The People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched a new series, “Business Speaks” featuring successful job creators addressing the challenges of doing business in Illinois. An ad buy was placed in statewide media markets and the series is available on YouTube.
As Governor JB Pritzker has raised taxes and attempted to raise more, combined with his heavy-handed and unpredictable COVID lockdown policies, being a business owner in Illinois is more difficult than it’s been in generations. These are their stories.
First up is Tom Sodeika, the owner of a payroll services business in DuPage County:
Tom Sodeika, President/CEO of Auxilium HCM: “Everything that our Governor Pritzker has pushed through in policies do not serve the good citizens of Illinois. With his abuse of the emergency powers, he has negatively impacted businesses. We’re worried about paying our taxes, our home values are dropping while our property taxes are going up, and we are seeing big name businesses move out of Illinois. How much worse does it truly have to get?”
Tom Sodeika, President/CEO of Auxilium HCM: “Nothing is heading into the direction of improvements for Illinois. Our home values are dropping while our property taxes are going up, and it’s all built through policy, and frankly corruption that’s going to continue to happen. We can’t take it anymore.”
* Question to Ken Griffin from Tribune Editorial Page Editor Chris Jones…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said you and he met privately and that you agreed to drop your opposition to his graduated tax proposal if he took on pension reform in Illinois. True?
Griffin told Pritzker he had a rare opportunity to run the state not from the political left but the center, dealing with unaffordable pension costs, such as a 3% compound annual cost-of-living increase for retirees, while stabilizing state finances with additional revenues, the Griffin account goes.
“If you do these things, I certainly won’t get in your way and in fact will support you,” Griffin told Pritzker in so many words. In other words, Griffin urged Pritzker to make pension changes that could result in the governor getting some political cover from his rightward flank for a companion tax hike.
Reading comprehension is key. There was no talk about the graduated income tax.
* And it goes downhill from there…
In a Tribune ed board interview Ken Griffin wrongly believes IL govs are limited to two terms and incorrectly says municipal pension costs are “socialized” by all taxpayers statewide. Perhaps some of his $50m for Irvin should have paid for a civics class. https://t.co/juglZEp13L
To be clear, that was a fracturing moment between the two of us. … He does not want to use his political capital for good. He wants to maintain that capital to maintain the certainty of staying in power. Which I find perplexing in a state with a two-term limit.
And there’s another issue, which is that the costs of the promises made by cities and counties are not borne by the cities and counties directly, they’re socialized across the entire taxpayer base of the state. So it’s pretty easy for the behavior of a number of Illinois cities to offer incredible increases in pay in final years to boost pension benefits. And that cost comes back to all Illinois taxpayers.
Operation Warp Speed came from a conversation between myself and members of the (Trump) administration. And we only saved a few hundred thousand lives with that phone call. Scientists and Moderna are heroes, but the entire U.S. pharma complex came together to win that war. But it started with an idea.
In running my business, I’m exposed to a whole litany of ideas. We should be engaging with our leaders in government sharing the best ideas that we’ve been exposed to. This is one thing that I do think President (Donald) Trump did really well. He had an extensive Rolodex of people he spoke to, especially in business. Good leaders are always keeping their ears open for good ideas.
*** UPDATE 1 *** They’ve now edited out Griffin’s term limit comment without making note of it. That’s pretty darned dishonest.
Two years ago, Treasurer Frerichs joined with Governor Pritzker to support a radical $3 billion income tax increase plan on Illinois families. During that campaign, Frerichs even took the measure a step further by saying it could be ultimately used to tax retirement income—including pensions and 401ks. While voters temporarily stalled Frerichs’ call for taxing retirement income, State Representative and Republican candidate for Treasurer Tom Demmer wants to ensure that policy never impacts Illinois taxpayers.
Today, Demmer announced two new measures to block Frerichs’ retirement tax, including an online petition and also a House Resolution.
Demmer’s resolution, H.R. 753 asking the Illinois General Assembly to reaffirm Illinois residents’ overwhelming rejection of the progressive tax amendment and Mike Frerich’s push to “discuss'’ taxing retirement income. Demmer also launched an online petition asking voters to register their opposition to Frerich’s tax on retirement income.
“Two years ago, the people of Illinois overwhelmingly rejected the Pritzker-Frerichs $3 billion income tax increase with one of the driving forces behind that opposition being that Mike Frerichs said the plan could open the door to taxing retirement income. As Illinois families suffer from inflation while simultaneously seeing their college savings plans administered by Treasurer Frerichs drop in value, now more than ever we need to take bold action to protect Illinois families from even more taxes—including a tax on retirement income,” said Demmer.
* OK, on to the press conference…
Tom Demmer says that Darren Bailey would make a good governor. The same Darren Bailey who would criminalize abortion for victims of rape and incest. The same Darren Bailey who hired people who assaulted our Capitol.
Demmer: "But, I think it's important to look at this in a larger context right now. During the primary, the largest supporter of the Bailey campaign were Democrats. Mike Frerichs and his Democratic allies played this game…" #twill
Demmer: "I think that this indicates that they're looking at this like a political game and putting politics over policy and the people." Demmer also said he is supporting Bailey in the November election because he believes @GovPritzker shouldn't be re-elected. #twill
This is a big challenge for the GOP ticket: Try to get the news media to continuously remind voters that Pritzker “supported” Bailey (by pointing out to Republican primary voters that Bailey was a Trump-loving, far-right Republican and Richard Irvin was flawed) while simultaneously glossing over the fact that they support Bailey’s election and believe he’d be a “good governor.”
* The Question: Do you think the Republicans can successfully make this case against the Democrats while still supporting the top of the ticket? Please be sure to explain your answer.
“If people are wondering why we don’t have an assault weapons ban, it’s because the Democrats have dropped the ball. Period,” said Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin.
WGN Investigates found in the past decade, there have been 27 bills submitted that would ban assault-style weapons. However, none have become law and most haven’t even been voted on.
“They’re hypocrites,” Durkin said.
State Representative Durkin is the rare Republican who says he could support a ban. Still, Democrats who hold a supermajority in Springfield and control legislation have buried bills in committees.
“Assault weapons bans, right now they’re all gung ho about it – JB Pritzker, Speaker Welch, the Senate – they’re all heroes after the fact,” Durkin said. “When they had the chamber for the last 12 years and these bills were sitting there introduced, waiting to be called for a hearing, the Democrats refused to bring it up for action.”
* House Speaker Welch’s spokesperson Jaclyn Driscoll…
Leader Durkin voted against an extended waiting period for assault weapons, a ban on bump stocks, red flag awareness, and didn’t vote to ban ghost guns.
Still, the Speaker was encouraged to read in media reports that we can count on the minority leader’s vote when the assault weapons ban goes up on the board. Representative Maura Hirschauer will be reaching out to Leader Durkin and we look forward to him signing on in support of HB5522.
In the meantime, instead of playing political games in the media on such a tragic and sensitive issue, it might be more productive if Durkin spent more time working to build consensus amongst the caucus he’s supposed to be leading.
Electricity set to be generated by a downstate solar farm will power more than 425 large city-owned buildings and facilities in Chicago by 2025 under a deal worth $422.2 million announced Monday by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Lightfoot and Pritzker, who are both running for re-election, put aside their tense relationship and joined forces to announce the deal with Constellation and Swift Current Energy that they said would start to reverse climate change, which scientists say has already begun to cause disasters such as floods and strong storms.
Pritzker called the deal an “enormously positive development” that proves a 2021 bill that he signed into law that sets a goal of 2045 for Illinois to have all its energy from renewable sources will be effective — while setting aside 10% of jobs for workers from areas of Chicago and Illinois that suffer from disinvestment.
Starting in 2025, the city will use 300 megawatts it plans to purchase from Constellation to power O’Hare and Midway airports, the Harold Washington Library Center and the Jardine Water Purification Plant near Navy Pier with solar power set to be generated by Swift Current Energy in Sangamon and Morgan counties, officials said.
-The City has signed an energy supply agreement with an initial five-year term with Constellation beginning in January 2023.
-As part of the agreement with Constellation, beginning in 2025, the City will partially source its large energy uses such as the airports, Harold Washington Library Center and Jardine Water Purification Plant with clean, renewable energy from a new solar generation installation currently being developed by Swift Current Energy in downstate Sangamon and Morgan counties.
-Construction of the solar project is expected to start before the end of 2022 and is anticipated to create hundreds of jobs in Illinois.
-The City will also procure Renewable Energy Credits from other sources for its remaining power uses, such as small and medium-sized buildings and streetlights.
-Swift Current Energy will own and operate Double Black Diamond Solar, which at 593 megawatts, is expected to be one of the largest solar projects in Illinois to date.
The announcement comes nearly a year after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that aims to put Illinois on a path to 100% carbon-free energy by 2050, with coal, oil and natural gas power plants scheduled to close over the coming decades. It also seeks to boost the development of wind and solar energy across the state, put more electric vehicles on the road and make it easier for Black and Latino workers and businesses to enter the renewable energy industry.
By and large, coal plants would have to shut down by 2030, while natural gas plants would have until 2045. When the General Assembly passed the energy bill in September 2021, it also called for a nearly $700 million bailout of three nuclear power plants that at the time were owned by Exelon, the parent company of ComEd, plagued by a jobs-for-bribes scandal that has led to millions of dollars in fines for the electricity giant and a series of criminal indictments, including against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. In February, Constellation split from Exelon and Constellation retained Illinois the power plants in the deal.
The federal budget package approved by the U.S. Senate Sunday also includes hundreds of billions of dollar in initiatives to address climate change. The legislation must still pass the House of Representatives.
Work on the solar farm will start in a few months, creating nearly 1,000 jobs, Pritzker said.
“And by 2025, hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans will get their energy needs met by an entirely renewable energy source. It’s momentous. … Illinois is a leader in the clean energy revolution. In this state, we take seriously the looming threats of the climate crisis.”
The new five-year contract is “a historic moment in our city’s obligation to combat climate change with concrete, tangible steps toward a renewable future,” Lightfoot said.
But, the mayor warned, “It can’t just be about the government. Although we have an important role to play, each of us needs to step up and do our part. We must work as hard as we possibly can to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change, which we see manifest almost every single day across the country and across our world.”
Without Pritzker’s Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and its “explicit attention toward economic equity and climate justice,” the landmark agreement would not have been possible, the mayor said.
“I am incredibly proud to advance this commitment to transitioning all city operations to 100% renewable energy by 2025,” Lightfoot said. “The signing of this agreement demonstrates that the City of Chicago is leading by example and driving high-impact climate action, building the clean energy workforce of the future and equitably distributing meaningful benefits to foster the local clean energy economy for all.”
“We are providing a clean energy solution that will help the City of Chicago,” said Chief Commercial Officer of Constellation Energy Jim McHugh.
The mayor’s office also said the deal will also provide renewable energy to other major organizations throughout the state.
“As the owner or operator of over 425 facilities city-wide, including City Hall and one of the world’s busiest airports, it is imperative that we as city leaders take all
measures necessary to decarbonize our assets and to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change,” said Sandra Blakemore, acting commissioner for the city’s Department of Assets, Information & Services.
Additionally, the city plans to buy renewable energy credits from other sources for its remaining power uses, such as small and medium-sized buildings and streetlights, according to a news release.
Constellation and Swift Current Energy will also fund job training, apprenticeships, education and various other programs in Chicago that will focus on developing and nurturing a sustainability-focused workforce, officials said.
New York and Los Angeles have invested more—and more consistently, in a data-driven way—in an ecosystem of nonenforcement services. These outreach programs, which emphasize prevention and intervention, directly invest in communities with the highest levels of violence. These strategies have been implemented to complement the police, not replace them. […]
[Roseanna Ander, founding executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab] pointed to L.A.’s “Gang Reduction and Youth Development” program as an effective example of nonenforcement services. GRYD provides gang prevention and intervention services in 23 designated areas of the city. The program works to prevent gang-joining among youth ages 10 through 15, and to reduce gang-embeddedness among people ages 14 through 25.
However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Chicago created the Community Safety Coordination Center (CSCC), which fights against gun-violence using data and community-driven strategies. “CSCC and other social program investments (in Chicago) are still in their early days, though it seems like an encouraging step consistent with the non-enforcement investments and efforts of Los Angeles and New York City,” Ander said.
Ander also noted New York City’s and L.A.’s improved policing as a hypothesis for lower homicide rates. “As the accountability and progress of policing improved, community trust improved. If you can do a better job of clearance and closure, it can help break a retaliatory cycle,” Ander said.
As for the Chicago Police Department: “We continue to see vestiges of the machine,” Ander added, referring to the “boss” politics of Chicago during the late 19th and early 20th century. Promotions within the department may not necessarily reflect quality-of-work performance. “Stepped-up investments in outreach are a step in the right direction, but we still need to improve the quality of policing.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is boasting about what his Illinois Family Relief Plan means, but a little math shows it means $35.52 a month in savings for the average family at the same time inflation is eating $90 from their budget.
So, now they’re saying it’s an annual savings of $426.24 for an average family, but they said it was $556 per household a few months ago.
Whatever the case, I personally think scoffing at annual savings of even $426.24 for the average Illinois family might not go over so well. The state can’t be a total backstop.
Hoping to at least partially reset a campaign that now appears well behind, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Darren Bailey cranked up his rhetoric on rising crime rates, asserting that a markedly new approach is needed if “chaos” is to be ended.
Bailey tied Gov. J.B. Pritzker to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, dubbing them “the three musketeers of crime,” while for the first time laying out a specific list of changes he would seek to enact.
While billed by his campaign as a news conference, Bailey declined to take questions from reporters Monday morning, just as he did at a campaign event in the Chicago area on Sunday. He did not address the federal investigation involving Sims.
Bailey instead called Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx the “three musketeers of crime” in Chicago.
“Do you feel safer than you did four years ago? Has your quality of life gotten better over the last four years?” Bailey asked in his remarks at Chicago’s FOP headquarters. “For most Illinoisans, you know as well as I do, the answer is a pretty quick ‘no.’ ”
Bailey again said that, if elected, he will move to repeal the criminal justice law, a goal that is almost certainly unrealistic given that Democrats are expected to maintain overwhelming control of both legislative chambers.
“It breaks my heart to see and watch what’s happening to our neighborhoods and our law enforcement members,” Bailey said. “JB Pritzker, Lori Lightfoot, and Kim Foxx - well, they’ve become the three musketeers of crime with chaos, tragedy, and crime in Chicago. As shootouts and mayhem terrorize the city, the trio have more than turned their backs on our police officers.”
Bailey claimed Pritzker, Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Foxx have actively attacked, threatened and endangered the lives of police officers. The Pritzker campaign quickly said Bailey’s real record shows staggering inaction and contradiction. Campaign Press Secretary Eliza Glezer said Illinois deserves better. […]
Although, Pritzker had the opportunity to respond to Bailey’s criticism during an unrelated press conference Monday afternoon. The Democratic governor said Illinois voters have seen that Bailey is a hypocrite.
“When he says he is pro-public safety and then votes against expanding our crime labs, votes against adding police, votes against us being able to solve crimes quickly, he is not somebody that actually has public safety in mind,” Pritzker said. “He’s a hypocrite on so many things. He’s somebody that thinks that abortion is a greater tragedy than the Holocaust.”
The Illinois FOP has buyer’s remorse over its previous support for Gov. JB Pritzker.
“It’s time we have a governor who places the rights of citizens before those of criminals, a governor who helps police officers do their jobs rather than punishing them,” said Chris Southwood, Illinois FOP president.
“If lax prosecutors like Kim Foxx don’t want to prosecute violent offenders, that won’t be an option when I’m governor,” Bailey said.
“My first order of business will be to file legislation allowing residents to recall Kim Foxx. We will create an office of statewide prosecutor under the state attorney general’s office with the power to prosecute crime … if prosecutors like Kim Foxx refuse to do their jobs.”
Bailey said he’d repeal the SAFE-T Act and reinstate cash bail; repeal limits on pre-trial detention for violent criminals; prioritize state funds to hire and retain officers by increasing a sign-on and retention bonus; and work to end anonymous complaints against police.
Pritzker signed the SAFE-T Act, a criminal justice package aimed at addressing longstanding public safety issues and police distrust, into law last year. Republicans and some state’s attorneys are concerned about the act’s provision to end cash bail beginning in January 2023. The law also requires body cameras at all departments by 2025, reforms use-of-force standards and expands detainee rights.
Bailey also said he’d increase penalties for those who assault law enforcement and reinstate the death penalty for convicted cop killers. He’d also get cameras on all public transit vehicles.
But, again, he refused to take questions so no details could be sussed out.
Illinois FOP President Chris Southwood said Bailey “supports public safety, law enforcement and sanity, three things that are definitely not priorities for the current administration.”
Meanwhile, Lightfoot noted that Bailey had sponsored legislation in 2019 to split Illinois into Chicago and the rest of the state. “Does that tell you that’s a guy that wants to lead this great state? No,” she said.
* Full Lightfoot quote…
Let me just jump in on on that last question regarding Darren Bailey. And Governor, you’ll get you’ll get a kick out of this. I’ve met the guy twice.
The first time was the first time that I went to Springfield, as mayor, and he came up with another gleeful little pack. They called themselves The Secessionists. And at that time, they were advocating for, you remember this right? They wanted to secede from the state of Illinois. So does that tell you that that’s a guy that wants to actually leave this great state? No.
The second time I met him was in the House Republican caucus, where he aggressively, literally came up to confront me, because, he said, quote unquote, I don’t like the way you talk about my president. He was talking about President Trump, to which I said, ‘I don’t like the way your President is talking about my city. And if he continues to, I’m gonna keep talk calling him out every single day.’
So here’s a guy that the day after the primary, says ‘Oh, I want to meet with Mayor Lightfoot.’ And then today when he gets the FOP endorsement he’s fire and brimstone about how terrible Chicago is? Well, which Darren Bailey is showing up? Right?
It’s not a person, who by the way, educates himself about anything related to the city of Chicago. Newsflash, Darren: homicides down 16%, shootings down 20%. And we are going to do better this year. Newsflash, Darren Bailey, you want to be the governor of this state but you continually attack and denigrate 50% or 60% of the state economy. And if you add in Chicagoland it’s about 80%.
So the politics of division and dystopia, which he keeps swinging towards, depending on which base he’s pandering to, they don’t match up with their realities on the ground in our city. And I don’t think they match up with the reality on the ground in cities across the state and the progress that we’ve made coming out of the pandemic, precisely because of our leadership, the governor’s leadership and the leadership of mayors across the state.
But also, what you see is a guy who depending on what camera’s in front of him, what audiences he’s in front of, is going to say and do anything to pander to that crowd. So his Republican right-wing money is drying up. So now suddenly moving away from, ‘Oh, I want to meet with the mayor and talk to her,’ to ‘Oh, this is a hellhole and we’ve got to throw all the bums out.’ This is this feckless person. No, no way, no how deserves to be taken seriously. And he certainly doesn’t deserve anyone’s vote to be governor of this state We have a governor that’s leading us and he’s standing right here. His name is JB Pritzker.
Sounds like she really wants that Pritzker endorsement.
“The attempted extermination of the Jews in World War II doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the lives that have been lost with abortions,” he said in 2017.
Bailey’s remarks were widely condemned. On Monday, the candidate left his FOP appearance without taking questions from the media.
Bailey’s campaign promises to take questions from reporters again soon.
* The Vote Yes for Workers Rights constitutional amendment PAC has reported raising $1.7 million since the end of June, when it reported having $2.9 million in the bank after buying $4 million in TV ads in advance of the fall campaign to obtain lower rates. So, as of today, they’ve got somewhere around $3.6 million to spend, with more likely on the way.
Here’s their first ad, which is up on cable with a two-week buy of $174K in Chicago, Rockford, Peoria-Bloomington and Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur…
* Here’s the script, which features a health care working explaining the issue to viewers…
These kids are fighters. We work with them so they can make it to their next birthday. We see these kids as family, but hospitals see them as dollar signs. They cut corners. Fewer nurses, longer shifts. It’s not safe for these kids. When we speak up, we risk being fired. But the Workers’ Rights Amendment will protect us as we stand up for our patients. I shouldn’t lose my job for putting them first. That is my job.
At the top of the ballot, vote yes on the Workers’ Rights Amendment. Protect the workers who protect us
Q: Do you think the Jewish community needs an apology on that?
Bailey: [Laughs] The Jewish community themselves have told me that I’m right. Actually, that ad went out a day before we met with the Jewish, a day after we met with the Jewish community. And Pritzker, you know, knew that. So the timeliness was no mistake and all the people at the Chabads [he mispronounces as Cabads] that we met with and the Jewish rabbis they said, ‘No, you’re actually right.’ So no, and that’s what’s frustrating, you know, when government, when elected officials copy and paste these messages and turn them into something that they’re not because anybody that would watch my message, the whole nine minutes of it, would understand exactly what I was saying and where I was going with this.
OK, first of all, we’ve already debunked the notion that his comments were taken out of context. Click here.
I’ve asked the Bailey campaign for the names of those rabbis.
* Pritzker campaign…
Over the weekend, when asked again about his disgusting comments comparing the Holocaust to abortion, Darren Bailey doubled down, saying plainly:
“The Jewish community themselves have told me that I’m right.”
Bailey not only doubled down on his abhorrent statement, but scoffed when he said:
“The Jewish rabbis, they said, ‘No, you’re actually right.’”
Bailey’s comments have garnered widespread criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. Over the weekend, Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso became the latest Republican to join the chorus of voices condemning Bailey: “Republicans who think they can get elected in November on their own merit must decide whether to distance themselves from and disavow the albatross at the top of the ticket.”
Mayor Grasso’s comments follow State Representative Steve Reick’s staunch criticism that, “Darren Bailey has crossed a line, a line which you just do not cross.” Even House Minority Leader Jim Durkin rebuked Bailey and stated that,“the Holocaust was one of the worst atrocities in the history of humankind and any comments that minimize it have no place in our political discourse.”
While Bailey may claim that the Jewish community told him he was “right,” non-partisan organizations and community leaders from across the state have strongly denounced his offensive language.
Here’s what they’re saying:
• Anti-Defamation League Midwest “The Holocaust and abortion are not the same. These types of comments have no place in public discourse. They are deeply offensive and do an incredible disservice to the millions of Jews and other innocent victims killed by the Nazis.”
• Springfield Jewish Federation “Holocaust comparisons are always fraught, and inappropriate when used politically. The Holocaust’s many lessons must be taught, one of which is avoiding using it as a rhetorical tool.”
• President Emeritus of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center Samuel R. Harris “I am pained and disturbed by Darren Bailey’s reckless comments. This despicable rhetoric is dangerous, trivializes one of the worst stains on human history, and disparages the memory of millions. It is imperative that we learn from the past so that we never allow such tragedy to befall us again. We must demand more from our elected officials.”
• Governor JB Pritzker “To equate the Holocaust to a woman’s right to choose is not only disturbing, but it’s also disqualifying. Illinois, this kind of false equivalence shows exactly the type of man and leader Darren Bailey is.”
• U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth “Comparing the extreme horror of the Holocaust and its immeasurable loss to a woman’s right to choose is unacceptable—full stop. I urge my opponent, Kathy Salvi, to denounce Darren Bailey’s comments, but know she’s lockstep with her Republican running mate on women’s healthcare.”
• Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky “Darren Bailey has spent years sifting between racist and anti-Semitic dogwhistles and bullhorns. He’s unfit to lead and must be soundly defeated.”
• Congressman Mike Quigley “Darren Bailey’s remarks are anti-semitic and deeply offensive. He is in serious need of a history lesson.”
• Congressman Sean Casten “This is the talk of a racist and a misogynist. Darren Bailey may also be a idiot, but that doesn’t excuse his behavior. In all cases, he is unfit for public office.”
• Congresswoman Marie Newman “This alone should end Bailey’s career in public service. Horrifying.”
• IL Comptroller Susana Mendoza “Darren Bailey’s reprehensible comparison of a woman’s right to make health care decisions concerning her own bodily autonomy to the horrific genocide of the Jewish people is a false equivalency to the highest degree. His statements are appalling, despicable and oozing of anti-semitism. Any and all Republicans seeking Illinoisians’ vote this November need to publicly condemn these extremist statements coming from the top of their ticket. Anything short of a forceful condemnation is an endorsement of this dangerous rhetoric that further insults the suffering and memories of victims of the Holocaust atrocity.”
• IL Attorney General Kwame Raoul “Darren Bailey is an extremist hell bent on destroying women’s rights. His comments comparing the horrific loss of life in the Holocaust to the right to choose make clear he is unfit and incapable for any office – let alone the governor’s office. The extremism of Bailey & his Republican Party is offensive & dangerous.”
• Assistant Majority Leader and DPI Chair Lisa Hernandez “The Democratic Party of Illinois is one of inclusion that will always speak out against intolerance. Illinoisans deserve to know if Republicans will stand by and allow offensive, hurtful and antisemitic statements made by their nominee for governor to go without admonishment or condemnation. Now that we’ve seen Darren Bailey’s antisemitic values and disregard for Jewish life, does the ILGOP agree?”
• State Representative Jen Gong-Gershowitz “Darren Bailey’s shameful use of the Holocaust proves he is unfit to lead Illinois.”
• State Representative Bob Morgan “Darren Bailey’s extremism knows no bounds. Comparing a woman’s right to choose to the catastrophic loss of life during the Holocaust is unconscionable and quite frankly, disqualifying. It is demeaning to the legacies of those we’ve lost to reduce their suffering to a political talking point. Darren Bailey is once again causing harm with his callous words and actions and he must be held accountable for this abhorrent behavior.”
• Personal PAC President and CEO Terry Cosgrove “It’s bad enough that GOP Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey believes abortion should be criminalized in Illinois, even in cases of rape and incest, but now he is demeaning the Holocaust and the memory of those who were lost in and survived one of the greatest stains in human history. As someone who grew up in the Skokie area, an American epicenter of Holocaust survivors during the late 60s and early 70s, and attending Niles West High School then, I can’t even fathom the pain of hearing Darren Bailey’s comment: ‘The attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion.’ Personal PAC joins Governor Pritzker, the Jewish community and all decent Illinoisians in condemning the irresponsible and contemptuous comments of Darren Bailey. People who hold these dangerous views should have absolutely no place in government.”
• President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action Jennifer Welch“Darren Bailey’s comparison between abortion and the Holocaust is an outrageously inaccurate and harmful trope used by the most radical elements of the anti-choice movement to propagate misinformation and hateful rhetoric about fundamental reproductive health care and the people seeking safe and legal abortions. The appropriation of the Holocaust is despicable and an insult to the millions who died as well as those who survived its racist agenda. In addition, it reveals a complete lack of understanding of history and the realities of the lives of people seeking abortion care. These kinds of statements are unbecoming of any elected official, let alone a candidate running for Governor of Illinois. Darren Bailey should immediately apologize for his inappropriate and hurtful words.”
• Illinois NOW President Laura Welch “Enough using the holocaust to justify hate. Enough using the slaughter of six million Jews, gypsies, lgbtq folks in an attempt to sway voters. Enough lies about history to cover up a disdain for women and our rights. Video released of republican candidate for Governor, Darren Bailey comparing the holocaust to reproductive healthcare goes too far and he needs a history lesson. Illinois NOW says ENOUGH…IL NOW works to ensure our state remains a safe haven for abortion care and not the dystopian anti-woman society Mr. Bailey dreams of…It is appalling that Mr. Bailey believes it is ok to use one of the most horrific annihilations in modern history to justify keeping us barefoot, pregnant and subjected to the whims of his religion. We MUST vote for pro-choice candidates such as IL NOW PAC endorsed JB Pritzker and keep religious zealotry out of our government and our bodies.”
…Adding… More…
.@RepTimButler adds it was also unwise for Bailey to equate abortion and the Holocaust
No, @DarrenBaileyIL, you’re not “right” to belittle the deaths of 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, including my great-grandparents. More clear for you? https://t.co/CKK8EdtGCn
What you see is a guy who, depending on what camera’s in front of him, what audiences he’s in front of, is going to say and do anything to pander to that crowd.
She makes a good point and the Chicago news media needs to figure this out. He’ll tell Chicago reporters that he’s sorry for something, and then he’ll go Downstate and say something completely different and Chicago-based reporters totally ignore it.
Rabbi Avraham Kagan, the director of government affairs for Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, told the Forward, “We don’t know who he met with and his comments do not reflect our position.”
* Many thanks to Marni Pyke for taking the time to check this out…
Simpler can be better. But not when it comes to the pared-down license plate stickers the Illinois secretary of state’s office is dispensing, some drivers think.
“What’s the deal with the new plate renewal stickers that only show the year of expiration?” reader Dale Maradei asked.
“The old ones showed the month, year and plate number. If you do not remember when your plate expires, you could be in trouble. Are they trying to save money on printing costs?”
It’s not printing costs creating sticker shock; it’s supply-chain dysfunction involving paper products.
Chicago FOP endorses Darren Bailey for governor: “We thought Richard Irvin had the best chance to beat Pritzker. Darren Bailey proved us all wrong.” Illinois FOP also just endorsed Bailey. pic.twitter.com/wDuxV0hc6R
.@FOP7Chicago endorses @DarrenBaileyIL, @TomDeVore76 at a "press conference" at which FOP Chi leader Catanzara says they will not answer questions. Dave: I don't think "press conference" thinks what you think it means. #twill
Real tough guys, eh? But maybe part of a larger trend…
Republicans have long feuded with the mainstream media. Now many are shutting them out. (via @titonka with a Wisconsin lede) https://t.co/CUBGNBRcYi
McLean County Republican Party posts notice from man the party claims is Darren Bailey's State Election Integrity Coordinator, David Paul Blumenshine, who hosted a J6 “Stop The Steal Bus Trip” to Washington, DC pic.twitter.com/W9mrfbriMU
Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso has condemned Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey’s 2017 comments comparing abortion to the Holocaust.
“As a person with Jewish heritage on my mother’s side, Darren Bailey’s comments claiming abortion is worse than the Holocaust clearly disqualifies him, combined with his many other disqualifying positions, to hold any responsible office in this state,” Grasso, a Republican, said Thursday in a statement on Facebook. “Bailey should withdraw and give Republicans a chance to put forth a viable candidate. He’s already lost the Governor’s race. Bailey is too extreme to hold any office.” […]
“Bailey has not apologized for his comparison of abortion being worse than the Holocaust,” Grasso said. “Republicans who think they can get elected in November on their own merit must decide whether to distance themselves from and disavow the albatross at the top of the ticket.”
In the June 28 Republican primary, Grasso lost to Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau in the 6th Congressional District race. Grasso has not publicly endorsed Pekau.
Grasso was endorsed by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
* And…
Darren Bailey’s voting record shows a disturbing pattern of voting against the very initiatives he claims he supports. Despite his tough rhetoric, a closer look at Bailey’s four years in the legislature shows his votes don’t match up to his talk. In fact, during his time in Springfield, Bailey has sponsored only two bills that have passed and has instead spent his time voting against legislation that would make life better for Illinoisans—even bipartisan legislation that his Republican colleagues supported and voted for.
Bailey has voted against historic investments in law enforcement, including the single largest dollar investment to expand cadet classes in Illinois history, $10 million for a local law enforcement retention grant program, and $8 million for a multi-year equipment replacement program at the Illinois State Police.
Bailey has also been given multiple opportunities to denounce January 6 insurrectionists and stand up for the Capitol Police officers who defended our democracy, but he has declined to do so. Instead, Bailey has pushed the Big Lie, promised to “roll out the red carpet” for Donald Trump, and even had a close campaign associate charged for participating in the attack on the Capitol.
“Given his dismal voting record and hypocritical stance on supporting Capitol police officers who fought on January 6, Darren Bailey has no right to claim he supports law enforcement,” said JB for Governor Press Secretary Eliza Glezer. “Bailey’s real record is one of staggering inaction and contradiction, and we deserve better.”
Bailey also voted against:
• Strengthening the Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services
• Strengthening safety for first responders on state highways
• Installing hundreds of highway cameras and doubling state police presence on Chicago-area interstates in response to on-road violence
• Providing tens of millions of dollars for police body cameras, retention grants, and mental health screenings
• Building new, state-of-the-art forensics labs to provide law enforcement with the resources to solve crimes
• Delivering millions of dollars to local fire departments to purchase firefighting and ambulance equipment
• Requiring municipalities to coordinate 911 and 988 services in order to respond to mental and behavioral health emergencies with proper emergency care, reduce danger to those in crisis, and lessen the burden on local police
* Press release…
Greg Hart, Republican Candidate for DuPage County Board Chairman, received an endorsement today from former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar who served from 1991 to 1999.
“I am honored to have the support of a deeply respected, results-oriented leader like former Governor Jim Edgar. He worked with Democrats and Republicans to break through the partisan gridlock and get things done for all Illinoisans. That is the kind of leadership we need in DuPage County. I admire Governor Edgar’s service and believe his endorsement will show voters that I’m the right choice to lead DuPage forward.”
Edgar was known for his popularity and leadership that cut through partisanship and earned him a massive reelection victory in which he carried 101 of 102 Illinois counties, including Cook County.
“I am proud to give my endorsement to Greg Hart based on his demonstrated ability to lead DuPage County and get results for taxpayers. With the nation as divided as it is, and politicians taking such extreme positions on the left and right, Greg Hart gives me hope that there are still leaders who know how to accomplish great things in government for the people. Greg Hart is a bright, motivated leader who will serve DuPage County very well,” said Edgar.
* NRCC…
Hi there –
The House is set to vote on the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” this week.
A question worth asking: If Nikki Budzinski was in Congress, would she support this bill that will raise taxes on the middle-class and hire 87,000 IRS agent
s to audit Americans?
I waited more than an hour for the Budzinski campaign to get back to me. I’ll let you know if they ever do.
John Catanzara, the firebrand president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, won’t run for mayor against Lori Lightfoot.
Catanzara, who retired while facing potential termination by the Chicago Police Board after a career as one of the department’s most disciplined officers, flirted with the idea of running for City Hall’s top job but told ABC 7 Monday that he will focus instead on being re-elected as union president next year.
*** UPDATE *** The FOP also endorsed Tom DeVore today. Here’s AG Raoul…
As someone who started my career as a county prosecutor, I value the relationships I have developed working directly with police officers, prosecutors and other law enforcement partners across Illinois to protect our communities, and I plan to continue this work on a bipartisan basis. I’m proud of the work we’ve done collaboratively to prosecute murder cases, cases against sexually violent people, internet crimes against children, retail theft crime and illegal gun trafficking. My opponent has never prosecuted a criminal case in his career and has threatened to use the power of the Attorney General’s Office to investigate his Republican adversaries.
Eli Lilly & Co., one of Indiana’s largest employers, said the state’s freshly passed restrictions on abortion would force the drug maker to “plan for more employment growth outside our home state.”
A growing list of companies, including Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc., Bumble Inc. and Levi Strauss & Co., are offering benefits for reproductive-care services in states that have imposed restrictions. But Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly’s announcement marks a swift escalation by a multinational that employs 10,000 people in Indiana, where the drug maker was founded in 1876.
* The company’s full statement…
Eli Lilly and Co.—among Indiana’s largest employers—on the state’s new near-total abortion ban: “Given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state.” pic.twitter.com/ArHSuw8mAf
Lilly has had somewhat of a complicated relationship with its native state lately. Earlier this year, the company’s CEO David Ricks criticized the state in a speech before the Economic Club of Indiana, stating, “[o]ur education attainment in the state is not good.”
“The ability to reskill the workforce, I think, could improve,” he added at the event. “Health, life and inclusion, overall, I think, conditions rank poorly nationally in our state. And also workforce preparedness, also related to reskilling, is a liability for us,” Ricks said.
At the same time, Ricks noted Indiana’s healthcare costs exceed those of neighboring states, which makes the Hoosier State unattractive to potential employers.
Still, one month later, Lilly laid out $2.1 billion to erect two new manufacturing sites in Indiana’s Boone County, with plans to add 500 new jobs along the way.
Cummins, an engine manufacturing company headquartered in Columbus, Ind., has nearly 10,000 employees in the state. It has said it opposes the law.
“Cummins believes that women should have the right to make reproductive healthcare decisions as a matter of gender equity,” spokesperson Jon Mills told NPR. “The right to make decisions regarding reproductive health ensures that women have the same opportunity as others to participate fully in our workforce and that our workforce is diverse.”
Mills said parts of the law conflict with the company’s beliefs and will “impede our ability to attract and retain top talent and influence our decisions as we continue to grow our footprint with a focus on selecting welcoming and inclusive environments.”
* PPIA on the Indiana legislation…
Statement attributed to Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action:
“We are outraged that the Indiana General Assembly has banned most abortions, denying Indiana residents access to essential health care. This dangerous ban is another devastating blow for the Midwest, which is quickly becoming a vast desert for abortion care. Now people in Indiana are forced to either travel to a state like Illinois for care, seek an alternative means of ending their pregnancy or remain pregnant against their will.
I want to be clear, abortion is still safe and legal in Illinois and will remain that way. Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) has been preparing for the overturning of Roe and subsequent state bans for years and has taken active steps to meet increasing demand. PPIL opened a new health center in Flossmoor, near the Indiana border, in 2018, in anticipation that our neighbors would likely lose abortion access after the fall of Roe. The Flossmoor health center has already seen its out-of-state abortion patients triple in the weeks following the SCOTUS ruling in June.
This is clear evidence that abortion restrictions and bans do not stop people from having abortions; restrictions and bans only make it harder for people to access safe reproductive health care where they live. While Indiana used its special session to take away a person’s right to abortion care, in Illinois we look forward to further protecting and expanding abortion access in order to meet this rising patient surge so people can access the abortion care they need and deserve, no matter who they are or where they live.”
Illinois won’t necessarily try to grab the headquarters, though that would be nice. But given Illinois’ competitive cost of living compared to other big states that might make a pitch (like New York and California) and its talent advantage over Indiana, a fairly large investment here is potentially within reach, my source says. […]
“The Governor is in regular contact with numerous business leaders, both in Illinois and nationally, to discuss Illinois’ competitive strengths—including the fact that we have enshrined reproductive rights into law while others are stripping them away,” his spokeswoman, Jordan Abudayyeh, said in a statement. […]
Sources also report that some Chicago developers, who have been busily adding lab space in the city designed to appeal to biopharma companies, have reached out to Lilly on their own.
The bottom line: It’s a lot easier to set up, say, a new research center just over the border than it would be on the other side of the country.
Lung cancer rates in central and southern Illinois are double those in the Chicagoland region, according to the American Lung Association.
Kristina Hamilton, who is advocacy director for the American Lung Association in Illinois, said smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer in the state.
”The smoking rates are higher in many of the counties where the lung cancer incidence rate is higher. We see a lot of correlation,’’ she said. “The smoking rate for the state of Illinois is about 15 percent. But in some of those counties with high lung cancer rates, we’re seeing rates of 20 to almost 30 percent for smoking rates.”
She said individuals in mainly rural parts of southern and central Illinois have less access to lung cancer screening because there are fewer medical facilities performing the service.
Estimates are more than 9,000 people in Illinois will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, and more than 5,000 will die from the disease. That’s according to the American Lung Association.
In late July, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a second round of conditional adult use cannabis dispensary licenses that brought the total number of issued licenses to 177.
The applicants, all of whom qualify as social equity applicants, have 180 days to obtain a physical storefront location and the full adult use dispensing organization license. According to the state, of the business selected for the licenses, 41% are majority black owned, 7% are majority white owned, 4% are majority Latino owned and 38% did not disclose the owner’s race. […]
“We need to continue to remove barriers to our viability, both on the cultivation side and the retail side,” Parnell said. “There’s still some pretty significant barriers to viability for us as craft growers … And that feeds over into the retail side because now we have 177 new social equity businesses that need product and they need a diversity of product that we need to get that in their hands … so we need to remove barriers for us to be successful. And we also need state funding more quickly.” […]
Similarly, on the expungement side, Brandon Williams, supervising attorney of criminal records at Cabrini Green Legal Aid, said while a great deal of progress has been made, he hopes to get the word out to more people about the free resources made available for expungement via New Leaf Illinois.
“There have been hundreds of thousands of cannabis convictions and arrests expunged already, but there’s still a long way to go. We believe there are over 700,000 cannabis arrest convictions within the state of Illinois, and we are still working to lower that number each and every day through the court system and through the automatic process,” Williams said. “People can get free assistance from an attorney getting their criminal records expunged and sealed in the state of Illinois. We’ve been trying hard for the last two and a half years to get the word out as much as possible, but we still haven’t seen the numbers that we anticipated in regards to people signing up to get this free assistance … I think the word still needs to get out more into the actual communities where the war on drugs impacted the most people, which obviously is in the Black and brown neighborhoods.”
* Annie Sweeney, Jeremy Gorner and Dan Petrella at the Tribune take a hard look at the state’s Firearms Restraining Order…
Since the [Illinois] law took effect in 2019, just 228 of the orders have been granted in Illinois, according to Illinois State Police. In Maryland, an estimated 2,000 red flag orders have been granted since the law went into effect in late 2018, according to data from the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins University. Researchers in California, meanwhile, say about 1,000 were granted there between 2016 and 2019.
In a statement to the Tribune this week, the Illinois attorney general’s office acknowledged that the firearms restraining order law rolled out without any funding for training.
“When the Illinois Firearm Restraining Order Act became law in 2019, it did not provide a process or funding mechanism for training,” the statement reads.
In late 2020, the office developed training and materials to raise awareness and has since trained “law enforcement agencies, state’s attorney’s offices, crime victims’ organizations, gun safety groups and veterans’ service providers,” the statement read.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said after reviewing the red flag legislation in 2018, he immediately added the topic to his annual training for law enforcement. He has also assigned an assistant state’s attorney to help with the filing of the orders, and he met with the county’s chief judge to set up a process to handle the filings, which are all heard in the same courtroom.
According to the article, 228 firearms restraining orders have been issued in Illinois and DuPage County “has led the way with 70.”
Illinois state Sen. Elgie Sims was approached in the spring by federal authorities investigating potential influence peddling involving a police body-camera manufacturer that hired the law firm where Sims works as a lobbyist, sources have told the Tribune.
Sims, 51, a Chicago Democrat who spearheaded the state’s massive criminal justice reform law passed last year and represents portions of the South Side and south suburbs, was contacted by the FBI in early May as the investigation intensified, according to two sources who have knowledge of the investigation but are not authorized to speak about it publicly.
Sims’ attorney told the Tribune the senator has done nothing wrong.
The ongoing probe involves Axon Enterprise Inc., an Arizona law-enforcement technology company that hired law firm Foley & Lardner LLP to lobby the legislature in Springfield and Chicago, according to the sources. Sims is an “of-counsel” attorney at Foley, specializing in government affairs and public policy.
There’s more, so go read the rest. This is about the recent legal requirement for police body cams in the SAFE-T Act, which has been a longterm goal of the entire Legislative Black Caucus.
A lawsuit that independent political candidate Michael Shakman filed in 1969 against Cook County set in motion what would become the Shakman decrees, which were placed on the state of Illinois and local governments throughout the state, including the city of Chicago, to outlaw patronage jobs given to political allies rather than qualified applicants.
In 1972, Shakman and the government reached a “mutually agreed-upon and court-approved remedy for the past practices that infected state and local employment decisions,” Scudder said in the decision.
In the [new appellate court] decision, Scudder wrote that after the Illinois inspector general found instances of patronage hiring from 2003-2014, “most especially” in the Illinois Department of Transportation, and an investigator appointed by the magistrate judge overseeing compliance with the decree found similar instances, additional oversight and regular reviews were established to more closely monitor hiring decisions.
The state created a comprehensive hiring plan and recently a “hiring and employment monitoring division” was put in place in the inspector general’s office.
While the governor’s office has been under the decree since 1972, scrutiny of hiring practices ramped up in 2014 after the state’s then-executive inspector general, Ricardo Meza, found improper hiring at IDOT that began under Gov. Rod Blagojevich and continued under his successor, Gov. Pat Quinn.
Meza said his investigation was “unable to conclude” that top officials knew of the illegal hiring, which involved bringing hundreds of people on board as “staff assistants” to bypass anti-patronage personnel rules.
That fall, a federal judge granted a request from Shakman to appoint a monitor to oversee hiring at IDOT.
After Brennan reported in 2017 that Quinn’s office “played a key role in the staff assistant abuse at IDOT,” her purview was expanded to include all hiring under the governor’s authority. By that time, Rauner was well into his single term.
“I appreciate the work the judges do, the federal judges. Having said that, I respectfully disagree with their decision today,” Shakman told the Sun-Times.
“We’ve been eager to get people out of the federal court and back in the business of running their own employment systems,” Shakman said.
“We’ve asked that every … government agency have an employment plan, have an enforcement procedure for that plan that’s designed themselves, but actually running and showing that it works. And that’s all we asked from the governor. Unfortunately the governor hasn’t done that yet.”
Michael Shakman in 1970, left, and in 2014, right. […]
“The opinion makes the point that Gov. Pritzker is a person to be trusted, a person who understands the responsibilities of the governor’s office and his constitutional responsibilities. I assume every one of those facts is correct,” Shakman said.
“But none of them really addresses the fact that Gov. Pritzker is not making the hiring in state government. That’s being done by hundreds of people that he has never met. And he never will. Some of those people were hired through the patronage system. Some of them are loyal to the politicians who got them their jobs.”
* Lobbyist Heather Wier Vaught, an attorney whose spouse is involved with the Cook County case [corrected], had this analysis for her clients…
On Friday the Seventh Circuit vacated the Shakman Decree against the Governor, starting the process of ending one of the oldest cases in Illinois. Six different federal judges have overseen the case, more than 1,000 status reports have been filed, and more than 10,000 entries on the federal docket have been filed since the original consent decree took effect in 1972. To understand the effect of this decision, you have to know a bit of the history.
In 1969, Michael Shakman, an independent political candidate for the 1970 state constitutional convention, and a voter named Paul Lurie filed a class action lawsuit against various political organizations and units of government claiming that political patronage violated the rights of independent candidates and voters. In 1972, the parties, including then Governor Richard Ogilvie and various units of local government, mutually agreed to a federal consent decree that made it clear that political reasons and factors could not be used when making certain governmental employment decisions. After the 1972 decree was entered, in two separate cases the U.S. Supreme Court found that governments could not constitutionally base public employment opportunities on political affiliation and may not consider political affiliation in hiring except as to certain exempted political positions. One of those cases was Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois, 497 U.S. 62, 79 (1990). Those cases should have, in my opinion, ended the Shakman consent decree since the Court held patronage unconstitutional, despite the fact it had played a prominent role in American political life since the nation’s founding. As a result of these cases, it was made clear that governments couldn’t consider party affiliation or political activities when hiring, with exception for certain policy related positions. However, the Shakman decrees lived on.
Over the past 50 years the various decrees covered the Governor, the City of Chicago (released in 2014), Cook County (released in 2018), and other county offices including the Cook County Recorder, Treasurer, Circuit Clerk, Assessor, Sherriff, Clerk, Forest Preserve, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and on and on. The units of government impacted had to work with private attorneys representing the Shakman plaintiffs and federal special masters tasked with monitoring the review of employment related decisions – from employment manuals, to the hiring process, to the staff coordinating hiring, to the types of resumes that were received and reviewed by a state or local agency, even time keeping records. Taxpayers have spent tens of millions of dollars on Plaintiffs’ legal fees, fees charged by the monitors, and fees for outside defense counsel. This doesn’t include the tens of millions more spent by agencies on compliance and their own legal fees, or the costs related to the state and county Inspectors General.
Specific to the Governor, in 2009, following the impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich, a bipartisan committee of the Senate and House recommended, and the General Assembly passed, an amendment to the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act that gave the Office of the Inspector General unfettered discretion to investigate allegations of political patronage in State government and “review hiring and employment files of each State agency within [its] jurisdiction to ensure compliance with Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois… and with all applicable employment laws.” 5 ILCS 430/20-20(9). In 2015, the Office created the Division of Hiring & Employment Monitoring to conduct compliance-based reviews of State hiring and employment procedures, file reviews and on-site monitoring of agency hiring decisions, and work with the monitor appointed in the Shakman litigation. (More on the OEIG’s role here.) As a result, employment-related decisions had oversight by agencies, the ultimate jurisdictional authority (i.e. Governor’s Office), lawyers representing the plaintiffs, inspectors general at the individual agencies, the Office of the Inspector General, court monitors, and federal judges.
In November 2019 the Clerk of Cook County filed a motion to vacate the Shakman decrees against that office, but the motion was denied by the magistrate judge then presiding over the case. The Seventh Circuit affirmed when the Clerk appealed, but it cautioned the decrees left the Court with “serious concerns about the duration and seemingly never-ending nature of the Shakman decrees.” The Court said, “Do not let today’s result cloud the grave federalism concerns we have with the fact that the Clerk of Cook County has been under the thumb of a federal consent decree for the last 50 years.” After the Clerk’s decision was handed down, the Governor moved to vacate the decree against the State. The District Court denied the Governor’s motion and the Governor appealed. Friday the Seventh Circuit reversed the District Court and remanded the case back with direction to vacate the decree against the Governor.
The Court stated in its opinion, “What may have started with a federal court’s well-grounded injunction came to look more like indefinite federal judicial supervision of state employment practices.” The Court said “What most concerns us is that the special master’s oversight—which the district court relied on in denying the Governor’s motion to vacate—has drifted beyond any obligation imposed by the decree and, most certainly, the Constitution. Nowhere do we see the special master, the district court, or Shakman and Lurie on appeal relying on the standards articulated in Elrod and Rutan to identify constitutional violations.”
What may have started as a good-faith effort to challenge that patronage practices in effect in the 1960s had crept over the years into a cottage industry for plaintiffs, the court appointed monitors, and outside defense counsel focused on employment minutia rather than the requirements of federal law. (For Office Space fans: It was as though the federal court had appointed many Bill Lumburgs to oversee how well governmental offices filled out their TPS reports.) The Seventh Circuit decided that was too much, holding “leaving the Governor subject to the 1972 decree is no longer warranted or tolerable. Governor Pritzker has demonstrated substantial compliance with the decree and identified and instituted durable remedies to help ensure that compliance sticks. He has earned the right to make employment decisions for the state on his own and not under the terms and conditions of the 1972 decree or the watchful eyes of a special master and federal court. We cannot let perfect be the enemy of the constitutionally adequate.”
Though the decision only affects the Governor, it was written to clearly provide guidance to the other offices still under decrees. In fact, shortly after the Seventh Circuit’s Order was issued Friday, the district judge ordered supplemental briefing on the Cook County Clerk’s pending motion to vacate to discuss the decision. Other offices under the decrees and court appointed monitoring are expected to consider moving to vacate as well.
After 50 years and countless millions of dollars out of state and county coffers and into the pockets of attorneys, the federal court is on track to return control of employment decisions back to the officials elected by the people. It’s actually a very important reminder that elections have consequences. To those that may lament the good government reforms the decrees supposedly stand for, don’t. Governments are still barred from making employment decisions based on politics, and everything required by the decrees is already required by federal, state, or county law or policy. The only difference is taxpayers will no longer bear the burden of annually paying millions to court appointed monitors and attorneys.
One of the biggest unsung winners in the fight for control of the Democratic Party of Illinois is House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
The new state party chair is Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, a member of Welch’s leadership team. Hernandez handled the delicate task of overseeing the redistricting effort in her chamber last year.
She is quite popular in her caucus, including among Latino progressives, who note Hernandez has been with them on very important votes despite her background as a “regular” Cicero Democrat.
That voting record helped seal the deal when progressive U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia decided to flip from supporting U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly for party chair last year to backing Hernandez this time around, taking the other Latino state central committee members with him in the process.
It’s no big secret that Welch has worked hard to develop close ties to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Welch has eschewed the sort of political games Senate President Don Harmon has occasionally played with the governor.
As a result, the governor could be confident Welch wouldn’t try to pull Hernandez’s strings. And Welch helped bring votes to Hernandez’s bid, which put her over the top. Pritzker couldn’t have done this without Welch.
Kelly regularly boasted of the party’s hefty $2 million bank account, but she never mentioned the $2 million had been moved by former House Speaker Michael Madigan to the state party from the now-defunct House Democratic Majority committee shortly after he resigned as House speaker. Welch has been trying to get that $2 million released by the party ever since, to no avail.
Welch was also reportedly frustrated with the state party’s demands over the party’s postage discount rate, which could be worth as much as $3 million to the House Democrats in the upcoming fall campaign.
It also probably didn’t help matters much that the state party’s general counsel, Michael Dorf, performed some campaign legal work for Abdelnasser Rashid during his successful primary bid against sitting state Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside.
Because of Kelly’s very real federal legal limitations on her state campaign-related activities, Dorf had been listed as the state party’s chair in its official filings with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Needless to say, it wasn’t a good look for him to be doing legal work against a Democratic incumbent.
So, there was almost no downside for Welch to throw in with Pritzker in the battle over who would lead the state party.
The Hernandez win is widely seen as a big victory for Pritzker. But it’ll also hopefully help normalize the party down the road. Governors tend to control their respective state parties, for good or ill. Illinois Democrats have for years been a notable exception to that rule. Republican governors here have always run their state party organizations, but not the Dems.
Part of the reason for that is because the Republicans controlled the governor’s office for 26 straight years, which created an enormous Democratic Party power vacuum that was filled by whomever could muster the votes.
When Madigan figured out the state party could save him tons of money on campaign postage, he put his own person in and then finally replaced that person with himself. The party apparatus eventually became little more than a vehicle for sending reduced-cost House campaign mailers and a power center for a politician who regularly defied governors of his own party.
Kelly promised to change all that, but in doing so she neglected to consider the impact on the legislative caucuses.
Kelly was backed from the start by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who set up a successful shadow party operation years ago as a counterbalance to Madigan. Durbin has done quite a lot to build his party over the years, including recruiting numerous congressional candidates and an early insistence on turning the formerly solidly Republican Will County into a Democratic powerhouse.
But Durbin overreached by grabbing at the state party mantle, alienating the governor and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, both of whom are on the ballot this year. Kelly’s decision to run a scorched-earth campaign late in the game, by claiming through surrogates that the governor and his allies were somehow racists, injected even more hostility into the relationship between Pritzker and Durbin that has never been anything close to good.
Point being, once Pritzker leaves office (whenever that is), the next Democratic governor will likely benefit from the precedent set by this intra-party battle.
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