Oral arguments are to be heard October 14 in the case of St. Rep. Darren Bailey vs. Governor J.B. Pritzker in its new venue.
The case was moved from Clay County to Sangamon County and consolidated with similar cases from Edgar County, Bond County, Clinton County and Richland County. The plaintiffs in all of the cases are represented by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore. Each case basically charges that the governor exceeded his authority in continuing to issue disaster declarations after his initial order issued in March.
Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow has ordered the defendants to file responses to the charges by August 31, then the plaintiffs have until September 21 to file any responses. Defendants then will have until October 5 to respond to those filings.
This is how a real judge operates, unlike in one little county that won’t be named.
Watching State Rep. Allen Skillicorn’s disengagement from the Illinois political stage over the last couple of months puzzled me.
His tweets are most likely to be able national politics than that of Illinois.
He did not show up at the Algonquin-Grafton Township fundraiser on Monday.
The two townships contain a majority of Republican primary voters.
Now comes a report that Skillicorn is leaving Illinois after his term expires in January, that he tried to withdraw his name from the ballot last Friday.
Subscribers know more, but lots of people have been trying to reach Skillicorn lately to find out what he intends to do and when he intends to do it. I mean, there’s only like 82 days until the election is over.
* Some heavy-hitter lawyers have filed suit to stop the federal government from collecting the $200 million ComEd fine because, they claim, it violates federal victim restitution law…
Their argument is that ComEd effectively admitted to bribery, but at the same time CEO Joseph Dominguez and others separately have argued before state regulators and others that ratepayers suffered no financial damage in the scheme. The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, meanwhile, has failed to follow federal requirements that should favor restitution of victims over a fine that goes to the U.S. Treasury, according to the motion. […]
Federal law requires restitution of victims to take precedence over any fine payable to the government, the plaintiffs argued. “In the parties’ proposed resolution of this case, however, not a penny is going to alleviate any crime victim’s losses, including the state of Illinois and ComEd ratepayers,” according to the motion.
ComEd agreed with federal prosecutors’ assertion that its scheme provided the utility with at least a $150 million benefit.
“Illinois ratepayers have funded the $150 million ‘benefit’ defendant admits it sought as the quid pro quo for the multiple payoffs ComEd made in its bribery scheme,” the motion said. “It is noteworthy that the government had the opportunity to press restitution claims against ComEd, but it did not do so. By its inaction, and without lawful authority, the government apparently proposes to forfeit statutory restitution claims the non-federal victims have against ComEd, because the DPA provides not a cent for restitution. Essentially, the federal government is, without authority, monetarily preferring itself.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 14 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Fourteen counties are currently reported at a warning level – Bureau, Cass, Clinton, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Hancock, Jefferson, Kane, LaSalle, Moultrie, Perry, Union, Will.
These counties saw cases or outbreaks associated with weddings, businesses, birthday parties, long-term care facilities and other congregate settings, bars, sports camps, and spread among members of the same household. Public health officials are seeing people in some communities are not wearing masks, or if they are, they are being worn incorrectly. Local health departments are finding it challenging to obtain the information necessary to halt local transmission, by quickly identifying exposures from contacts of cases and businesses. Inconsistent messaging from local elected leaders are contributing to on-going transmission in some communities where there is little public concern for consequences or enforcement of social distancing, banning large gatherings, or quarantine/isolation orders.
Several counties are taking swift action and implementing mitigation measures to help slow spread of the virus. Examples include increasing the availability in testing in their community and working with local businesses to educate and spot check mask wearing and guideline adherence.
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county.
• New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
• Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
• ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
• Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
• Tests perform. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
• Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.
These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 2,264 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 25 additional confirmed death.
- Bureau County: 1 female 80s
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 50s, 2 males 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- DeKalb County: 1 female 60s
- DuPage County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90
- Iroquois County: 1 female 50s
- Madison County: 2 females 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Morgan County: 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Will County: 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 202,691 cases, including 7,721 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 49,541 specimens for a total of 3,285,348. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 8 – August 14 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,612 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 345 patients were in the ICU and 126 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Region 4 (Metro East) of the 11 COVID-19 Regions is seeing increases in test positivity rates and could surpass the resurgence metrics in the coming days. If the region experiences three consecutive days of 8% test positivity (7-day rolling average), the State will implement mitigation measures. A list of mitigation options can be found on the coronavirus.illinois.gov website.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
A local school district named in a lawsuit by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for not mandating masks alters their return plan pending an upcoming court date. […]
During a Thursday meeting of the Hutsonville school board, by a vote of 4-3, the board decided to comply with guidelines from the state.
“We had a lot of discussion and have gotten advice from our attorneys that if we don’t exactly follow the guidelines then our tort immunity disappears and that’s what the major concern was,” Kraemer said.
Kraemer said the school district does have a court date next Tuesday, and their battle over who should make decisions for schools is not over yet.
“We encourage our community to show up at that court date,” she said. “We will continue to try to fight. We’re not just giving up. We’re just going to go ahead and follow those guidelines until we can get there and present our plan.” [Emphasis added.]
Herrin High School sent home about two dozen students Thursday morning after one tested positive for COVID-19.
District Superintendent Terry Ryker said that as soon as the school was notified that the student had tested positive, officials reviewed class assignments and seating charts and quickly moved to quarantine the other students while contacting their parents to notify them and arrange for transportation.
The Springfield District 186 school board voted 5-2 Thursday to adopt remote learning for most students when classes begin Aug. 31.
Thursday’s special meeting was called after the board first voted 4-3 for a hybrid/blended model at its Aug. 3 meeting. A surge in coronavirus infections across Sangamon County forced the board to reconsider starting the school year with remote learning.
The vote included an amendment that the hybrid/blended model cannot begin until at least Oct. 26.
* From a July 17th Tribune profile of a Canadian company called Red, White and Bloom that operates a huge hemp growing facility in Illinois and wants to get into the cannabis growing business here…
In addition, one full-scale growing license remains from the original 21 medical marijuana licenses that Illinois awarded in 2015. One license was given for each of the state police districts in the state, but the last license was for the district that patrols the tollways. State regulators said they would not give it out because it lies on tollway land, and would be impossible to use. Red White and Bloom pushed for legislation to force the state to award that license, but the measure was never voted on and is seen as a long shot.
At the same time, the company has applied for new craft grower licenses in Illinois. But those licenses are limited to 10,000 square feet. Competition is fierce, with 455 applications for only 40 available. The Illinois Department of Agriculture has indefinitely delayed awarding those licenses, citing the coronavirus.
State regulators may also create licenses for new full-scale recreational pot growers after July 1, 2021, based on supply and demand.
That tollway land bill was originally sponsored last year by Sen. Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago), but she eventually handed sponsorship over to Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago). You’ll recall that Van Pelt was running a “marijuana millionaires” company which attracted some unwanted attention. The bill, which would’ve allowed the state to open a grow facility outside the tollway area, never moved out of the Assignments Committee and never picked up another co-sponsor.
According to the governor’s office, the tollway land was on federal property, making it impossible to use as a grow center. And because of the pandemic, only very limited cannabis legislation advanced out of the GA in May. Even a tiebreaker provision wasn’t dealt with, which resulted in a new rule that finally took effect this week to allow licensing of 75 new dispensaries.
A former celebrity publicist for R. Kelly and confidante of Kanye West has jumped into Illinois politics, lobbying for a major Canadian cannabis firm that wants to start growing weed here.
But Trevian Kutti has already ruffled feathers in just a short time in the fray, lodging a series of incendiary and profanity-laden attacks against Toi Hutchinson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s top adviser on cannabis issues. While both women are Black, Kutti has vowed to “keep my knee on Toi W. Hutchinson’s neck” and has referred to her as a “slave.”
Kutti says she is furious over the state’s delays in awarding the next round of licenses prioritized for so-called social equity applicants, saying “those in greatest need are being screwed with again.”
* OK, one thing at a time. First, here’s Kutti’s full statement on Hutchinson…
Charity Greene with the Pritzker administration handled the response…
As the nation continues to reckon with the tragic murder of George Floyd and countless other black lives lost to police violence, comments regarding kneeling on someone’s neck are especially insensitive and abhorrent. Invoking violence and hurling insults and profanities at a State of Illinois employee is the antithesis of everything this administration stands for. Governor Pritzker remains committed to ensuring the cannabis industry in Illinois is equitable and will continue working towards that goal in spite of these misinformed, callous remarks.
The angle here, supposedly, is that Red, White and Bloom wants to sell reasonably priced product to social equity retailers. But it can’t do that without a grow license.
* Ms. Kutti has a truly different concept of lobbying than most. Back to the Sun-Times…
“I’m sure that like most lobbyists, I have my share of allies and my share of disparagers,” she said in an interview. “Those who fall in the latter camp quiver hearing my unapologetic truths.”
That’s… a novel approach. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.
But the bottom line here is a person with no apparent lobbying experience is setting off rhetorical bombs after failing to move her bill forward an inch and, according to the story, her employer believes the approach can actually work. Again, it’s a free country, but that lack of experience may show in her state disclosure reports. Note the dollar amounts reported on these filings…
She probably submitted the entire amount for everyone at the table. I mean, spending $260 at Springfield’s Wyndham hotel restaurant on only one person would be really tough. Still…
All lobbyists must refrain from harassment, sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination of any person. “Harassment” means, as set out in the Illinois Human Rights Act, any unwelcome conduct on the basis of an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection status, disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, unfavorable discharge from military service, or citizenship status that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, a hostile, or an offensive working environment.
A working environment “Does not require an ‘employment’ relationship between the alleged harasser and victim.”
After an investigation, the offenses can be referred to a circuit court by the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission. Violations are treated as a business offense “and subject to fines of up to $10,000 for each violation.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** A spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White told me that this matter has been referred to the inspector general.
* The Sun-Times takes a close look at how the McCormick Place was stood up in a big hurry with mostly federal funds. Remember the times we were in then, with New York City setting up tent hospitals to handle the overflow and patients were waiting for days to be admitted…
Taxpayers spent nearly $66 million fashioning McCormick Place into an emergency coronavirus hospital with 2,750 beds this past spring amid fears that COVID-19 patients would overwhelm hospitals in the Chicago area.
Those fears turned out to be unfounded. Just 38 patients were transferred to the sprawling convention center — meaning taxpayers’ cost for the makeshift hospital turned out to be more than $1.7 million per patient, on average.
But top aides to Mayor Lori Lightfoot say her decision to initiate the project with the federal government and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority was an important “insurance policy” at a time of “immense emergency.”
“It’s something I’m incredibly proud of,” says Samir Mayekar, Lightfoot’s deputy mayor for economic and neighborhood development who says the money was “not spent in vain.”
He also notes that the medical equipment is being stored and can be redeployed if needed.
Although Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s opening roll for a Chicago casino came up snake-eyes, a new tax structure keeps her in the game.
But it’s too early to tell whether she winds up making her point or sevens out.
That’s according to the Las Vegas consulting firm that previously declared that the “exceptionally onerous” taxes originally written into state law last summer would mean no dice for the city as it tried to attract developers to the table for a shot at the long-sought megacasino.
Union Gaming Analytics now says the revised Chicago structure that passed the Legislature during a shortened spring legislative session in May is “significantly more palatable for potential developers,” lowering the effective tax rate on gaming revenue from a whopping 72% to about 40%.
That should be “attractive enough” to draw proposals from gaming developers — and the city should start soliciting information from them, analyst Grant Govertsen wrote for Union Gaming in a report released this week.
llinois Governor JB Pritzker has a message for residents who go to Missouri during the pandemic.
He posted the following message along with Belleville News Democrat’s article ‘As COVID cases soared in Missouri, more from southwest IL went to visit, data shows’ on Facebook,
“Folks, we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
“Missouri may be more ‘open’ today, but if you cross the border and let your guard down, you’re putting the future of the Illinois economy at risk.
(T)raffic doubled from metro-east to the Missouri side of St. Louis from July 2019 to July 2020, according to an analysis of smart phone tracking data by Saint Louis University researchers. They looked at travel from St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Calhoun and Jersey counties in the metro-east to St. Louis city, St. Louis County, Jefferson and St. Charles counties.
Two counties accounted for the biggest increase in travelers: St. Charles and Jefferson counties, which don’t have mask mandates and allowed businesses to open in May.
“This is highlighting the arbitrary borders our infectious diseases don’t care about,” said Enbal Shacham, associate director of the Geospatial Institute at Saint Louis University. “We’ve seen this in STDs and HIV and now we’re seeing this even worse, I would say, in COVID because of the activity and how easy it is to transmit.” […]
Additionally, the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in counties bordering Missouri was double that in counties that shared no borders with other states, according to an analysis of U.S. Census and Illinois COVID-19 data.
* Positivity rates and the number of new tests coming back positive as of Wednesday…
St. Charles County, Mo.: 12.7%, 16.6
Jefferson County, Mo.: 11.9%, 17.5
St. Louis County: 6.4%, 21.1
St. Louis City: Insufficient data, 20
Monroe County: 9.7%, 157
St. Clair County: 8.6%, 175
Madison County: 6.6%, 131
Calhoun County: 6.2%, 1
Jersey County: 4.8%, 46
///BREAKING/// Longtime State Sen. Terry Link charged today in U.S. District Court with income tax evasion. The Tribune has reported that Link wore a wire for the FBI as part of the bribery investigation of then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo. Here’s that story: https://t.co/r1phBgkyEXpic.twitter.com/LsVSoRCyVo
The one-page criminal information filed in U.S. District Court accused Link, of Vernon Hills, of failing to report income on his 2016 tax return to the IRS.
Defendants are typically charged via an information if they intend to eventually plead guilty.
* And…
#BREAKING Illinois state Sen. Terry Link has been charged in federal court with filing a false income tax return for the year 2016. Nearly a year ago, he denied being the unnamed senator who got in hot water with the feds and turned on Rep. Luis Arroyo. pic.twitter.com/7iCGh3Ds26
President Harmon has accepted Senator Link’s resignation as a member of the Legislative Ethics Commission.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Coverage roundup…
* State Sen. Terry Link charged with federal income tax evasion: Also involved in Arroyo’s alleged scheme was businessman James Weiss, the son-in-law of former Cook County assessor and county Democratic Party boss Joseph Berrios, whose house was raided by the FBI shortly before the charges against Arroyo were unsealed, the Tribune has reported.
* Illinois Sen. Terry Link Charged With Felony Income Tax Fraud: Thursday’s filing makes Link the latest Illinois politician to be charged in a widespread criminal corruption probe in the state. He is the third Democratic Illinois senator to face federal charges in just over a year.
* Federal Prosecutors Charge Illinois State Sen. Terry Link With Tax Fraud: On Thursday, Republicans quickly seized on Link’s legal troubles. “Another member of the IL Democrat Crime Ring bites the dust,” the state Republican Party posted on its Twitter account. “In unsurprising news, Sen. Link is a member of the ‘Ethics Commission.’ Go figure.”
* Longtime lawmaker Terry Link hit with federal tax charge: Following the charges against Arroyo, Link denied he was the unnamed senator. He first denied it to WBEZ, and then again to reporters in Springfield the next day while helping pass bills in the legislature. “I said, what’s your source? You answer me. You’re a reporter,” Link said that day when asked if he wore a wire on Arroyo. “I answered the question yesterday. I’m not going to continually answer this every day of my life. I’m down here to do a job that I was elected to do, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
A day after he was charged with federal tax evasion, state Sen. Terry Link remained publicly silent on the matter Friday, refusing to respond to interview requests or issue a statement.
Meanwhile, the chorus of voices from the Lake County political community criticizing Link or calling for his resignation has grown.
“He owes an immediate explanation to the people of the district,” said state Rep. David McSweeney, a Barrington Hills Republican. “And if he doesn’t provide a comment, he should resign.” […]
Shortly after the charge against Link was filed Thursday, state Sen. Melinda Bush, a Grayslake Democrat, suggested Link step down. So did state Sen. Dan McConchie, a Hawthorn Woods Republican, and state Rep. Daniel Didech, a Buffalo Grove Democrat, among others.
In the rush to reopen college campuses nationwide and in Illinois, the safety of students, faculty, and staff who teach and learn in our institutions is being overlooked. This is particularly true at Western and Eastern Illinois Universities, where the administrations have moved forward with plans for in-person learning without having adequate safety precautions in place or bargaining in good faith such plans with the union, as required by law.
“We have filed Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board requesting an injunction against the administrations of both Eastern and Western Illinois Universities,” said University Professionals of Illinois (Local 4100) President John Miller. “We had hoped to avoid taking such action, but their unwillingness to faithfully bargain with us to develop comprehensive safety plans on these campuses left us with no other choice.
“The safety of our students, faculty, staff and their families must be the top priority, and these universities are showing a blatant disregard for our well-being and that of the communities they serve,” Miller said.
The disregard for safety is particularly concerning in Coles County, where Eastern Illinois University is located. This week, the county was put on the IDPH warning list due to rising numbers of cases. Bringing students to live on campus will undoubtedly worsen the situation.
With that in mind, Jeannie Ludlow, president of the Eastern Illinois University Chapter of Local 4100, explained that EIU’s so-called safety plan is not comprehensive. “EIU’s return to campus plan focuses on individual actions like mask wearing but does not address larger safety considerations like systematic testing or air purification,” she said. “In other words, EIU’s plan puts the responsibility for safety on our students, faculty, and staff and not on the institution. We want to give our students the best possible chance for success this school year, and that means reducing potential COVID exposure and allowing everyone involved to determine what safe work and learning looks like for them.”
Bill Thompson, president of the Western Illinois University Chapter of Local 4100, said the situation is just as concerning at WIU. “The university has asked me to pledge to wear a mask, maintain social distancing, and clean frequently used surfaces, but in return they haven’t pledged to provide students and employees with safe places and ways to work, to test everyone adequately, and to provide a metric so that we can see whether WIU’s plan is working. That gives me no confidence in how my students, myself, and my colleagues will be kept safe.”
The IELRB will now review the charges in the ULPs. The universities will be given time to respond; the union remains hopeful that the administrations will choose to bargain an acceptable plan with the faculty for a gradual and safe return to in-person instruction. If not, the IELRB can request the Attorney General seek an injunction requiring the universities to continue remote learning until they have bargained in good faith with the union or until an arbitrator has resolved the issue of whether the universities’ reopening plans violate their duty to provide a safe workplace.
“We are hopeful that WIU and EIU administrations will sit down with us to negotiate in good faith a truly safe path forward for the start of the upcoming semester. Short of that, our union stands ready to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the safety of our members, their students, and the communities surrounding these campuses,” Miller said.
“Our lives are not a social or laboratory experiment, and even one death would be an unacceptable outcome.”
With concerns prevalent about online election meddling in the United States, ensuring cyber-security has become a priority for election officials throughout the country.
“There are threats that are attacking us,” said Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman. “Iran, China and Russia are hitting counties the size of Tazewell County. Domestically, there are also individuals who have attacked local (election systems). Tazewell County has been attacked since I’ve been in office. We’ve received several (attacks), but ransom attacks seem to be (the most common). The procedures we have in place have stopped every single one of them so far.”
In an effort to enhance security procedures for election officials throughout the state, the Illinois State Board of Elections organized a one-hour webinar on Facebook Elections Integrity and Best Practices Tuesday. The training, tailored specifically toward Illinois election officials and their staffs, covered such topics as safety and security, proper channels for reporting misinformation, and the latest Facebook tools, products and resources election officials can use to keep accounts safe while connecting with voters. […]
“(Changing votes in Illinois) would take such an astronomical amount of work that it’s nearly impossible,” Ackerman said. “You would have to break into 109 separate, independent election authorities throughout the state and manipulate their electronic records all at the same time in order to manipulate the vote. What the Russians wanted to do (in 2016) was not to change the vote, but to change people’s opinions through misinformation. Unrest is what the Russians and other foreign agents want to sow in the United States.”
An election-day ransomware attack would most definitely not be a good thing for a county clerk. Whew. I mean, I shudder to think.
Google, Facebook, Twitter and other major tech companies met with U.S. government officials on Wednesday to discuss their plans to counter disinformation on social media in the run-up to the November election.
In a joint statement, the companies said that this was the latest in a series of meetings “on what we’re seeing on our respective platforms and what we expect to see in the coming months.” The statement said today’s meetings focused on the upcoming political conventions and “scenario planning relating to election results.” […]
In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said the company is working harder than ever to combat such efforts, saying the goal is to make sure voters receive accurate information.
“I think I actually want to make the act of trying to tell a lie, or misleading people, more difficult,” Gleicher said.
I’ll believe that when I see it.
However, I did notice that they were blocking some false stories today when I went to look up a local public official who’d allegedly posted something pretty vile on Facebook and also saw this…
That’s from the Marion County coroner’s personal FB page. I’m not on Facebook much any more, so I don’t know if that’s common. Also, if you have the stomach for the vile post, click here.
Today would have been the start of @ILStateFair, I got nostalgic and dug through my archives for some of my favorite moments from over the years. Some days it can be brutal, but when the weather is nice and the light is good, it's a visual playground. https://t.co/ry0×4YORlBpic.twitter.com/qfycD9tw3Q
The number of Americans applying for unemployment dropped below 1 million last week for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the U.S. five months ago, but layoffs are still running extraordinarily high.
The figures show that the crisis continues to throw people out of work just as the expiration of an extra $600 a week in federal jobless benefits has deepened the hardship for many — and posed another threat to the U.S. economy.
Applications for jobless benefits declined to 963,000, the second straight drop, from 1.2 million the previous week, the government said Thursday. That signals layoffs are slowing, though the weekly figure still far exceeds the pre-outbreak record of just under 700,000, set in 1982.
22,387 filed initial claims in Illinois last week, down 2,887 from the previous week. Another 3,704 filed PUA claims last week, down 811 from the previous week.
* But…
If jobless claims running just under a million in the fifth month of the recession is your benchmark for an economy being in good shape, may i suggest you’ve set the bar too low? That’s still 4x the pre-recession level and about 300k above the worst level of ‘08.
A top federal health official is issuing a dire warning: Follow recommended coronavirus measures or risk having the worst fall in US public health history.
Coronavirus has infected more than 5 million people and killed over 166,000 nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. On Wednesday alone, there were 55,910 reported new cases and 1,499 deaths — the highest number of fatalities since May.
“For your country right now and for the war that we’re in against Covid, I’m asking you to do four simple things: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands and be smart about crowds,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I’m not asking some of America to do it,” he told WebMD. “We all gotta do it.”
Without following the recommendations, this could be “the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we’ve ever had,” he said. In addition to taking measures to combat the pandemic, people should also get a flu vaccine.
Redfield said the CDC is urging people to get a flu shot, and the agency has purchased an extra 10 million doses of the vaccine — compared with the typical 500,000 — to make sure states have enough to cover uninsured adults.
“I’m trying to tell the American public, please don’t leave this important accomplishment of American medicine on the shelf,” Redfield said.
“We’re going to have COVID in the fall, we’re going to have flu in the fall,” he added, saying if people get vaccinated against the flu, they could potentially be freeing up a hospital bed for someone infected with COVID-19.
Redfield said conditions will depend on whether people follow the guidelines: wearing face masks, staying six feet away from others, washing hands often with soap and warm water and avoiding large crowds, especially indoors.
A bad flu outbreak coupled with a spike in COVID hospitalizations would absolutely slam the healthcare system.
Pediatricians are sounding the alarm about a concerning side effect of the coronavirus. They say immunization rates have plunged since the start of the pandemic.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,834 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 24 additional confirmed death.
- Adams County: 1 female 100+
- Cook County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s
- DuPage County: 1 female 90s
- Lake County: 1 female 90s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 80s, 2 female 90s
- Madison County: 1 female 60s
- Peoria County: 1 female 40s
- Shelby County: 1 female 80s
- Tazewell County: 1 male 80s
- Washington County: 1 male 80s
- Will County: 1 male 80s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 200,427 cases, including 7,696 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 46,006 specimens for a total of 3,235,807. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 6 – August 12 is 4.0%. As of last night, 1,628 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 383 patients were in the ICU and 127 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
In the wake of the numerous, ongoing federal investigations involving bribery, influence peddling and insider-trading impacting state government officials and lobbyists, a broad coalition of lawmakers gathered today to announce their support for nine specific ethics reform measures that they believe could receive bi-partisan support in the upcoming veto session.
1. Prohibit legislator-lobbyists. We would prohibit any sitting legislator from simultaneously lobbying other units of government, including city, county or federal entities. This ban should apply to lobbying elected officials; performing legal or regulatory work should still be allowed.
2. Stop the legislator-lobbyist revolving-door. We would establish at least a one-year prohibition on legislators and senior management within each caucus (those who file statements of economic interest) leaving their offices and immediately going to work as lobbyists.
3. Better define who is a lobbyist. We urge the Joint Commission to consider changing the current definition of what constitutes a lobbyist to cover additional individuals or consulting firms. Consultants and lawyers should not be able to use loopholes to perform lobbying and skirt registration as a lobbyist.
Legislative Reform:
4. Fuller disclosure of outside income. We would expand current requirements for legislators to disclose the sources and amounts of their outside income and increase penalties for those who refuse to comply in full. This must be done in a way that protects confidentiality rules of professional conduct, and avoids disproportionately impacting legislators and candidates who are not independently wealthy.
5. Initiate an official censure. We would establish a process to officially censure a legislator who has violated ethics laws, similar to that which is practiced in the United States Congress.
6. Strengthen the Legislative IG. We encourage changes to the Legislative Inspector General’s Office to increase its independence, such as allowing the IG to self-initiate investigations and making it an independent agency for the purposes of budgets and hiring.
7. End exemption from Human Rights Act. We would remove the current exemption of legislators’ direct employees from the state’s Human Rights Act, so those employees receive the same protections afforded to other employees.
Leadership Reform:
8. Term-limits for leaders. Establish term-limits for the period that legislators can serve in leadership positions, including the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House and the President and Minority Leader of the Senate.
9. Removal of leaders and committee chairs. We urge creation of a policy calling for the temporary removal of a legislative leader or committee chair during any criminal investigation relevant to job duties involving that member or an actual charge/indictment. The individual can be reinstated upon completion of said investigation or upon their acquittal.
Most of these aren’t new except maybe the censure idea and removing leaders and chairs during a criminal probe. That last one would seem to apply to House Speaker Michael Madigan, but I was told by two legislators at the presser today that it would depend on how the legislation was actually written. However, Sen. Melinda Bush said it would apply to MJM.
…Adding… Sen. Andy Manar…
Strict interpretation yes provided there is an affirmative communication from the investigatory authority. What if there isn’t? How that then sets the temporary removal (via automatic/resolution etc) is another question. Like many of these, these details are very important and the impact will be determined by the final language. This one will be a challenge to draft if the commission recommends. At least that’s my take. Others may disagree.
* List of legislators…
Senator Melinda Bush
Representative Lindsey LaPointe
Representative Kelly Cassidy
Senator Kimberly Lightford
Representative Daniel Didech
Senator Andy Manar
Representative Mary Edly-Allen
Senator Iris Martinez
Senator Sara Feigenholtz
Representative Bob Morgan
Senator Laura Fine
Representative Jonathan “Yoni” Pizer
Representative Robyn Gabel
Representative Delia Ramirez
Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz
Senator Heather Steans
Of the Democratic House members, Reps. Didech, Edly-Allen, Morgan, Gabel and Ramirez have not yet called on Madigan to immediately step down.
The House members were asked about whether Madigan should step down at the presser today. Rep. Morgan avoided the specific question, saying he preferred to talk about the larger issue. Sens. Bush and Martinez then stepped in to stress that the proposed reforms aren’t about one person.
…Adding… Press release…
State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, issued the following statement on ethics reform:
“While I agree the legislature must take action on ethics reforms, we need to evaluate each proposal carefully and objectively. Any proposal that flies in the face of due process for anyone sets a dangerous precedent. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass a strong ethics package.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform…
Today, a coalition of legislators laid out suggestions for the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform to consider in their final report. In response, Co-Chairs of the Joint Commission, Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. and state Representative Greg Harris and commission members Senator Cristina Castro and state Representative Kelly Burke released the following statement:
“We received recommendations from a group of members of the General Assembly that included ideas and suggestions to be considered in the final report of the commission. Many of these ideas have already been discussed over the course of the commission’s hearings, and they will be included in the list of items we’ve heard throughout the year and submitted as part of the commission’s report.
“The commission’s charge is to come up with ideas and suggestions. After conducting multiple public hearings and getting input from many stakeholders, including our fellow legislators, the commission will submit a final report. However, the commission cannot file legislation. Only members of the General Assembly can do that. We look forward to working with our colleagues on their suggestions as we work together to develop a strong package of ethics reforms.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** Press release…
State Representatives Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) and Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis), who serve on the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform, are offering their reaction to a press conference held by Illinois State Senate and House Democrats today touting a “new” package of ethics reform legislation.
The legislative fixes suggested by Senate and House Democrats include multiple ideas already introduced and sponsored by House Republican Caucus members. These include legislative fixes under three categories: lobbying reform, legislative reform, and leadership reform. Specific items include:
* No legislator lobbyists
* Revolving door prohibitions
* Clearer definitions of “lobbyist”
* Fuller disclosure of outside income for legislators
* Establishing an official censure process
* Strengthening the office of the legislative inspector general
* Ending the exemption for GA Employees from State Human Rights Act
* Establishing term limits for legislative leaders
* Allowing for temporary removal of leaders from leadership positions or committee chairs if they are indicted
“Senator Manar actually said the Joint Commission on Lobbying & Ethics Reform is working hard, when in truth, we haven’t met since March 5th! We haven’t met in person and we haven’t met on Zoom. Other state committees, commissions and panels have met multiple times since early March, but the Joint Commission on Lobbying & Ethics Reform has not. We did not finalize our work and we did not finalize our report,” said Rep. Wehrli. “Today’s press conference was completely out of touch with the reality on the ground. Every House member that took part in today’s press conference voted to put Mike Madigan in the Speaker’s chair and voted to accept his Rules of his House. While I applaud those who went on the record again today saying the Speaker should resign, this is merely political theater and window dressing. Until these members demand that the Governor call a special session to address ethics legislation and take real steps to remove Mike Madigan as Speaker, this is all just political cover.”
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst says he led an effort to send a letter to Ethics Commission Co-Chairs Senator Elgie Sims and State Rep. Greg Harris, both Chicago Democrats.
“I think Rep. Wehrli and I were well ahead of our colleagues in asking for the Ethics Commission to resume its work. We haven’t met since March,” Windhorst said. “Many of the legislative fixes proposed by House and Senate Democrats today have been introduced in bill form since November 2019. I just wonder where they have been. Corruption in Springfield has been rampant, and the House Speaker is implicated in a serious scheme involving bribery for taking official action. I believe we should return to Springfield in a Special Session to address the state’s serious plague of public corruption.”
On July 24, the Republican members of the General Assembly serving on the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform issued a letter to the co-chairs of the Commission requesting to meet to finish its work and finalize its report that was due at the end of March.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Gov. Pritzker…
I commend lawmakers for taking the initiative to propose a strong set of ethics reforms, including many of measures that I have prioritized since January. We need to restore faith in government, which is why I have worked hard to achieve important ethics reforms like stringent lobbyist transparency to end the practice of hiding influence from the public. And it’s why I have laid out priorities like closing the revolving door, expanding disclosure and ending the practice of lawmakers acting as paid lobbyists, among other proposals. I look forward to the report of the Joint Commission on Ethics and Lobbying Reform, as well as working with members of the General Assembly to ensure public servants live up to their obligation to represent the interests of the people of Illinois, and not their own interests. I believe we should accomplish these important objectives during this fall’s veto session.
An attorney suing the governor on behalf of businesses impacted by COVID-19 executive orders that shut down parts of the economy said when the government takes something, it must pay just compensation and he wants a jury to determine what the compensation should be.
Attorney Alan Bruggeman of Mokena represents businesses impacted by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home orders and subsequent COVID-19 restrictions. He said it’s about fairness.
The federal lawsuit includes restaurateurs, salon owners, vehicle maintenance shops and others who claim they were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 executive orders in Illinois. Bruggeman said the case is important because the state can’t just decide what business is and isn’t essential as the orders did. […]
The state through the Illinois Attorney General motioned to have the case dismissed. In one count in the motion to dismiss, the Illinois Attorney General said “Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the Eleventh Amendment as Plaintiffs cannot seek damages in Federal Court against the State or the Governor in his official capacity.”
Matt Wolking, the Trump campaign’s rapid deputy communications director, slammed Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for disparaging QAnon, signaling the Republican establishment’s increasing willingness to accommodate the fringe conspiracy as its adherents have multiplied and even emerged victorious in GOP congressional primaries. […]
The exchange comes a day after Marjorie Taylor Greene – a vocal QAnon believer condemned by GOP leaders for Facebook videos disparaging Muslims, repeating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and comparing Black Lives Matter to neo-nazis – won the GOP primary runoff in Georgia’s 14th Congressional district.
Shortly after winning her primary, Greene was welcomed by party leaders, with Trump calling her a “future Republican Star” and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) saying in a statement “we look forward” to Greene joining Congress – a likely scenario given that her district gave for Trump more than 75% of the vote in 2016. […]
The FBI has labelled QAnon a domestic terrorist threat, according to a report from Yahoo News in August 2019. A document from the Bureau’s Phoenix field office reportedly describes “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists,” as a growing danger, specifically referencing QAnon.
* The exchange…
When will @RepKinzinger condemn the Steele Dossier fabrications and conspiracy theories pushed by Democrats? That actually WAS Russian propaganda. https://t.co/NzVjbkkk8l
— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) August 12, 2020
QAnon is a baseless conspiracy theory that alleges that there is a “deep state” run by political elites, business leaders and Hollywood celebrities with ties to a child sex trafficking ring. In addition to claiming that “deep state” members are pedophiles, the theory insists that they are actively working against President Donald Trump.
The online movement started in the fall of 2017 on internet message boards, with posts from a self-proclaimed government insider who calls himself “Q,” presumably who Kinzinger was referring to. […]
The Washington Post reported this month that the Trump campaign has been courting QAnon followers more explicitly.
After statements by some Black Lives Matter Chicago leaders in support of looting, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday tried to separate illegal acts from support for the movement’s larger goal of restorative justice.
* There have been a lot of statements from various folks, but here’s BLM organizer Ariel Atkins via WBEZ…
A lot of people are really attacking our pages. They’re like, ‘Oh, you support the looters.’ And yeah, we do, 100%. That’s reparations. And like however people choose to protest, especially if it was definitely in line with what happened with the shooting, which would be powerful to see people reacting … without organizers just being like, ‘We’re angry and this is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna take the power back.’
I feel like these stores, these Macy’s, these Guccis, the PNC Banks, they’re not here for us. The city puts way more money and investment into spending time and protecting their spaces and making sure that they exist. And yet our people are constantly being pushed out of the city. … Unemployment is incredibly high, like we are in an incredible situation, and the fact that anybody gives a s*** about these businesses over what is happening in this city right now and the pain that people are in and the suffering that is taking place, I don’t care. I will support the looters ‘till the end of the day. If that’s what they need to do in order to eat, then that’s what you’ve got to do to eat.
First of all, anybody who is looting, or shooting or breaking the law should be held responsible. Period. End of sentence. So, let’s set that as a baseline.
People who are protesting, and voicing their concerns and standing up for people’s rights and doing it in a peaceful fashion, they have every right to do that, but those are two very different things.
And we need to at least recognize that all of us who have stood up for Black Lives Matter, who care deeply about the city are standing up for the right to peacefully protest and standing up for the fact that Black communities, frankly, all communities of color have been disinvested from, and that it’s time for us to step up and do the right thing. This is part of what you’re hearing us do here with the BIG program.
Black Lives Matter Chicago has held several demonstrations in recent days, with leaders saying the weekend’s downtown looting was a reaction to a police-involved shooting in Englewood.
Latrell Allen, 20, was shot and wounded by police in Englewood on Sunday after he allegedly shot at officers investigating a report of a man with a gun at a playground where children were playing, according to prosecutors. Allen is being held on $1 million bond.
There was no body-camera footage of the shooting, which Black Lives Matter Chicago has pointed to while questioning the details provided by police.
* You may have read about a confrontation in Englewood earlier this week when groups dominated by younger people (like BLM) were shouted down by Englewood-based activists and told to leave their neighborhood. Click here for a good explainer by Will Lee. And this is from Block Club Chicago’s coverage…
With news cameras rolling, they didn’t want the protesters to be the only ones speaking for the people of Englewood. And when outside protesters get the police upset, they leave neighborhood residents to deal with angry police, [Darryl Smith, Englewood Political Task Force president] said.
“Y’all see the riot gear? This the s— we gotta deal when y’all leave,” he said. […]
They think Englewood residents are being largely blamed for the Downtown looting that took place overnight Sunday, noting Police Supt. David Brown said the first reported incident of looting happened at 87th and the Dan Ryan, outside of Englewood.
“Why would a person from Englewood, from 63rd Street, go to 87th Street and start a caravan to go Downtown? We would just get on the expressway and go downtown.” Smith said.
Good point.
* There is definitely a generational thing happening here…
West Side political elders on Wednesday condemned recent looting — even though they understand the pain behind it — and warned it would only hurt the quest to rebuild impoverished neighborhoods.
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis said he feels every bit as much “anger,” “frustration” and “rage” about “what the country has done to my ancestors — to me, to my neighbors to my friends” as the young people who answered a social media call to start looting downtown Chicago, fueled by erroneous details about a police shooting in Englewood.
Stacy Davis Gates of the CTU responds to the article…
#NewHeadlineAlert “Downtown aldermen support and protect their constituents while west side aldermen defend their decades long investment in downtown properties by chastising their constituents for being sick and tired https://t.co/BkvdTJnD37
— #ArrestBreonnaTaylorsMurderers (@stacydavisgates) August 13, 2020
State Rep. Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, is calling on Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to take enforcement action against Medicaid providers for failing to meet fair contracting goals for minority- and women-owned businesses.
“It is unacceptable that most partners in the Illinois Medicaid program, the largest health insurance program in Illinois, fail to meet fair contracting standards for equity and inclusion by minorities and women,” Welch said. “As the chief legal officer of our state, Attorney General Kwame Raoul must take enforcement action to ensure that fair contracting agreements are followed and respected.”
Welch sent a letter to Raoul demanding that he enforce fair contracting agreements between the state and its Medicaid providers by suing the providers to recover taxpayer funds or by fining the providers. Data from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), which manages the Illinois Medicaid program, indicates that its six partners met just 52% of their combined fair contracting goals. Only one of the six providers, IlliniCare, met or exceeded fair contracting goals. Without the inclusion of IlliniCare, the other five providers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, CountyCare, IlliniCare, Meridian, Molina, and Next Level, met less than 40% of their combined fair contracting goals.
“Illinois needs to put Medicaid providers on notice that they will be held accountable for their failure to live up to fair contracting agreements,” Welch said. “Enforcement action from the Attorney General will not only help show the state is serious about advancing economic and racial justice, but it will also protect taxpayers from unreliable business partners who don’t honor contracts with the state.”
Asked if AG Raoul can sue to enforce these goals, Rep. Welch replied with three basic points: 1) The MCOs all signed contracts containing clear minority and female-owned contractor goals, with acknowledged consequences for failure; 2) Raoul represents the state; 3) The MCOs are in breach.
LIVEcoverage at 10:00 AM of the Senate Transportation Committee Hearing (Subject Matter On: Transparency and Equity In Construction Contracting At The Illinois Tollway Authority) @BlueRoomStream#Illinois
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said Wednesday that he’s not sure that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, can do his job leading the House and the Democratic Party of Illinois, given an ongoing federal investigation. […]
Asked if the investigation hurts the party, Durbin said, “Of course, the cloud of suspicion is going to be raised, as you just did.”
“You start with the presumption of innocence,” Durbin added. “Then comes other questions. Can you do your job? What impact does your legal problem have on other people, innocent people in the process? That’s why I think, as this progresses, if it progresses before the election, other questions will be raised.”
Asked if Madigan can now do the jobs of speaker and party leader, Durbin said, “I don’t know the answer about that at this moment.”
Six months into COVID-19, the media and Illinois’ political elite continue to push cases and the case positivity rate as the key statistics of the pandemic. So much so, that Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot have threatened shut downs all over again if the case numbers continue to go up.
The persistent reporting of rising cases and high positivity rates invoke fear, but the public should know that cases alone don’t matter. What really matters are hospitalizations and deaths. And those have yet to rise in Illinois, even if cases have risen significantly for more than a month and a half. […]
We’re not implying that more hospitalizations and deaths won’t follow the increase in cases, as has happened in states like Texas, Florida and Arizona recently. A rise is inevitable in Illinois as the state loosens its strict and protracted shutdown.
What’s clear, however, is that cases in Illinois are currently decoupled from hospitalizations and deaths.
*Facepalm*
* First of all, case numbers have zero to do with the state’s phased mitigation plan (although Chicago does look at cases). The state’s regional plan is based on a sustained increase in positivity rates above 8 percent (which, despite what they’re claiming, is an all too real danger zone), or a sustained increase in positivity rates along with a sustained increase in hospitalizations or pending bed shortages.
Also, ignoring what happened in Illinois and now in Florida, etc. is kinda mind-boggling.
“As an owner of 2 small businesses, one essential (radon mitigation), one a restaurant … nothing I can say will express the absolute disdain I have for this man or his policies,” a commenter complained about Pritzker.
A Policy Institute staffer replied to her comment asking if she would be open to speaking to a member of the IPI team. “We’ve been doing our best to give our community a voice on our site and pressure JB to reopen the state’s economy.”
Another commenter predicted that Pritzker “and his boss lori lightfoot will kill Illinois.” An IPI staffer replied with the same request to speak with her about her story. “We’ve been featuring small business owners on our site to try to pressure the governor to reopen the state’s economy.”
…Adding… The IPI is also falsely claiming business owners face jail time, when that’s clearly not what the IDPH rules say…
* Want to open up? Deal with the virus. Encourage businesses to follow common sense guidelines and then we can hopefully get to where New York is…
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren: : "Limited or inconsistent efforts by states to control the virus based on public health guidance are not only placing citizens at unnecessary risk of severe illness and possible death — but are also likely to prolong the economic downturn."
First it was Seattle. Then New York City. Then the novel coronavirus hit Arizona, Texas, and Florida with a vengeance, infecting hundreds of thousands of people and leading to backlogs of bodies in morgues that are still growing today.
The big question, as the weather begins to turn cold, flu season approaches, and schools reopen across the nation, is a simple one: Which city is next?
The modelers at PolicyLab, the think tank at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) whose projections are often used by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, think they have an answer: Baltimore, Chicago, and Boston. The reasons range from density to climate to behavior to demographic factors. But, cumulatively, they have created a dangerous and swelling disease burden within the cities and in their immediate environs, according to PolicyLab models and interviews with a slew of public health experts.
A federal appeals court greeted the Illinois Republican Party’s challenge to the governor’s limit on public gatherings with skepticism this week.
A 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel had a barrage of questions Tuesday for the lawyer representing the state GOP, which claims it should be allowed to hold gatherings of more than 50 despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic guidelines to the contrary.
The Illinois Republicans and other Republican organizations claimed the Democratic governor’s orders violate the First Amendment because they carve out an exemption for churches. The plaintiffs also claim Pritzker created another exemption by endorsing protests against racial injustice.
But if the governor didn’t draw constitutional lines in his executive orders, the three judges asked, where should they be drawn?
Judge Diane P. Wood said if the Republican Party is exempt from the regulations, “I see no logical stopping point.”
Counsel for the Illinois Republican Party urged a three-judge panel during oral argument to revive its bid to hold gatherings larger than the 50-person limit set in the latest coronavirus safety order, arguing the exemption for religious gatherings should apply to all protected First Amendment expression. But U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett said the party seems to be comparing its asserted speech rights to a group that has “an additional interest” under the amendment, which is the right to freely exercise religion. […]
Daniel Suhr of the Liberty Justice Center argued the party should receive the same exemption as religious groups because both religious and political speech rights “live at the heart of the First Amendment.” But Judge Barrett pushed back on that stance, saying the amendment itself treats free speech and free religious exercise “a little bit as apples and oranges” since they’re separated into two distinct categories. […]
U.S. Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve said the party’s argument leaves the court wondering where it would draw a line distinguishing First Amendment rights about political speech from First Amendment rights “about some other cause.”
Suhr argued in response that “it’s the governor’s job” to draw that line. But U.S. Circuit Judge Diane Wood quickly rebuffed that stance, saying it was the party’s job, “since you’re the one who’s attacking the governor’s executive order for not drawling the line that you think should have been drawn.”
“You should have some theory of relief,” she said.
There’s more in both stories, so click those linkies.
Public Health Officials Announce 1,645 New Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus Disease
State reports more than 42,000 tests in one day
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,645 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 16 additional confirmed death.
- Cook County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s
- DeKalb County: 1 female 70s
- Douglas Count; 1 male 50s
- Iroquois County: 1 female 80s
- Jefferson County: 1 female 80s
- Lake County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- LaSalle County: 1 male 80s
- Madison County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
- Perry County: 1 female 90s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 90s
- Williamson County: 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 198,593 cases, including 7,672 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 42,098 specimens for a total of 3,189,801. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 5 – August 11 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,525 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 357 patients were in the ICU and 129 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Most students in Illinois will be learning remotely this fall, according to results from an Illinois State Board of Education survey.
Parents and students wondering what their school district’s plans for the fall semester are amid COVID-19 concerns can find out through a new portal from the Illinois State Board of Education.
ISBE has been surveying the state’s more than 850 school districts on reopening plans and it published a dashboard on the department’s website that allows everyone to see which options districts are planning to offer this fall.
Of the more than 850 districts, 671 that cover more than 1.6 million students had responded as of Wednesday.
Most of the districts, or 319, plan to offer a blended model. That will cover more than 525,000 students.
About 200 districts serving 153,000 students will be doing in-person instruction.
About 150 districts serving about 921,000 students will offer only remote instruction.
Some of that could change as districts get closer to their start date.
* From a reader on the new mask and gathering size rule…
Are folks who oppose the DPH rule actually serious in saying enforcement should be on individuals, not businesses? I get why businesses would argue that- to avoid legal responsibility. But they actually want enforcement at the individual level? They want businesses and customers to call police on the people in their communities, overload their local police and be responsible for having their customers hit with a misdemeanor? Or is it just something to argue?
On Tuesday, several members of the panel, particularly Republicans, said they continued to hear concerns from local businesses in their districts about why they were being held liable for enforcing the public health rules, but their customers who refuse to wear masks or keep a 6-foot distance from others were not.
Among those was Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, who said callers to his office were concerned about actions of individuals leading to fines and potential misdemeanor charges for businesses.
But Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, a cochair of JCAR, said the graduated nature of the enforcement rules means businesses that genuinely are trying to comply should have nothing to fear.
“And I think it’s really important to understand what that points to is this rule is going to be enforced against rogue operators,” Cunningham said. “This is not something that is going to be easily applied even by the most zealous law enforcement agency or public health department against someone — a business that slips up once or twice. There’s just not an ability to do that based on the framework of this rule.”
I think Cunningham is right. The businesses will get a reminder and a warning. If and only if a business is ignoring those public health warnings, then the matter goes to the state’s attorney, who will have the authority to decide whether to proceed.
“As small business owners and residents across the state spoke out against this blatant attempt to shut down the Illinois economy again, Democrat state lawmakers are silent,” the party said in a news release.
The Will County GOP urged its supporters to call members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to “hold the Governor accountable.” Republicans asked citizens to “rise up again to combat yet another wrong done by this Governor,” according to the release.
The party also provided potential callers with talking points to argue it was “wrong to fine a business for a customer’s actions,” and that the rule would “hurt Illinois businesses and Illinois’ fragile economy.”
Again, a business would get a warning and then a threat of action before the state’s attorney would have to press charges…
The graduated enforcement of the emergency rules begins with education of the business and hopeful voluntary compliance. A written warning will follow additional violations and some or all patrons may be asked to leave the premises. The third and final consequence could include a Class A misdemeanor [with] a fine ranging from $75 to $2,500.
County health departments and local law enforcement agencies will issue the warnings and fines, while only a State’s Attorney is able to issue a misdemeanor.
The rules apply to businesses, schools, and childcare facilities, but not to individuals.
[Pritzker’s general counsel Ann Spillane] said the administration heard from law enforcement agencies that said a rule like this would be a help when officers are asked to break up large gatherings or address mask wearing.
The new version of the rule also makes it clear that different establishments face different circumstances, she said. A tiny story with one clerk on duty can’t do the same kind of enforcement as a larger store. Also, the earlier version made it appear that full compliance was required.
“Businesses are not expected to achieve 100% compliance,” she said.
Illinois Retail Merchants Association’s Rob Karr, whose group was among the first months ago to put out public service announcements about the importance of masks, said the rule requires businesses employees to stick their neck out for the mandate.
“This rule requires us now to have that interaction,” Karr said. “It is clearly putting employees and retailers at risk and the [Pritzker] administration now owns that responsibility.”
But somebody’s gotta do it. And, as noted at the top, somebody would still have to call the cops on recalcitrant customers.
State Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, said the governor circumvented the legislature by filing the rule and creating a tiered approach that could lead to criminal charges.
“This is not going to make more people wear masks,” Schimpf said. “In fact, I think this is going to cause people to dig in their heels a little bit more.”
Schimpf said the governor should get the consent of the people and call a special session to deal with pandemic-related issues instead of issuing unilateral mandates.
State law, approved by the General Assembly, requires IDPH to promulgate rules in the event of unusual things like novel virus pandemics. It’s set up that way because the legislature is not exactly a quick responder.
* A mask mandate wasn’t the only JCAR agenda item yesterday. Press release…
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) announced today that permanent rules have been adopted for adult use cannabis dispensary licensees to be selected when there are two or more applicants in the same Bureau of Labor Statistics Regions with tied high scores. The rules, which were filed in June, may be found here.
The approval of these rules allows IDFPR to move forward in awarding the 75 conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses that were authorized by the 2019 Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Consistent with the new rules, IDFPR will provide a public notice announcing the applicants with tied high scores who, if they meet the requirements in the rules, may participate in the selection process for a conditional license.
“We are pleased that these rules have been adopted, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensuring these licenses are issued in a fair and objective way that implements Illinois’ equity-centric law,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor for Cannabis Control to Gov. Pritzker. “Additional licenses will be made available in the coming years and these rules will help ensure a strong foundation is established for the licensing process in the future.”
Once IDFPR awards a conditional license, the licensee will have 180 days to find a location within its BLS Region to operate. A license to operate cannot be issued if the location is within 1,500 feet of an existing licensed dispensing organization. More about the awarding of the conditional adult use dispensing organization licenses may be found under 410 ILCS 705/15-25 and 15-30 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
In addition, application scoring for craft grower, infuser and transporter licenses is being finalized, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture will announce award dates in the near future.
* Rep. Darren Bailey’s attorney Tom DeVore explained yesterday’s JCAR actions to his Facebook audience late Tuesday afternoon…
The main reason that the General Assembly was never convened in my opinion is because the governor’s office and the Illinois Department of Public Health were working with those JCAR members - probably the Democrats, it’s just reality of the times we find ourselves in - to try to put a rule together through all of them working together in concert that would be able to get through the JCAR process.
That was much easier for them than going to the General Assembly and having the General Assembly pass comprehensive legislation and the voice of all of you be heard. No, no, no we can’t do that. They admitted on that transcript, over and over again that the Illinois Department of Health and the governor’s office was working with this JCAR group of committee members - and again I would suggest you working with it you know could they have talked to the Republicans too, you could’ve if but if you saw the vote, and I’ll tell you about that in a second, there was no Republican in favor of this rule - I would suggest to you humbly that that’s how government works, it’s not out in the front for all the people to watch, because you know what we haven’t been watching. Why would they care?
It was done in these backdoor conversations to get this new rule put together, that they knew, they knew before they walked in the door today that they had the votes they needed. If you heard one of the Republican senators I believe a senator, or a Republican member of the committee, said that the governor called him today and he talked to the governor about it. So the governor, by admission of this member, has been lobbying these people, didn’t have to lobby the whole General Assembly just had to lobby twelve people, really only had to get two of them. […]
And there was efforts by the administrative, body being the Department of Health and the governor’s office, to work with JCAR. Why is an administrative body in the governor’s office working with the oversight committee? Independent! You bring us a rule we’ll vet it and we’ll decide whether it passes muster, not work with us and let us give you our thoughts on what kind of rule you can present, and then we might pass it. Does anybody find that inappropriate but me? They admitted that on the record today, and they weren’t even bashful about it. And shame on all of us, for letting it get this far. Shame on us. Because I listened to that and I was like are you kidding, independent body is supposed to be an oversight, worked and gave their recommendations it seems on how this rule could be amended to get past them and not suffer from eight votes against it. I found that horrific.
Whew. A whole lot to unpack there. The GA wasn’t convened because of the pandemic. It had to eventually be convened one way or another to pass a budget and move some other necessary bills.
And, yes, how terrible that JCAR members worked with the administration to craft a better emergency rule. Just shameful.
That video, by the way, was viewed 8,400 times and shared 109 times. 321 comments were posted.
They should have added an elimination factor to the MLB season. More than 3 people in your org test positive for COVID and you're out for the year. You have to win AND keep people safe to make the post-season. Watch how much more seriously teams would take it.
— Julie DiCaro is writing a book (@JulieDiCaro) July 30, 2020
Maybe more than three, but the general concept seems sound.
We are filled with pride and joy upon hearing that our Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister, Kamala Harris, has been selected to join Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate. While individual members can support who they want, this history-making selection of Harris—the first Black woman on a major party ticket—is exciting for so many who never thought they’d see this day.
This year, our nation is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. But for decades, that guarantee did not include women of color. Now Harris will bring with her to the ticket, the spirit of women like Suffragist Ida B. Wells, Civil Rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, and the first black woman to run for president, Shirley Chisholm.
The legacy of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated is that of excellence and community service, traits which Kamala Harris has exemplified throughout her career. And we are so very proud to witness this historic day.
Juliana Stratton
Mattie Hunter
LaToya Greenwood
Toi Hutchinson
* More…
Congratulations to my Soror and Link sister @KamalaHarris on making history with your nomination as Vice-President! The party is energized and ready for the win! Let’s protect our democracy and bring honor and respect back to the White House! #BidenHarris2020pic.twitter.com/i9Rg6PIva7
Prominent women who are or have been AKA members include Eleanor Roosevelt, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Star Jones, Alicia Keys, Phylicia Rashad, Mellody Hobson, Wanda Sykes, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Hazel O’Leary, Sheila Jackson Lee, Suzanne Malveaux and Karen Yarbrough. In the Illinois General Assembly, my colleagues Sen. Mattie Hunter, Sen. Toi Hutchinson and Rep. Monique Davis are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
A north suburban legislator who has benefited from nearly $247,000 in contributions from House Speaker Michael Madigan is now calling for the beleaguered political powerhouse to step down, saying the Legislature can’t function below a cloud of “distractions, doubt or distrust.”
State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz is joining the slowly growing list of House Democrats calling on Madigan to immediately step down from his leadership roles in the Illinois House and the state’s Democratic Party, saying federal investigations into corruption “at the highest levels have created a crisis of confidence and undermined the integrity and public trust that leadership demands.”
“If we are to move our state forward, Speaker Madigan must not continue to serve in the role of Speaker of the House or as Chair of the Illinois Democratic Party,” the Glenview Democrat said in a statement. “I understand and agree with many of my colleagues’ concerns about due process.
“I fully support due process for Speaker Madigan and anyone else with respect to ongoing criminal investigations. However, whether someone should retain leadership positions in the General Assembly and the Illinois Democratic Party is a question of moral, ethical, and personal judgement, not criminal process. Leadership is a privilege, and we must hold our leaders to a higher standard.” […]
Gong-Gershowitz joins six other members of Madigan’s caucus calling on him to step down immediately: North Siders Jonathan “Yoni” Pizer and Kelly Cassidy, Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego, Lindsey LaPointe of the Northwest Side, Terra Costa Howard of Glen Ellyn and Anne Stava-Murray of Naperville.
IT IS ORDERED that the emergency motion for supervisory order is denied. On the Court’s own motion, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 384, Darren Bailey v. Governor Jay Robert Pritzker, in his official capacity, Clay County No. 20 CH 6, is transferred to the Circuit Court of Sangamon County and consolidated with Riley Craig et al. v. Governor Jay Robert Pritzker, etc., Sangamon County No. 20 MR 589.
What this means is, the Supreme Court punted on deciding the issue at hand and moved the case to Sangamon County, where the governor has previously prevailed.
Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 384, James Mainer et al., etc. v. Illinois Department of Public Health et al., etc., Clay County No. 20 CH 13, is transferred to the Circuit Court of Sangamon County and consolidated with Governor J.B. Pritzker, etc., et al. v. Board of Education of Hutsonville CUSD #1 et al., etc., Sangamon County No. 20 MR 557.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) are elated that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has canceled the process to build a new privately-operated immigration detention facility in Dwight, Illinois. ICE was still working on the Dwight plan even though the General Assembly passed and Governor Pritzker signed the Private Detention Facility Moratorium Act in 2019 to block for-profit detention centers from being built and operated in our state. Thanks to the leadership of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Sen. Robert Peters, who spoke up forcefully in response to ICE’s continuing movement on the Dwight bid, ICE has received the message and ended the process.
Our organizations will continue to fight to hold DHS and ICE accountable, to stop the harms they are inflicting and the fear they are creating in our communities, and to make Illinois welcoming for all.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement no longer has a requirement for a Contract Detention Facility within a 180 mile radius of the ICE Chicago Field Office located at101 W. Ida B. Wells Drive, Suite 4000, Chicago, IL 60605-1074.
No word yet on why it no longer has such a requirement.
By their own admission, the plaintiffs’ lawyers filed this lawsuit for political purposes. I have occasionally made job recommendations for good people seeking jobs, believing that the applicant could and would do successful work. That is commonplace in all industries. Sometimes the applicant is hired, and sometimes the applicant is not hired. The decision is the employer’s and I do not act differently either way. And I have not, and would not, make a job recommendation believing that the applicant wouldn’t be asked to perform work by their employer.
The notion that the passage of two consequential pieces of energy legislation were tied to the hiring or retention of a few individuals is seriously mistaken. Those bills had broad support—from Democrats and Republicans; from the other legislative leaders, sponsors, and individual legislators; and from labor supporters, consumer advocates, and environmentalists. The bills couldn’t have passed otherwise, and they were the product of years of deliberation, negotiations, and consensus building. Nothing I or my staff did in the course of those bills was influenced by a company’s decision to hire or retain a person, nor did I ever suggest that such a decision could influence me.
I have never made a legislative decision with improper motives. We intend to defeat this transparently political lawsuit, which is wrong on both the facts and the law.
There have always been differences within the Democratic party. I have devoted my entire career to working with all Democrats in Illinois. I will continue to do that, especially as we face defeating Donald Trump, who has a track record of sowing division and suppressing minority voices. As Trump ends the Census count early, ensuring all of our communities are fairly and fully represented has been and will continue to be a main priority of mine as the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** One more MJM statement…
Vice President Biden has made an excellent choice in selecting Senator Kamala Harris as our next vice president of the United States. Senator Harris has an impressive legislative and legal background that will help guide our country out of one of our darkest periods. Senator Harris has compassion and strength and is the right woman for the job.
* One of the Midwest’s largest tourist attractions is in serious trouble. Press release…
Per State and City orders, Navy Pier was closed to the public from March 17 to June 10 to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its reopening, the organization has sought to find solutions that would enable it to continue its operations with the safety and security measures currently in place. While we have been able to resume partial operations and safely welcome guests back to the Pier, we are seeing only about 15–20% of our typical summer attendance, making it difficult to generate revenues that support our standard operations.
Navy Pier has operated as an independent nonprofit organization since 2011. Although the organization maintains facilities on publicly-owned property, Navy Pier does not receive any public tax dollars to support its operating costs. The Pier relies on generous philanthropic support from individuals, foundations and corporations with the majority of revenues earned through operational income, such as rent and fees from on-site partner establishments (restaurants, retail shops, cultural anchors, etc.), private events, consumer and trade shows, parking and ticket sales from attractions.
To date, the Centennial Wheel and other Pier Park attractions—a primary source of revenue—have not been able to open and operate. On-site cultural anchors, such as Chicago Children’s Museum and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, have also not yet reopened. Additionally, the Pier has extended rent relief to all of its on-site tenant partners. The parking garages have also seen a significant drop in parking activity, even with discounted parking rates currently in place. And all private events, consumer/trade shows and other bookings have been canceled in our East End event facilities. We rely heavily on these sources of revenue. Furthermore, restrictive capacity limitations for many of our events, restaurants and venues have prevented the Pier from resuming full operations and offering full experiences to guests. The loss of those earnings has been devastating to the organization’s budget, resulting in a projected deficit of $20 million.
With the support of the government funding program, the CARES Act, we were able to temporarily retain staff through the Payment Protection Program (PPP) loan. Our hope was that once we reopened, revenues would be restored at a more sustainable level. Unfortunately, that has not been realized.
Financial Adjustments
To help limit costs, Navy Pier has implemented the following financial adjustments and measures:
• Navy Pier President and CEO has taken a 44% compensation reduction and the executive leadership team members have taken a 33% reduction since mid-May
• Many full-time administrative staff members have been furloughed
• Planned capital improvements have been postponed
• Hiring of critical positions has been suspended
• Contractual services have been significantly reduced
• Budgets have been drastically reduced
• As of Monday, July 27, we made the difficult decision to reduce our full-time administrative staff through layoffs (approximately 20 percent of our employees, totaling 11 positions, in addition to 9 trades workers)
These decisions are not ones that were made lightly and were done after a long and careful review of the Pier’s projected financials with knowledge that many good people would be affected. As an organization that cares deeply about its employees, we held off on making these changes for as long as our finances would allow.
PPP Loan
Navy Pier sought and secured a PPP loan, which granted the organization $2.5 million to help preserve the salaries and benefits for eight weeks to retain 55 full-time administrative employees while revenue generation was completely halted during the Pier’s closure. The loan also made it possible for Navy Pier to retain and provide essential job training remotely with pay to 170 part-time seasonal guest service and Pier Park employees to prepare for summer and retained 26 full-time tradespeople, 21 whom were previously laid off who were able to return and begin preparing the Pier for its impending reopening.
As outlined within the parameters of the PPP loan, funds were used to cover up to $100,000 of each full-time employee’s salary, support benefits, satisfy rent/mortgage payments, cover utilities, etc.
Unlike other similar nonprofit cultural institutions, Navy Pier does not receive public funding from city, county or state tax revenue, nor does it have an endowment to rely upon. The PPP loan was a critical source of funding that is helping to bridge the gap created by the Pier’s closure and lost revenues.
Payal Patel, a spokeswoman for the private operator of the government-owned pier, said the company “is not going out of business. Navy Pier is not going bankrupt. They’re looking at full closure, partial closure.”
Patel said the not-for-profit company has no plans to walk away from the pier, which it began leasing in 2011 under a $1-a-year lease from the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, whose board is appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. […]
The company — whose board includes former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s daughter Nora Daley Conroy — had more than $57.9 million in debts at the end of 2018, according to records it filed with the Internal Revenue Service. It’s required to pay slightly more than $3 million on those this year. Patel wouldn’t say how it will make those payments.
Overheard in the hallway as lawmakers walk into the JCAR meeting, Senator Bill Cunningham assures @GovPritzker’s lawyer Ann Spillane there will be “no surprises.” Cunningham apparently expects the fines for businesses who defy Pritzker’s mask mandate to pass. pic.twitter.com/AIIVlDSolX
…Adding… The afore-mentioned DCEO emergency rule on distribution of federal aid to local governments has been approved.
…Adding… Press release…
Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole issued the following statement regarding the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules’ approval of guidelines for the distribution of local funding from the federal CARES Act:
“Today’s rulemaking by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Administration is both unfortunate and untimely. It is unfortunate that the state has chosen its own bureaucracy over the betterment of its communities, by disallowing local governments from using their allotted CARES Act funds in full compliance with federal guidelines. And it is untimely in that the state continues to withhold millions of federal dollars that were intended to aid suffering local governments, aid that was enacted by Congress and the President almost five months ago, on March 27.”
The core disagreement was that the “suffering local governments” wanted near carte blanche authority to distribute federal money to local businesses. If the locals had violated federal rules, state taxpayers would be held responsible.
*** UPDATE 1 *** JCAR took up a motion to oppose and suspend the IDPH emergency rule. That motion required a majority of 8 votes. It failed 6-5. The rule stands.
…Adding… IRMA isn’t pleased…
The Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) has released the following statement after the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules failed to stop Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to fine retailers for the failure of individuals to wear face coverings as required by the state:
“We are disappointed the administrative rule was not stopped. Contrary to the false narrative peddled by the administration in recent days, retailers have never been against masks. In fact, the retail industry helped develop many of the safety guidelines put in place by the state, including the use of face coverings in public,” said Rob Karr, president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.
“Instead of cooperation and collaboration, the Administration chose politics and confrontation in developing this rule, abandoning the partnership with retailers that has helped guide our state through this pandemic. While the Administration preaches the importance of individuals wearing face coverings, they are clearly not interested in taking responsibility for their own orders. Instead, they are exporting their enforcement responsibilities to others and playing politics with the pandemic. Make no mistake: their actions have once again put retailers and their employees in harm’s way.
“Throughout this pandemic, Illinois retailers of all types and sizes including but not limited to grocery, hardware, restaurant, taverns, pharmacy, apparel, fitness, convenience stores, and gas stations, have done all that has been asked of them, and so much more. That is why the enactment of today’s emergency rule is such an injustice to retailers large and small.”
IRMA is usually not so strident.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement following JCAR upholding enforcement rule.
I have always put the health and safety of Illinoisans first, and I’m gratified that local governments now have an additional way to keep their communities safe.
I want to thank the broad coalition of Illinoisans from around the state for their input and advocacy in support of science. Groups such as the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, the Illinois Public Health Association, Open Safe Illinois and our Safety Net Hospitals. As well as the Chicago Federation of Labor, the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Restaurant Association, National Nurses United Organizing Committee-Illinois Chapter and SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana worked together to ensure the state remains focused on beating this pandemic.
The vast majority of our communities and business owners are doing what’s right. Working alongside these partners, these rules will provide multiple opportunities for compliance before any penalty is issued and will help ensure that the minority of people who refuse to act responsibly won’t take our state backward. These rules will ensure that there is a commonsense way to enforce public health guidelines with an emphasis on education first so that Illinois can continue to make substantial progress in our fight against COVID-19.
…Adding… Press release…
The Illinois Fuel and Retail Association, representing the state’s gas stations and convenience stores, today issued the following statement in response to the decision by a legislative panel not to block a rule requiring masks in public places.
“Doing business in Illinois during this unprecedented time of conflict and challenge is now even harder.
A panel of legislators known as JCAR today could not find enough votes to block a misguided rule from Gov. Pritzker’s Administration requiring masks in stores and public places and fining business owners for violations. We will be considering other options, but for now, this policy will move ahead.
We do not oppose a strong public push for wearing masks and taking other protective measures in the fight against COVID-19. Our stores have detailed policies in place to keep customers protected themselves and from others through masks, social distancing and more. These steps are saving lives.
But requiring masks and punishing business owners, not customers, for not using them just doesn’t make sense. Businesses are struggling to open and stay open. We are not the problem, and yet again we are being treated as criminals. It’s not right, and it will not work.
We urge the Pritzker Administration to rethink this misguided policy that will make life harder for our small businesses, and instead partner with and support us to end this pandemic as quickly as possible and get our state back on the right track. Every moment counts.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced 1,549 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 20 additional confirmed death.
Adams County: 1 male 90s
Coles County: 1 male 80s
Cook County: 1 male 60s, 3 males 70s, 1 female 80s
DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s
Franklin County: 1 female 70s
Jackson County: 1 female 60s
Kankakee County: 1 male 60s
Lake County: 1 male 80s
Livingston County: 1 female 60s
Logan County: 1 male 70s
Peoria County: 1 female 90s
Perry County: 1 female 90s
Wayne County: 1 female 70s
Will County: 1 female 40s, 1 male 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 196,948 cases, including 7,657 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 41,362 specimens for a total of 3,147,703. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from August 4 – August 10 is 4.1%. As of last night, 1,459 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 336 patients were in the ICU and 127 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, IDPH is now reporting both confirmed and probable cases and deaths on its website. Reporting probable cases will help show the potential burden of COVID-19 illness and efficacy of population-based non-pharmaceutical interventions. IDPH will update these data once a week.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
* The city’s police superintendent did his best to pull stuff out of the air yesterday in order to shift the blame to the state’s attorney…
Brown went so far as to imply that looters reoffended this weekend after getting away with the same crimes during the widespread unrest earlier this year, eliminating any deterrent. […]
Foxx, who is no stranger to accusations that she is soft on crime, flatly rejected that narrative at a news conference Monday. Her office has not dropped any looting cases related to recent unrest, she said, calling for a response “beyond a sound bite and a finger point.”
Neither the superintendent nor the mayor have been able to point to any actual data backing up this claim. If they have it, they should use it. If they don’t have it, then they should apply for a job as a Tribune columnist.
Nearly 5,000 people were arrested countywide after the death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer sparked days of protests and also looting, Foxx said.
In a statement released after the new conference, Foxx wrote that the Chicago Police Department arrested roughly “300 individuals [for looting and rioting] and none of these cases have been dropped. They are currently awaiting trial. These cases will be brought to trial beginning in August.”
Of 5,000 countywide arrests, 1,000 were for city ordinance violations, such as being out after curfew, she said. Another 1,000 were misdemeanor arrests, and 400 to 500 of those involved people she said were involved in what her office considers peaceful protests. Foxx said her office has “no role in the prosecution of city ordinance violations.”
Foxx announced in June that her office would focus on dismissing charges stemming from arrests at demonstrations and for citywide curfew violations after a week or protests and civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Critics said looters were additionally emboldened by a Foxx policy that raised the bar for prosecuting shoplifting as a felony — a theory Foxx also rejected Monday.
Retail theft charges are intended for people who walk out of an open store without paying for merchandise, not those who break into a store or loot, she said.
At her own press conference Monday afternoon, Foxx noted that in 2017, 2018 and 2019 — the three years analyzed by the Tribune — violent crime, shootings and homicide rates dropped in Chicago.
“In the wake of 2016’s violence, we saw communities come together… We cannot talk about ‘all hands on deck’ and seek simple solutions to complex problems, we must continue to work together,” Foxx said.
Foxx acknowledged her office enacted a policy not to prosecute peaceful protestors arrested in May and June, but said conflating peaceful protestors with rioters and looters, whom her office has prosecuted, was wrong and disingenuous. According to Foxx, the majority of charges filed in Cook County during those protests were misdemeanors and municipal violations.
“Last night was not an extension of a peaceful protest. Last night was not an extension of righteous anger. Last night was a blatant display of criminal behavior,” Foxx said.
* Foxx definitely has a different interpretation of yesterday’s widely shared Tribune story about how her office dropped lots more felony charges than her predecessor. For instance, Anita Alvarez’ homicide conviction rate was 83 percent during the three-year time period studied by the Tribune and it was 80 percent under Foxx in her first three years, something Foxx called “statistically insignificant.” I asked her office for a statement about the Tribune story…
State’s Attorney Foxx has secured over 2,700 more convictions related to violent felony offenses than her predecessor in the last three years of her tenure.
These violent and most serious offenses include cases of gun violence, homicide, sex crimes, aggravated battery, violence against police officers, robbery, domestic battery, and kidnapping. These cases represent 28% of the cases prosecuted by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. The conviction rate on these cases has increased from 81% to 83% under the Foxx Administration.
Yes, I know this goes against common beliefs, but the state’s attorney’s office has compiled a list of serious violent felonies and compared the two administrations’ record and there’s little to no statistical difference. Click here to see it.
Vehicular Highjacking conviction rates rose from 81 to 88 percent. Domestic battery conviction rates rose from 86 to 88 percent. Robbery conviction rates went from 87 to 90 percent. UUW went from 72 to 77 percent. Some went down, but mostly within a very narrow percentage range, or because of the low actual case numbers involved.
I watched on television Monday morning as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Supt. David Brown engaged in fingerpointing, casting blame on Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and the judiciary. Then Lightfoot exploded on a mild-mannered television reporter who rightly called her out on it, displaying a character trait that is growing tiresome.
Brown wanted us to know how smart police had been to deploy 400 officers to respond to the downtown unrest as soon as they caught wind of it on social media, never fully explaining why that was insufficient to quell the disturbance. Could it be that he needed to send 800?
The mayor had spent the weekend obsessing over an embarrassing party at Montrose Point where social distancing was not observed. She was so busy solving the problem by petulantly erecting snow fences around the shoreline that she may not have noticed her police brass were still unprepared to adequately respond to a real public safety emergency.
Later I drove downtown to see Foxx respond in person to what she called “dishonest blame games,” and not surprisingly, she did not accept any.
There’s always room for improvement, and Foxx definitely should’ve acknowledged that and did not. If everybody is all in, everybody needs to admit their shortcomings and mistakes. Everybody, Foxx included, needs to look inward to see what they can do to not only make things better, but to also stop making things worse.
At least one reporter at Foxx’s availability yesterday tried to make her the scapegoat for cops standing by in May while looters ravaged stores. That was on the police superintendent, not Foxx.
* Lots of progressive names on this list. Mostly unsurprising. But, as subscribers know, state central committee member Peter Janko had been keeping his powder dry on this topic even though he did not vote for Madigan’s reelection. See anyone else who surprises you?…
We come from across Illinois; from Bloomington to Rockford and from Carbondale to Chicago. We are or were elected officials, Democratic Party officials, or Democratic candidates. We represent the socioeconomic and geographic diversity that is the true strength of the Democratic Party of Illinois, and today we echo the call for new leadership for our party and for the Illinois House.
We’re each brought to this point by different circumstances, but are united around a simple belief: Illinois Democrats are in dire need of new leadership.
We’re not commenting here on guilt or innocence in the legal sense. This is about the ability to lead our party as we enter the most important election in living memory, and to lead the House as we encounter the most difficult challenges Illinois government has faced in decades.
We survived the Rauner administration, we’re making our way through this pandemic, and our hope for rebuilding this state lies in the Fair Tax amendment and our candidates up and down the ballot. It has become clear due to the ongoing corruption scandal that Michael Madigan’s leadership is threatening Illinois Democrats’ ability to achieve these goals.
Illinois Democrats are strong. We support the brave women in the General Assembly who called for new leadership before we did. We know when this anchor is lifted, our people and our ideas will rebuild our state. We urge Michael Madigan to do right by the people of Illinois and step down from his roles as Speaker and as Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois.
Sincerely,
Florence Appell, DuPage County Precinct Committeeperson
Nathan Arroyave, Winnebago County Democrats Young Dems Chair
Daniel Biss, former State Senator and State Representative
Erica Bray-Parker, Wheaton City Council member and DuPage County Precinct Committeeperson
Muriel Briel, Plainfield Township Democrats Vice Chair and former IL-16 congressional candidate
Jennifer Carrillo, Bloomington City Council Member
Today, Betsy Dirksen Londrigan’s campaign released its first television ad, “Personal,” which introduces Dirksen Londrigan’s personal health care story. In 2009, her 12-year-old son, Jack, spent nearly a month in the pediatric intensive care unit in critical condition from a rare, life threatening illness during which he was in a medically-induced coma and read his last rites twice before starting his long road to recovery.
Jack’s story drives Dirksen Londrigan to fight to keep the health protections we have in place while working to fix the parts that need fixing, like lowering the costs of prescription drugs and premiums.
The 60-second ad will air in the Champaign-Springfield-Decatur media market as part of a districtwide buy that includes broadcast, cable and digital platforms. It highlights Dirksen Londrigan’s commitment to ensuring access to quality, affordable health care for Central Illinois families.
“I know health care is personal to you, especially now,” said Betsy Dirksen Londrigan. “I’ll fight for every family to have quality, affordable care that won’t bankrupt them if they get sick.”
What I see families going through today reminds me a lot of what our family faced eleven years ago…
A rare infection put my son Jack in intensive care for 21 days, he was on a ventilator and read last rites twice before finally going home.
Without good health care we could have never afforded all the bills.
I’m Betsy Dirksen Londrigan and I know health care is personal to you, especially now.
I’ll fight for every family to have quality, affordable care that won’t bankrupt them if they get sick…
With lower premiums and prescription prices that guarantee your choice of doctors and health plans.
But the drug and insurance industries are standing in the way.
They’ve given millions to Washington politicians to vote their way on health care…
To gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions…
And overcharge patients for prescription drugs.
Corporate special interests can’t buy me. I don’t take their money.
I approved this message, because when your family’s health is at stake, your Congressman shouldn’t be working against you.
* Rodney Davis campaign…
CQ Roll Call has moved the race for Congress in IL-13 towards Rodney Davis and away from Betsy Londrigan. Last week, Roll Call moved the race to “Tilt R” from its previous “Toss-up” rating. And today, in her first TV ad, Londrigan continues to push the false claim that she doesn’t take campaign contributions from corporate interests, even though news reports say otherwise.
“Betsy Londrigan is taking her ‘no corporate money’ lie to the airwaves because she knows this race is moving away from her. Her hypocrisy is stunning. Londrigan’s campaign is funded in part by corporate lobbyists from Madigan’s ‘inner circle,’ ‘Big Pharma,’ and others. Londrigan knows the only way she can win is if she lies her way into Congress.” – Aaron DeGroot, Davis campaign spokesperson
Londrigan pushes “no corporate money” lie in first TV ad
In her first TV ad of the General Election season, Londrigan says “I don’t take” campaign contributions from “corporate special interests,” but news reports reveal that’s not true. Londrigan’s campaign is funded in part by corporate lobbyists and executives to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Londrigan’s campaign is funded in part by corporate lobbyists and executives
From WCIA’s 7/24/20 story titled, Despite corporate PAC pledge, Dirksen Londrigan takes campaign cash from corporate lobbyists:
“…Since launching her bid for Congress, Dirksen Londrigan has accepted at least $82,930 in campaign contributions from corporate lobbyists, including some who have represented pharmaceutical companies, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, gambling companies, red light camera companies, suburban municipal governments, telecommunications giant AT&T and utility company ComEd.
“She’s taken far more from corporate executives, many of whom are also regular donors to Democratic causes.
“The donations from ComEd and AT&T lobbyists in particular came under scrutiny after ComEd agreed to pay a $200 million fine to avoid federal bribery charges last Friday, and federal agents delivered a subpoena to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office searching for documents related to AT&T and its lobbying practices.”
“…Dirksen Londrigan reported $284,278 in household income so far this year, all of it coming from her husband’s salary at his corporate lobbying firm. It represents pharmaceutical clients like Horizon Pharma, which raised the price on an arthritis drug 11 times in seven years, reaching a price point of $2,979 for a 60-pill bottle.
“Another one of his pharmaceutical clients, Kaleo, was flagged in a recent Senate subcommittee report on the increasing prices of opioid overdose reversal drugs. The report found Kaleo contracted with pharmacy benefit managers to hike its prices from $575 per unit up to $4,100 — a spike of more than 600%.
“Londrigan’s campaign declined to comment on how she would handle any real or perceived conflicts of interest that could arise in Congress if she is ever in a position to vote on matters that pertain to her husband’s lobbying portfolio.”
Corporate lobbyists in Madigan’s “inner circle” are funding Londrigan’s campaign
A group of corporate lobbyists associated with Madigan, some of whom have lobbied for ComEd at varying times, have contributed a combined $9,350 to Londrigan’s campaign this election cycle. The Chicago Tribune referred to those lobbyists as members of Madigan’s “inner circle.”
Betsy is still holding onto corporate lobbyist cash from Mike Madigan’s cronies, and 16 days after she was called out for being a corporate money hypocrite, she remains SILENT as to whether or not she will return the money.
NRCC Comment: “No amount of television advertising can change the fact that Betsy Dirksen Londrigan is a corporate money hypocrite whose campaign is funded by Mike Madigan’s corrupt cronies.” -NRCC Spokeswoman Carly Atchison
