Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says she will not run for re-election. We sat down with her for an in-depth exclusive interview @chicagotribunehttps://t.co/XnAsDIdi5v
President Joe Biden strengthened his Illinois connections as he formally launched his 2024 re-election bid with a three-minute video early today.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is one of his campaign co-chairs, while Quentin Fulks, a former political adviser to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, will be the principal deputy campaign manager for the president’s campaign. […]
Fulks will be deputy to Julie Chávez Rodríguez, who will be campaign manager after serving in Biden’s White House as senior adviser to the president and director of the office of intergovernmental affairs.
The 14th District police station is one of several in the city where asylum seekers could be seen camping out Monday evening as Chicago-area shelters reach capacity. […]
A Venezuelan mother who spoke to WGN, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, Anngimar, said she has been taken back and forth between the 8th and 14th District police stations with her two daughters. […]
Anngimar said they’re waiting to be transferred to a shelter, but in the meantime, those they contacted over the City’s 311 helpline instructed them to stay at the police station to avoid missing pickup or transfer.
* Background is here if you need it. Rumors have been flying that Paul Vallas’ campaign owes money all over town. They just admitted it…
In a new motion filed yesterday in Vallas' lawsuit against a campaign consultant, we learn that Vallas—who repeatedly touted his decades of budgetary expertise—needs the money back because other campaign checks are now bouncing. pic.twitter.com/2bhSubUjdD
Vallas reported that he had $1.7 million cash on hand as of March 31, four days before the election. And he's reported receipts of at least another $1.3 million since then.
According the lawsuit, only the final $200k wire xfer to Enyia was executed after March 31.
Vallas made sure to pay himself back the $100,000 that he loaned his campaign. The reimbursement was made on March 20, the same day he claims that Enyia submitted his first invoice.
There are really two main issues that make the new Twitter verification system a complete nightmare.
The first is the userbase. Very few normal users are willing to pay for a free social media site. Moreover, the main “selling point” of the service is to boost post visibility. The service inherently appeals only to people who both a) care extremely deeply about their posts being seen, and b) make posts that inherently are unappealing to other Twitter users (since people with appealing/interesting/funny/not-weird posts would be able to naturally grow an audience on the platform if they want to). So pretty much every single blue check is a hyper-online weirdo who is deeply bad at posting, despite being obsessed with twitter metrics.
The second is that verified replies get promoted to the top of every post. You have to scroll through all the blue check replies to get to even the most popular non-blue check replies. This is true even for blue check replies that have zero engagement, are completely off-topic, or are just straight up spam or scams.
As a result, if you’re looking for relevant discussion on a popular tweet, you have to first scroll past the thoughts of some of the most terminally online, inherently unlikeable people on the planet. So normal users are constantly exposed to the most off-putting segments of the userbase.
It’s like if Reddit incentivized every antisocial weirdo to post as much as possible to get their money’s worth, and then forced every user to sort by controversial. It’s a horrible structure that makes the product practically unusable for non-weirdos. Which is just how Elon likes it I guess.
Click here and here for a couple of good examples of how the paid blue checkers obsess over metrics.
And here’s a taste of the type of posts which are now being promoted up by Elon Musk’s new scheme…
County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek announces DuPage had the highest regional voter turnout in the 2023 Consolidated Election compared with suburban Cook, Lake, Will, Kane and McHenry counties. DuPage County had 20.33% voter turnout, nearly three points above the next-highest county.
“A top priority of mine has been to increase voter turnout. In order to achieve that, voter access must be optimized. I wanted citizens to be tripping over voting opportunities,” Kaczmarek says. “The combination of actively promoting mail voting, doubling early voting locations, and DuPage being the only Illinois county to offer “Vote Anywhere” on Election Day made a difference.”
Today DuPage County sent certified results to the Illinois State Board of Elections that 124,033 ballots were cast from 610,092 registered voters – 40,842 mail, 21,890 early voting, and 61,301 Election Day ballots. DuPage beat its own recent consolidated election turnout high of 18.93% in 2013.
DuPage County 20.33%
Election Night Reporting (dupageresults.gov)
Kane County 17.42%
Cumulative Report.pdf (kanecountyclerk.org)
Will County 16.64%
Election Night Reporting (clarityelections.com)
Suburban Cook County 13.81%
Election Results - Cook County Clerk’s Office (cookcountyclerkil.gov)
Lake County 13.64%
Election Night Reporting (clarityelections.com)
McHenry County 13.50%
Election Night Reporting (clarityelections.com)
“A number of factors influence voter turnout including heated races and referendums with aggressive campaigning. Like DuPage, every county has their own races and campaigns driving turnout,” Kaczmarek says. “I believe advancing voter access deserves credit for DuPage’s turnout being comparatively high.”
“Of course, with DuPage being the leader, there’s plenty of room for turnout growth. Ultimately it is the responsibility of citizens to participate in democracy. I vow to continue helping citizens to not take their precious right to vote for granted,” Kaczmarek adds.
* Press release…
The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) today announced the grand opening of the Home Repair and Accessibility Program (HRAP) designed to assist low-income and very low-income homeowners with health, safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency repairs to their homes. HRAP will provide $15.3 million to preserve existing affordable housing stock, provide investment in underserved communities, improve the health and well-being of occupants, and help people with disabilities stay in their homes and communities. Eligible homeowners may receive up to $45,000 to cover necessary repairs through a five-year, forgivable loan. […]
HRAP will be administered locally through 36 local government and nonprofit organizations with experience operating and administering homeowner rehabilitation assistance programs. To be eligible, homeowners must be at-or-below 80 percent of the Area Median Income based on household size, current on their mortgage payments, and the property must be single-family.
* This comforting sign is just around the corner from the Senate’s temporary chamber…
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Elle | How Two History-Making Congresswomen (and Roommates) Made It Through 100 Days in Office: But Lee and Ramirez aren’t in school—they’re freshman members of Congress, helping to expand the U.S. House’s growing progressive “squad.” Lee is representing Pennsylvania’s 12th district, where she overcame millions of dollars spent against her campaign to become the state’s first Black congresswoman, and Ramirez is representing Illinois’ 3rd district as the first Latina congresswoman from the Midwest and the rare member of Congress in a mixed-status marriage. (Her husband is a DACA recipient.) “We’re both working class-background women, and it was very clear rent in D.C. is so, so expensive,” Lee explained. “It was a great choice to share space with another women from my generation who is taking on this fight.”
* News Gazette | Unit 4 board member asks: ‘Are we, Champaign, ready for me — a Black female — to be the school board president?”: “What makes me ready?” Baker asked before rattling off a lengthy list of reasons from a prepared statement, ranging from her commitment to “educational, societal and environmental justice” to to reviewing every district policy “with an equity lens” to filling in as an unpaid substitute teacher in a pinch. “I promise to be board president,” she said, “not superintendent, not mayor, not any of the other roles … and allow the board to be a voice of seven.”
* The Southern | Automatic license plate readers are currently being installed in Carbondale: The purchase and installation of the readers was approved by Carbondale City Council last summer. According to documents presented to the city council, the readers will expand the police department’s investigative capabilities by providing more tools to detect vehicles that have been associated with crimes.
* Sun-Times | Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s team moving quickly to find interim police superintendent: Among those likely under consideration to replace Carter — at least until Johnson chooses a permanent superintendent — are three newly departed members of the CPD’s leadership team: former 1st Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio, former Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan and former Chief of Counterterrorism Ernest Cato.
* WICS | Bill seeks to create hunger-free college campuses: The bill will give the grants to campuses that meet the requirements for addressing student hunger. This can be campuses that create hunger task forces or have different programs.
* Tim Drea and Aaron Gurnsey | Death in Springfield a reminder of continued need to improve workplace safety: Gregory David Fields reported to work at Springfield’s Capital Airport on Monday, April 10, just like any other day on the job for this longtime HVAC service worker. But it was far from just any day at work. An explosion caused blunt-force injuries and cost Fields his life at the age of 55. His wife, children and grandchildren were left picking up the pieces: setting up funeral arrangements, writing his obituary, mourning his untimely passing.
* Ollie Idowu | State can, should do more to invest in community health centers: This spring, we are taking action at the Illinois State Capitol. In the recent run of strong state revenues, Illinois leaders have repeatedly and generously invested in core health care services and social service programs; community health centers have been grateful to be a priority. We are now urging the Illinois Legislature to make continued investments in community health centers through two important initiatives.
* Kam Buckner | It takes a village to raze a Chicago child — and a village to come together and raise the child again: Being a young person downtown or on the lake is not a crime, and we cannot treat it like it is. Chicagoans are interested in solutions, but it should first be said that when we talk about making sure that young people have things to do in their neighborhoods, it’s not because we want to keep them out of downtown. If you show me a downtown with no young people, I will show you a city that is dying. Young people on the South and West sides should have things to do in their neighborhoods because all kids and teenagers should be able to have fun close to home, no matter their ZIP code.
* The Triibe | Marshall Hatch Jr. eyes Brandon Johnson’s county commissioner seat: Marshall Hatch Jr., the 35-year-old executive director of the MAAFA Redemption Project and the son of influential Pastor Marshall Hatch Sr. of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in West Garfield Park, believes he is uniquely suited for this seat.
* WBEZ | A Brandon Johnson campaign consultant lost his own Chicago race by 1 vote but isn’t contesting it: Darius Newsome, who worked on Johnson’s faith-based outreach, won 2,245 votes, one fewer than Carmelita P. Earls, for the third of three seats on the Austin District council. Earls, a former Chicago Fire Department deputy district chief endorsed by unions for city cops and firefighters, will take office next Tuesday with two police reform advocates, Arewa Karen Winters and Deondre Rutues.
* NYT | The College Board Will Change Its A.P. African American Studies Course: The College Board said on Monday that it would revise its Advanced Placement African American studies course, less than three months after releasing it to a barrage of criticism from scholars, who accused the board of omitting key concepts and bending to political pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had said he would not approve the curriculum for use in Florida.
* Charles Burdick | Why do birds fly In V-formation?: The lead bird cuts straight through an invisible wall of air. This sets up flowing currents of air behind him, and the following birds take advantage of them. The leader’s work is hardest, and after a while he tires and hands over his pioneer work to another bird. He can then relax a little with the help of the currents and sheltering eddies which flow behind the lead bird.
* The Hill | They graduated during the pandemic. Now they face their first student loan payments: Graduates for the last three years all had the grace period, as the Trump and Biden administrations extended a pause on student loan payments amid the national health emergency. Now things are about to change: Payments will begin either 60 days after the Supreme Court rules on President Biden’s student debt forgiveness program or 60 days after June 30, whichever comes first.
Tuesday, Apr 25, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Of the 3.6 million Illinoisans covered by Medicaid, 42% are children, 7% are people with disabilities, 8% are seniors and 43% are other adults. Over half of individuals with Medicaid coverage are disproportionately people of color.
Illinois hospitals have been working to close racial and ethnic gaps in access to care and patient outcomes for years, adopting programs to identify and address risk factors—social, economic and environmental conditions that impact health outcomes—and offering free services such as transportation, among other initiatives.
When the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the urgent need to reduce health disparities, Illinois hospitals redoubled their efforts. Now, as hospitals face dire financial distress, their significant investments in health equity are being threatened by dramatically higher operating costs.
Because Medicaid is the state’s largest health insurer, Illinois hospitals are urging legislators to pass Senate Bill 1763 to increase the General Revenue Fund (GRF) portion of Medicaid hospital rates, which funds less than 18% of hospital Medicaid spending, while hospitals fund over 22% through an assessment tax.
Passing SB 1763 would bring a much-needed 20% across-the-board increase to hospital Medicaid base rates, helping reduce health disparities by improving equity in funding for hospital care. Please support SB 1763 for the first GRF Medicaid hospital rate increase in 28 years. Discover the facts to learn more.
A unit of local government may not regulate an individual’s ability to freely exercise the fundamental rights set forth in this Act in a manner more restrictive than that set forth in this Act.
The Danville City Council’s Public Services Committee on Tuesday will consider approving an ordinance preventing the mailing, delivery and receiving of abortion medication in the city.
The committee meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Robert E. Jones Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St.
The ordinance is for “Approving the Addition of Chapter 142 to the Danville, Illinois Code of Ordinances; Requiring Compliance with Federal Abortion Laws.”
At an abortion clinic protest last month across the street from 600 N. Logan Ave. where a clinic is proposed, Mark Lee Dickson, director with Right to Life East Texas and founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative, said he’d been working with city officials on ordinance language to incapacitate and stop the proposed clinic from opening.
* Press release…
The ACLU of Illinois today sent a letter to Danville Mayor Rickey Williams and members of the City Council warning that a proposed ordinance that would declare the community a “sanctuary city for the unborn” is illegal under the Illinois Constitution and Illinois law and must be rejected. Passage or attempted enforcement of the misguided proposal “will do nothing other than expose the City to significant legal liability and fees.”
“Illinois law protects and guarantees every person’s ability to make their reproductive health care decisions without governmental interference,” said Chaundre White, Senior Supervising Attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, one of the signatories to the letter. “Danville and every other community in Illinois are not free to violate that law.”
In recent weeks, Danville residents and leaders have discussed plans for the proposed ordinance in response to plans by a medical group to open a clinic that offers a full range of reproductive health care, including abortion care. The ordinance would place unnecessary requirements aimed at blocking the new clinic from functioning, including prohibiting the receipt of medications or instruments that can be used for abortions. This ordinance is being introduced in the Danville Public Services Committee, even though it is blatantly unenforceable under the Reproductive Health Act.
The letter notes that both the Illinois Constitution and Illinois’ Reproductive Health Act make clear that our State policy is to protect reproductive rights. In particular, the letter notes that the RHA plainly states that:
(a) Every individual has a fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about the individual’s own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care.
(b) Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise that right.
(c) A fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus does not have independent rights under the laws of this State.
The ACLU calls on the Danville elected officials to reject the ordinance, noting that “it is without question that Illinois law protects reproductive rights––including the right to obtain an abortion within the state. The City of Danville is not above this law.”
“Abortion remains safe and legal in Illinois,” added White. “Danville should recognize their responsibilities under the laws of our state.”
Local economic conditions have taken a bearish turn, possibly suggesting that the long-awaited recession is near.
That’s the bottom line of the latest Survey of Economic Conditions by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which found that conditions by some measures are the worst since much of the economy effectively shut down right after COVID hit.
The survey, based on questionnaires sent to key business leaders in the five-state Chicago Fed region, found that a measure of overall economic activity in April hit -37. That’s a sharp drop from -8 in March, “well below trend” according to the Fed, and the lowest since the COVID-sparked 2021 recession — except for July 2022, when it also was -37.
The decline in activity is particularly pronounced in the manufacturing sector, whose April rating of -55 was easily the lowest in three years.
The Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions (CFSEC) Activity Index decreased to –37 in April from –8 in March, suggesting that economic growth was well below trend. The CFSEC Manufacturing Activity Index decreased to –55 in April from –7 in March, and the CFSEC Nonmanufacturing Activity Index decreased to –24 in April from –9 in the previous month.
• Respondents’ outlooks for the U.S. economy for the next 12 months deteriorated and remained pessimistic on balance. Sixty-five percent of respondents expected a decrease in economic activity over the next 12 months.
• The pace of current hiring decreased, as did respondents’ expectations for the pace of hiring over the next 12 months. Both hiring indexes remained negative.
• Respondents’ expectations for the pace of capital spending over the next 12 months decreased, and the capital spending expectations index remained negative.
• The labor cost pressures index was unchanged, but the nonlabor cost pressures index increased. Both cost pressures indexes remained negative.
* Bloomberg | Wall Street boosts states’ credit scores even as recession worries loom: Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey this year have garnered higher credit scores from rating companies, including brighter outlooks for the states as well. The upgrades also helped shrink bond yield spreads in the primary and secondary municipal markets, signaling investor perception of state debt is improving. The better state ratings are due in part to the positive effect of federal pandemic aid, which some states used for one-time expenses while others set cash aside for the future. State treasuries also saw an influx of tax revenue from residents — bolstered by US stimulus money sent to individuals — who spent on services at home at the height of the pandemic, and on travel after Covid lockdowns were eased.
* Joe Cahill | Buyback returns are shriveling: The median “buyback effectiveness” rate, or BER, for the 363 companies in the study fell to -1.1%, a four-year low. The 24 Illinois companies included in the survey fared slightly better, with a median BER of -0.8. […] Some big names in Chicago business were among the least proficient share repurchasers. United Airlines posted a -8.5% BER on $3.2 billion in buybacks, and medical products company Abbott Laboratories logged a -15.2% BER as it spent $7.5 billion repurchasing stock. Zebra Technologies brought up the rear locally, with a BER of -32.1% on $1.1 billion in buybacks. What does low buyback effectiveness mean? In the simplest terms, it means a company’s buybacks violate a fundamental rule of investing: buy low.
* Crain’s Daily Gist podcast | How tech can level Chicago’s economic disparities: Crain’s contributing columnist Orphe Divounguy chats with host Amy Guth on making markets more free, fair and competitive. Verizon store closing adds to Mag Mile’s woes; as United eyes Europe and business travel, Newark takes center stage; the hot market for industrial space; and ComEd wants a $247 million rate hike on top of the $1.5 billion hike already pending.
* AP | McDonald’s first quarter sales boosted by higher prices: McDonald’s reported higher-than-expected sales in the first quarter as store traffic grew despite higher prices. Global same-store sales rose 12.6% compared to the January-March period last year, the Chicago burger giant said Tuesday. That’s well above the 8.7% increase that Wall Street had been forecasting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
* Crain’s | As home prices drop in more big metros, they’re still rising in Chicago: Chicago-area single-family home values rose 3.6% in February compared with February 2022, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices released this morning. That increase is on top of a 13.1% increase a year ago, meaning prices continue to beat those from the boom time.
* Sun-Times | As Walmart pulls back, businesses and neighborhoods need to talk: The Walmart retreat follows other big chains that ventured into mostly Black and Hispanic areas here in recent years. Aldi, Target and Whole Foods come to mind. When it happens, there’s a certain repetitiveness to the fallout. Residents express shock and anger. Retailers express regrets, maybe, but shed little light on internal thinking or financial results.
* Daily Herald | With manufacturing booming, Schaumburg looks to modernize 60-year-old industrial park: A study of the area’s eligibility for a tax increment finance district is among the projects included in Schaumburg’s 2023-24 budget, which is scheduled for final approval Tuesday and will take effect May 1. Schaumburg Economic Development Director Matt Frank said the goal of the study — and the TIF district that could follow — is to modernize the six-decade-old area, not reinvent its identity.
* Crain’s | Ariel’s co-CEOs share their Buffett-style approach to investing during market turbulence: So anything that has any cyclicality to it has had a really tough time. Anything that has any ties to the housing market has had a very difficult time. So we’ve been leaning in those areas, buying more of our favorite names. So like in the housing area, a company like Mohawk that makes carpeting is an extraordinarily cheap stock to us. We’ve been adding to private equity firms, like Carlyle. We’ve added to the Bank of Oklahoma, taking advantage of the dislocation that we’ve seen in the financial services sector of the marketplace. And then in some of our light cyclicals, we’ve also been adding there and finding opportunities in companies like Resideo (a Honeywell spinoff that offers home automation solutions, such as smart thermostats). Those kind of light cyclicals we think are very cheap in this environment.
* Politico | Illinois corporate board diversity slow going: A state law designed to diversify Illinois-based corporate boards is having mixed results, though House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who sponsored the legislation, remains optimistic about the data. The numbers are meh: While women’s representation on corporate boards has reached more than 20 percent on average, they are underrepresented in most companies compared to their workforce. And non-white minorities are even more underrepresented relative to the state’s population.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced she replaced her director of early childhood education over the use of a teacher training book, written by a nationally recognized education group, that the Republican governor denounced as teaching “woke concepts” because of language about inclusion and structural racism.
Barbara Cooper was forced out as as head of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education after Ivey expressed concern over the distribution of the book to state-run pre-kindergartens. Ivey spokesperson Gina Maiola identified the book as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th edition. Maiola said she understands that the books have been removed from the state classrooms.
“The education of Alabama’s children is my top priority as governor, and there is absolutely no room to distract or take away from this mission. Let me be crystal clear: Woke concepts that have zero to do with a proper education and that are divisive at the core have no place in Alabama classrooms at any age level, let alone with our youngest learners,” Ivey said in a statement. […]
The governor’s office said Ivey first asked Cooper to “send a memo to disavow this book and to immediately discontinue its use.” Ivey’s office did not say how Cooper responded but that the governor made the decision to replace Cooper and accepted her resignation. Cooper could not immediately be reached for comment.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo personally altered a state-driven study about Covid-19 vaccines last year to suggest that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than had been established by the broader medical community, according to a newly obtained document.
Ladapo’s changes, released as part of a public records request, presented the risks of cardiac death to be more severe than previous versions of the study. He later used the final document in October to bolster disputed claims that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were dangerous to young men.
The surgeon general, a well-known Covid-19 vaccine skeptic, faced a backlash from the medical community after he made the assertions, which go against guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics. But Ladapo’s statements aligned well with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ stance against mandatory Covid-19 vaccination.
Researchers with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Florida, who viewed Ladapo’s edits on the study and have followed the issue closely, criticized the surgeon general for making the changes. One said it appears Ladapo altered the study out of political — not scientific — concerns.
A Port St. Lucie gay pride parade has been canceled and other pride events have been restricted to people 21 years and older in anticipation of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signing a bill meant to keep children out of drag shows.
The Pride Alliance of the Treasure Coast posted Wednesday on Facebook that the decision to change this Saturday’s Pridefest events was made after multiple conversations with Port St. Lucie officials.
“We hope that everyone understands that this is definitely not what we wanted at all and are working with the city to assure our safety as well as produce a positive event,” the post said.
The Florida House sent DeSantis a bill Wednesday that bans children from adult performances, a proposal aimed at the governor’s opposition to drag shows.
* Maybe more than a little conflict of interest here…
Yesterday the Texas House passed a bill to put armed officers at every school in the state—but @reptinderholt inserted an amendment to allow contracts with private security, instead of police.
Public schools in Texas would have to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom starting next school year under a bill the Texas Senate approved Thursday.
Senate Bill 1515 by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, now heads to the House for consideration.
This is the latest attempt from Texas Republicans to inject religion into public schools. In 2021, state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican, authored a bill that became law requiring schools to display donated “In God We Trust” signs.
King said during a committee hearing earlier this month that the Ten Commandments are part of American heritage and it’s time to bring them back into the classroom. He said the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for his bill after it sided with Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach in Washington state who was fired for praying at football games. The court ruled that was praying as a private citizen, not as an employee of the district.
Missouri this month became the first state in the country to severely restrict gender treatments for people of all ages, following a series of quieter moves across the country that have been chipping away at transgender adults’ access to medical care. […]
Missouri’s sweeping new policy took a different approach. Citing consumer protection laws meant to regulate fraud, the state attorney general, Andrew Bailey, issued an emergency rule prohibiting doctors from providing gender treatments to patients — of any age — unless they adhere to a slew of significant restrictions, including 18 months of psychological assessment. The rule also said that patients should not receive gender treatments until any mental health issues are “resolved.”
The onerous restrictions amount to a “de facto ban,” said Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union, whose Missouri chapter announced its intent to file a legal challenge to the rule. […]
Missouri’s new policy goes into effect on April 27 and expires in February 2024, when the state legislature will be back in session. (Two bills that would have banned care for minors — and prohibited Medicaid from covering it for all ages — have not advanced in this year’s session.)
* Exactly the opposite of Rep. Cassidy’s HB1533. From Missouri…
The Missouri state senate recently approved a bill to block local ordinances restricting the practice of veterinary medicine, but it is specifically aimed at overturning St. Louis’s ban on cat declawing. If a House committee approves the bill, it will then be taken up by the full House.
State Sen. Justin Brown is the sponsor of the declawing bill—as well as last year’s trigger ban on most abortions. He argued that medical professionals and their patients should be able to determine what procedures are medically necessary or not, sans government interference. Unfortunately for anyone who doesn’t enjoy a good scratching post, it fully appears the irony is lost on him.
“It interferes with the patient-client relationship with the practitioner,” Brown said, echoing similar arguments made by doctors and other experts regarding abortion restrictions. “I think that needs to be between the practicing veterinarian and the owner of the pet.”
In other words, “we simply don’t want politicians in our emergency departments or exam rooms.” Oh, wait … (checks notes) … that one’s from an ad signed by 300 doctors opposing abortion restrictions. The arguments sound so similar, it’s easy to get confused!
The NAACP filed a lawsuit Friday to challenge new legislation signed by Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves that expands the state’s law enforcement reach in the city of Jackson and implements major changes to its judicial system.
The laws signed Friday “represent a state takeover of Jackson” and strip residents of their right to democratically elect leaders, the NAACP said in a statement.
One of the laws, SB 2343, will expand the state-controlled Capitol Police jurisdiction from its current boundaries around state buildings to a substantially larger portion of the city. The other, HB 1020, will establish a new court system within the boundaries of a state-created district. […]
Critics have strongly opposed the two bills as they went through the state legislature, saying such changes would put mostly White, conservative state officials in control over much of a Democratic city where more than 80% of residents are Black.
* Indiana’s bill on trans student name changes is heading to Gov. Holcomb…
Indiana schools would be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school under a bill approved Monday by the state House despite worries that the step could out young transgender people to their families.
The Republican-dominated House voted 63-28 largely along party lines to send the bill to GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb for his consideration after it won the Senate’s endorsement two weeks ago.
The proposal would require school officials to provide written notification to a child’s parent or guardian within five business days of the child asking to be called a different “pronoun, title, or word,” according to the bill.
Supporters argued the approach would empower parents. Republican state Rep. Michelle Davis, a lead sponsor of the bill, said it would put parents in control of “introducing sensitive topics to their children.”
Opponents derided the proposal during legislative hearings as an attack on the state’s LGBTQ+ students, especially young transgender people. Like Indiana, Republican-led legislatures around the country have been seeking to curb LGBTQ+ rights, especially targeting transgender people’s everyday lives — including sports, health care, workplaces and schools.
* “Italy Strips Some Gay Couples of Parental Recognition” from the Wall Street Journal…
[Italy’s] crackdown on birth certificates [for children of married gay parents] is part of a broader campaign against same-sex parenthood led by Ms. Meloni, who has frequently spoken out against what she calls “the LGBTQ lobby” and in defense of Christian family values.
Ms. Meloni comes from a far-right background but has worked hard to burnish her credentials as a mainstream conservative, pursuing establishment-friendly policies on economics and foreign affairs.
At the same time, her government has sought to keep its right-wing voters happy with hard-line stances on immigration, gay rights and national identity.
I’m returning on behalf of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and its research partner, Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois, with the release of a new report, Reforming the Illinois Estate Tax to Advance Tax Equity and Fund Public Services, which recommends resetting the current Illinois estate tax exclusion of $4 million to a lower level to “strengthen the state’s investment in its residents by generating significant additional resources to provide essential public services.” The report says that Illinois is at a “fiscal crossroads”, with $10 billion in federal subsidies through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the American Rescue Plan Act expected to be spent by the middle of FY 2024. “Further aggravating conditions for working- and middle-class residents, Illinois is noted for having one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, placing a much greater tax burden on low-income workers and middle-class families than on affluent individuals, when tax burden is measured as a percentage of income,” the report says. “From a fiscal policy standpoint, few tax options are available that would raise revenue while simultaneously making state-level taxation fairer by responding to the significant growth in wealth and income inequality. One such option, however, is the tax assessed on wealthy estates.”
Between 2002 and 2014, Illinois quadrupled the threshold for assessing the Estate Tax, called the “Exclusion Limit,” from $1 million to $4 million. “This has eroded the tax base with the number of estates paying the Estate Tax in Illinois decreasing from a 2001 peak of 5,100 to 860 in 2020, resulting in an estimated $5 billion of lost revenue over an 18-year period,” the report finds. “Reducing the Exclusion Limit would both broaden the base subject to Illinois’ Estate Tax— thereby generating new revenue from those with large estates—and enhance the tax fairness created by the Estate Tax,” the report says. Among key policy recommendations, which would increase annual revenue by between $150 million to $300 million:
• Lowering the Exclusion Limit to $1 million (returning the limit to its 2002 level) which could generate an average of around $300 million in new revenue annually.
• Lowering the Exclusion Limit to $1.5 million which could generate an average of $221 million in new revenue annually.
• Lowering the Exclusion Limit to $2 million which could generate an average of $151 million in new revenue annually.
The authors add: “We further recommend that the additional state revenue which would be derived from lowering the Estate Tax Exclusion Limits be applied to help fund an expansion of tax relief for low and moderate-income families, like the creation of a child tax credit.” […]
Many thanks, and all the best,
Rick
= = = = = = = =
Richard Melcher
Principal
Melcher+Tucker Consultants
* Text message from Sen. Jil Tracy…
Abolishing Illinois’ estate tax is about allowing family farms and other small family businesses to stay intact. With the estate tax, many are forced to liquidate part of their assets to pay the tax. The Illinois Estate tax doesn’t affect the ultra wealthy who use trusts and other expensive estate planning tools to avoid the tax. True, the Governor may want to avoid the optics, but it isn’t the reality.
The Illinois estate tax law is complicated, but in simplest terms, an entire estate in Illinois is taxed roughly 12% to 16% at death when the fair market value of the estate exceeds $4 million per individual. [Attorney Andrew White] finds that some farmers know only about the federal estate tax that they read about in national publications. At the current threshold of $12.92 million per individual, the federal estate tax shelters the vast majority of family farms.
But with farmland values at historic highs, the Illinois estate tax threatens almost every average- sized family farm in the state when a member of the farm family dies and wishes for the next generation to continue the family business.
“We are seeing central Illinois farmland estate appraisals come in as high as $18,000 per acre,” White says. “With farm equipment and a farmhouse that means a family owning as little as 160 to 200 acres could face a tax.” Families who make a living off the land commonly own 200 acres or more.
According to Illinois Farm Business Farm Management, farmers own an average of 23% of the land they farm, and the average size of a modern family farm exceeded 1,250 acres as of 2020.
* The Question: Lower the estate tax’s exclusion level, or abolish the estate tax, or leave it as it is? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
Illinois may soon have to create a statewide literacy plan aimed at helping students learn how to read.
Several bills regarding literacy — backed by a coalition of education advocates, teachers, and parents — are currently moving through the state legislature. The bills would require the state board of education to create a literacy plan for school districts, create a rubric for districts to judge reading curriculum, and provide professional development for educators. […]
Members of the Illinois coalition have spoken at the State Board of Education’s monthly meetings and worked with legislators to create and push bills in Springfield this session. With just a month left of the legislative session, two of the six bills the coalition helped write are moving closer to passage.
The first bill, which has similar versions in the Senate and House, would require the State Board of Education to adopt a literacy plan for school districts by Jan. 31, 2024. The second bill, called the Literacy and Justice For All Act, would require the state board to create a rubric for districts to evaluate literacy curriculum and create professional development for educators.
There is an ongoing debate in Springfield about how Illinois should move forward with carbon capture and storage technology. […]
Sierra Club Illinois is also concerned about the future for farmers who don’t want pipelines built through their land. Advocates said House Bill 3119 could protect property rights, land, water, and livelihoods.
“Simply put, this debate is about whether Illinois will grant authority to large corporation to force land owners to have industrial waste transported near their homes and store it under their property and then leave the taxpayers of Illinois holding the bag for any disastrous consequences which may occur in the years to come,” said Christian County farmer Karen Brocklesby.
Meanwhile, Archer-Daniels-Midland has been at the forefront of carbon capture innovation since 2011. ADM operates two CCS projects at the corn processing plant in Decatur through a collaboration with the University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Energy.
“These projects have successfully demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of CCS technology at a commercial scale and have collectively stored more than 3.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in a deep ceiling reservoir,” said David Rice, ADM Director of Innovation and Technology.
Illinois Senate Republicans discussed six measures focused on reducing fentanyl deaths, protecting victims of domestic abuse, driving under the influence, and childcare center threats. […]
State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said Senate Bill 1086 would help victims’ families cope with their family member’s death by attempting to remove the stigma fentanyl victims face. […]
“That is why Senate Bill 1976 seeks to create a new offense of domestic assault, to cover situations where someone engaged in conduct that places any family or household member in reasonable apprehension of great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement,” Bryant said.
Senate Bill 1405 creates a new sentencing provision for aggravated driving under the influence where a victim is killed or severely injured. State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said the measure is named after a woman who a drunk driver killed.
As encouraging as it’s been to read headlines such as a recent Crain’s Chicago Business piece titled “Bears’ stadium-subsidy plans going nowhere in Springfield,” around the corner is something like Thursday’s Capitol Fax post: “New Bears bill drops, would reimburse Chicago $150 million, set up infrastructure fund.”
That proposal, House Bill 4040, already has 13 cosponsors and, according to an analysis posted online “maintains the foundation of the mega project/PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) concept that was proposed in HB 3565.”
The new idea does seem to improve on the original by erecting more safeguards and oversight, and what appears to be a focus on channeling any public money toward the public aspects of redeveloping 326 acres: highways, railroad infrastructure, environmental impact and long-term property tax implications.
Yet the big picture questions remain: One, absent a stadium intended to further enrich the private owners of an NFL team worth $5 billion, what of these public projects would be necessary? Two, what is the statewide opportunity cost of focusing development efforts on such a narrow geographic area?
Beyond their popularity, e-bikes offer environmentally favorable, low carbon alternatives to motorized vehicles. Like EVs, e-bike purchases are also gaining traction regarding tax credits and rebates.
President Biden’s original “Build Back Better” legislation contained a 30% tax credit for e-bike purchases, now resurrected in the E-BIKE Act legislation (H.R. 1685) introduced by Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-California) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) in March (S. 881). […]
States have also entertained similar legislation, including Illinois with four e-bike bills introduced in March. State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid’s (D-21) bill (HB3089) offers a tax credit equal to 50% of the cost of qualified e-bikes, up to $1,000. HB3447, introduced by assistant Majority Leader Rep. Kam Buckner (D-26), provides a schedule of rebates based on individual income, with point-of-sale rebates for bike shops in low-income neighborhoods.
State Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-8) introduced SB1700 to award rebates up to $750, while State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-7) filed SB2015 to provide rebates based on eligibility requirements.
Illinois St. Rep. Jed Davis says pregnancy centers around the state will close because of a bill making its way through the Illinois General Assembly. A pregnancy center isn’t like an abortion clinic. It’s a place for women to get services to help them through their pregnancy. But Democrats who wrote Senate Bill 1909 say the centers are fraudulent, deceptive, and misleading. Davis says the bill would allow the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to fine a pregnancy center for advertising, soliciting, or offering pregnancy-related services. He says it’s grossly wrong for Democrats to criticize them for not offering abortion services when abortion is going to remain legal in the state.
The bill’s supporters say the non-abortion clinics don’t offer comprehensive health services. Davis says it’s not fair, especially when a person goes for services at a doctor’s office that doesn’t offer a CT scan or surgery. He says he doesn’t understand why such a pregnancy center can’t advertise pregnancy services when it’s in the name.
The bill was assigned to the Healthcare Availability and Accessibility Committee and could be heard this week.
Another attempt to outlaw vehicle kill switches in Illinois failed to get enough support. […]
House Bill 1527 would do away with the devices. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, said the switches are an invasion of privacy. [..]
But state Rep. CD Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, said poor Illinoisans are the ones who will suffer if the bill becomes law.
“If we get rid of this as an option, the only other option is a repossession of a vehicle, which will be on this individual’s credit for years and years,” said Davidsmeyer.
The Illinois House Revenue and Finance Committee is evaluating a proposed measure giving $25 million in tax credits for research and development projects.
House Bill 1578 offers a credit on qualifying quantum information science expenditures related to research and development that takes place in Illinois.
Brad Tietz of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce told the committee there are three main points to the measure.
“House Bill 1578 does three things, extends the Illinois research and development tax credit from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2037. It doubles from 6.5% to 13% the amount of the RND credit specifically for expenditures and investments made in quantum and information science,” Tietz said. “Lastly, modeled off of recent changes to the edge tax credit program, the bill makes the RND credit applicable against a startup company that is withholding taxes.”
* Tribune | Defense attorney calls ‘ComEd Four’ bribery case ‘collateral damage’ in feds’ quest to bring down ex-Speaker Michael Madigan: “There isn’t an envelope in this world big enough to fit all the money that they made ComEd pay out,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said in her closing argument to the jury. But defense attorneys scoffed at that notion, saying their clients were not only innocent, but that they were “collateral damage” in the government’s yearslong quest to bring down Madigan, the Democratic leader at the apex of Illinois politics who was long considered to be untouchable.
* Sun-Times | In closing arguments, feds hammer at ‘stunning’ stream of benefits to Madigan while defense calls bribery charges ‘collateral damage’: The prosecutor accused Pramaggiore and Hooker of lying on the stand last week, including when Pramaggiore said she didn’t grasp Madigan’s connection to the subcontractors until after she learned of the feds’ investigation. Though FBI cooperator Fidel Marquez told her in a recorded Feb. 18, 2019, phone call that the subcontractors “pretty much collect a check,” Pramaggiore testified that she didn’t realize he was talking about people tied to Madigan.
* Capitol News Illinois | ‘Corrupt influence’ or ‘collateral damage’? Jury to decide fate of ‘ComEd Four’: Before jury deliberations begin on the fate of four ex-Commonwealth Edison officials after a six-week bribery trial, an attorney for one of the defendants got emotional Monday afternoon when imparting the weight of the jury’s task. “Be the shield that you were meant to be,” Patrick Cotter told jurors after gathering himself. “The shield between an individual citizen and a very powerful government, in this case a very powerful government committed, dedicated and on a mission to get Mike Madigan.”
* WTTW | Closing Arguments Begin in ‘ComEd Four’ Trial: ‘Madigan Wanted, ComEd Gave and ComEd Got’: The prosecution also showed the jury a timeline of when folks recommended by Madigan got contracts with ComEd, and when legislation lucrative to ComEd and its parent company, Exelon, passed. Sometimes, jobs were given right before a bill succeeded, in which case the job was meant to influence Madigan, MacArthur said. Other times, it was right after, in which case she said it was a “reward.”
* ABC Chicago | Attorneys deliver closing arguments in bribery case surrounding ex-Speaker Madigan: Defense attorneys argued that “there is no evidence that Madigan did anything for them.” They also argued that prosecutors “have no witness. They have no email. They have no tape that links them.”Defense attorneys also added, as they have throughout the trial, that ComEd often turned down Madigan’s job recommendations and, that it was real and legal lobbying by the utility company that caused legislation to pass and not a dozen jobs given over a nine-year period.
* CBS Chicago | Closing arguments begin in federal ComEd bribery trial: Pramaggiore’s attorney pointed out Madigan only cared about himself and his own political interests, not ComEd. They detailed witness testimony refuting the government’s bribery theory. Witnesses argued they don’t believe ComEd crossed the line.
[Carmen Rossi’s] firm won a contract in February 2022 to operate parking lots on 13 properties owned by the Chicago Public Schools near the sports stadiums, including at 10 elementary schools and Lake View and Lincoln Park high schools.
But the firm was denied the business licenses it needed to operate those lots, prompting Rossi to send Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Ken Meyer an email in March 2022 asking him to expedite the licenses.
Rossi’s firm got the licenses in June 2022, after the city’s municipal code was changed to allow private firms to operate parking operations on property owned by the Chicago Public Schools.
In 2022, Rossi was a registered lobbyist for four firms, but not for Chicago Parking Solutions, according to an online database of city lobbyists maintained by the Chicago Board of Ethics. Rossi has not registered as a lobbyist in 2023, records show.
In his response to the board, Rossi disputed that the email he sent to Meyer constituted lobbying, since Meyer did not have the authority to issue the business license his firm needed. Rossi also asserted he had a First Amendment right to communicate with city officials, whom he noted encouraged Chicagoans to reach out for help.
Let’s review…
1) Company with city contract can’t for some reason get a business license from the city where it has the contract;
2) Company owner sends email to city official asking him to expedite the license;
3) City official did not have the authority to issue business license;
4) City didn’t have a process for issuing the license, so it had to create one
5) Company owner winds up paying $5,000 fine to “resolve charges brought by the Chicago Board of Ethics” because the owner contacted a city official without being a properly registered lobbyist.
Carmen Rossi is a big guy who has been around a long while. He likely should’ve known better. But he does make a good point in the story: How in the heck are small business owners supposed to get by if they have to register as a lobbyist when they interact with the city on their own behalf?
Maybe this is a reform, but from a distance it sure looks like a reform masquerading as a full-employment mandate for paid lobbyists.
* Fox 2 | Illinois can serve summons via text: Amendment: Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday amendments to Supreme Court Rule 102, which provides for the electronic service of summons and complaints in civil proceedings, “in recognition of society’s increased use of electronic methods to communicate,” a news release says.
* Crain’s | Illinois’ bill backlog at lowest level in 15 years: Comptroller Susana Mendoza today reported that the state’s accounts payable, essentially its backlog of unpaid bills for day-to-day government operations, was down to $943 million as of Monday morning. That’s the first time it’s been below the $1 billion mark in 15 years — specifically, since August 2008 — with the oldest bill in her queue all of 16 days.
* WBEZ | Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson’s new chief of staff is mum on policing proposals, but sees power staying with the mayor’s office: Rich Guidice, the former head of the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, was named as Johnson’s No. 2 this week, along with state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago, as Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff. As right hands to the mayor, chiefs of staff play a significant role in managing the mayor’s office, helping develop policy and maintaining relationships with city agencies.
* Crain’s | Meet Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s transition and leadership teams: As Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s May 15 inauguration nears, we’re starting to get a better picture of who will make up his inner circle. From labor leaders to a heavyweight City Hall insider, these are the people shaping the Johnson administration.
* Sun-Times | Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 elects new president: Pat Cleary, who has spent the last 12 years as vice president of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2, replaces Jim Tracy, the two-term president. Cleary easily defeated challenger Rob Tebbens, Local 2’s political and legislative director, with 67% of the vote.
* Tribune | Consultant sued by Paul Vallas calls $700,000 lawsuit ‘shameful and unfounded’: Vallas and his campaign organization sued Chimaobi Enyia in Cook County Circuit Court last Thursday, claiming Enyia ripped off Vallas when in the final weeks of the race for mayor Enyia was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to build support for Vallas in many Black communities but did little work. The lawsuit states that Vallas was the victim of fraud, unjust enrichment and “in the alternative, breach of contract” by Enyia.
* WTTW | Prominent Lightfoot Supporter, Business Owner Pays $5,000 Ethics Fine for Lobbying City Hall Without Registering: Carmen Rossi, who also owns several Chicago nightclubs and holds the liquor license for the Lollapalooza music festival, lobbied the city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department on behalf of his firm, Chicago Parking Solutions, LLC, even though Rossi was not registered to lobby for the firm, according to the settlement agreement he reached with the Chicago Board of Ethics.
* Tribune | ‘Horrific on all fronts:’ North Lawndale residents cry for wide-sweeping violence prevention: Zaiden A. Collins, of Berwyn, suffered blunt force trauma to the abdomen inside a residence in the North Lawndale neighborhood’s 1300 block of South Kedzie Avenue, police said. The death was ruled a homicide, but as of Monday afternoon, the investigation was ongoing. There are no updates beyond the original statement that Zaiden was put down for a nap and then found unresponsive. Violence Interrupters founder Tio Hardiman, longtime anti-violence advocate, called for more awareness from the media and a hastened police investigation at a news conference, where he gazed upon the small audience of reporters with conviction.
* AP | Singer R. Kelly moved to North Carolina prison from Chicago: Robert Sylvester Kelly was transferred from the Metropolitan Correctional Center Chicago to the federal correctional institution in Butner, North Carolina, on April 19, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Benjamin O’Cone said Monday via email. The bureau doesn’t disclose the reasons for inmate transfers due to privacy, safety and security reasons, he wrote.
* WBEZ | How Chicago became a hotbed of twang: “In the early era of string band music — before they even used the name ‘country music’ — it was a rural thing. It wasn’t a Southern thing,” Guarino said in an interview at his home in Lincoln Square. “It was music from rural people, for rural people. And the rural people had moved to Chicago. Chicago was the biggest city next to the rural area. You can drive an hour outside Chicago, and you’re in rural America.”
* WBEZ | The Chicago Yacht Club has a new commodore, a woman — the first in the club’s 148-year history: At the start of 2023, she took over the top job at the Chicago Yacht Club, becoming the first woman in the club’s 148-year history to hold the title. The job doesn’t come with a fancy hat or a double-breasted jacket with gold epaulets; it doesn’t come with an office or pay either. But the significance of the moment isn’t lost on the 4-foot-11 woman. Back in the mid-1990s, when she first considered joining the club, a fellow boat owner urged her husband to join — but not her.
* Tribune | Chicago’s barbecue revolution is here — if only the city would remove the red tape: But while offset smokers are gaining in popularity all over the country, you won’t find them in Chicago barbecue restaurants (with one known exception). While this could be mere pitmaster preference, especially considering how many kinds of smokers are available, that wasn’t universally true. “In a dream world, we’d be using an offset smoker here,” said Dave Bonner, pitmaster at Green Street Smoked Meats. “We have one for events. I like how they cook. There’s even heat distribution.”
* Daily Journal | Pickleball’s growth serves up new opportunities for play locally: “Our courts are constantly filled and the sport has grown rapidly since I started in my position in 2019,” said Mike Curren, sports director at the Kankakee Area YMCA. “Some have joined the YMCA just to be able to partake in pickleball.”
Please be advised that this law firm and I have been retained by Mr. Chima Enyia to represent him in connection with the Complaint filed by Paul Vallas and the Vallas Campaign. Please find attached a Press Release from Chima.
As indicated at the conclusion of the Press Release, Chima intends to defend the Vallas claims in court and not in the press, unless Mr. Vallas is prepared to personally and publicly repeat the accusation which he has made in his lawsuit.
Best,
J. Dahl
James E. Dahl
Dahl & Bonadies, LLC
* From Chima Enyia…
The lawsuit filed by Paul Vallas and his campaign is shameful and unfounded. I intend to vigorously defend his lawsuit, my character and my integrity. In the end, I will be vindicated and Vallas’ claims will be seen for what they are — unfounded.
I have known Paul Vallas for years. I regarded him as a trusted friend. He trusted me.
Paul Vallas desperately requested my assistance in the Black Community as a consultant regarding policy development, professional networks, personal relationships, and field support.
Vallas asked me for my help, I provided my help, I billed for my help, the bills for my help were approved, and I have been paid for my help. Each of the bills for my help was approved by both the Campaign Manager, Brian Towne, and by the Campaign Financial Chairman, Peter Jeon. I fulfilled completely my obligations to the campaign. Now after I have provided my help, Vallas wants to claw back my compensation. That is absolutely unfair.
I can assure you that Vallas will not repeat any of the accusations which he has alleged in his lawsuit outside of the courthouse, because he knows that if he makes those statements in public, then I can and will sue him for defamation.
In the end, the voters were right; Paul Vallas did not deserve to be the Mayor of the City of Chicago.
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Support Renewable Energy Credits for Illinois’ public universities to help offset the cost of solar power on campus, help fight climate change and create good-paying union jobs.
Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza announced Monday that Illinois’ total General Funds accounts payable has been paid down to less than $1 billion for the first time in 15 years.
April is generally the state’s best month fiscally as residents and businesses pay taxes. As of Monday morning, the accounts payable stood at $941 million, the lowest it has been since August 2008.
“Over the 6½ years I have been Comptroller, I have looked for every opportunity to steadily pay the state’s unpaid bills from a high of $16.7 billion – as a result of the budget impasse under a former governor – to where we have been for the past year, which has been generally less than $3 billion,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “That included refinancing some debt at a much lower interest rate and seeking out every opportunity for federal matching funds the state used to leave on the table.”
The steady repayment brought the state’s backlog of bills down to around $3 billion before a penny of the federal ARPA stimulus dollars landed in state coffers. The stimulus dollars went to pay the state’s COVID-related expenses, all of which can be tracked on the Comptroller’s website.
“During the impasse, state vendors often had to wait 210 business days to get paid,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “Today, my oldest bill is 16 days old. The state of Illinois is paying faster than the private sector. We’ve been on this shortened payment cycle for more than two years now, proving that Illinois is on a strong path to fiscal stability and predictability.”
Illinois navigated a rocky market to clear its $2.5 billion general obligation sale Wednesday, paying more on the shorter end than its bonds have been trading, but seeing healthy demand on the long end for the newly stamped-A level rated paper.
The mostly tax-exempt transaction took center stage this week amid a total of $11.5 billion of supply. The state received nearly $12 billion of orders on the sale from more than 130 investors including retail buyers, which the state attributed to being “a direct benefit of stronger ratings in the A category,” Paul Chatalas, capital markets director, said in a statement.
Market participants said the oversubscription came on the long end, which was reflected in the repricing to lower yields there in the final pricing scale. Some earlier maturities struggled and additional concessions were needed, reflecting the market’s current appetites and a correction that’s hammered the front end.
I need to find an AI translator to help me figure out what these stories actually mean. /s
* Good news…
"The upgrade reflects our view of the state's financial recovery as well as WIU's stabilized enrollment, improved operations, & improved debt ratios," said analyst Megan Kearns.
— yvette.shields@arizent.com (@Yvette_BB) April 19, 2023
* Missouri political analyst John Hancock on St. Louis’ Fox 2 regarding JB Pritzker and the presidency…
I’ll tell you what he would do from a historical standpoint. He would give William Howard Taft a run for his money.
That comment is basically one step above a common Twitter troll. Difference is, common Twitter trolls don’t get paid for their opinions.
* ComEd Four prosecutor…
She points to McClain's comment to Fidel Marquez at Saputo's on 2/7/19, that if Joe Dominguez has "his ex-prosecutor hat on, he's gonna say we can't do this."
"What more do you need to show that McClain understood exactly the illegality of what is going on?" MacArthur asks.
But it did continue and Dominguez was never indicted.
* Weighted vote (added back after I cleared up some confusion)…
Here’s the group of Dem committeepeople who will be filling the Senate seat to be vacated by @CPZ4Senate as she joins the Johnson administration. @ward32chicago edges out @ClerkIYMartinez for the biggest vote share & will control the process. pic.twitter.com/DBPiFdE9n3
The following is a joint statement from the Northeastern Illinois University Board of Trustees Chairman Jose Rico, Northeastern Illinois University President Gloria J. Gibson, and NEIU UPI President Nancy Matthews, Ph.D.
After a productive bargaining session today, we are pleased to announce that the university has reached a tentative agreement with the faculty union, UPI Local 4100. The union’s members will vote on ratification of the tentative agreement in the coming days, after which further details will be available.
* Press release…
State Rep. Sonya M. Harper, D-Chicago, is inviting citizens and stakeholders alike to the first Illinois Black Farmers & Growers Lobby Day, at the Illinois State Capitol, Wednesday, April 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Agriculture is Illinois’ largest industry, and no state has a larger percentage of its land area under cultivation than we do,” Harper said. “And yet, we’ve continued to see that this industry faces widespread inequality in terms of access as well as outcomes for those members of minority communities who are a part of it. That has to change, and that’s why I’m leading the push for new policies aimed at promoting equity in agriculture.”
Throughout her career before and since becoming a legislator, Harper has been one of the strongest proponents in the state for policies to promote equitable and expanded access to healthy foods and for equity in the food and agricultural supply chain.
Wednesday’s event will include breakfast, a meet and greet as well as a press conference. Sponsors include the Black Oaks Center, Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Growing Home, Grow Greater Englewood, Urban Growers Collective, Green Era Campus, Cannabis Equity Illinois, Mia’s Heart Hemp Life and State Innovation Exchange. Lt. Governor Julianna Stratton and Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture Jerry Costello II are also expected to attend.
* Press release…
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias released his First 100 Days report today, highlighting his administration’s accomplishments since taking office in January.
The 16-page report reflects how the new Secretary has pursued an aggressive agenda to improve customer service, enhance services, protect consumers, and upgrade technology.
From implementing a comprehensive Executive Ethics Order on Day One to finding ways to reduce the Time Tax, which decreases the time spent waiting for government services, and from moving to overhaul the office’s archaic technology systems to pushing an aggressive legislative agenda, Giannoulias’ team has made significant strides to improve the lives of Illinois residents.
* I wrote up a piece for subscribers this morning on the Vallas lawsuit after spending part of the weekend kicking over rocks. When I finished, I realized I just didn’t care that much. But I do expect more fireworks in the future…
Even if enyia did what he said — take down signs and put them up — anyone who’d agree to pay $700,000 for that probably can’t manage the nation’s third largest city https://t.co/ZE4t7nUld9
* Elon’s deliberate chaos has ensnared at least one Illinoisan…
This is EXACTLY my point @elonmusk . Twitter has become a stain.
You owe @WalshFreedom an apology. A fake account tweets out something attributing it to Joe Walsh. Thousands fell for it and retweeted the disinformation.
So Joe Walsh prefers murderering 6,000,000 Jews and millions more innocent civilians to a mean Tweeter. That says more about him than Hitler or Trump. Unexpected honesty of an evil idiot. https://t.co/YFFHwF0Ms9
* Scott Holland | Is it ever possible to simplify dozens of tax streams?: As of last Aug. 1 the share is 6.16% from individual, trust and estate income taxes and 6.85% of net collections of corporate income tax. CNI said each percentage point increase would divert about $250 million into the LGDF.
* Daily Herald | Arroyo, former jockey and steward, joins Illinois Racing Board: Arroyo was the senior state steward who judged races at Chicago-area tracks for decades, in a career that began in 1965 at age 21 as a groom, hot-walker and exercise boy at Sportsman’s Park. He started as a jockey the next year and competed in the Midwest, East Coast and Florida circuits until 1978.
* Crain’s | Longtime Evanston Hospital leader to retire: Evanston Hospital President Doug Silverstein will retire at the end of 2023 after a long career in Chicago and the hospitals that make up NorthShore University Health System. Silverstein, 65, who attended Northwestern University, first came to Evanston Hospital as a summer intern in 1981. He then spent 10 years at other Chicago health systems before returning to Evanston Hospital as a vice president in 1992, NorthShore said in a statement this morning.
* Yahoo Finance | Bed Bath & Beyond: How stock buybacks undermined the company: Would you believe that Bed and Bath has spent more than $11.7 billion to buy back almost three quarters of its own stock? At an average cost about 15 times the stock’s current price? And that only a couple of months ago, when it was already in desperate financial shape, it kept buying back its shares? (For no rational reason, as far as I can tell.)
* Crain’s | A decade after Rahm Emanuel closed nearly 50 schools, CPS faces a drastically different landscape: The different approaches of then and now have common challenges, including declining enrollments, underutilized schools, scarce resources and ever-present deficits. Families of color and those in low-income communities disproportionately bore the brunt of the Emanuel-era closures, and many say they continue to receive short shrift. Even as CPS enrollment has decreased, the demographic breakdown of students has remained constant. About 47% of students are Latino, 36% are Black and 11% are white. Now is the time to re-evaluate where CPS has been and see where it is — and should be — going.
* Belt Mag | Moses of Cairo (Illinois): As for the real Arabs, most people beyond Cairo had little idea that there were any of us living in Little Egypt, and outside my family, no one knew that I was a descendant of the first generation. Inside my family it was a different story. After school and during summers, I spent a lot time with my Arab grandmother, who moved to Mt. Vernon when I was in grade school. For her, there was no contradiction in being a down-home Arab in Southern Illinois. If she harbored any internalized oppression resulting from anti-Arab and anti-immigrant bias, it was hard to detect. From her retelling of our family’s history, we belonged in Southern Illinois; we were as Saluki as a person could be.
* Statescoop | Maine introduces biometric privacy legislation modeled on Illinois ‘gold standard’: The Maine bill, which would require a written release from an individual before a private entity obtains or uses an individual’s biometric data — prohibit private entities from selling that information — is largely modeled on a 2008 Illinois law that’s considered a gold standard for biometrics privacy.
Last I checked, Bailey wasn’t much of a union guy, and this case was about how Mayor Lightfoot didn’t secure a proper agreement with the city’s labor unions before imposing the mandate…
The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, known as AFSCME, and the Coalition of Unionized Public Employees, which represents more than two dozen labor organizations representing city employees.
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said Lightfoot, who will leave office in less than a month, unilaterally imposed the vaccine mandate. It is unclear how many employees would be rehired if the ruling stands.
“The right call is collaboration,” said Reiter, adding that the complaint was not prompted by the debate over whether employees should – or should not – be vaccinated against COVID-19. “This is the right decision.”
A decision upholding Lightfoot’s action would have weakened labor rights throughout Illinois, Reiter said.
* The mandate did go to arbitration, but the state board ruled this…
And although the arbitrator found that the imposition of no-pay status for failure to vaccinate did not violate the contract based on an earlier arbitration award, his analysis does not establish that the Charging Parties clearly and unmistakably waived their right to bargain that potential consequence. … Thus, the Charging Parties did not clearly and unmistakably waive the right to bargain the effects of the Respondent’s vaccine mandate and reporting requirement.
The Respondent violated Sections 10(a)(4) and (1) of the Act by implementing its vaccination policy without first bargaining over its effects to impasse or agreement.
The Respondent violated Sections 10(a)(4) and (1) of the Act by implementing changes to the sick leave addendum without bargaining to impasse or agreement.
Failing and refusing to bargain collectively in good faith with the Charging Parties over the effects of its decision to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and related reporting requirements.
“Whenever I first got these new hearing aids in because of the law that had passed, I heard the ref whistle on the soccer field,” he said. “Without them in, I would miss a good 50, 60, 70 or maybe 80 percent of what you’re saying.”
State lawmakers heard him back in 2018, when he convinced them to pass a law requiring insurance plans to cover hearing aids for kids under 18. Now he’s urging lawmakers to pass another bill to cover people of all ages.
House Bill 2443 has already cleared the House after a push from Rep. Sharon Chung (D - Bloomington) . Now Sen. Dave Koehler (D - Peoria) is taking it up in the senate.
“For anyone who has problems hearing, it becomes a problem engaging whether it’s education, whether it’s society or whether it’s your job,” Koehler said.
Proposed legislation requiring libraries receiving state funding to have a written policy against banning books would change little at west-central Illinois libraries, except for the dotting of a few I’s and crossing of a few T’s, according to librarians.
Like several libraries in the region, Virginia Public Library has no such written policy, but its general practice is not to ban books, library director Rebekah Pentecost said. […]
House Bill 2789 passed, 69-39, on March 22; it would require any libraries receiving or applying for state grants to establish a written policy against book banning. […]
A bill preventing book banning shouldn’t be necessary, said Jake Magnuson, director of Jacksonville Public Library, which has a long history of not banning books.
“We support providing content to all,” Magnuson said. “We are against banning books. I haven’t had any requests. As far as I can tell, it’s not a regular sort of thing. Libraries should have policies in place against book banning. If legislation is necessary to make sure we aren’t (banning books), that’s OK, but I don’t know if legislation is necessary.”
* Rep. Cassidy’s HB3158 that would legalize human composting is now on First Reading in the Senate. The Tribune…
If Cassidy’s legislation gets enough votes in that chamber and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois would become the seventh state in the country to legalize the process. Cassidy has also indicated that she wishes to have her remains go through human composting. […]
State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal, and brought the abortion rights positions of Cassidy and other Democrats into the debate.
“I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’” [..]
Katrina Spade runs a full-service funeral home and human composting facility in Seattle. She said she understands that it can take some time for the public to wrap their heads around the idea of human composting.
“To bring up this, this very new idea that forces us to think about our mortality can be quite shocking,” she said. “It’s really important that proponents of natural organic reduction are being careful to couch the process in terms that allow for people to absorb the idea.”
Earlier this month, the state Senate passed a measure sponsored by Republican Sue Rezin of Morris on a 39-13 vote that would lift a 30-year moratorium on construction of nuclear power plants in Illinois. A similar bill sponsored by Arlington Heights Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker, passed in committee on an 18-3 vote and awaits action by the full House.
The politics of nuclear power, once as partisan as any major issue dividing pro-environment Democrats and pro-business Republicans, have undergone a serious transformation since the “China Syndrome” alarms of the 1970s and ’80s. The tipping point? Climate change.
With wind and solar energy options still far from sufficient to replace our reliance on coal, nuclear power has emerged as an available, clean alternative to help make up the difference. It also provides opportunities to replace jobs lost as the state phases out fossil fuels on the way to a legislated goal of 100% carbon-free energy production by 2050.
Rezin, whose bill specifically promotes the use of small “micro” nuclear reactors that can even be installed in existing coal plants, noted in committee that other states have lifted similar bans, recognizing that “advanced nuclear reactors are a potential answer to the reliability and resiliency problem within their energy portfolio.”
Under the governing case law, prosecutors do not have to show a specific quid pro quo existed between Madigan and the four defendants, only that there was a corrupt intent to provide the stream of benefits to Madigan in order to win his influence over legislative acts.
After testimony wrapped last week, lawyers for the defendants argued strenuously for instructions to be provided to the jury that would require a more specific nexus between the ComEd legislation and Madigan’s actions.
But Leinenweber stuck largely to his previous rulings that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requires only that the defendants passed gratuities or rewards to the speaker in the hope they would influence Madigan in some official capacity.
“The difference between the regular lobbying and corrupt lobbying is not only the intent to influence, as focused on by defendants, but the action which intends to provide ‘something of value,’ either given or offered, in order to influence the official,” the judge wrote in a ruling last year.
Leinenweber on Thursday acknowledged that the issue of when a gratuity or reward for a public official becomes a bribe is in flux in the federal courts nationwide. But for this trial, the prevailing law is what the appellate court in Chicago has held, he said.
A significant chunk of lobbying could be rendered illegal if “the action which intends to provide ‘something of value,’ either given or offered, in order to influence the official” stands.
* More from the debate…
Judge: "You can make your record. Eventually it’s going to probably get to the Supreme Court. Either you’re right or you're wrong, and if you’re right…" "Congratulations," Bhachu interjects.
* Here’s an example of the circuit split from last year…
By embracing a stricter interpretation of a federal bribery law and hardening a circuit court split, the Fifth Circuit’s remand of a Texas real estate developer’s conviction furthers a trend of federal judges narrowing the application of anti-corruption statutes and makes the U.S. Supreme Court more likely to weigh in on the issue again.
A three-judge panel on Tuesday overturned the conviction and eight-year sentence of Ruel Hamilton, a politically connected affordable housing developer in Dallas who was found guilty by a Texas federal court jury in June 2021 of illegally funneling funds to a pair of city council members. The appellate panel reached its decision after concluding the jury was improperly instructed to determine whether Hamilton had paid either bribes or gratuities, with both considered corrupt.
We conclude that § 666 does, in fact, require a quo; a quid alone will not suffice. And the jury instruction that the district court gave did not convey that. Thus, Hamilton’s convictions must be vacated.
Lurking just beneath the surface is a hoard of constitutional problems raised by a
broad reading of § 666. See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The
Interpretation of Legal Texts 247 (2012) (“A statute should be interpreted in a way that
avoids placing its constitutionality in doubt.”). Treating § 666 as though it covers all sorts
of interactions with local public officials raises First Amendment, federalism, and due-
process concerns. See McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016); McCormick v.
United States, 500 U.S. 247 (1991). As one of our colleagues put it, when § 666 is used to “prosecute purely local acts of corruption,” it is arguably unconstitutional because it is not “necessary and proper to carry into execution [Congress’s] spending power.” United States v. Lipscomb, 299 F.3d 303, 364–77 (5th Cir. 2002) (opinion of Smith, J.). We need not reach those issues in this case because we can construe the text in a way that comports with the Constitution.
With its opinion, the Fifth Circuit is now in the minority, having joined two other circuits in the U.S. that said the federal bribery statute in question criminalizes only quid pro quo bribes and not gratuities. Five other federal circuits have ruled that the law covers both bribes and illegal gratuities.
* The Tribune has a story on the Democratic Party’s “leftward tilt” in Illinois and Chicago…
One major reason Democrats have not fractured so far is the political alternative — Republicans.
People, particularly in the suburbs, who might have once considered themselves moderate Republicans on social issues no longer fit into the narrow cast of what the GOP calls itself now, Mooney said.
And Pritzker said Republicans “have painted themselves into a terrible corner” on social issues.
“We are the party of reproductive rights. There’s nowhere else to go,” he said. “If you are a believer that women’s rights need to be protected, you are a Democrat and should vote for Democrats. If you’re a believer in public safety and protecting our children from being victims of mass shootings at schools, then you are a Democrat and should vote for Democrats.”
It’s also not a top-down phenomenon. Just look at what happened to former longtime state Rep. Mike Zalewski in the 2022 Democratic primary. He didn’t vote for a bill that deleted parental notification of abortion from the statute books and got hammered over it in the Bungalow Belt, even though many of his progressive colleagues endorsed him.
There’s also the Democratic primary win by staunch progressive Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) over establishment, moderate, pro-union appointed Democratic incumbent Eric Mattson.
The best hope Republicans may have now is that the Democratic base pushes the party so far to the left that the GOP can somehow find a way back in. But, every time the Republicans think this has happened (SAFE-T Act, parental notification, cannabis legalization, trans rights, etc.), Illinois voters intervene to remind them that the Republicans are the ones who are way too far out of step. So far, the Democratic base here is clearly much closer to the general electorate than the Republican base.
Although there is no data cataloging these moves, real estate experts said a number of households have relocated to Illinois, or are preparing to relocate, in search of a safer and more welcoming environment for the LGBTQ community.
Roman Patzner, a real estate agent with Fulton Grace Realty in Chicago, said relocation activity picked up after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, ending the constitutional right to an abortion and leaving many in the LGBTQ community worried about whether their same-sex marriage rights would continue to be protected.
“Because you had what was widely viewed as a federally protected right and the rug was pulled out from (under you),” Patzner said of Roe v. Wade. “In the LGBTQ community, everyone viewed that as a problem for marriage equality, federally.” […]
Redfin found that about half of 1,023 survey respondents among people who recently moved to a new metro area favored living in a place where it’s illegal to discriminate based on “gender/sexual orientation,” as of 2021.
I assume that number is higher two years later, now that so many bills have been signed into law in other states.
…Adding… Related…
* The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws: That law passed so swiftly and was met with such public outcry that Arkansas officials quickly approved a second measure increasing penalties on violators of the child labor codes the state had just weakened. … It’s one of several conservative groups that have long taken aim at all manner of government regulations or social safety net programs. The FGA is funded by a broad swath of ultraconservative and Republican donors — such as the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation [controlled by Richard Uihlein] and 85 Fund, a nonprofit connected to political operative Leonard Leo — who have similarly supported other conservative policy groups.
* Losing Ballot Issues on Abortion, G.O.P. Now Tries to Keep Them Off the Ballot: The biggest and most immediate fight is in Ohio, where a coalition of abortion rights groups is collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would prohibit the state from banning abortion before a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. That would essentially establish on the state level what Roe did nationwide for five decades. Organizers were confident that the measure would reach the simple majority needed for passage, given polls showing that most Ohioans — like most Americans — support legalized abortion and disapprove of overturning Roe. But Republicans in the state legislature are advancing a ballot amendment of their own that would raise the percentage of votes required to pass future such measures to a 60 percent supermajority. The measure has passed the Ohio Senate and is expected to pass the House this week.
* Alabama education director ousted over teacher training book’s stance on race: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced she replaced her director of early childhood education over the use of a teacher training book, written by a nationally recognized education group, that the Republican governor denounced as teaching “woke concepts” because of language about inclusion and structural racism.
* Florida drag performers balance pain and defiance as anti-LGBTQ+ laws loom: Murders of trans people have doubled over the last four years, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. And a study by the Trevor Project found that, last year, 54% of Florida’s trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide. From California to Oklahoma to Tennessee, right-wing activists toting AR-15s and firebombs have shut down drag brunches and children’s story hours. Last November, a gunman in Colorado Springs killed five people at a gay club that had hosted drag performances that day.
* In a thriving Michigan county, a community goes to war with itself: Moss and the board’s choice to run the county health department was Nathaniel Kelly, an HVAC service manager with degrees from an online university and no experience working in public health. Kelly, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, had regularly pushed discredited covid treatments, such as the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin.
The now-notorious violent youth riot in downtown Chicago last weekend got me thinking of a press conference way back in 2010.
Mayor Richard M. Daley voiced frustration about what he said were large groups of suburban kids causing trouble on Chicago’s lakefront, even though plenty of Chicago kids were also participating, including six teens who brutally attacked an 18-year-old suburban woman. Daley complained the youths would text each other to organize their mayhem.
Three years later, downtown’s problems with unexpected group violence hadn’t gotten any better. So then-Gov. Pat Quinn held a splashy press conference on Michigan Avenue to sign a bill, sponsored by then-state Sen. Kwame Raoul and then-state Rep. Christian Mitchell, that doubled prison sentences (to six years) for those who use social media to “incite organized mob violence.”
“We don’t want flash mobs harming anyone, anywhere, but especially where many people come from other states, other countries,” Quinn said. Their promised crackdown never materialized. However, that penalty enhancement is still in state law.
Illinois has also had a statute on its books since 1969 known as the Parental Responsibility Law. Parents and guardians can be sued for “actual damages for the willful or malicious acts of such minor which cause injury to a person or property.” Damages are recoverable up to $20,000. The law has only rarely been used.
Ed Yohnka at the Illinois ACLU told me his group was “not aware of a specific constitutional deficiency” with the law and the courts “long have recognized that one can be held responsible for the actions of others based on specific legal relationships, and recognized the authority of state legislatures to make parents responsible for the torts of their minor children.”
Yohnka did say the law was “bad policy,” partly because impoverished parents would be hurt the most. “Many of these families are struggling to make ends meet in communities that lack services and resources that help support strong families.”
The state and the city also spend millions of dollars a year, and plan to spend much more, on violence prevention programs. In the past, violence interrupters have described being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of young people breaking the law during the flash mobs or trends or whatever you want to call them.
Last week, we barely heard from anyone in that sector about how they helped during the weekend violence or how they can help in the future if properly deployed.
In 2019, WBEZ actually went out and talked to some of the kids who were causing some of the disruptions. The young people understandably complained that parks and recreational facilities in their own neighborhoods on the South and West sides were decrepit.
“There is usually vandalism over the swings, over the slides, there is usually broken material … there is trash, and there is a lot of people soliciting,” according to Tyrianna Rodgers, who was on a “girls-only afternoon” in downtown at the time. “It just doesn’t look like the place where you would send your kids and say OK, ‘You could chill here.’” Four years later, many of those facilities are still a disgrace.
The public radio station also reported at the time that Chicago police were bragging about their ability to monitor the online organization of what are now called “trends,” which the station defined as “large teen-led gatherings that are particularly popular among Black teens.”
Yet, CBS 2 reported last week that the Chicago Police Department had no clue how the mob violence was organized. And credible reports have emerged since then about police ignoring calls for assistance.
There are really two points here. The first is all those loud folks pretending the violence is somehow a new and mysterious thing and a fresh test for a mayor-elect who hasn’t even been sworn in yet really ought to take a breath.
The second is that law enforcement and local leaders have been given plenty of legal, investigatory and prevention tools (and there are more than just those listed above) to address these issues, but those leaders appear to be allowing those tools to just rust away in a drawer somewhere.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) had it absolutely right when he complained that nobody has a plan to deal with the violence and nobody has had a real plan since he was a teen.
“That has to change!” Buckner rightly roared on social media.
Yes, it does. And it starts with the people in authority doing their actual jobs.
* Lakesia Collins and Ann Gillespie | A modest first step for children in Illinois DCFS? Give them a lawyer.: Most people might be surprised to learn that Illinois is just one of seven states that currently don’t guarantee legal counsel for any children in abuse and neglect court proceedings. This is especially disappointing given the fact that at the tail end of the 19th century, Illinois recognized that youths needed to be treated separately in our legal system, creating the very first juvenile court system in the country. While Illinois lags in assuring lawyers in family decisions, every other state has copied the Illinois’ juvenile court, aimed at addressing the unique needs of children.
* WBEZ | This father finally has a safe home for his children. It all came from his arrest on gun charges.: Gonzalez decided he needed a gun for protection while traveling between the gas station and his work. But he had felonies on his record for burglary and driving on a suspended license. That meant he couldn’t get a gun permit. So he reached out to a friend from his former life of crime and bought an illegal handgun.
* Illinois Newsroom | Piatt County wind farm opponents face off against a new state law encouraging their construction.: A new state law, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January before the election took place, sets new statewide standards for siting wind and solar farms in downstate counties. The new standards set out in the 102nd General Assembly’s House Bill 4122 supersede existing county regulations, and appear to prevent counties from rejecting wind farm projects entirely, from this point on. Illinois Newsroom’s Jim Meadows spoke to Piatt County Board Vice-Chairman Jerry Edwards (R-Dis 1) about what’s going on.
* Tribune | Unreliable CTA service is a frustration for riders. It’s also costing Chicago.: And the struggles cost Chicago, experts said. Challenges getting employees and visitors downtown — including the tens of thousands expected as the city hosts the Democratic National Convention next summer — are a hit to the city’s economic heart, which is still facing lower office occupancy than in 2019 and a hospitality industry recovering from the pandemic.
* Crain’s | Lightfoot offers blunt takes on Chicago crime and corporate equity efforts: Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered some blunt takes at a gathering of Black mayors in Washington, D.C., today, describing some Chicago neighborhoods that still look like they’re smoldering from the 1968 riots, criticizing corporations she said offer mere lip service in response to police brutality and calling out Cook County judges and prosecutors who are too lenient in allowing suspects back on the streets. “I’ve been mayor for the last four years, my time is winding down,” Lightfoot said at the meeting of the African American Mayors Association. “There are parts of my city that look like the fires of ‘68 just got put out. Black people have been representing those areas forever. Why is it that we have taken so long for ourselves to wake up? If we are content with crumbs, our people will never, never prosper.”
* Tribune | Brandon Johnson’s win as mayor furthers Democratic leftward tilt as party examines big tent philosophy: In the end, Johnson succeeded in raising questions in voters’ minds about Vallas’ Democratic bona fides. Still, several older Democrats in the party establishment who are considered more moderate endorsed Vallas. They included former Secretary of State Jesse White and Dick Durbin, the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate. Durbin served with Vallas in Springfield more than 40 years ago in the office of the late Democratic Senate President Philip J. Rock of Oak Park.
* SJ-R | What to expect from the cannabis industry in 2023 as two new stores prepare to open: Stone’s new shop is one of three dispensaries slated to open in Springfield later this year, with work beginning recently on the former Steak n’ Shake location in Prairie Crossing for a store run by Bolden Investments III, an LLC based out of Maywood in suburban Chicago and permits being approved for Shangri La, a new dispensary being built out of a vacant lot along Dirksen Parkway.
* SJ-R | Monroe Street to be closed between Second and Pasfield streets Monday: Ongoing work at the Illinois State Capitol complex will require the shutdown of Monroe Street, between Second and Pasfield streets, beginning at 7 a.m. Monday. City officials said the closure will last one day, weather permitting.
* AP | Biden’s 2024 campaign has been hiding in plain sight: “President Biden is delivering and making the strong case for reelection before, during and after any formal campaign announcement,” said Democratic consultant and former Biden spokesman Scott Mulhauser. “Rather than throwing darts at calendars, let’s focus on the President doing his job and doing it well, from an investing in America tour, an economy humming and unemployment at historic lows to a home run of a State of the Union, an expertly pulled-off Ukraine trip and more.”
* The Atlantic | Dianne Feinstein and the Cult of Indispensability: I understand that acknowledging this may make some uncomfortable. All of us, if we are lucky, face the indignities of aging. In other circumstances, the fact that Feinstein can’t cast votes in the Senate might not be terribly meaningful for the country. But the Senate is evenly divided—and when she is out of pocket, the Democrats can’t prevail on a party-line vote. Because she sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee—and Republicans refuse to let her trade the assignment with a colleague physically fit for the job—Democrats are unable to send any of their nominees to the bench to the floor of the Senate.
* AP | ‘The Champagne of Beers’ leaves French producers frothing: At the request of the trade body defending the interests of houses and growers of the northeastern French sparkling wine, Belgian customs crushed more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such.
Heidi Keye Biederman, 83, of St. Charles, Illinois, passed away peacefully on April 20, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.
She was born on March 29, 1940, in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, to the late Vernon and Elizabeth Keye. A proud Detroiter, Heidi attended Ferndale High School in the early 1950s - along with the Motown group, the Spinners. She was the third generation of her family to graduate from Beloit College, and it is also where she met her husband, William Biederman (84). Heidi and William eventually moved to the Chicagoland area and raised their two children, William (55) and Robert (51) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Heidi was a fierce advocate for justice and equality, especially for women and children. She worked tirelessly to ensure that all students had access to a quality education and was instrumental in passing legislation that improved the lives of countless children. She served as the first Executive Director of the Large Unit District Association (LUDA), where she represented the 56 largest school districts in Illinois. She also worked for the Illinois Association of School Boards. Heidi was an elected Board Member and President of School District 41 from 1976-81. She began her career as a first grade teacher and kept in touch with many of her students throughout her life.
Heidi embraced every moment of retirement where she traveled, followed her artistic passions and worshiped her 4 grandchildren Jake (21), Elizabeth (17), Kate (16) and Abby (13). She was so grateful to finally have daughters through marriage in Kim (51), Amber (50), plus many other “daughters by choice.” She enthusiastically appreciated beauty both in the arts and in nature - especially at her family home in Omena, MI. Heidi showered her family and friends with unconditional love and overwhelming positivity, and touched the lives of everyone she met.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 11:00 AM at the First Congregational Church, 535 Forest Ave., Glen Ellyn, IL. In Heidi’s honor, wearing pastel colors is welcomed! In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honor to the Omena Village Preservation Association, https://omenapreservation.org/contribute/.
Some of you know Heidi’s son Rob, who now works for Google. He and the rest of his family have my greatest sympathies. Heidi was a gem.
* As I mentioned earlier, I tested positive for covid last week while in New York. I’ve been pretty tired since then (a massively delayed flight home didn’t help), but I deliberately slept late this morning and I’m feeling a bit better this afternoon. Just gonna take it easy this weekend, read and listen to music…
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
* Tribune photojournalist Brian Casella: “Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson meets Joakim Noah, who talked up his summer basketball program, while visiting with House Speaker Chris Welch”…
*** UPDATE 1 *** I told you Tuesday that the Vallas campaign had paid Chima Enyia’s Ikoro LLC $500,000 during the quarter. $20K of that was for consulting, and the other $480K had the notation “Disputed - not verified.” Well, the Vallas campaign filed a lawsuit against the company yesterday. Here’s Crain’s…
After Vallas made it to the runoff election, Enyia — a political operative who had been an aide to Gov. Pat Quinn, former executive director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, former executive of Cresco Labs and brother of 2019 mayoral candidate Amara Enyia — convinced Vallas to hire him as a campaign consultant for $20,000 a month for March and April.
Enyia later told Vallas’ campaign manager he would hire workers from Black Men United to place Vallas yard signs in majority-Black communities and remove signs that had been damaged, as well as unauthorized yard signs connecting Vallas to “MAGA,” an abbreviation for the Donald Trump presidential campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” according to the filing. Enyia told the campaign manager Vallas had approved the idea. […]
“During an independent review of the Vallas for Mayor raise and spend, and as we prepared to file our report with the Illinois State Board of Elections, we flagged a pattern of payments to a vendor, which are now in dispute,” the [Vallas campaign] statement said.
Veteran Democratic strategist Tom Bowen said the level of fraudulent campaign spending alleged in Vallas’ lawsuit is unprecedented and underscores how desperate Vallas was to make inroads into the Black community. It also shows how little oversight his campaign had over the $18 million avalanche of contributions that came pouring in from the business community after his first-place finish on Feb. 28, Bowen said.
“If he set $700,000 on fire with a very atypical campaign vendor to try to win votes in the Black community like that, that is possibly the stupidest thing anyone in Chicago politics has ever done,” said Bowen, who served as a senior adviser to lame-duck Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign and as political director for former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012.
Bowen said he’s sure former Gov. Bruce Rauner and vanquished Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey “also wasted incredible amounts of money on services like that” in their failed attempts to make inroads into the African-American community.
But in a Chicago mayoral race, it’s “unheard of” to spend that much money so unwisely, Bowen said. After running Lightfoot’s 2019 runoff campaign, Bowen said he “understands the stress” of keeping close tabs on campaign spending when contributions come pouring in.
While that may have been fraud, lots of other folks took full advantage of Vallas’ strong belief that he could win over Black voters. His D-2 report is loaded with payments to South and West Side hucksters. This isn’t new for him. Vallas was fully convinced of his singular popularity with Black voters during the 2002 gubernatorial race as well. Nope.
The University of Chicago will become the first school among 17 prominent colleges to settle claims that they conspired for many years to restrict financial aid and overcharged students by billions of dollars in violation of U.S. antitrust law. […]
The plaintiffs have estimated the class size of former and current students at more than 200,000.
The lawsuit accused all of the defendants of having considered prospective students’ financial needs in weighing whether to offer admission, disfavoring students who need aid.
* Gov. Pritzker was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program today. He talked about his involvement in school board races and was asked about how the Republicans are pushing decades-old culture war issues…
Joe, you’ve got it exactly right at the heart of it, and I think this is why voters are rejecting it, at the heart of all of these positions is this fundamental cruelty. Focusing on attacking children who are LGBTQ, or teachers that are LGBTQ, or taking on people who are not white, banning Black history from our schools, making sure that certain texts aren’t available to people. They want to rewrite history. There’s a cruelty to it all. And I think that voters see that and they’re showing up and rejecting it.
Well, we’re already working together. He’s come to Springfield to talk with the legislature and to me about the things that are necessary to lift Chicagoans up. He’s focused on something that I’m focused on too, which is lifting up people who’ve been left out and left behind. We have neighborhoods in Chicago that have been disinvested from. He ran a campaign that focused on that, and he won because, in my opinion, he addressed that. I also want to say that this is a world where people recognize kind of genuineness. You know, authenticity matters. And Brandon Johnson just seems to be, he is who he is. You know, you can see it, you can feel. He’s the son of a preacher. He has kids, you know, family. He lives in Austin, you know, not the easiest neighborhood to live in. There’s public safety issues in that neighborhood. So he kind of represents the challenges and the opportunity for Chicago.
Darren Bailey, the former Republican candidate for governor, talked to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday about a potential run for Congress against Rep. Mike Bost in Illinois’ downstate 12th District.
Bailey was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a fundraiser for Louisiana governor candidate Jeff Landry and was able to buttonhole Trump, according to a person familiar with their meeting.
The University Professionals of Illinois (UPI), the union representing faculty, librarians, and advisors at NEIU, has voted to authorize a strike. A mediator will work with the union and the administration to attempt to reach an agreement according to Nancy Matthews, the president of the UPI chapter at NEIU. UPI has announced that the earliest they will strike is Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
If mediation is unsuccessful the faculty will go on strike. Depending on how long the strike lasts, coursework, final exams, and projects may be disrupted. Professors will make individual policies for class work in the event of a strike. Union spokespeople have stressed that students will get their grades and be able to graduate.
In a press release from UPI-NEIU, issued on April 13th, “the last two days, NEIU faculty and staff who are members of NEIU’s University Professionals of Illinois (NEIU UPI, IFT Local 4100) overwhelmingly voted to strike, with 95% of voting members asserting their willingness to do so if an agreement can’t be reached at the table.”
* Press release…
The State Treasurer’s Office made a record $98.7 million in investment earnings from the state investment portfolio in March, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today.
Another $75 million in gross investment earnings was earned for cities, villages, school districts, counties and other units of local government that take part in the highly rated Illinois Funds local government investment pool operated by the State Treasurer’s Office.
These key monthly metrics and more are available at The Vault, the transparency website that allows Illinois residents to see how the State Treasurer’s Office is working for them. The site is at iltreasurervault.com.
“Every dollar my office makes through smart, safe investing is a dollar that does not need to be raised in taxes,” Frerichs said. “The State Treasurer’s Office really is an economic engine, and we invest money in a safe and responsible manner.”
* IDPH…
IDPH has recorded a total of 4,127,625 cases and 36,735 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The department is reporting 5,278 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending April 9, and 9 deaths.
Both IDPH and the Illinois Department on Aging have endorsed action this week by both the FDA and the CDC to simplify their recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations. The two federal agencies approved an optional additional updated bivalent vaccine dose for adults ages 65 years and older and optional additional doses for people who are immunocompromised. The bivalent booster is designed to offer better protection against newer strains of the virus. […]
As of last night, 558 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 65 patients were in the ICU and 22 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 44 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.
However, new research by a team from the University of Tokyo and Nagoya University may have finally brought an end to the debate.
“We believe that the mystery of it being an invertebrate or vertebrate has been solved,” said Tomoyuki Mikami, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo at the time of the study and currently a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science. “Based on multiple lines of evidence, the vertebrate hypothesis of the Tully monster is untenable. The most important point is that the Tully monster had segmentation in its head region that extended from its body. This characteristic is not known in any vertebrate lineage, suggesting a nonvertebrate affinity.”
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | Latest Bears stadium legislation would add $3 to ticket prices at Arlington Heights site to help pay off Soldier Field debt: Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights, who introduced a separate proposal in the House that mirrors the stagnant Senate measure, said he was familiar with Moylan’s bill but hadn’t thoroughly reviewed it. “I read one paragraph about it,” he told the Tribune Thursday afternoon. “I know of no one that Marty’s talked to. I just guess it’s a bunch of new ideas that people should talk about.”
* Sun-Times | Loop security is expected to tighten over weekend after violent teen gathering: For years Chicago teens have used social media to meet up downtown in large crowds. On Saturday, the crowds culminated around 9 p.m., and several videos posted online showed cars being broken into and set on fire. The chaos made national headlines and sparked debate about who was to blame for the violence. An alderman criticized the Chicago Police Department, some observers pointed fingers at parents, and others focused on a lack of youth programs.
* NBC Chicago | Downtown Chicago March Planned To ‘Help Redirect’ Behavior Following Teen Gatherings: “We are not walking against our children,” said Dr. Charlie Dates, senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago and Progressive Baptist Church said in the release. “Our children are brilliant, but we are not absolving them of responsibility for the events that took place last weekend. Instead, we are taking accountability as the church by meeting them where they are and providing alternatives to disruptive behavior.”
* CBS Chicago | Some young people fear fallout of Loop chaos could be more racial profiling: Every teenager out on the streets of the Loop last Saturday night was not there to start trouble. CBS 2’s Terry caught up with a group of supervised youngsters who became swept up in the “takeover” mayhem – and who now fear when, and if, they come back downtown, people will look at them with side eyes because they, in their words, “fit the description.”
* Sun-Times | Bridgeport bank failure cost millions more than feds have said: Where did all the money go?: That figure, records show, turns out to have been far higher than previously has been revealed. Now, for the first time, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says it spent nearly $139.8 million to cover the bank’s losses after regulators closed the bank on Dec. 15, 2017. That’s about $50 million more than previously was disclosed in court documents.
* Crain’s | What to do with a raft of new aldermen: How about a boot camp?: The session is one of several aldermanic boot camps happening during the transition period for freshman aldermen who are taking over a job that is increasingly expected to be legislative in nature rather than a local ward boss who acts as a rubber stamp for powerful mayors.
* NEIU’s Independent | Student Journalist Files Ethics Complaint Against NEIU Administrator: A NEIU student journalist filed an ethics complaint against Manish Kumar, Vice President of Finance and Administration, at NEIU on April 17, 2023. The complainant alleges that he felt pressured by Kumar to provide favorable news coverage of the administration and the university. The student said “he was trying to…influence me into saying good things about him”.
* Crain’s | At this South Side plant, one new house rolls off the assembly line every week : In a factory near Midway Airport, houses are now being built the way cars, refrigerators and other products have long been made for a long time: on an assembly line. A box-shaped module starts as a steel cage at one end of the assembly line inside the Kinexx factory on South Kildare Avenue in Archer Heights.
* Sun-Times | Joffrey Ballet’s ‘Little Mermaid’ unsettles as it entrances: Much more in keeping with the darkness of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale, this nearly 2½-hour adaptation is meditative, intense, unsettling and sometimes even grim. It is also unfailingly entrancing and beautiful.
* Crain’s | NBA players could be a source of capital for weed: Roberts, who was executive director of the National Basketball Players Association for eight years, says she always encouraged players to become investors in companies as a way to prepare financially for life after their playing days were over.
* Chicago Eater | Celebrate Breakfast Queen Ina Pinkney’s 80th Birthday With 60 Chicago Chefs: Ina Pinkney earned the moniker the Breakfast Queen as the chef and owner of Ina’s, which was a West Loop staple from 1991 to 2013 along Randolph Restaurant Row. Since closing her restaurant, Pinkney has continued sharing her love of food, spending five years writing her monthly breakfast column for the Chicago Tribune and publishing Ina’s Kitchen: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen. The polio survivor also advocates for post-polio syndrome and advises chefs looking to open their own restaurants.
* Sun-Times | Chicago tavern history: Did you know the vote to make us a city happened in a bar?: WBEZ’s Curious City podcast crew stopped in at the iconic Carol’s Pub in Uptown for a night of beer, honky-tonk and Chicago bar history with writer Robert Loerzel — who has reported on the history of Uptown’s nightlife and entertainment scene — and Liz Garibay, founder and executive director of the Chicago Brewseum.
As Twitter began removing legacy verification badges Thursday, impersonators quickly took advantage of the situation by creating parody accounts for public figures, including celebrities and politicians.
After their real accounts lost their blue check marks, impersonator accounts quickly emerged for users such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, the City of New York, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. […]
Programmer Travis Brown tweeted that only 28 legacy verified accounts got new Twitter Blue verification following Thursday’s purge. Brown said his findings are based off data pulled from the company’s API, which offers developers access to the platform’s data.
28?
* Fake “official” accounts are popping up in Illinois and elsewhere…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago & Illinois’ transportation departments just announced the permanent closure of DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Except, of course, they didn’t really do that.
Fake accounts posing as (previously verified) government accounts did & 100k+ people saw. pic.twitter.com/RjJ64dEpge
— Marc-André Argentino, PhD (@_MAArgentino) April 20, 2023
Mission accomplished. While everyone was distracted by his blue-check removals, Musks's Twitter deleted labels that alerted users that they were reading news from state-run propaganda outlets of authoritarian governments. Potemkin news channels now free to inject disinformation. pic.twitter.com/2gHHXqyc8s
“We are aware of the fake Twitter accounts, and our team is working with Twitter to resolve this matter,” tweeted mayoral spokesperson Ryan Johnson. “Users can verify official City accounts by visiting: chi.gov/social”
The fake Lightfoot account has been removed however the fake CDOT account remains active as of Friday at 12:30pm.
Pope Francis lost his checkmark, as did Donald Trump and Christiano Ronaldo. Meanwhile, LeBron James still had a blue check by his name even though the athlete previously said he wouldn’t pay for a subscription.
“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” the author Stephen King tweeted.
Musk said he was “paying for a few personally,” including King, James, and Star Trek actor William Shatner. […]
It wasn’t just celebrities who were bewildered. Twitter also scrapped labels describing news organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated after weeks of sparring between them.
These labels that had been added to accounts — including the British Broadcasting Corp., National Public Radio in the US, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as well as accounts affiliated with China state-backed broadcaster CGTN among others — were deleted as of Friday morning.
A fake account subscribed to Twitter Blue claiming to represent the paramilitary group fighting for control of Sudan has falsely claimed its leader has died in the fighting.
After Elon Musk’s Twitter removed legacy blue ticks, the tweet from the fake @RSFSudann account claiming to represent the Rapid Support Forces does have a verified blue tick, but the actual RSF account, @RSFSudan, does not.
The fake tweet wrongly claimed that RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, otherwise known as Hemedti, had died from injuries sustained in combat. […]
While many of the quote tweets and replies were in response to it being fake, many took the tweet’s false information at face value.
Contacted for a response, Twitter’s press department responded with a poop emoji.
* Rich has had some takes as well…
More worried about fake emergency service accounts, frankly. You could see some clowns trying to create havoc during a tornado, for instance.
Yeah, instead of enticing people to pay for add-on services like those and others, he's stripped people of what they've long had. It's just ludicrous. Also, he's totally broken list embeds. Boggles the mind
Dozens of regional LGBTQ community centers are deactivating their Twitter accounts today, decrying recent policy changes despite the rise of hate speech and calling on the app to do more to protect its users.
The announcement came from CenterLink, an international nonprofit network of more than 325 LGBTQ organizations, many of which will also be leaving the platform.
“Twitter has become increasingly unsafe in recent months for LGBTQ and BIPOC people with anti-LGBTQ, anti-trans, anti-Black, and antisemitic tweets on the rise. The removal of this policy was the last straw,” Denise Spivak, CEO of CenterLink, told Mashable. […]
Twitter has seen an exodus of users, verified accounts, and advertisers since Musk’s purchase. While many see the app’s changes as the end to a fun social ecosystem, others are more worried about the implications Musk’s policies have on users with disabilities, LGBTQ users and users of color, the spread of accurate information, and the ability for organizations doing important work to stay connected to communities online.
As hospitals and other health care providers continue to battle rising costs and labor shortages, industry groups were in Springfield this week pushing for legislation they say could help their members weather these challenges, many of which were worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The Illinois Health & Hospital Association, or IHA, supports Senate Bill 1763, which calls for a 20% increase to hospital Medicaid reimbursement rates. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, and Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, would allow every hospital in the state to collect more money for patients on Medicaid, the state-sponsored insurance plan for low-income and disabled Americans. If the bill passes, it would provide the first Medicaid base rate increase for Illinois hospitals in 28 years, according to the IHA.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, or IPHCA, supports a similar bill, House Bill 2298, which would raise Medicaid reimbursement rates for services at Federally Qualified Health Centers. Services would include medical, dental and behavioral health care. It is estimated to cost about $50 million each for Illinois and the federal government, but the IPHCA says the rate increase would help its members care for an additional 180,000 patients each year, hire 250 more health care providers and expand services.
Both the IHA and the IPHCA say that without additional state support, hospitals and FQHCs could be forced to close units and limit services, which would reduce Illinoisans’ access to health care.
Community health centers in Illinois say they need more money to give patients the care they need.
Proposals in the Capitol would give $100 million to help with that. […]
The centers, also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), provide care to patients without insurance and to others regardless of their ability to pay. […]
“We really do our very best to meet people where they are and make sure that they can get culturally competent, high-quality health care,” Tanya Andricks, the center’s CEO, said.
But with rising costs and a workforce shortage, Andricks and other centers say they need more money from the state to keep doing their jobs. […]
There are 53 centers across the state, and some showed support Wednesday for proposals that would raise the reimbursement rate they receive from Medicaid.
Survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination would be shielded from weaponized defamation lawsuits under a bill sponsored by state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights.
“Speaking out against sexual assault or abuse is a daunting task, and those who bravely share their stories should not have to face legal challenges meant to punish them for choosing to come forward,” Canty said. “When we empower survivors to expose wrongdoing, we can prevent future harm and protect others from sexual misconduct.”
House Bill 2836, also known as the Right to Speak Your Truth Act, prohibits a person accused of sexual misconduct from using a defamation action to silence or retaliate against an accuser, staff, or third party reporting on the matter. The bill mirrors California’s Assembly Bill 933, which passed the State Assembly Thursday morning.
“My contemporaries in California are sending a clear message that the court system can no longer be used as a weapon to silence survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination. Illinois can and should do the same,” Canty said. “We must stand up for these brave individuals and protect them from further harm during their most vulnerable moments.”
llinois State Rep. Mary Beth Canty and her husband remember struggling to balance full-time jobs and picking up two children — who are currently in sixth and third grade — from their half-day kindergarten program in Arlington Heights District 25. […]
She has introduced a bill that would mandate full-day kindergarten for school districts around the state by the 2027-28 school year. The bill, HB 2396, would also require the state to create a task force to examine full-day kindergarten in 2024.
The bill has already passed the house with bipartisan support and is in the Senate’s education committee where it will go up for a hearing on April 25. […]
Emily Warnecke, director of public relations and deputy director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Board Administrators, said her organization supports the idea of full-day kindergarten but believes more work needs to be done first.
“We know that there are districts that want to be able to do this,” said Warnecke, “but they just do not have the space and they would need the money to fund the construction to add those spaces.”
A bill would allow colleges to receive grants to address student hunger if they meet requirements like creating a hunger task force that meets at least three times a year, having a staff member designated to assist students sign up for food stamps, and making programming for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Any Illinois higher education institution is eligible.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign) and Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana).
According to the nonprofit Swipe Out Hunger, one in three college students nationally faces food insecurity. […]
The bill has passed the Illinois House of Representatives and the Senate Higher Education Committee with bipartisan support. It now heads to the Senate Floor.
* Senate Bill 140 is awaiting assignment to a Senate committee…
Illinois is one of just 12 states that still has a state estate tax, and State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) is sponsoring legislation to eliminate that tax and keep Illinois competitive with the 38 other states in the nation.
Senate Bill 140 amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act to eliminate the state tax for persons dying on or after the effective date of the new law or for transfers made on or after the effective date.
“Many of us were born and raised in Illinois and are proud to call it our home. It is no secret however, that Illinois is a state notorious for its tax burden on its residents, especially when compared to neighboring states. Thirty-eight other states do not have a state estate tax,” Tracy said. “Illinois’ unfriendly business climate is the reason so many large companies are leaving the state or significantly reducing their corporate presence here. We need a business advocacy mindset with initiatives to help Illinois better compete, create jobs, and boost its economy.”
The 50th District Senator says the Illinois estate tax is imposed on a decedent’s estate before distribution to heirs. The amount of the tax is calculated after allowable deductions. The Illinois estate tax rate is graduated and goes up to 16 percent; however, it is only applied on estates worth more than $4 million.
Anti-criminal violence advocates rallied in the state Capitol on Thursday, pushing a slate of bills they say will better serve survivors and victims in Illinois. […]
Advocates like Carter support House Bill 2493 from state Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, which would grant up to 10 days of unpaid leave time for family members dealing with a loss related to criminal violence. The bill passed the House 95-16 last month and was assigned to the Senate Executive Committee earlier this week.
An employee has 60 days after receiving a death notice to use the leave and must prove the death by providing an obituary or death certificate to their employer. It follows-up after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act earlier this year, which provides most workers in the state with up-to 40 hours of paid leave per year to be used for any purpose. […]
While the focus on the rally centered on the victims, Thomas said CSSJ was also working with lawmakers on a bill regarding rehabilitation of the incarcerated. House Bill 3026 from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, would amend the Earned Discretionary Sentence Credit — where incarcerated individuals can reduce their sentence if permitted by the Illinois Department of Corrections — to allow for time served in county jail to be included in the 60-day minimum before a credit can be awarded.
* HB1273 is on Second Reading in the Senate. The Telegraph…
State Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, said she is hopeful all Illinois schools will observe Constitution Day in the near future as her legislation would require of schools.
The legislation signals Harriss’ first bill to move out of committee since taking office in January. Filed by State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, and carried by Harriss in the Senate, the bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration before the governor can sign it into law.
Her bill, House Bill 1273 would require schools to recognize Sept. 17 as a commemorative holiday and recently has passed the Senate Education Committee. […]
“This legislation doesn’t give students a day off, but rather requires school districts to teach students the highest form of law in our country,” Harriss said.
* I. I just. I don’t. What in the actual heck is happening here?…
A lot of people are making fun of this article because of the headline, which is sad because if you don't read the whole article, you'll miss the really, really hilariously stupid stuff. https://t.co/wFWqvuy52C
— Luigi D’Napla is only sort of a fake name (@LuigiDNapla) April 21, 2023
It implies revamping the pension, school, criminal justice and political systems is no harder than telling a line cook to make the cheese "meltier."
— Luigi D’Napla is only sort of a fake name (@LuigiDNapla) April 21, 2023
* The Tribune’s editorial page editor is a very talented theater critic. I loved his recent review of “Fat Ham,” which I saw in New York last week a couple of days before I tested positive for COVID and was then forced to spend the rest of the week holed up in a tiny NYC hotel room…
In playwright James Ijames’ eye-popping “Fat Ham,” a malcontent named Juicy, kinda like Hamlet, is chilling in his North Carolina backyard when his recently deceased dad exits the presumptive fires of hell and pops up out of his patio grill.
His message? Put down your books from that correspondence course at University of Phoenix, you lazy kid, and avenge my prison shanking at the hands of my brother. You know, the guy now married to your wild momma and a pit master about to barbecue some ribs right here, maybe even the ones left over from my recent funeral. […]
At no point does this play feel like anything other than a big-fun Broadway show: it’s a smart, fearless and often wildly entertaining 90 minutes, filled with radical ideas and absurdist spectacle. To his credit, Ijames is willing to blow up even his own assertions. You get musical numbers, tableaux, crazy comedic antics and a suite of outsized performances from the likes of the superb Nikki Crawford, making her Broadway debut, like many in this knockout cast. I’d go so far as to say I can’t recall such a well-acted Broadway show with so many first-timers.
* Anyway, perhaps the Tribune should just switch to ChatGPT, which John Amdor tasked with rewriting the McDonald’s editorial to be about Ernie and the Keebler Elves…
When Ernie, the leader of the Keebler Elves, spoke to the Economic Club of Chicago, he shared an enchanting message that we welcomed wholeheartedly. Chicago, he said, was being done in by rampant crime, an unfriendly business climate, and an overly cautious mindset that made it harder to solve its admittedly hard-to-solve problems. “We are playing defense when we need to be playing offense,” he said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and some other civic leaders unwisely pushed back against the truth-telling elf. But now that the voters have spoken, sending the Lightfoot administration packing, it’s even more obvious that Ernie was right all along.
You know what else makes it obvious? Ernie’s own leadership style, playing offense at the magical Keebler Elves factory when he could more easily play it safe instead.
As practically everyone on the planet knows, the Keebler Elves are renowned for their cookies and crackers. And nothing — really, nothing — is more important to the elves than maintaining the magic of their brand.
So, hat’s off to Ernie for having the courage to innovate within the factory. In a recent announcement that affects millions of people, the Keebler Elves said they are refining their classic recipes.
The new cookies will be even more delicious, with improved texture and flavor. The elves will experiment with new baking techniques to create the perfect crunch, and ingredients previously served separately will be combined in innovative ways, adding a unique taste sensation. The packaging will be more eco-friendly, showcasing the elves’ commitment to the environment.
These changes will be implemented in stores over the coming year, and, in addition, their famous E.L. Fudge cookies will feature even more scrumptious fudge filling, a secret recipe as celebrated as Coca-Cola’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s.
Sounds delightful. But make no mistake: This is a big risk.
The Keebler Elves have tinkered with their recipes before, with mixed results, including some memorable flops. But this is what strong leaders do. They make tough decisions, and they’re willing to experiment with new ways of doing business — as Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will need to do if he plans to solve the problems Ernie cited.
To stay relevant and successful, the Keebler Elves are doing more than tweaking their recipes. Ernie promised to break up outdated and self-limiting ways of thinking and shift from “legacy mindsets” to “new behaviors.”
Relying on magic alone wouldn’t be enough anymore.
Mayor-elect Johnson, it’s your move.
In his inspiring victory speech, Johnson promised “the politics of old” would not interfere with “building a better, stronger, safer Chicago.” He went on to say, “Today we celebrate the revival and the resurrection of the city of Chicago. It is time for Chicago to come alive. Come alive, Chicago.”
The city can keep trying to achieve that goal with the same stale recipes that haven’t been working, or start playing offense, directly attacking crime, the sluggish business climate, and the cover-your-hindquarters mindset.
The stakes in this city are far greater than a single magical factory producing more delectable cookies and crackers.
But one thing we know for sure: Chicago needs “accelerating” far more than the Keebler Elves. So, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, take a page from Ernie’s book and lead Chicago with innovation, courage, and a touch of magic.
For the second time, the village of Bourbonnais’ proposed Non-Home Rule Sales Tax referendum for property tax relief was voted down. […]
The village was asking residents to increase its local sales tax by 1 percentage point, or one cent, going from its current 7.25% sales tax to 8.25% in its three business districts.
Outside of those business districts, the rate would increase from 6.25% to 7.25%.
If residents had approved the referendum, funds collected would have provided property tax rebates to single-family, owner-occupied homeowners on the municipal portion of their tax bill for at least 10 years.
Back when the state income tax for property tax swap idea was all the rage, some folks believed that voters just wouldn’t go for it, despite the obvious benefits. There was so little trust in government, the fear was voters would focus solely on the tax hike and totally reject the premise that they’d ever get a tax cut.
I don’t know if that’s what happened in Bourbonnais, but I’m just sayin’.
Illinois House Republican leaders are calling for a moratorium on expansion and a State audit of Illinois’ billion-dollar health benefits program for undocumented immigrants.
At a Capitol press conference Thursday, Deputy Republican Leaders Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) and Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), along with Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), highlighted a bombshell State report detailing the massive cost and enrollment expansions of Illinois’ health benefits program for undocumented immigrants.
Hammond, who serves as chief budgeteer for the House Republican Caucus, laid out in detail the dramatic growth in undocumented immigrant participation, which will require nearly a billion dollars in general revenue funds to support the program in Fiscal Year 2024.
“In FY24, Illinois’ program of health benefits for undocumented immigrants is estimated to cost $990 million, which is a $768 million increase (346%) over FY23,” Rep. Hammond said. “Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for any federal Medicaid match, resulting in State GRF being used to pay for the entirety of services provided. These ballooning enrollments and costs are unsustainable and could lead to the loss of funding and services for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens.”
A recent report from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) shows that HFS and its contracted actuarial firm, Milliman, repeatedly underestimated actual enrollees and costs.
FY24 estimates now show growth in healthcare benefits coverage for eligible undocumented immigrants totaling 108,400 over original FY23 estimates, and enrollees totaling 31,500 over original FY23 estimates, a 202% and 94% increase respectively.
“Year after year, we saw the majority party continue to double down on these expansions, which are not eligible for federal matching funds. The Medicaid program in the State of Illinois is our biggest area of spending,” said Deputy House Republican Leader Ryan Spain in discussing House Resolution 220, which he filed to audit and pause new enrollees in the program. “This billion dollar hole, which is just the beginning, requires the General Assembly to exercise fiscal responsibility in both the short-term and long-term to ensure state budget sustainability.”
The additional Medicaid pressure for these expansions is happening at the same time the State is expected to lose $760 million in additional federal funding through the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Program (FMAP) that was provided to states during the pandemic.
Several important State programs are still drastically underfunded and could greatly benefit from the $990 million in GRF that would go to HFS to continue to provide medical services to undocumented immigrants.
Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer discussed the process by which these expansions of health benefits to undocumented immigrants were enacted into law and the absolute lack of accountability and transparency for this program.
“During the 2020 pandemic-shortened House session, Democrats slipped health benefits for undocumented immigrant seniors into the FY21 Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill. This new benefit was included in the BIMP at the last minute, without a committee hearing, public input, or debate. We had virtually no time to review the massive BIMP and budget bills that were passed at the end of that special session,” said Rep. Davidsmeyer.
“In 2021, Democrats again slipped expanded health benefits for undocumented immigrants for ages 55-64 into the FY22 BIMP bill. This was again included at the last minute, with no committee hearing and almost no time to debate the bill.
“Last year, Democrats blew up an agreed Medicaid Omnibus bill by yet again adding a last-minute expansion of health benefits for undocumented immigrants for ages 42-54 at the end of session. Zero transparency, zero accountability, zero public input.”
Illinois Democrats recently filed House Bill 1570, which would complete the expansion of health benefits for undocumented immigrants by adding ages 19-41 to the program. HB 1570 has not been debated and no stand-alone vote has been taken on this benefit expansion. Davidsmeyer suggested that if recent history is any guide, the Democrats will again, for the fourth time, add this expansion to the upcoming FY24 BIMP bill or some other massive omnibus bill at the end of the General Assembly’s spring session.
“The sad fact is Illinois has become a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants,” Rep. Davidsmeyer said. “The State of Illinois gives them free healthcare benefits, driver’s licenses, mortgage and renters’ assistance, as well as other taxpayer-funded benefits. All I can say is ‘If you build it, they will come.’”
The administration has said there’s enough money in the budget to pay for at least half of the coming fiscal year’s shortfall.
* From Jordan Abudayyeh…
The Republicans said it’s time we have some adults in the room when it comes to budgeting. To be clear, the only lawmakers with a proven record of balancing the budget and improving state finances are Governor Pritzker and the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly. The Governor just proposed another balanced budget that invests in education, healthcare, and communities. The credit ratings agencies have so much trust in his track record that after his proposal the state received two credit upgrades.
Let’s review some history.
Who balanced the budget four years in a row? Democrats.
Who eliminated the bill backlog that reached $16 billion left by the Republican governor? Democrats.
Who rebuilt the rainy day fund to nearly $2 billion? Democrats.
Who paid additional pension payments? Democrats.
Whose prudent fiscal decisions led to eight credit upgrades? Democrats.
Who invested hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild our human services infrastructure after the Republican budget impasse? Democrats.
Just this week Senate Republicans outlined hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending and did not offer a plan to pay for it. Budget challenges and spending constraints are nothing new to Democrats who have done the hard work to balance the budget year after year. The Governor and the General Assembly will continue on the proven track of working together to ensure state spending does not exceed revenues setting the state up for even more success moving forward.
* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson faces tough choice as the search for the next Chicago police chief moves forward: Johnson won an historic election campaigning on a vision for a new approach to public safety that de-emphasizes hiring more police officers to solve Chicago’s crime issues and instead reorganizing the department to focus on solving violent crime while investing in public programs that tackle the so-called root causes of crime. That approach will face scrutiny when Johnson takes office May 15 as Chicago heads into the summer months, when violent crime typically spikes, giving a new superintendent little runway to form a strategy to combat violence in both the immediate and long term.
* CBS Chicago | Chicago pastors to lead hundreds downtown in response to last weekend’s Loop chaos: Some of the pastors said they feel responsible for what happened over the weekend because the teens in those videos are from their communities. “I was disappointed, hurt by it. because that is not the character of our young people.” Bishop Dr. Horace Smith of Apostolic Faith Church said he felt accountable after watching teens jump on a CTA bus and learning two boys were shot during the Loop take over.
* Jim Dey | Union chapter president’s thefts cost far more than money: Byron Clemons Sr. of Alton should have remembered that. If he had, he wouldn’t be in quite as much legal trouble. He pleaded guilty April 11 to “transportation of stolen money.” That’s fed speak for embezzling more than $202,100 from the AFSCME union chapter in Alton and spending much of it at casinos across the river in Missouri.
* WTVO | Empower Illinois wants to give more kids the chance to go to private school: mpower Illinois has a mission to provide kids from low-income and working-class families the chance to have a quality education by giving them private school scholarships. Anthony Holter, President of Empower Illinois shares how great it is to partner with a school like Kikifers Entrepreneurial Academy to match kids with the best education for them.
* SJ-R | Crime victims call for expanded protections, rights at Capitol rally: While the focus on the rally centered on the victims, Thomas said CSSJ was also working with lawmakers on a bill regarding rehabilitation of the incarcerated. House Bill 3026 from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, would amend the Earned Discretionary Sentence Credit — where incarcerated individuals can reduce their sentence if permitted by the Illinois Department of Corrections — to allow for time served in county jail to be included in the 60-day minimum before a credit can be awarded
* Sun-Times | City went too far in worker crackdown over COVID vaccines, judge rules: The decision in a case before the Illinois Labor Relations Board applies to city workers represented by trade unions or by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The unions banded together to challenge regulations Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed starting in 2021.
* WAND | Survivors advocate for bereavement expansion, rehabilitation access for returning citizens: Hundreds of survivors of gun violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault rallied at the Illinois Capitol Thursday afternoon to demand stronger public safety reforms. “We cannot leave crime victims behind. We also must make sure that communities have the resources that they need,” said Aswad Thomas, a gun violence survivor and the national director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. “So here in the state of Illinois, we’ve expanded the trauma recovery center model.”
* Chicago Reader | ‘Why you talking to a bum?’: When the very presence of unhoused people on the CTA is considered a public safety concern, who is the public, and what are we keeping them safe from?
* The Marshall Project | The War On Gun Violence Has Failed. And Black Men Are Paying The Price: A Marshall Project analysis found that from 2010 to 2022, the police made more than 38,000 arrests for illegal gun possession. These arrests — almost always a felony — doubled during this timeframe. While illegal possession is the most serious offense in most of the cases we analyzed, the charges often bear misleading names that imply violence, like “aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.”
* My Radio Link | First Lady MK Pritzker Opens Her Door to Illinois’ Cultural Community, Honors Artist Richard Hunt: Illinois First Lady MK Pritzker will host a cocktail reception at the Governor’s Mansion the evening of Monday, April 24, 2023, to welcome Illinois’ cultural leaders attending the “One State Conference and Capital Day” in Springfield. Inside, the First Lady will deliver a proclamation honoring world-renowned sculptor Richard Hunt and will declare April 24, 2023, Richard Hunt Day in Illinois.
* USA Today | North Carolina man in custody in connection with shooting of 6-year-old, parents: Robert Louis Singletary allegedly shot a 6-year-old girl and her parents after their basketball rolled into his yard and the family went to retrieve it, according to local WBTV and WSOC-TV. Singletary turned himself in to police in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday afternoon after a search, the Gaston County Police Department in North Carolina said.
