homestead exemption, which typically covers up to $15,000 of property equity. This legislation expands the avenues through which seniors can access tax exemptions, ensuring that even those who miss the application window can still benefit from financial relief on their property taxes.
The bills mandate insurers and Medicaid to cover home test kits, create “rapid start” HIV treatment pilot sites and make HIV education available in county jails.
The AIDS Foundation of Chicago supports the bills. They say the bills make ending the HIV epidemic a priority and take steps to achieve health equity in communities impacted the most.
“If we want to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our state by 2030, then we have to make preventative care like PrEP and PEP accessible to all Illinoisans,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “These medications are incredibly effective at preventing infection and transmission, and they are essential to our mission of Getting to Zero.” […]
One of the bills provides that the African American HIV/AIDS Response Fund creates and maintains at least one Black-led Center of Excellence HIV Biomedical Resource Hub for every $3,000,000 of available funding, according to Illinois.gov.
* HB5667 from Rep. Hoan Huynh was referred to Rules earlier this week…
Provides legislative findings. Appropriates specified amounts to the Department of Public Health for grants, expenses, and administrative costs of programs relating to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus; the Getting to Zero-Illinois plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030; the prevention, screening, and treatment services to address sexually transmitted infection cases; and the PrEP4Illinois Program to provide client navigation for pre-exposure prophylaxis services and medication access. Contains other provisions. Effective July 1, 2024.
Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit for taxpayers who open and operate a supermarket or grocery store in a food desert community designated by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Provides that the credit shall be in an amount equal to the total amount the taxpayer is assessed in property taxes for the location at which the supermarket or grocery store is located during the full taxable year that the supermarket or grocery store is open for business to the public. Effective immediately.
* SB2644 from Sen. Julie Morrison was assigned to the Judiciary committee…
Amends the Secretary of State Act. Provides that the Secretary of State shall establish an electronic registry, to be known as the Advance Directive Registry, through which residents of the State of Illinois may deposit, with the Secretary of State, a completed Department of Public Health Uniform POLST form. Specifies that information in the Advance Directive Registry shall be made available to hospitals licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act and hospitals organized under the University of Illinois Hospital Act. Authorizes hospitals to rely on information obtained from the Advance Directive Registry as an accurate copy of the documents filed with the Advance Directive Registry. Directs the Secretary of State to adopt any rules necessary to implement the amendatory Act and to provide information on the Secretary of State’s website regarding use of the Advance Directive Registry. Provides that, except in the case of gross negligence or willful misconduct, the Secretary of State and employees of the Secretary of State are immune from any civil or criminal liability in connection with the creation and maintenance of the Advance Directive Registry. Provides that a person who knowingly submits a document to the Advance Directive Registry without authorization or assists in such submission shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
* Sen. Dave Koehler…
State Senator Dave Koehler is spearheading an initiative to incentivize landlords to improve properties and address urban decay in the greater Peoria area, giving residents improved housing opportunities throughout the community.
“Peoria has seen a rapid decline in population recently, leading to vacant properties and businesses closing their doors,” said Koehler (D-Peoria). “In order to keep our families here, we need to invest in our neighborhoods.”
Under current law, only newly built single family homes and duplexes qualify for a tax break. Senate Bill 2936 would allow remodeled homes and duplexes in areas of urban decay to qualify for this tax break, giving landlords an incentive to upgrade properties in order to revitalize neighborhoods.
“This bill gives our community the tools to bolster our economy, provide adequate housing and present new opportunities for our residents,” said Koehler. “I am proud to call Peoria my home, and I want everyone in our community to feel the same way I do about our city.”
Senate Bill 2936 passed the Senate Revenue Committee on Wednesday and heads to the Senate floor for further discussion.
* The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence…
Today, Gov. JB Prtizker released his FY2025 budget proposal, including specific funding proposals for gender-based violence prevention and services.
Amanda Pyron, Executive Director of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, released the following statement in response:
“Gender-based violence continues to impact too many families across Illinois, and we must do more to both prevent violent acts and support survivors. We continue to see an increase in calls to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline as well as an increase in total injuries and deaths from domestic violence shootings in Illinois and Chicago. Across Illinois, there were 19 domestic violence-related homicides in January alone. Funding for gender-based violence services was increased in recent years, and we are encouraged that Gov. Prtizker’s proposal keeps this funding intact.
“In addition to the budget, we are laser focused on passing Karina’s Bill (HB4469/SB2633) to help strengthen the firearm remedy within orders of protection and get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. We look forward to working with legislators and the governor’s office to pass this critical legislation, as well as to secure needed resources in the FY25 budget for providers across Cook County and the state.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday unveiled a $52.7 billion budget that he described as filled with “hard choices.” The plan builds on priorities like funding preschool, supporting Black residents, funding the neediest schools and caring for asylum seekers.
“I wish we had big surpluses to work with this year to take on every one of the very real challenges we face,” Pritzker said inside the ornate Illinois House chambers Wednesday during his annual combined budget and state of the state address. “It’s important to note, that while this budget is tight this year, our fiscal house is in order, and we are able to keep our commitments to the people of Illinois.”
The plan calls for committing $182 million for assistance to Latin American migrants who continue to arrive in Chicago by way of Texas, and makes moves to assuage credit agencies with a constant eye on Illinois’ pensions.
Pritzker also proposes creating a small tax credit for low-income families with children under 3 and adding staff in Illinois prisons and the Department of Children and Family Services — priorities that are supported by some of Pritzker’s key Democratic constituencies and many GOP legislators.
Separate from the budget, he threw down the gauntlet against the health insurance industry with a sweeping plan to prevent companies from dictating coverage decisions, among other consumer protections. He promised to expend political capital to fight practices including prior authorization, in which patients must get permission from insurers before receiving certain types of care.
“There should never be an instance where an insurance company employee can deny coverage for something as serious as open heart surgery,” Pritzker said.
In his sixth budget proposal, Pritzker also laid out a long-term plan to manage the state’s massive pension debt by increasing the funding target to 100% from 90% and extending the payment deadline by three years, to 2048. The change would not affect the state’s pension payment for the coming year, totaling $10.1 billion from general funds, or roughly 19% of the operating budget. […]
What was left unmentioned in his roughly hourlong budget and State of the State address to the Illinois General Assembly was that his proposal would address projected deficits resulting from slowed revenue growth in part by more than doubling the tax on sports wagers — paid by sportsbooks out of their post-payout revenue — raising it to 35% from 15%. The change would generate an estimated $200 million in additional revenue.
Republicans were quick to blast the proposals, claiming that Pritzker is prioritizing people who are not U.S. citizens.
“The Governor just proposed raising taxes on every Illinois family struggling to make ends meet to fund the non-citizen welfare state he created,” Senate Minority Leader John Curran, a Republican from Downers Grove, said in a statement. “Our focus will remain on providing meaningful financial relief to the people of Illinois.”
Business groups, including the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, also raised questions about the taxes longterm.
“We are concerned about the lasting impact proposed revenue generators will have on small businesses still working to recover while facing existing regulatory and financial burdens,” the group said in a statement after the speech.
The governor is projecting a 1.5% increase in state revenue for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, for a haul of nearly $53 billion. That’s largely due to the $800 million plus in tax increases mostly targeting large businesses.
Pritkzer’s plan extends a limit on the amount of operating losses corporations can write off on their income taxes. A $100,000 cap that was slated to expire at the end of the year would be extended three years, under the plan from Pritzker’s team, which aims to soften that blow on businesses by upping that cap to $500,000. The maneuver would generate another $526 million for the state, the governor’s office estimates.
The governor’s office pushed back on characterizing it as a new tax, arguing the continuation of the cap on corporate tax deductions will help the state keep gaining revenue. […]
And he wants to lower the tax discount retailers receive for collecting sales taxes, a measure his office says would net the state an additional $101 million. In his speech, Pritzker also said he wants to permanently eliminate the 1% grocery tax. But the Illinois Municipal League already opposes that initiative — saying the tax goes entirely to local governments across the state and would cost them $325 million a year.
The governor got a standing ovation with a new proposal to permanently do away with the 1% state tax on groceries, something he temporarily suspended during the COVID pandemic.
“If it reduces inflation for families from 4% to 3%, even if it only puts a few hundred bucks back in families’ pockets, it’s the right thing to do,” Pritzker said.
And state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, agrees.
“I do love the no more tax on groceries. That’s going to help on a lot of families by eliminating the sales tax on groceries. That’s a big deal,” Ford said.
While increased spending in some initiatives angered Republicans, others were disappointed by how state funds could be allocated under the proposal.
The governor proposed using $175 million from the Road Fund, transferring it from sales tax, to cover public transit expenses. The Road Fund, co-chairs Patrick Hosty and Kevin Burke of the Transportation for Illinois Coalition, is typically delegated to cover road, bridge, and transit capital improvements.
Using this funding for public transit would ballon to north of $1 billion lost for road and bridge improvements over the next few years, the coalition projected.
“After decades of inadequate funding, Gov. Pritzker and the Legislature invested billions of dollars to improve thousands of miles of roads and bridges – including the largest road program in state history this year,” they said in a statement, referring to the Rebuild Illinois initiative. “Illinois cannot afford to move backward now.”
Pritzker’s proposals include $75 million for the state board’s early childhood education block grant to add 5,000 more seats for preschool students. Under the state Department of Human Services, Pritzker recommended an additional $5 million to home visiting programs and $36.5 million more for the child care assistance program that helps low-income families access child care services. […]
Pritzker also asked the general assembly to increase the state’s K-12 education budget by $450 million to a total of $10.8 billion for the Illinois State Board of Education.
Pritzker plans to increase funding for K-12 schools by $350 million, which will be distributed through the evidence-based funding formula — continuing the state’s bipartisan promise to increase funding by at least that much annually. […]
Pritzker’s proposal also includes more funding for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s Monetary Award Grant — a program to help support students from low-income families to attend college — by $10 million for a total of $711 million.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is devoting half a billion dollars in his new budget to boost quantum computing.
The proposal is part of a sweeping quest to remake the state as a hub for the future of semiconductors, quantum and AI.
Pritzker tells Axios that he’s carving out $200 million for a cryogenic facility — needed to keep quantum computing systems cool — as well as $100 million for the development of a quantum campus site and $200 million in matching funds.
“We already were establishing ourselves as a leading hub for quantum development — now we have the opportunity to take it a big step further,” Pritzker says in an interview.
* More…
* Bond Buyer | Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker lays out fiscal 2025 budget priorities: Children were the organizing principle of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s sixth State of the State and budget address Wednesday, in which he said his “one line in the sand” is that he will only sign a “responsibly balanced” budget that does not derail the state’s credit standing or the nine rating upgrades Illinois officials have worked so hard to achieve.
* Daily Herald | Proposed state budget includes $1 million for Route 53 corridor greenway master plan in Lake County: “This is such exciting news for the people who have worked on this for years and for those that are going to be working on it in the future,” said former state Sen. Melinda Bush, who co-chaired a 19-member state task force of local and regional officials that recommended the greenway concept in late 2022. “It is a move in the right direction.”
* Pantagraph | Pritzker unveils $52.7B budget proposal, says Biden needs to ’step up’ on migrants: Pritzker also called for a more robust paydown of the state’s massive pension debt, urging state lawmakers to change the formula in place since 1994 from 90% funded by 2045 to 100% funded by 2048. This would be done in part by increasing pension payments next decade when existing debts are paid off.
* WGEM | Gov. Pritzker gives State of the State address, unveils budget proposal: This was welcome news to State Comptroller Susana Mendoza. The Democrat called Pritzker’s proposed budget responsible and disciplined. “This is a year in which I was really looking to see a holding of the line, really no new non-essential spending and a very targeted approach to maintaining fiscal stability and fiscal discipline,” she said. “He checked every single box.”
* WCIA | Pritzker highlights proposed education investments in budget address: “I propose we stay on plan and increase Smart Start funding by $150 million in year two to create 5,000 more preschool seats, continue growing childcare and reach thousands more families with critical early childhood services,” Pritzker said.
* NBC Chicago | Pritzker budget calls for elimination of Illinois’ grocery tax: The 1% tax on groceries applies specifically to items that are meant to “be consumed off the premises where they are sold,” according to state law. The sales tax was suspended as part of Pritzker’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget, with officials projecting that it could save shoppers up to $400 million.
* Axios | What to know about Gov. JB Pritzker’s $53 billion budget plan: Pritzker said he’s promised Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle that the state will pay more than half the tab for services to care for more than 35,000 migrants that have come to Illinois in the last year.
* ICYMI: Democratic PAC loses appeal of massive fines for not timely reporting campaign spending. Tribune…
- All for Justice, an independent expenditure PAC backed by Illinois Senate President Don Harmon was fined $108,500 by the board last year for failing to timely file detailed expenditure reports in spending $7.3 million to help elect Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien to the Illinois Supreme Court.
- The eight member board, made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, ultimately voted 8-0 to reject the PAC’s requests and let the fines stand.
- The fines were among the largest ever levied by the election board.
* Isabel’s top picks…
* Daily Southtown | Wife, son of Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones made six figures working with city: The wife and son of Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones combined to earn more than $120,000 in 2023 while working for or on behalf of the city, public records show. Saprina Jones made $92,538 for her roles while Thaddeus Jones Jr. made $32,250, according to records showing the money they made from the city from Jan. 1 to Dec. 4 of last year.
* Sun-Times | Former state Sen. Terry Link asks judge for probation after wearing wire on fellow lawmaker: “In word and in deed, Mr. Link has done everything in his power to right his wrong,” his defense attorney Catharine O’Daniel wrote in a 20-page memo to U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland. The request comes more than three years after Link pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. Lawyers only began to move forward with his sentencing after his testimony in last year’s trial of businessman James T. Weiss.
* Sun-Times | Johnson cracks door open to subsidizing White Sox stadium at The 78: “I’m grateful that both organizations are committed to having these conversations. As far as financing these projects, both organizations know that they have to put some skin in the game. They’re expressed a commitment to do that,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
* Daily Herald | Foster, Rashid to debate issues facing Congress in virtual forum Feb. 28: The Democratic candidates for Illinois’ 11th Congressional District seat will participate next week in an online forum hosted by the League of Women Voters Naperville. U.S. Rep. Bill Foster and challenger Qasim Rashid, both of Naperville, are slated to attend the Feb. 28 event, which is set for 7 p.m. on Zoom.
* Daily Herald | ‘No pressure being exerted’: Arlington Heights mayor denies taking sides in Bears vs. schools tax battle: Citing records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Daily Herald reported in December that village officials had worked for months behind the scenes to develop the memorandum with the Bears, Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Palatine Township Elementary District 15. But the document — which resolves other issues related to the Bears’ proposed $5 billion redevelopment — hasn’t moved forward amid key sticking points on the assessment and tax payments at the sprawling property the Bears purchased a year ago.
* Daily Herald | Kane County dismisses bipartisan push for statement on migrant busing: The county board deadlocked in an 11-11 vote at its most recent meeting on allowing a discussion and possible official proclamation stating the county’s position on the migrant busing situation. The absence of two members and the resulting tie vote quashed the proclamation push. County board Chair Corinne Pierog opted not to break the tie, though she indicated she would not support discussion on the topic. She referenced a neutral statement crafted by members of the Metro West Council of Governments, which represents various Kane County municipalities.
* Tribune | State picks up travel tab for migrants who want to leave Chicago: At least 3,194 individuals have received financial support from the state of Illinois to reunite with friends and family in other states and U.S. cities since mid-November, according to state data provided to the Tribune on Feb. 14. The state has spent over $620,000 on travel tickets and taxi fares to airports, trains or bus stations to connect with family and friends, which city and state officials call “diversion and outmigration.” “Using these funds to quickly connect new arrivals with their next step is significantly cheaper than moving people into shelters. The state plans to continue using funds in this way for the foreseeable future,” said Daisy Contreras, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Human Services.
* WREX | Parents, advocates claim current Medicaid policies around mental health could endanger lives: Most recently, Cotton had to send her ailing child to Missouri, one of few options she says would take her state Medicaid. Previously, she took even more action to get her child residential mental healthcare by getting what’s called a “Family Support Program” (FSP) grant. The grant program allows families to access residential mental healthcare along with other intensive services. The problems are twofold according to people familiar with the grant process. The first according to Cotton is that it puts too much stress on parents.
* ABC Chicago | Rivian layoffs for 10 percent of salaried workers announced after EV company’s earnings call: Rivian has a total of 16,700 employees but would not disclose how many of those are considered salaried employees. Rivian has previously, on two different occasions, laid off 6% of its workforce, as the company has looked to reduce its losses. Sales of electric vehicles has not expanded as rapidly in the past year as it had before, and automakers have blamed high interest rates for some of that slow-down. At the same time, Tesla has aggressively cut prices of its vehicles, putting pressure on other automakers. Ford, for instance, recently announced it was deeply cutting prices of its Mustang Mach-E, a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y SUV.
* WTTW | Cook County Funds Purchase of Two Hotels in Effort to Provide Stable Housing, Necessary Supports: The Margarita Inn is one of two hotels bought with Cook County funding. It’s a move Tavoularis said is working. “It’s showing that it’s much more impactful,” Tavoularis said. “So prior to the pandemic in that congregant setting, about 40% of the folks that we worked with would exit into a stable housing situation. Here at the Margarita, 70% of the folks that have ever come through here exit into a stable housing position.”
* Crain’s | Bally’s says it’s still on track to open new casino in 2026: Bally’s says it’s going to start demolition of the former Tribune printing plant in July to make way for a permanent Chicago casino that will take more than 18 months to build. The gambling company told analysts Feb. 21 that it expects to open the new casino in the third quarter of 2026, despite a recent change in the hotel component of the facility because of water pipes underground.
* ABC Chicago | Driven by Race: Chicago’s persistent problem of Black and white traffic stops: A new I-Team analysis of police records found that of more than 2 million traffic stops by Chicago police since 2016, 60% were Black drivers, even though Black residents make up 27% of the city’s population. White drivers made up 13% of traffic stops, and are 32% of Chicago’s population.
* Lake County News-Sun | Waukegan mayor blasts challenger for skipping meeting to search for burglars; ‘I’m disturbed (he) … has chosen to prowl around the city’: Waukegan’s City Council adjourned within minutes of convening Tuesday when there was an insufficient number of members present to reach a quorum of five, as Ald. Keith Turner, 6th Ward, announced beforehand he would miss the meeting while “creeping around” looking for car burglars. […] Though the City Council was unable to meet, a sufficient number of members of the council’s Finance and Purchasing Committee were there to unanimously recommend a $500,000 grant program to refurbish commercial building facades Tuesday at City Hall.
* WaPo | Tax records reveal the lucrative world of covid misinformation: Four major nonprofits that rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic by capitalizing on the spread of medical misinformation collectively gained more than $118 million between 2020 and 2022, enabling the organizations to deepen their influence in statehouses, courtrooms and communities across the country, a Washington Post analysis of tax records shows.
* WSJ | It’s Been 30 Years Since Food Ate Up This Much of Your Income: Eating continues to cost more, even as overall inflation has eased from the blistering pace consumers endured throughout much of 2022 and 2023. Prices at restaurants and other eateries were up 5.1% last month compared with January 2023, while grocery costs increased 1.2% during the same period, Labor Department data show.
* Daily Herald | Highland Park shooting suspect’s trial date set for 2025: Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti set Robert Crimo III’s murder trial for Feb. 24, 2025, during a brief court hearing Wednesday. […] The trial previously had been set to begin early next year, but was shifted to Feb. 26 after the defendant announced he intended to represent himself and demanded a speedy trial. He then reversed his decision and requested a public defender, so the trial date was changed.
* Chalkbeat | Partial FAFSA fix lets students from immigrant families apply for financial aid: The workaround is meant to help students meet fast-approaching deadlines for certain state, college, or scholarship applications. The department promised a permanent fix is coming next month. It is also urging students who don’t have an urgent submission deadline to wait until then. Those who use the workaround will need to take additional steps in March to fully submit their application.
* AP | Americans reporting nationwide cellular outages from AT&T, Cricket Wireless and other providers: AT&T had more than 50,000 outages this morning, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. Cricket Wireless had more than 9,000, the outage tracking website said Thursday. Verizon had more than 2,000 outages and T-Mobile had more than 1,000 outages. Boost Mobile had more than 450 outages.
* NYT | Biden cancels $1.2 billion in student loan debt for 150,000 borrowers: The most recent round of cancellation benefits those enrolled in the income-driven repayment plan known as SAVE, which opened for enrollment in August. It reduces monthly payments and shortens the life of loans for millions of borrowers. The administration is making efforts to ensure Biden receives credit for the cancellation, with the affected borrowers set to receive an email from Biden on Wednesday informing them that their debt will be erased this week.
