Pritzker’s plan to boost aides’ salaries unconstitutional
According to the Jan. 12 front-page story “Pritzker personally to bump aides’ pay,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker intends to supplement the state-paid salaries of some of his appointees with funds from “East Jackson Street LLC, an organization Pritzker set up.”
However, Article V, Section 21, of the Illinois Constitution says: “Officers of the Executive Branch shall be paid salaries established by law and shall receive no other compensation for their services.”
It seems Pritzker’s supplemental compensation scheme has serious constitutional problems.
Twenty of Pritzker’s deputies will be paid through the LLC and the biggest checks will be cut to the governor-elect’s chief of staff and deputy governors, whose state salaries will not start off as high as some of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top staff.
Article V, Section 21 of the Illinois Constitution bans “officers of the Executive Branch” from receiving any other compensation for their services, which is generally interpreted to mean the state’s six constitutional officers — the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer. But Section 9 of the executive article does refer to personnel who are nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate as “officers,” which by some interpretations would then ban them from receiving extra compensation. But Pritzker’s transition team stipulated that the governor would not offer the pay boost through his LLC to those who must be confirmed by the Senate.
A draft plan allows people to grow small amounts of marijuana in their homes. The idea is to help marginalized populations get a piece of the pot. […]
Illinois Chiefs of Police Director Ed Wojcicki says he understands the point, but says lax growing rules is just asking for trouble.
“It’s dangerous and we’re not trying to be alarmist. It’s just what’s happened in other states,” said Wojcicki.
He says Colorado law enforcement warned homegrown programs help cartels on the black market thrive. Wojcicki says killing this part of the plan is now their top priority.
“If the bill has home-growns, it’ll make any type of regulation impossible,” said Wojcicki.
On the bright side, that means the chiefs are coming to the table with the realization that something is going to pass and they want to leave their stamp on it.
Personally, I don’t care one way or the other. If on the off chance that I ever wanted to partake of a tiny stinkweed nugget, I’d want an expert to provide it. But that’s just me. Some people really want to grow it themselves, like the home-brewers.
Today the Supreme Court entered an order granting “in part” the State’s motion for an extension to decide whether to appeal the appellate court’s finding that Bruce Rauner had wrongly broken off state contract negotiations based on a false claim of impasse. The Court granted an extension to March 29, a month shorter than the additional time requested by the Pritzker Administration.
* Also, remember this?…
In a @CapConnectIL interview that will air this Sunday, @AFSCME31’s legislative director lays out the top items on their wish list: pay raises for state workers, cheaper healthcare for state workers, and assurances their work won’t be outsourced to private contractors. https://t.co/mgVPigQcJG
Webb-Gauvin, AFSCME Council 31’s legislative director also laid out what she described as a preliminary wish list for the union’s members.
“We want fair wages that are fair,” she said. “Our members have gone four years without a penny of a pay raise. We want health care that we can afford. We want basic rules of the road for privatization so that public services can’t be outsourced for private profit.”
“Now that we are sitting across the table from a governor who understands and respects the collective bargaining and understands the stability and predictability that a contract settlement would provide — not just to the workers but to people that rely on our service — we are hopeful that we can go to the table and get a contract that is fair to everybody,” she said.
[Susana Mendoza] also took a shot at Bill Daley, a fellow mayoral contender.
Daley was the White House chief of staff in 2011, when the Obama administration was grappling with a regulation in the Affordable Care Act that required religiously affiliated hospitals, charities and universities to provide birth control coverage for employees.
According to news reports, Daley, a lifelong Catholic, organized a meeting with President Barack Obama and then-New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Dolan and other Catholic leaders wanted an exemption to the contraceptives mandate.
“Democratic members of Congress who lobbied the White House said they believed that Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, William M. Daley, and his special assistant for religious affairs, Joshua DuBois, favored a broader exemption,” The New York Times reported. They eventually carved out a compromise.
Now Mendoza questions Daley’s commitment to reproductive rights. “You can’t claim to be pro-choice and then try to use your power to cut off access to reproductive choice for women as a chief of staff to the leader of the free world.”
* Response from a Daley campaign comms worker…
This is what's sad about politics, @susanamendoza10 using this issue to distract from her bad start to the year (VAP, Burke and Solis). I would NEVER work for a candidate who isn't pro choice. https://t.co/MxTafXSF7f
Mayoral contender Susana Mendoza’s own words were used against her Monday as two political allies of Toni Preckwinkle and a man exonerated from death row questioned her record on the death penalty. […]
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, state Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, and Nathson Fields, who was cleared of double murder, sought to “set the record straight” about Mendoza’s role in abolishing the death penalty. The three specifically pointed to Mendoza’s claim that she was the deciding vote in overturning capital punishment — a claim that was found to be “mostly false.”
“This is especially concerning for me that she would use this because she had already made herself very clear where she stood on criminal justice issues,” Yarbrough said at the West Loop law offices of Loevy and Loevy.
“She’s no reformer and I really take issue with this whole business of being the 60th vote, like she carried the day.”
* Speaking of weak. Here’s a one-minute spot introducing a mostly unknown candidate which displays said candidate’s name on-screen for just a few seconds tops…
Don’t do this at home, kids.
* Related…
* With the mayor’s race now up for grabs, who does biz back?: The most likely to gain from that situation is former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, who already has far and away the most business backing in the field. But doubts remain that Daley, despite his family name, has enough support to finish in the top two on Feb. 26 and make it to the April runoff election at a time when Chicagoans may be seeking something different in their next mayor.
* Mendoza seeks to reset campaign with ethics plan - After weeks spent under fire for her political ties, the mayoral hopeful brings in Dan Webb to help her refine an anti-corruption plan that includes term limits, a ban on hiring relatives, public campaign financing and more.
The Illinois State Fairgrounds’ Coliseum will now be called “The Coliseum of Champions.”
The Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation on Monday announced the new name, the result of a foundation naming contest open to members of Illinois 4-H, FFA and the Junior Horseman’s Council.
Emma Eathington of the Fairview Huskies 4-H, Elaina Kessler of the Clay City FFA and Kylie Neisler of Country Roots 4-H Club of Montgomery County all submitted the winning entry. They will receive a silver platter of recognition, an Illinois State Fair Mega Pass and be the guests of honor at a grand reopening event.
The Coliseum — built in 1901 and home to horse shows and other events — was closed in 2016 when engineers found it structurally unsafe. It has been out of commission for the last two state fairs.
* The Question: What new name would you give to the Grandstand?
Q: The attorney general’s office said that it’s going to review the sentence of Jason Van Dyke. Do you think that’s a good idea for him to step in like that and do you think that Van Dyke’s sentence was fair?
A: Well, I think any ruling can be reviewed and I think it’s, there’s nothing wrong with doing that. Um, look, I happen to think that, uh, when someone has been killed, uh, the way that this, uh, you know, murder took place, uh, that, uh, a strong sentence, uh, would have been better than the one that was, uh, that was, uh, put in place here. So, it’s reasonable to review it, but, but I don’t know what the outcome of that review would be.
This action is the one of David Krupa, a very brave, serious young man who has dared to challenge the Chicago Machine to end the rapacious reign of a corrupt power, only to see just how shockingly corrupt that power can be in defending its ill-gotten power. It also exposes for the public yet another example the vicious conduct that underlies and supports machine politics in Chicago. Those politics must end, and will end if Chicagoans are willing to follow the lead of David Krupa.
On information and belief, based upon the actual misconduct of Defendants, once Defendants became aware that DAVID intended to run for Alderman in the 13th Ward the Defendants entered into an agreement to engage in a campaign of intimidation, harassment and illegal tactics against DAVID to cause him to withdraw from running for Alderman or else hinder his campaign to the point where he could not get sufficient signatures to obtain ballot access in the municipal election of February 26, 2019.
Defendants through their agents and operatives attempted to engage in personal intimidation of DAVID with an intent to cause his termination of his campaign, including but not limited to:
a.Pairs of large male operatives and/ or agents of Defendants, which on Plaintiff’s information and belief included Precinct Captains or other agents of 13THE WARD, routinely followed DAVID as he went door to door for signatures, entering the yards and stoops of voters after him and literally standing right behind DAVID in a hostile manner as he asked for signatures, thereby intimidating the voters talking to DAVID;
b.On one occasion when DAVID campaigned with voters in front a house, an operative and/or agents of Defendants who had been tailing him emerged from a truck, approached the group and instructed the voters “Don’t talk to him!” The operative then stated to DAVID “You’re a nice kid, but I’d hate to see something bad happen to you.” When DAVID asked for clarification, the operative stated “I’d hate to see you get hurt,” plainly implying that DAVID should abandon his campaign or risk violence against his person;
c.Attempts were made to blackmail DAVID, with false threats being made that QUINN and MADIGAN had embarrassing pictures of DAVID and would release them if he continued his campaign;
d.Harassment of DAVID occurred on social media, with persons using fake accounts and identities while making threats against DAVID’s life and his family;
In reaction to DAVID’s candidacy, Defendants expanded their conspiracy from a campaign of intimidation and harassment against DAVID to a campaign of intimidation, harassment against voters in the 13th Ward as well as fraud against the BOARD, all to eliminate DAVID as an opponent to QUINN for Alderman of the 13th Ward in the City of Chicago. […]
a.sending operatives and agents of Defendants to the homes of voters in the 13rth Ward who signed Nomination Petitions for DAVID to demand and extort execution against the will of the said voters documents which revoked their signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID;
b.having operatives and agents engage in repeated entry to the yards and doorways of voters in the 13th Ward who signed Nomination Petitions for DAVID to further demand and extort execution of documents which signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID, even after the first request was refused, so to harass and intimidate said voters into signing documents revoking their signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID;
c.having operatives and agents block in a physically threatening manner the path to the doorways of the homes of voters in the 13th Ward who signed Nomination Petitions for DAVID even after the first request was refused, and thereafter deny the voters entry to their own homes unless and until the voters agreed to sign statements revoking their signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID;
d.having operatives and agents threaten a cutoff of Ward services to voters in the 13th Ward who signed Nomination Petitions for DAVID if they would not sign documents revoking their signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID;
e.having operatives and agents engage in misrepresentations to voters in the 13th Ward who signed Nomination Petitions for DAVID concerning the legal effect of documents revoking their signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID in order to prevent the voters from realizing that the documents would revoke their signatures on said Nomination Petitions;
f.having operatives and agents affirmatively identify themselves as “from the Alderman’s Office” while showing identification as same, while asking for signatures on documents revoking signatures on Nomination Petitions of DAVID with the false explanation that the signature was only to verify the voter signature for election records; and,
g.having operatives and agents state to voters in the 13th Ward who signed Nomination Petitions for DAVID that their signature on Petitions for DAVID were “illegal” making mandatory the execution of statements revoking said signatures.
He’s alleging violations of his First Amendment rights and violations to the Equal Protection Clause. He’s also alleging a civil conspiracy. He’s asking for “substantial compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorneys’ fees, costs, and for such other and further relief as this Honorable Court deems just and proper, including temporary and permanent injunctions from further engaging in the foregoing conduct.”
* React…
Ald. Quinn…
This lawsuit is just an effort to distract voters from my opponent’s extreme right-wing agenda. My opponent is a day-one Trump supporter who surrounds himself with people who share the same dangerous views of the world. What we should be discussing is how to continue building opportunity for the residents of the 13th Ward, how to support and promote the best schools and teachers, where to find new economic investment for the neighborhood and how to keep our residents safe. I believe my record demonstrates my commitment to those goals.
Speaker Madigan…
This lawsuit is blatant defamation of me and Ald. Quinn. But we’ve seen this highly political tactic before. Distracting voters with ludicrous claims is pulled directly from the ultra-right-wing playbook. The residents of the 13th Ward deserve better. This election should and will be decided at the ballot box and not in the courtroom.
* Related…
* DePaul freshman accuses Madigan, Quinn of using fraud and intimidation: “We have notarized statements from people saying … they were visited like three or four times-a-day for a week by their precinct captain saying that they had to sign it and they wouldn’t stop coming back until they signed. When they caught people outside their house, they wouldn’t let people go into the house until they signed,” Krupa said Monday. “They operate as a criminal enterprise. They harass, blackmail, intimidate and strong-arm people. They use their public government services to further their own political agenda.”
* There’s a rare contest for alderman in Michael Madigan’s southwest-side stronghold: “I do have my own graffiti blaster,” [Ald. Quinn] said, explaining he bought it with his aldermanic expense account usually reserved for office supplies. “Yesterday alone we blasted 11 different spots down 63rd Street. I subscribe to the broken window theory, and removing the graffiti is very, very important.”
Today’s state tax map shows state and local tax collections per capita in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. D.C.’s tax collections per capita ($10,841) are higher than in any state. The five states with the highest tax collections per capita are New York ($8,957), Connecticut ($7,220), New Jersey ($6,709), North Dakota ($6,630), and Massachusetts ($6,469). The five states with the lowest tax collections per capita are Alabama ($3,206), Tennessee ($3,322), South Carolina ($3,435), Oklahoma ($3,458), and Florida ($3,478).
According to the Foundation, Illinois ranks eleventh at $5,654 per capita.
The Illinois Policy Institute has in the past pointed to a WalletHub study of household tax burdens that ranked Illinois at the top of the heap.
Progressive pioneer or boss of ‘corrupt’ machine? Preckwinkle, Lightfoot spar
Can it be both?
Chicago has a “weak mayor” system of government which forces mayors to build political organizations to project more power than they actually have. Mayor Harold Washington didn’t really have much power until he was able to elect a majority on the city council through herculean political efforts.
So, controlling the county party’s strings would help her get more done, if you believe she wants to get more done.
Party bosses are generally “don’t make no waves” types. Preckwinkle is anything but that on progressive policies. On people, however, well, that’s a different story…
“She may have been progressive at some point in her career, but … she is the machine,” Lightfoot said after the forum ended. “She’s the president of the Democratic Party, which is one of the most regressive organizations in our state. She sided with Joe Berrios, she sided with Ed Burke. There’s no way she can legitimately claim that she is progressive.”
And when you side with Berrios and Burke, you’re siding with the way they ran things in the county and the city.
The acting chief of DCFS was never confirmed due to feuding between former Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats. Now with Gov. J.B. Pritzker in, Beverly "BJ" Walker is out. https://t.co/Rd35Bb0U4m
One of the least appreciated successes of the Rauner years was his ability to work with the Senate on his nominations. The Democratic Senate rarely voted to reject the Republican governor’s nominees (I think it happened only a couple of times) because Rauner’s team worked very closely with the Senate leadership. They made sure to vet all the candidates, closely followed all the nominating rules and they cut side deals to sweeten things with the SDems.
BJ Walker got sideways with the Black Caucus and that’s why I’m told she was never confirmed. But the Senate did not take the step of actually rejecting her, so she leaves as she came in: “Acting Director.”
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to install a prominent consumer watchdog as head of the Illinois Commerce Commission flopped Thursday when the state Senate rejected his nomination.
The dramatic vote to deny the job to Martin Cohen prompted complaints that he was being punished for an effective career on behalf of consumers, and that the Senate was siding with powerful utility companies against ratepayers.
In a rare move, the Illinois Senate Wednesday slapped down Gov. Pat Quinn’s latest appointments to the Southern Illinois board of trustees.
Just two days after Quinn nominated new members to the board, senators used their appointment powers to send a strong message to the governor that they don’t approve of his tinkering with the make-up of the board.
The governor’s proposed appointments of Sandra Cook of Collinsville, Melvin Terrell of Chicago and Lee Milner of Springfield received zero “yes” votes, 23 “no” votes and 32 “present” votes.
The acting director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services says she’s stepping down next month.
Beverly “BJ” Walker told the Chicago Tribune late Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is conducting a national search for her replacement and she has agreed to stay on to help the transition.
Walker was appointed as the acting head of the agency by former Gov. Bruce Rauner in June 2017 following the departure of George Sheldon, who left in the fallout of DCFS’ admitted mishandling of the Semaj Crosby case.
The GOP romance is already on the skids. Republicans who thought Pritzker was a centrist say he’s just catering to his left-leaning base. “We’re two weeks in and there’s zero indication” of him hugging the middle, said one GOP lawmaker. “So what” that he had dinner with Republican leaders Jim Durkin and Bill Brady? Pritzker then went and signed an executive order to ensure HB40 was being properly enforced. The measure allows taxpayer funding of some abortions. Republicans saw it as “a slap in the face.”
Pritzker ran with the full support of pro-choice groups like Personal PAC and his EO last week was designed to make sure insurance companies were following the law, enacted with the signature of a Republican governor, no less.
I gotta figure stuff like that has been long baked-in to just about everyone’s expectations of Pritzker, or at least it should’ve been to anyone paying attention.
Two weeks ago, the honeymoon was supposedly over because of a single partisan press release from the Illinois Republican Party, a partisan entity. And now it’s over again because the governor is doing stuff he overtly promised to do during the campaign?
Weird.
* Usually, people who say things like “slap in the face” aren’t the ones who are gonna be negotiating the big stuff anyway. If we hear Leaders Brady and/or Durkin talk like that then we know we’ve got problems.
In other words, if the Republican leaders ever decide to boycott the capital bill talks, then the troubles are real. Would they do such a thing over a liberal executive order designed to enforce existing state laws? Some hardline rank-and-filers surely would, but I kinda doubt they’ll be voting for any compromises anyway.
And this is not to say that everybody is going to get along swell all day, every day. Democrats are Democrats and Republicans are Republicans. Disagreements are natural, expected and even healthy. Pritzker is not going to become a Republican and Bill Brady isn’t going to become a Democrat. The object is to work together, not be like each other.
What I don’t expect to see is a quick return to the past four years, when just about everything was politicized to the Nth Degree and deals with the governor were next to impossible.
Besides, the spring session hasn’t even started yet. Let it play out for a bit and we’ll see what kind of governor he turns out to be.
Legislators are bringing back a bill to raise the age at which people can legally purchase tobacco products to 21, after Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed similar legislation last session.
“I have reason to believe we can pass it again in both houses,” said Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield, adding that she thinks Gov. J.B. Pritzker will look at the bill favorably. […]
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said the governor “looks forward to reviewing the legislation.”
“The governor believes in order to help build a healthy society, we have to work to prevent young people from smoking,” Abudayyeh said via email.
* “He’s running”…
Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is sharing concern over recently introduced legislation, (House Bill 888) that forces law-abiding citizens to give Illinois state agencies access to their personal social media accounts for merely considering exercising their constitutional right to own a firearm.
“It’s shocking that big-government liberals think the people of Illinois would be OK with granting government agencies the ability to snoop through their social media platforms,” said Sen. Plummer. “This ‘Orwellian’ mindset is frightening and something that all Americans, regardless of their partisan affiliation, should be on guard against. In America we care about individual rights and privacy.”
Sen. Plummer also highlighted legislation (Senate Bill 107) that calls for a ban on the sale or the unregistered possession of dozens of semi-automatic firearms, dubbed, “assault weapons,” to scare and mislead citizens. The bill also forces law-abiding gun owners to pay additional fees and consent to a massive government registry simply for owning these firearms, otherwise risk criminal penalties.
“This means that failure to pay additional fees and acquiesce to register lawful and privately owned firearms in a massive government-controlled database, even firearms passed down in a family from generation to generation, will lead to a felony charge and fines and/or prison time,” said Sen. Plummer.
Numerous types of widely-owned semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns are included based solely on their appearance rather than how they function.
“This legislation is an obvious overreach and infringes upon law-abiding citizens’ privacy and Second Amendment rights,” said Sen. Plummer. “The proposed legislation penalizes good, law-abiding citizens who have done absolutely nothing wrong. I plan to share my concerns with HB 888 and SB 107 with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This legislation sounds like stuff that comes out of the mind of totalitarian state apparatchiks—not from elected officials in a republic committed to individual rights and freedoms.”
Response from the Democratic freshman sponsor, Rep. Dan Didech…
In an increasingly online world, we must have an open discussion about the tools law enforcement may use to keep our communities and our children safe. This legislation would modernize the tools available to help law enforcement by allowing them to determine whether a person seeking to obtain a firearm is showing signs of violence toward themselves or their community online.
Standing up to Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association’s extreme agenda requires us to take a serious look at current policies and look for changes that can be made to end the epidemic of gun violence in our country. My hope is that this legislation continues a conversation about the actionable steps we can take to make our communities, schools, and places of worship safer. The stakes are too high for us to sit on the sidelines.
Everyone tends to roll their eyes when public officials promise to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse”. But nobody denies that those things exist. The trick is to figure out what can be done to eliminate it.
It’s with that in mind that I’ve introduced House Joint Resolution 6 and a House Bill 275 which is modeled on President Reagan’s 1982 Executive Order establishing a private-sector cost study of the agencies of the Federal government, which resulted in the issuance of the 1984 “Grace Report”. In the report, the Grace Commission offered up 2,487 separate recommendations for streamlining government agencies which it estimated would have saved $424 billion over a 3-year period (and that’s in 1984 dollars).
H.B. 275 creates the Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which is a private sector panel authorized to undertake a thorough review of Illinois agencies and provide recommendations for improvement. Its goal is to identify inefficiencies, redundancies and insufficient control over the operations of state agencies which result in inadequate services being provided at too high a cost. It would be charged with recommending improvements that would increase efficiency, reduce costs, enhance accountability and improve administrative control, and would also provide opportunities for managerial improvements over the short and long term, suggesting specific areas where further study could result in additional savings.
Like the Grace Commission, this Commission will be privately funded by soliciting contributions to be made to a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization as called for in the bill. Commission members would not be paid, and would be charged to present their findings to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1, 2020.
Cleaning up audit findings isn’t enough; we must do this deep dive into our agency operations with a focus on finding where outdated and redundant processes can be eliminated or combined. We must also set policies in place which demand greater accountability from those stakeholders which come to the state asking for appropriation of taxpayer money. It’s time for them to show us how well they’ve spent the money we’ve given them before we give them more. In my first term, I was a member of the K-12 Appropriations Committee. I’ve seen firsthand that it’s not now being done.
This is not an attempt to fix blame or to point fingers at any agency or person. Every organization, public or private, needs a periodic review to find ways to improve its operations. Otherwise it grows sclerotic and gets in the way of its own purpose. But it’s obvious that something more robust than a mere audit is needed. It’s time for the Governor’s office and the General Assembly to step in and shine a light on what’s been allowed to languish for far too long. It’s what we’ve been elected to do.
State Senator Elgie R. Sims Jr. (D-Chicago) released the following statement after an unknown gunman shot and killed an 18-year-old man and wounded another person at Orland Square Mall Monday night:
“Monday night, I, unfortunately, witnessed two tragedies. The first was yet another senseless shooting, as a young man was gunned down literally a few feet away from where I was shopping with my family, along with other families, at Orland Square Mall.
“The second was the loss of innocence that died in the eyes of the children who witnessed the horrifying aftermath of the shooting. As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children and shield them from harsh realities. Yesterday, my heart sunk to the pit of my stomach realizing that these children will remember the violence that occurred for years to come.
“The shooting is yet another tragic reminder that the gun violence epidemic has only worsened in our country. It’s another reminder that we must act now in a meaningful way to address this problem and end the blood that flows onto the floors of churches, elementary schools, movie theaters, city streets and malls.
“The solutions are not a secret. We know that simple and broadly supported measures like universal background checks, cracking down on straw purchases and illegal weapon sales and limiting access to high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons would save countless lives. The time to act is now.”
State Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, was inside Justice — a children’s clothing store — with his wife and daughters when the shots rang out.
“I told everybody to get back, get down, get in the back and behind the counter because we didn’t know where the shooting was. Then I came from behind and crawled behind the register and got the front doors locked,” he said Tuesday.
Sims said he saw the victim on the floor right outside the doors of Justice.
He was also one of many shoppers who called 911. When police arrived, they searched the Justice store for the shooter and soon after, gave an all-clear, he said.
“We stayed there [in the store] while they worked on him. I kept everyone in the back of the store so nobody — so the kids — didn’t have the chance to see him being worked on.”
Q: And then in your statement, you take a turn to policy. Does this change or amplify or solidify — how do you see this in relation to the policies that you think Illinois should be pursuing in terms of preventing this sort of violence?
A: This situation only reinforces for me that we’ve got to have an honest conversation about gun violence and treat gun violence as the public health crisis that it is.
We’ve got to get away from this fallacy that gun violence is perpetrated by this “boogeyman,” this “gangbanger.” It’s not. Gun violence can happen anywhere, and I think the fact that this happened in Orland Park only serves to reinforce that these issues of gun violence — they don’t just happen in poor communities. They can happen anywhere.
When you’ve got free access to Illegal guns, these types of things happen.
* Sen. Sims posted his story on Facebook last week. Most commenters were supportive, but some were not…
Ugh.
* ISRA…
The Illinois State Rifle Association today is issuing the following statement on the senseless act of violence at the Orland Park Mall.
“Earlier this week there was a senseless shooting and murder at the Orland Park Mall. State Senator Elgie Sims was a witness to this horrific act along with his family. Sen. Sims took to social media to describe the ordeal his family and others at the mall faced. We commend the heroic actions Sen. Sims took to shield his family and others in the store until law enforcement arrived.
Unfortunately, in the aftermath of this horrible tragedy Sen. Sims and his family were subjected to comments that were beyond the pale of civil discourse. The Illinois State Rifle Association condemns these threatening, racist comments.
In this country we value to our core the fundamental belief in free speech. In the discussion regarding gun violence and potential ways to solve the problem there inevitably will be differing opinions. The Illinois State Rifle Association has at times disagreed with the Senator’s philosophy and votes on the topic of gun violence.
In the coming months there will be a continued discussion regarding the scourge of gun violence and how to keep guns out of the hands of criminals such as the shooter in this tragic incident. We at the Illinois State Rifle Association welcome all perspectives.”
We all know that former Gov. Bruce Rauner was outspent by our new Gov. J.B. Pritzker during the 2018 campaign. But the actual numbers are pretty darned eye-opening.
During the final three months of last year, Pritzker reported spending $37.2 million. Rauner, on the other hand, spent just $7.1 million — less than a fifth of his Democratic rival’s expenditures.
Overall, Pritzker’s campaign committee spent $173.1 million since its formation in March of 2017.
Of that, Pritzker’s committee contributed $28.1 million to other candidates and spent $145 million on Pritzker’s campaign. Pritzker reported spending a grand total of $90 million on media buys.
Starting in March of 2017, Rauner reported spending $78.6 million, about 45 percent of Pritzker’s amount.
Of that, Rauner’s campaign contributed $15.9 million to other campaigns and committees, a little over half of what Pritzker spent. Rauner spent $62.7 million on his own candidacy, 43 percent of what Pritzker spent. Rauner’s campaign reported spending a total of $41.1 million on media buys, which was less than half what Pritzker spent.
After last March’s primary (starting April 1), Pritzker’s campaign reported spending $104.7 million, including $27.1 million in transfers to other committees and $77.6 million on Pritzker’s own effort. $47.5 million of that was spent on media buys. He spent another $7.4 million on salaries and payroll costs, which gave him a veritable army.
During that same period since the primary, Rauner’s campaign spent $41.6 million (40 percent of Pritzker’s spending), including $8.4 million to other committees (31 percent of Pritzker’s spending) and $33.2 million on himself (43 percent of what Pritzker spent). Rauner’s campaign spent $20.8 million on media buys (44 percent of Pritzker’s spending) and $2.7 million on salaries and payroll costs (just 36 percent of Pritzker’s spending).
Rauner essentially got smothered in every possible way.
By the way, Rauner ended the year with $801K in the bank, far less than the rumors that were going around in November suggested.
Looking forward, one of the biggest questions facing Republican legislators is where will their campaign money come from. Not only did their primary contributor, Bruce Rauner, depart the scene, but after losing so many seats last year combined with the possibility that President Trump will be at the top of the ballot in 2020, who’s gonna give them any cash?
And it’s not like they have a comfy money cushion built up, either.
The House Republican Organization ended the fourth quarter with just a bit over $76,000 in the bank. The Republican State Senate Campaign Committee had a mere $29,000 at the end of the year. Yes, you read that right. $29K.
The true situation isn’t quite that dire, but it ain’t great. House Republican Leader Jim Durkin ended the year with $826,000 in his personal campaign account and Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady ended with $315,000. So, they have more than crumbs, but it’s still not a pleasant situation.
On the other hand, House Speaker Michael Madigan ended the year with almost $7.9 million in his personal campaign account and about $3.4 million in his Democratic Majority account. He had expected the Republicans to spend more than they did, so he piled up as much cash as possible. He now begins the next election cycle with a gigantic advantage.
Things are quite a bit tighter for Senate President John Cullerton, whose personal account had about $261,000 in it while the Senate Democratic Victory Fund had about $447,000. But he’s in the majority, so, unlike the Republicans, raising money should not be a problem.
The Democratic Party of Illinois ended the year with about $1.4 million in the bank. The Illinois Republican Party finished with $313,000. The IL GOP is going to have to be frugal for a while until they can raise some dough.
Rauner has been the state GOP’s most reliable donor. The former governor contributed $36.9 million to the state party since June 13th of 2014. The party raised another $20 million or so on top of that since that same date, but a large chunk of that money was pass-through cash from the two legislative caucuses for direct mail costs.
The unofficial leader of the Republican Party’s wealthy Chicago-area “donor class” was Ron Gidwitz. He helped raise a ton of money for his party over the years. But Gidwitz is now the US Ambassador to Belgium, so he can’t do them any good.
Bottom line: The Republican Party in this state is in very dire straits.
* The governor’s people say Gov. Pritzker will combine his State of the State address with his budget address. This is a fairly common practice. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve cringed when people who should know better say they wanted to hear more about the budget during the SOTS. They are two separate speeches, unless they’re combined. And considering the budget issues we have, it’s probably best to combine them.
State of the State messages are required by the Constitution, but they don’t have to be given as speeches…
SECTION 13. GOVERNOR - LEGISLATIVE MESSAGES The Governor, at the beginning of each annual session of the General Assembly and at the close of his term of office, shall report to the General Assembly on the condition of the State and recommend such measures as he deems desirable.
SECTION 2. STATE FINANCE (a) The Governor shall prepare and submit to the General Assembly, at a time prescribed by law, a State budget for the ensuing fiscal year.
Wednesday, February 20th at noon is the date set by the General Assembly.
* So, apparently, the POTUS has agreed to sign legislation that will contain no money for the border wall and will reopen the federal government for three weeks with back pay for the furloughed workers.
As Bruce Rauner found out, your first big fight with the other party shouldn’t be one which unites the other party. In Rauner’s case, that fight was “right to work.” Didn’t end well.
In any event, now you know why Gov. Rauner tried so hard to make sure that all state employees were paid during Illinois’ impasse. He would’ve had to cave within weeks if the courts went the other way.
* But will signing this bill do to the president’s hardcore GOP base what signing HB40 did to Rauner’s? I guess we’ll see. While there are many lessons to be learned from the past, history never exactly repeats itself. And national politics are quite different from state politics. And taxpayer-funded abortions and not building a promised wall on the Mexican border are very different things.
Health officials have confirmed a case of measles in the Champaign-Urbana area.
The person who has measles was possibly exposed at several locations across the two towns between Jan. 12 and Jan. 19, 2019, according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD). […]
“It is important for everyone who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated, if they aren’t already,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Layden. “Getting vaccinated not only protects you, it protects others around you who are too young to get the vaccine or can’t receive it for medical reasons. Two doses of measles vaccine are about 97 percent effective in preventing measles.”
And no does of measles vaccine are almost totally ineffective at preventing measles.
“Many people have no idea what measles are or how serious they can be because VACCINATION WORKS,” the CUPHD Facebook post said. “Due to the fad of not vaccinating, vaccine-preventable diseases are once again becoming a concern.”
Furthermore, the CUPHD wrote, “In 2011, the WHO estimated that 158,000 deaths were caused by measles. This is down from 630,000 deaths in 1990. As of 2013, measles remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in the world. In developed countries, death occurs in one to two cases out of every 1,000 (0.1–0.2%).”
* If you click here you’ll see possible exposure sites in the area. Looks like someone who is affiliated with UIUC.
* We Ask America poll for the Sun-Times. 644 likely voters contacted this past Monday through Wednesday with a +/-3.88 MoE. Dorothy Brown was included and received 4.7 percent, but she’s now off the ballot. Undecideds totaled 26 percent…
12.7% @ToniForChicago 12.1% Bill Daley 9.3% Gery Chico 9% Willie Wilson 8.7% Susana Mendoza 4.3% Paul Vallas 3.7% Garry McCarthy 3.1% Amara Enyia 2.8% Lori Lightfoot 1.2% La Shawn Ford 0.9% Bob Fioretti 0.9% Jerry Joyce 0.6% John Kolzar 0 Neal Sales-Griffin
Asked who they’d prefer in a match-up between Preckwinkle and Mendoza — two candidates who have repeatedly targeted one another — voters gave Mendoza the edge. The poll found the comptroller with 43.5 percent compared to Preckwinkle’s 35.1 percent. Another 21.4 percent were undecided.
In a race between Daley and Preckwinkle, the poll found Daley with a slight lead over Preckwinkle — 40.1 percent over 38.2 percent, another statistical dead heat. Another 21.7 percent were undecided.
In a hypothetical match-up between Mendoza and McCarthy, the comptroller clobbered the former top cop, 54 percent to 24.2 percent. Again 21.7 percent were undecided.
It looks like the other candidates had better beat up on Mendoza to keep her out of the second round or their gooses could be cooked.
Which of the following list of issues do you think is MOST important to you as a Chicago resident?
Chicago’s Crime 29.2%
Chicago’s Financial Crisis 22%
Quality of Chicago Schools 21.1%
Political corruption 9.0%
Police reform 7.8%
Race relations 7.1%
None of these 3.7%
Notice that “corruption” was in fourth place at 9 percent. Voters seem keen to hear more about candidates’ actual plans. But the political types are all focusing on scoring gotchas over Ed Burke.
* Among African-Americans, Willie Wilson is clobbering Toni Preckwinkle 20-11. Dorothy Brown was getting 9 percent of black voters, and the expectations are that she will endorse Wilson, but I don’t know if that will transfer. In third was Bill Daley at 7 percent. 28 percent were undecided, however.
Among whites, Daley has 17 percent to Chico’s 12 percent, with 24 percent undecided.
Among Latinos, Mendoza led with 19.5 percent to Chico’s 17. Preckwinkle and Daley were essentially tied for third with 14.6 percent.
* Among 18-24 year olds, Daley and Wilson were tied at 15.4 percent, with nobody else breaking double digits.
Preckwinkle’s new poll was commissioned by SEIU Illinois Local 1. Public Policy Polling, a Democratic automated polling firm, surveyed 798 Chicago voters from Jan. 18-20. The poll found Preckwinkle “is in the lead with 15% of Chicago voters supporting her,” according to a poll memo released to POLITICO. Bill Daley was second with 12 percent; Gery Chico had 11 percent; Wilson, 10 percent; Paul Vallas and Susana Mendoza each got 9 percent; Lori Lightfoot, 8 percent, and Garry McCarthy and Amara Enyia had 6 and 4 percent, respectively. But 17 percent were “undecided.”
The Illinois attorney general’s office has signaled it may be considering a rare sentencing-related appeal if it concludes that the less than seven years in prison a white Chicago police officer received in the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald was wrongly calculated.
The office said in a brief statement emailed Thursday it is reviewing Jason Van Dyke’s sentence. With credit for good behavior, Van Dyke will likely serve only around three years for firing 16 bullets into McDonald in 2014. Dashcam video of the shooting released by the city in 2015 showed Van Dyke continued to fire as the 17-year-old crumpled to the street and lie on the ground. […]
One Chicago-based attorney Steve Greenberg, who has defended clients at more than 100 murder trials, said such appeals rarely succeed unless the sentencing judge’s error is egregious.
“From a logical standpoint, I think the sentence is correct,” he said. “From a legal standpoint, it might not be.” He added: “I think there is a fair chance the higher court would say the sentence was wrong.”
We’ve already discussed why the Supreme Court could very well strike down Van Dyke’s sentence.
If the AG’s office were to intervene in the case, it would be unusual, but not unprecedented. The office has standing to intervene in nearly any criminal case, and if the AG is taking an interest in Van Dyke’s case, Raoul’s staff is likely looking for grounds to file what is known as a writ of mandamus, seeking to have the state Supreme Court rule that Van Dyke’s sentence violated state sentencing laws. […]
Any challenge would have to be based on an argument that [Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan] made an error in sentencing Van Dyke, not just that Van Dyke’s sentence was not severe enough.
Gaughan’s sentence would seem a potential target, Richards said, not because it was shorter than some anticipated or hoped to see, but because Gaughan made an unusual— and possibly unlawful — decision on which counts Van Dyke was sentenced for.
Gaughan ruled that he had to sentence Van Dyke based on his conviction on a single count of second-degree murder, rather than on any of the 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for which Van Dyke was also found guilty. Second-degree murder carries a sentence ranging from probation to a four- to 20-year prison term. Aggravated battery with a firearm carries a sentence of six to 30 years.
In court last week, Gaughan said he based his decision on a state Supreme Court ruling that said Van Dyke had to be sentenced based on the most-serious count of conviction, which Gaughan ruled was second-degree murder, not aggravated battery. But his ruling was based on a concurrence to that ruling issued by a single judge, rather than the order drafted by the majority of judges who ruled on the case, Richards said.
* And here’s a very telling passage from the Tribune story…
The shorter sentence prompted the defense to back off promises to appeal Van Dyke’s conviction out of concern that such a move could result in added prison time for the ex-officer.
Yep. Even the defense counsel apparently knows that the judge deciding this wrong.
In 2016, the state Supreme Court granted a writ ordering Gaughan to resentence a man convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault, concluding the judge should have imposed an additional 15-year penalty enhancement.
More specifically, the state Supreme Court determined through its decision that aggravated battery with a firearm is a more serious offense than second-degree murder because of their respective sentencing ranges. The battery charges are Class X felonies carrying a six- to 30-year prison range. Second-degree murder is a Class 1 felony with a four- to 20-year range.
Darren O’Brien, a veteran attorney hired to handle Van Dyke’s planned appeal, disagreed with that reasoning. He cited more recent state Supreme Court cases in arguing that prosecutors cannot charge out a case in a way that “eliminates” second-degree murder by rolling it into other charges. Instead, he argued, Lee should not apply here and the charges should merge the opposite way, with second-degree murder as the more serious offense.
“The common sense answer to that would be the lesser harm merges into the greater harm,” he said. “The woundings merge into the death.”
For the last decade, Illinois has had the nation’s most rigorous law protecting citizens’ biometric privacy information. It’s also a heavily litigated piece of legislation that’s pulled high-profile companies like Google and Facebook into class action lawsuits. Now, Six Flags is contesting a suit that threatens to totally defang the statute.
The Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), passed by Illinois lawmakers in 2008, stipulates that a company doing business in the state must obtain explicit written consent from an individual before collecting their biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints. Penalties are set at a $1,000 fine per violation, and $5,000 per violation if an offending company is found to be violating the statute either intentionally or recklessly. The problem is, the state doesn’t prosecute BIPA violations, it only grants individuals the right to sue. Six Flags is trying to make that very difficult.
The case revolves around the question of whether a company can be held liable for violating BIPA if a plaintiff is unable to demonstrate “harm.” Stacy Rosenbach claims that the theme park fingerprinted her 14-year-old son when he was picking up a season pass to the park on a group trip. Rosenbach says she did not give permission for the company to collect and store her son’s fingerprints. Six Flags argues that for Rosenbach to qualify as a “person aggrieved,” she must demonstrate that the collection of her son’s identifiable biometric information resulted in some type of injury.
The Illinois Supreme Court held appellate hearings on the case last week, and according to Law360, at least three of the seven justices hearing the case were skeptical of the arguments made by attorneys representing Six Flags. The initial trial court rejected Six Flags’ argument, but it certified two questions for appeal that revolve around the definition of “aggrieved.” Last December, the Second District Appellate Court agreed with Six Flags, and now the case is in the hands of the states’ highest court. What’s at stake is a legal definition that could affect a similar pending lawsuit against Facebook that could potentially result in billions of dollars worth of fines.
In reaching a contrary conclusion, the appellate court characterized violations of the law, standing alone, as merely “technical” in nature. Such a characterization, however, misapprehends the nature of the harm our legislature is attempting to combat through this legislation. The Act vests in individuals and customers the right to control their biometric information by requiring notice before collection and giving them the power to say no by withholding consent. These procedural protections “are particularly crucial in our digital world because technology now permits the wholesale collection and storage of an individual’s unique biometric identifiers—identifiers that cannot be changed if compromised or misused.” When a private entity fails to adhere to the statutory procedures, as defendants are alleged to have done here, “the right of the individual to maintain [his or] her biometric privacy vanishes into thin air. The precise harm the Illinois legislature sought to prevent is then realized.” This is no mere “technicality.” The injury is real and significant. […]
Other than the private right of action authorized in section 20 of the Act, no other enforcement mechanism is available. It is clear that the legislature intended for this provision to have substantial force. When private entities face liability for failure to comply with the law’s requirements without requiring affected individuals or customers to show some injury beyond violation of their statutory rights, those entities have the strongest possible incentive to conform to the law and prevent problems before they occur and cannot be undone. Compliance should not be difficult; whatever expenses a business might incur to meet the law’s requirements are likely to be insignificant compared to the substantial and irreversible harm that could result if biometric identifiers and information are not properly safeguarded; and the public welfare, security, and safety will be advanced. That is the point of the law. To require individuals to wait until they have sustained some compensable injury beyond violation of their statutory rights before they may seek recourse, as defendants urge, would be completely antithetical to the Act’s preventative and deterrent purposes.
In sum, defendants’ contention that redress under the Act should be limited to those who can plead and prove that they sustained some actual injury or damage beyond infringement of the rights afforded them under the law would require that we disregard the commonly understood and accepted meaning of the term “aggrieved,” depart from the plain and, we believe, unambiguous language of the law, read into the statute conditions or limitations the legislature did not express, and interpret the law in a way that is inconsistent with the objectives and purposes the legislature sought to achieve. That, of course, is something we may not and will not do.
The consequences of this ruling are gonna be huge. Six Flags isn’t the only entity that’s been sued over this law.
…Adding… Illinois PIRG…
The decision is a victory for consumers across Illinois over Facebook and other tech giants, who argue in courts that consumers do not face “harm” from privacy violations and have pushed legislation in recent years to undermine the Illinois law. Consumer and privacy advocates such as Illinois PIRG Education Fund continue to defend BIPA in the courts and in the Illinois General Assembly. Illinois PIRG Education Fund’s national staff is fighting Congressional efforts by Facebook and others to enact a national law that would permanently preempt any existing or prevent any future state actions on data protection.
…Adding… ACLU of Illinois…
Today’s ruling protects Illinoisans’ right to control their own fingerprints, iris scans, and other crucial information about their bodies. This is exactly what the General Assembly had in mind when it enacted BIPA.
Your biometric information belongs to you and should not be left to corporate interests who want to collect detailed information about you for advertising and other commercial purposes. The Court recognized that individuals must have the right to sue companies that unlawfully collect their personal information; otherwise, the companies will not be held accountable.
More than a decade after BIPA’s enactment, we constantly hear new examples of companies that have collected, shared, and misused the personal information of millions being shared without their knowledge or consent. The strong protections of Illinois’s law are more critical than ever.
…Adding… Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch…
We fear that today’s decision will open the floodgates for future litigation at the expense of Illinois’ commercial health.
The Democratic lawmakers with plans to promote legalizing recreational pot use in Illinois said Thursday they’re waiting for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to name a “point person” in his administration before they introduce their legislation.
State Sen. Heather Steans and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy laid out their proposal to end Illinois’ prohibition on pot in the coming months for more than 200 people Thursday night at a forum on recreational pot legalization at the Athenaeum Theatre in the Lake View neighborhood. The North Side Democrats previously introduced similar legislation in 2017 that failed to gain much traction in Springfield. […]
Under Steans’ and Cassidy’s proposal, Illinoisans over the age of 21 would be able to buy up to an ounce of marijuana from licensed dispensaries. Additionally, Illinois residents would be allowed to grow up to five cannabis plants at their home, something that is currently prohibited under the state’s medical cannabis law.
Revenue from legal pot sales would be used to “support law enforcement and pay for public education campaigns, substance abuse treatment and programs to reverse harms to communities adversely affected by the War on Drugs,” according to a slide projected during the presentation. […]
“We really have tee’d up a whole bunch of questions that we need to work through with [the Pritzker administration], or that’s the goal anyway,” Steans told the Sun-Times. “So, once we have that [gubernatorial point person] identified, we’ll sort of work through some of those issues and get it out there.”
Gov. Pritzker has said he wants to use cannabis revenues for all sort of things, including funding a capital bill. But that’s not how it’s developing at the moment. Stay tuned.
* Foxx vows to expunge all misdemeanor pot convictions, pushes full legalization: “At the [state’s attorney’s office], we have moved away from prosecuting most possession cases — but that does little to help the person who can’t get a job or apartment due to a marijuana conviction,” Foxx wrote. “The research and evidence indisputably show the housing and employment barriers associated with a marijuana conviction.” People with misdemeanor pot convictions will not have to petition individually to have them expunged from their records, according to Kiera Ellis, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney’s office.
* State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announces support for legalizing pot, calls for expunging misdemeanor convictions: In the 1960s, possession of even one joint under Illinois law was a felony with a mandatory prison sentence. By 1970, a misdemeanor possession charge of 2.5 grams of marijuana could yield a one-year sentence in county jail and a $1,000 fine, while a felony conviction was punishable up to 10 years in prison, according to a Tribune article from that time. But public opinion has swayed in favor of marijuana legalization over the decades, with 62 percent of Americans in support as of last October, a five-fold increase from 12 percent in 1969, according to the Pew Research Center.
* The state today asked the Illinois Supreme Court for a 90-day extension of the deadline to appeal the appellate court’s decision in the AFSCME contract contract impasse case. The appellate court had vacated the Illinois Labor Board’s finding that there was an impasse.
The State requests a second extension of time to allow the new administration sufficient time to review with legal counsel the issues in the case and related matters and the potential arguments in support of the petition.
Gov. Rauner’s administration sought and received a delay last year. The state had until today to file its motion.
* AFSCME Council 31…
We’re preparing to file an objection to this motion. There’s no need for another extension or further review of the appellate court decision, which found that Bruce Rauner wrongly walked out on negotiations, falsely claiming the parties were at impasse.
While we’re pleased that Governor Pritzker has made clear he intends to return to the bargaining table, that’s all the more reason to drop Rauner’s impasse appeal.
The governor’s office also claimed today that the state is working with AFSCME to seek extensions of time or stays in other pending litigation to allow the state some breathing room to review all of the pending matters and give the government and AFSCME an opportunity to return to the bargaining table.
* From Jordan Abudayyeh in the governor’s office…
Governor Pritzker’s priority is to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a contract with state workers that is fair to both the state’s dedicated workforce and fair to taxpayers.
* AFSCME is gonna want a lot…
In a @CapConnectIL interview that will air this Sunday, @AFSCME31’s legislative director lays out the top items on their wish list: pay raises for state workers, cheaper healthcare for state workers, and assurances their work won’t be outsourced to private contractors. https://t.co/mgVPigQcJG
AFSCME also applied some pressure on @GovPritzker’s administration today, saying “there should be no delay” in cutting checks for backpay on frozen step payments. Pritzker has signaled he wants to move quickly to address this, but no clear immediate answers just yet. https://t.co/leMUmwLWb6
* December 6, 2018 press release from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum…
Media personality, author and political commentator Glenn Beck is helping to ensure that one-of-a-kind Lincoln artifacts remain accessible to visitors at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The library’s executive director, Alan Lowe, announced Thursday that Beck’s charity, Mercury One, has gifted $50,869.
“We are extraordinarily grateful for the generosity of Glenn, his listeners, and Mercury One donors,” Lowe said. “Glenn contacted us as soon as he heard of our challenge and asked how he could help. The donation from Mercury One, as well as Glenn’s continued call for his audience to protect Lincoln’s legacy, is inspiring.”
The money was then donated to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, which is deeply in debt because it paid one of its board members millions of dollars for artifacts - one of which (Lincoln’s alleged hat) may not even be authentic.
The ALPLM last June loaned [Beck’s] Mercury One some of its most precious possessions, including a copy of the Gettysburg Address, a key to Lincoln’s house, a letter he wrote and a nameplate from his home informing passersby that A. Lincoln lived there. The 2018 loan was the third time ever that the Gettysburg Address has left the Springfield institution. It was Mercury One’s opening weekend as a museum.
The museum doesn’t charge money to loan artifacts.
(T)he person who keeps [things safe at Beck’s Mercury One] is Courtney Mayden, who was hired in the fall of 2017 as an associate curator at the Dallas-area facility. Before that, she was a server at Pluckers Wing Bar in nearby Addison. She also has a degree in art history and had served as volunteer docent at a Fort Worth art museum and worked as a gallery attendant at a Dallas art museum.
It was Mayden’s job to ensure that humidity, temperatures, security and other details were up to snuff to protect Abe’s speech and other relics. She helped unpack the ALPLM artifacts, according to emails, and repacked them for the return trip to Springfield. ALPLM director Alan Lowe made the trip, with plans to be interviewed by Beck for a television program.
The Gettysburg Address is so cherished that the five existing copies are kept in near darkness within vaults where temperatures are between 50 and 65 degrees and relative humidity is between 40 and 48 percent, according to a 2013 story in Popular Science. A fingerprint is cause for consternation because oils left from human skin attract contaminants that speed decay. The ALPLM measures its copy, according to the 2013 story, to determine how its dimensions change in different conditions.
Wills says via email that Lowe was present when artifacts were unpacked and put on display, and he notes that everything was returned safe and sound. “We appreciate your interest in this textbook example of how to properly handle the loan of a historic document,” Wills wrote.
Textbook? Shipping arrangements were made before a loan agreement was signed with an outfit that had never before held an exhibition. The Mercury One website is festooned with “Donate Now” buttons, the charity’s collection is a hodgepodge that includes Hollywood memorabilia, an exploding rat and sundry other items, with a Thomas Paine letter and a few other historic documents thrown in. Mayden seems earnest in emails, but she was just getting started as a professional conservator. It sounds like a lot of stuff got slapped together at the last minute, compared with prior loans and how they roll at the Library of Congress.
Sounds a bit risky to me.
* But this is from the library…
We found that Mercury One had excellent security, appropriate climate controls and a knowledgeable curator who was willing to work with us at every step. Mercury One covered all expenses for the loan, including special, high-security shipping. Our director was present for its installation.
The Address did not leave the ALPLM until our experts were satisfied it would be perfectly safe – which it was. It returned to the presidential library five days later in pristine condition.
The ALPLM staff are to be commended for their attention to detail, and we thank the Mercury One Foundation for handling this document with such care and respect as they shared it with a new audience. […]
The ALPLM cannot know the work history of employees at institutions that borrow material from us. Their previous jobs are not relevant. What’s relevant are the institutions’ procedures and professionalism. We did our due diligence to ensure that Mercury One met all requirements. The outcome was a positive experience for both the ALPLM and Mercury One.
The ALPLM staff is dedicated to protecting every item in our collection. No one would have hesitated to speak up if there had been any hint of a problem with the circumstances of this loan. Everyone was satisfied that the objects would be in safe hands – which was indeed the case. All the items loaned to Mercury One came back in perfect shape.
* From Chris Wills…
The Illinois Times article mentioned that this is only the third time we have loaned out the Gettysburg Address. What it failed to include is that this was only the third time anyone has ever asked the ALPLM to borrow the address. It’s not like we routinely turn down request after request but made an exception in this particular case.
* Before posting this press release about a Gov. Pritzker executive order requiring IDHS to make sure the state is spending all it is allowed to spend on Illinois welcoming centers for immigrants, I wanted to know if there were real concerns about money not being expended.
I was told that the Rauner administration proposed eliminating funding for Welcoming Centers in its FY19, FY18, and FY17 budgets. Rauner’s FY19 budget proposal indicated that it expected to spend $0 out of the $1,499,000 million in FY18. For FY17, his office reported expending $914,700 out of the $2,630,700 appropriation.
* So, here you go…
While President Trump continues to demonize immigrant families to advance a political agenda, Gov. Pritzker is taking a proactive approach to welcome immigrant families to Illinois, ensuring they are supported and know their rights.
Illinois is home to 1.8 million immigrants, and one in six Illinois workers is an immigrant. There are 120,000 immigrant business owners in the state, and immigrants who are employers generate more than $2.5 billion in business income. They also pay billions in federal, state and local taxes. Importantly, immigrants are our neighbors, our friends and our family.
“This executive order will help protect immigrants and refugees and allow all our diverse immigrant communities to thrive. Let there be no doubt that Illinois is a welcoming state,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “With our president doing everything he can to attack immigrants and refugees in Illinois, I want to make it clear from the beginning of my administration that we’re going to stand up for all of our children and families. Illinois should be a state where all have access to opportunity and the ability to thrive, and my administration is taking steps to advance that goal.”
Alongside legislators and immigrant rights advocates at Family Focus Aurora, Gov. Pritzker signed an executive order that expands access to welcoming centers and informs immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers of the state programs that promote their human and civil rights as well as social and economic opportunity. Executive Order 2019-07 seeks to bring dignity, respect and stability into communities that have been attacked for too long.
“Immigrants who come to America want to better their lives, contribute to their communities and live in a place where they feel safe. Welcoming Centers play a key role in guiding new immigrants and those seeking asylum as they settle into our great state,” said Sen. Omar Aquino (D-2nd). “After years of dealing with a governor who continuously devalued the importance of these services, I look forward to working with a governor who places priority on our most vulnerable populations.”
“Anti-immigrant rhetoric has given fuel to negative perceptions and stereotypes of our nation’s immigrant populations, forcing thousands of immigrant families to live in fear on a daily basis,” said Sen. Linda Holmes (D-42nd). “I commend Gov. Pritzker’s early work to ensure Illinois remains a welcoming place for immigrants from across the world who continue to strengthen our economy, our neighborhoods and our state.”
“While the president holds the federal government hostage to build a wall and torment immigrant families, Gov. Pritzker is making it clear that Illinois is a welcoming state,” said Rep. Lisa Hernandez (D-24th).“This executive order ensures that immigrants and refugees know about the state resources are available to them and sends a signal to families across our state that we have a governor who will not only protect them against Trump’s attacks, but who will do whatever he can to help them live better lives.”
“Governor Pritzker is working to restore trust between government and immigrant families that have been under attack and cast into the shadows,” said Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-83rd). “Today’s executive order shows this governor is committed to making Illinois a welcoming state, letting families know their rights and getting them the tools they need to thrive.”
* Diane Pathieu, Craig Wall and Sarah Schulte at ABC7…
Alderman Danny Solis (Ward 25) agreed to secretly record conversations with Alderman Ed Burke (Ward 14) following a federal investigation into his own campaign finances, a source told ABC7 Wednesday.
A source familiar with the investigation said the FBI began investigating Solis in 2014 and 2015 for allegations he was misusing campaign funds for personal use.
The source told ABC7 that a search warrant was served on Solis’ home and another location where the campaign money was spent. The feds then leveraged Solis and convinced him to wear a wire when speaking with Burke.
In 2014, Chicago alderman Danny Solis became the subject of a federal criminal investigation, according to a source familiar with the investigation. That would be a year before 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke also became a target of federal authorities, according to the timeline in a federal criminal complaint.
On Wednesday the Chicago Sun-Times reported Solis secretly recorded conversations with Burke as part of a federal investigation. NBC5 News has not been able to independently confirm the Sun-Times report.
NBC 5 has learned that Solis’ cooperation with the feds was brought about by the fact that Solis himself was the subject of a criminal investigation dating back to 2014. To date no charges have been brought against the retiring 25th Ward alderman.
According to a source familiar with the investigation, a confidential informant wired up on Solis at least a year before Solis is reported to have wired up on Burke.
* Meanwhile, news outlets were able to pry loose what the feds were searching for in Ed Burke’s offices…
[Documents regarding] “Private gain for himself (Burke) and others including Klafter and Burke”—his law firm—“in exchange for taking or refraining…from official action.”
Six individuals are listed in the search warrants—but only by letters, as are 14 other entities.
The Feds were in search of all documents concerning “Burke’s efforts to obtain employment, patronage jobs or other benefits for his personal associates.” And any evidence of using city personnel used to “conduct or advance his law firm.” […]
Two weeks the original raid, federal agents were back once more at the Finance Committee office and a second search warrant explains why.
They removed six Dell servers, two HP servers and one IBM server.
Agents were looking for any evidence of “referral fees, fee-splitting, fee-sharing, and consulting agreements” involving Burke’s law firm, Klafter & Burke, the records show. They also demanded contact information and the work locations of all of Burke’s employees.
The haul removed by agents that day included a Rolodex, a personal phone book and numerous computer towers, hard drives and thumb drives, the records show. Other items taken were labeled by the FBI as checks to or from Burke’s law firm; TIF files from Burke’s 14th Ward; an unidentified resume; “Water Commissioner documents” and something labeled “Old Main Post Office file.” Agents also seized a file related to Perry Mandera, a strip club owner and trucking executive who recently opened a medical marijuana dispensary, the records show. […]
Two folders taken by agents concerned Brian Hynes — an apparent reference to the longtime lobbyist and lawyer with deep connections to House Speaker Michael Madigan. Hynes grew up near Madigan on the Southwest Side, and later worked on Madigan’s staff, according to a profile of him in Crain’s 40 Under 40 list.
The attachment also asked for any documents showing the “use of property and personnel of the city of Chicago to conduct or advance the business of his law firm.”
The Sun-Times has previously reported that one Finance Committee employee, Meaghan Cleary Synowiecki, a great-niece of Burke’s wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, was ordered by the alderman to find out the name of the law firm the Burger King owners used to appeal their property taxes, records show. Her husband, Michael Synowiecki, is a lobbyist who represents several City Hall contractors who have used Burke’s law firm to appeal their taxes.
According to Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), legislators like herself who’ve been working on a legalization bill have held at least 50 negotiating sessions, six legislative hearings and hosted 7 or 8 town halls over the past couple of years.
There has been no “rush.” All four legislative caucuses have been involved. Everyone is being heard. And we’ll see even more action as soon as the House and Senate committees start meeting.
“What we’re seeing is a definite increase in crash risk that is associated with the legalized recreational use of marijuana,” said David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute, which conducted the study.
Though driving statistics today look for the presence of cannabis in vehicle crashes, reports are often inaccurate. The mere mention of marijuana in a case — whether the user was a driver, passenger or pedestrian — can result in the case being included in sweeping claims about driving
Researchers have also found another potential land mine: the possibility that regular marijuana use causes mental health problems. We’re not talking 1930s “Reefer Madness” hysteria, either.
According to the National Academy of Medicine report, as author and former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson pointed out in a recent Times op-ed, “cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.”
The [National Academy of Medicine] report is very careful in its findings. It notes that there’s “substantial evidence” for an association between marijuana and psychotic disorders, and that the association is dose-dependent — greater risk correlates with heavier marijuana use. But the report also notes that the explanation for the association is unclear.
Berenson favors the idea that pot causes and worsens psychosis and psychotic disorders. The National Academies’ report, though, says that other possibilities are plausible: Maybe psychosis or psychotic disorders lead to marijuana use, or a third factor — say, genes or environment — leads to psychosis and marijuana use. It could be a mix of all these factors.
The conclusion, if there is one: “This is a complex issue, one that certainly warrants further investigation.” In other words, we don’t know yet.
Separately, the National Academies also analyzed studies on how marijuana affects symptoms of psychotic disorders. This research was more limited, although some evidence showed that a history of marijuana use may actually improve cognitive performance for people with psychotic disorders (which could explain why people with psychotic disorders self-medicate with weed, if that’s the case). But the report ultimately concluded that the evidence in this area was merely “limited” to “moderate,” so more research is necessary.
Despite these warnings, our legislators in Springfield — revenue-hungry and homework-averse boneheads that they are — can be expected to move full speed ahead on Gov. Pritzker’s top priority.
Again, this ignores everything that’s been done over the years to get to this point.
“States that have gone about this as a revenue-generator are going about it wrong.”
…Adding… OK, Sen. Steans now gets the last word…
State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) issued the following statement today after Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx came out in support of Steans’ proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis in Illinois:
“One of our primary goals with this legislation is to begin to repair the decades of damage from the War on Drugs, particularly within minority communities.
“We know we cannot undo the disproportionate harm prohibition caused among minorities, but we can keep a firm eye on social justice as we move forward with legalization.
“State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx has a stellar record of fighting for criminal justice reform in Cook County. Expunging records of people convicted of non-violent, cannabis-related misdemeanors is an excellent first step and will aid in removing obstacles to employment and housing. Her support is a vote of confidence, and I look forward to working with her as we craft the best piece of legislation possible.”
Foxx also said today: “In the interest of justice, we will begin to proactively seek conviction relief for all misdemeanor marijuana convictions.”
* As we discussed last week, Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Jason Van Dyke for 2nd Degree Murder instead of on the 16 counts of Aggravated Battery With a Firearm, even though the Illinois Supreme Court has clearly ruled that convicted defendants should be charged with the Class X Aggravated Battery instead of the 2nd Degree Murder charge.
I just saw Dave Clarkin’s tweet from last night, which sums it up rather well…
By the judge’s logic if you shoot someone 15 times committing aggravated battery but they are still alive, you should shoot them one more time to commit second degree murder so you walk on the 15 aggravated battery charges. That is a perversion of justice.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office says it is reviewing the legality of the sentence handed down last week to former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke for the murder of Laquan McDonald.
“We are going to do a careful review of the record and the law and make a determination based on our review,” Maura Possley, a spokeswoman for the office, said Wednesday afternoon. […]
Some legal experts say the best way to challenge Van Dyke’s sentence would be to seek a “mandamus” order from the Illinois Supreme Court. That court could find Gaughan violated the law by basing the punishment on the second-degree murder count, a Class 1 felony, instead of the battery counts, which carry a more serious designation, Class X.
A spokesman for [Special Prosecutor Joseph McMahon] on Wednesday said the special prosecutor is “still reviewing” the sentence.
Daniel Herbert, one of Van Dyke’s attorneys, blasted the review by the attorney general as politically motivated, accusing Raoul of exploiting “the tragic death of Laquan McDonald for his own political gain.”
The office could have filed legal briefs in response to Herbert’s arguments at sentencing but chose not to, Herbert pointed out.
“Now he suddenly has concerns after the sentencing in the wake of some public outcry,” he said in an emailed statement. “This is about politics, not the law.”
Raoul was sworn in a few days before the sentencing date, so that argument is bogus.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the special prosecutor’s office…
The propriety of a sentence may be challenged by filing a petition for a Writ of Mandamus. However, the granting or denial of that petition is subject to the discretion of the Illinois Supreme Court. We are currently reviewing the trial court’s ruling in conjunction with the relevant case law and statutory authority that bears on the sentence imposed on Jan. 18. The unique facts of this case require consideration of the complex principles of Illinois law.
* I took a quick look this morning at the very first bills sponsored by House freshmen. These bills can tell us a lot about the new members’ priorities, so we may check them again.
Several freshmen haven’t introduced their own bills yet, and lots of House Republicans have only signed on to House GOP Leader Durkin’s remap proposal. Anyway, here’s the first bill for Rep. Dan Didech (D-Buffalo Grove)…
HB0887
Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that the Department of State Police has authority to deny an application for or to revoke and seize a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued under the Act if the Department finds that the applicant or the person to whom the card was issued is or was at the time of issuance a person who has been convicted within the past 5 years of stalking or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, in which a firearm was used or possessed.
“Gun safety” was, if I recall correctly, a big issue in Didech’s campaign.
Amends the Probate Act of 1975. Defines “administrative separation”. Provides that the court lacks jurisdiction to proceed on a petition for the appointment of a guardian or standby guardian of a minor if it finds that the minor has a living parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, unless, among other things, the parent or parents, in the event of an administrative separation, are not presently located in the United States and are unable to consent as evidenced by a sworn affidavit. Provides that a parent or guardian shall not appoint a short-term guardian of a minor if the minor has another living parent whose parental rights have not be terminated, unless, among other things, the parent or parents, in the event of an administrative separation, are not presently located in the United States and are unable to consent as evidenced by a sworn affidavit.
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that beginning April 1, 2020, and on a bi-annual basis thereafter, the Illinois Commerce Commission shall issue a report to the General Assembly concerning the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in this State. Provides for the contents of the report.
Amends the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act. Provides that if a purchaser makes payment over the phone, in writing, or via the Internet, and the property is delivered to a location in this State, then the sale shall be sourced to the location where the property is delivered. Provides that the sale shall be deemed to have occurred at the customer’s address if the property is delivered and the delivery location is unknown. Amends the Counties Code, the Illinois Municipal Code, the Flood Prevention District Act, the Local Mass Transit District Act, and the Regional Transportation Authority Act. Provides that a unit of local government may require a retailer to collect and remit certain use and occupation taxes if the retailer qualifies as a “retailer maintaining a place of business in this State” under certain provisions of the Use Tax Act.
Creates the Laquan McDonald Act. Establishes a procedure for an election to recall the Mayor of Chicago, an alderman of the City of Chicago, and the Cook County State’s Attorney. Effective immediately.
Not sure why a Naperville legislator would do this, except she says she’s running for US Senate.
…Adding… Stava-Murray’s bill was first introduced in 2016 by… wait for it… Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-Chicago). It went nowhere.
Amends the Sex Offender Registration Act. Provides that a person who has committed a violation or attempted violation of unauthorized video recording and live video transmission is subject to registration if the victim is a person under 18 years of age when the offense was committed on or after the effective date of the amendatory Act.
Looks like he’s adding to the list of punishable offenses.
* The Question: What would be your first bill? Explain.
Chicago mayoral hopeful Susana Mendoza received a big infusion of campaign cash last year from the political organization of Ald. Danny Solis (25th Ward) — who is a mole in the federal corruption investigation against powerful Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward).
Records show Solis’ 25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization gave $55,400 on March 15 to Mendoza. She was re-elected as Illinois comptroller in November, but promptly declared her candidacy for mayor in next month’s election. […]
“If Danny Solis is charged with wrongdoing, Susana will donate the contribution,” the spokeswoman, Rebecca Evans, said in a statement sent to WBEZ.
On the same day as the contribution from Solis, Mendoza received another $45,200 from five companies whose board members are investors in a firm founded by Solis’ sister Patti Doyle Solis and one of the alderman’s longtime supporters, lawyer Brian Hynes.
That company, Vendor Assistance Program LLC, is based in Chicago and has been a major beneficiary of a program to speed payments to government contractors owed money from the state.
* Mendoza has since changed her mind…
Today, Susana Mendoza released the below statement announcing she is donating all contributions received from VAP affiliated organizations and individuals and Danny Solis’ political committees to the Montford Point Marines, and calling on Toni Preckwinkle to end her lies and follow Susana’s lead on providing transparency. Attached is a check proving Susana Mendoza’s donation to the Montford Point Marines.
“I am donating $73,900 received from Danny Solis’ political organizations and $67,650 received from VAP related organizations and individuals to the very worthy Montford Point Marines war heroes and veterans to save their chapter hall in Englewood and help fund critical repairs. These were legal contributions that were fully disclosed as is required by law. Nonetheless, given new information that has come to light regarding these individuals and organizations, my value system dictates that I immediately donate these funds to this worthy cause. I call on Toni Preckwinkle to do the same within 24 hours with the $116,000 she received from the Ed Burke fundraiser that is now the subject of an FBI criminal complaint. By waiting until the end of March to return this tainted money, she is choosing to use dirty money to get her through this mayoral election. That’s shameful. From accepting an illegal campaign contribution from an alleged extortion scheme, to covering up sexual harassment allegations against her chief of staff, to firing the head of her security detail to cover up using a county vehicle for political purposes, to yesterday’s revelation of a patronage hiring, it’s clear that Toni Preckwinkle is the boss of the party bosses and is the last person who can be trusted to end this backroom culture of corruption she’s been a part of over the last quarter of a century.”
* From the comptroller’s office…
Due to the catastrophic budget impasse, the state racked up more than $1 billion in late payment interest penalties. Comptroller Mendoza was the first public official to loudly raise the alarm about this wasteful spending. She has also criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the state’s Vendor Payment Program (VPP) since she first took office.
Not only has Comptroller Mendoza prioritized social services, schools, universities, healthcare and pensions ahead of qualified purchasers during the budget impasse, she also championed the Vendor Payment Program Transparency Act to shed light on the program. For the first time since the program’s creation, qualified purchasers and the program’s financial backers are now displayed in a monthly report on the Comptroller’s Office Website.
Representatives of the purchasers went before a legislative committee in the spring to bemoan that fact that they felt they were not being paid quickly enough. The Vendor Payment Program played an important role in keeping many vendors afloat during Illinois’ 793-day impasse. The state owes these interest penalties, and they will be paid. But there is still a $7.7 billion backlog of unpaid bills that the Comptroller’s office must triage. In paying those bills, Comptroller Mendoza will do what she has always done: prioritize education and care for the state’s most vulnerable residents.
Things to know:
* The oldest commercial voucher is late September. We’re working on finishing paying September, but we are more current with education and other priority payments like pensions and debt service.
* The oldest interest vouchers date back to 2016.
As far as I can tell, there’s no evidence that Mendoza gave Vendor Assistance Program LLC any preferential treatment. But campaigns being campaigns, this is probably a wise move. The check was written out of her Friends For Susana Mendoza account, which is her statewide account, and it pretty much wipes out all the money left in that fund.
* Governing Magazine conducted a six-month investigation into segregation in Downstate Illinois. From their findings…
What emerged was a picture of the way segregation continues to shape and reshape metropolitan areas in Illinois and, indeed, throughout many parts of the country. In these cities, segregation means not just a physical divide, but a huge disparity in resources. White areas of town benefit from more development, better infrastructure and more accommodating government policies.
What’s more, we found local governments bear much of the responsibility for creating and maintaining segregated communities. Mayors and other city officials are often focused on immediate concerns, such as balancing tight budgets or attracting economic development. While those are legitimate, pressing issues, the resulting policies can often reinforce segregation. Through unspoken traditions and ingrained attitudes, as well as explicit government actions, city officials are in many ways responsible for maintaining a system that still divides whites and blacks.
When it comes to land use — what gets built where — governments use zoning restrictions to keep out rental housing, which attracts blacks and other minorities, from predominantly white areas. They approve new residential subdivisions with strict deed restrictions that make large swaths of communities unaffordable to low-income residents and often explicitly bar any use other than single-family homes. As they restrict where apartments can be built, local governments also play a big role in deciding where public housing and other taxpayer-supported affordable housing projects are located. That often leads to concentrated areas of low-income housing in black neighborhoods. Those changes almost inevitably become permanent, because the income restrictions and other rules that come with public subsidies last for decades.
Public schools are a key factor as well. While segregation in schools is often viewed as a product of the neighborhoods the schools are located in, the truth is much more complicated because schools shape the neighborhoods they serve. In many cases, in fact, they exacerbate segregation by driving white flight to suburban areas. That is especially true in Illinois, because of its proliferation of small school districts. As cities such as Peoria and Springfield stretch beyond their original district borders, white residents flock to the suburban-style schools on their peripheries. Farther-out villages have transformed themselves from farm towns to bedroom communities by luring white families with new subdivisions and the promise of better schools in stand-alone school districts. The net result is that predominantly white suburban districts are flourishing, while urban districts have become increasingly black and suffer from declining tax bases.
Finally, residents in predominantly black neighborhoods routinely face more scrutiny from police and other government agencies, which reinforces the patterns of segregation that have already emerged. Government actions such as increased code enforcement, zero tolerance policies for drugs in public housing and disproportionately targeting black neighborhoods for traffic stops result in black residents facing more municipal fines or other minor punishments. Though seemingly small, those infractions, combined with the fact that blacks are far more likely to be arrested and imprisoned than whites, can make it harder for residents to clear their name and qualify for good-paying jobs that require criminal background checks. That barrier to jobs is significant for downstate communities: The Peoria, Decatur, Rockford and Carbondale metropolitan areas were all ranked among the top 10 for highest black unemployment rates in the country in 2017.
High Residential Segregation: The Peoria area had the sixth-highest level of segregation measured between blacks and whites of any metro area in the country, while the Danville area ranked 12th nationally. Kankakee, Rockford and Springfield were similarly among the top third most segregated metro areas between black and whites.
Lack of Progress: Levels of segregation within the Champaign-Urbana, Danville and Peoria areas have remained essentially unchanged since 1980, counter to prevailing national downward trends.
White Flight: Many areas of Illinois have experienced significant white flight over the past several decades. This pattern has continued in recent years in some urban neighborhoods. (View map)
Extremely Segregated Schools: Our analysis of federal data found the Peoria metro area had the most segregated schools between black and white students of any area nationally, regardless of size. The problem is prevalent throughout the state, with black-white school segregation in eight of 10 Illinois metro areas in the top third in the U.S. Only Bloomington-Normal and Carbondale recorded lower levels of segregation.
School District Segregation: Segregation within individual school districts is much less severe than in entire metro areas, suggesting school district boundaries contribute to segregation.
Shifting School Demographics: Over the past 15 years, nearly all large urban downstate Illinois school districts lost at least a third of white student enrollment. Suburban school districts haven’t experienced nearly the same declines.
Black Incomes Lag Far Behind: Racial disparities in household incomes are severe throughout Illinois. In Springfield, differences between median black and white incomes were greater than any other metro area nationally. They were also among the top 10 percent in the Bloomington-Normal, Decatur, Kankakee and Peoria metro areas.
Elevated Black Poverty Rates: The latest Census estimates suggest Peoria has the highest black poverty rate of any larger metro area. Several other Illinois metro areas similarly recorded among the steepest black poverty rates nationally.
* Their stories…
* Houses Divided: How States and Cities Reinforce Segregation in America: It didn’t take Silas Johnson long after he moved to Springfield, Ill., to identify the border that separates the black section of the city from the white one. Growing up in Mississippi as the civil rights movement swept through the South, Johnson knew about dividing lines. In the town of Macon, blacks knew to stay on their side of the railroad tracks. “It wasn’t something that was taught,” he says. “It was just something that was known.”
* Still Separate After All These Years: How Schools Fuel White Flight: The city of Peoria has its own school district, a chronically troubled system with a declining enrollment that serves mostly black students. About 70 percent are low-income. White families have been avoiding the troubles of the inner-city school district by moving to the northern part of town, where they can send their kids to Dunlap instead. As a result, Dunlap’s school system is booming.
* Broken Homes: How Housing Policies Keep White Neighborhoods So White (and Black Neighborhoods So Black): The fact that Hightower finds herself renting an apartment on the East Side of Springfield is no accident. A whole web of federal, state, local and even private regulations over housing and land use ensure that low-income residents live far away from wealthier ones; that apartment buildings are rarely situated next to single family housing; and, as a result, that black residents and white residents largely live in different neighborhoods.
* Black, White and Blue: How Police and Anti-Crime Measures Reinforce Segregation: Our review found many practices that placed greater burdens on black residents than white residents because of where they lived. These practices were used not just by police, but by non- law enforcement agencies like the Rockford Housing Authority. They included increased surveillance, frequent ID checks and rigorously enforced nuisance ordinances.
* Amanda Kass has been working on another white paper about pensions and posted about one aspect of it on Twitter. I’ve copied and pasted her tweets into one post, but click here to read it online…
One big trend I see throughout the legislative history is a sort of sleight of hand.
A pension crisis narrative emerges that focuses on the finances of the pension systems using one or two metrics (the funded ratio and/or unfunded liabilities) and a flurry of speeches, op-eds, etc about how the crisis is dire and must be solved immediately ensues.
But these same speeches and op-eds also touch on a second, related issue: pension payments in context of the state’s operating budget, and concern that payments are burdensome + crowding out other areas of the budget.
The sleight of hand occurs when legislation is passed that cuts the state’s required pension payments, but in such a way that that same legislation can also be used to claim the pension crisis is solved.
A prime [example] of this sleight of hand is the [Jim Edgar] 50-year pension ramp, which replaced PA 86-273. That state’s [required] contributions under that prior law were higher, but payments were subject to the annual appropriation process + lawmakers simply didn’t adhere to the payment schedule.
Rather than just make the [required] payments lawmakers elected to scrap the existing plan and put in a new 50-year one that started out with a fifteen year ramp period. So not only did this lower the [required] payment, but it kicked paying down unfunded liabilities decades into the future.
Lawmakers also made the pension contributions under the new 50-year plan subject to a continuing appropriation, which meant that if they failed to appropriate the payments during the budget making process the payments would still get made.
Passage of the 50-year funding plan was touted as a good compromise that fixed the pension mess… even though the state’s payments to just TRS would have been an estimate $400 million more under the old law.
And while the continuing appropriation was a good measure, state lawmakers can change the state’s payments through legislation. Precisely what [happened] w/PA 94-4, which cut the state’s pension payments for FY2006 + FY 2007 [under Blagojevich].
*** UPDATE *** Rep. Rob Martwick (D-Chicago)…
This year, despite the availability of more attractive assignments, I decided to remain the Chair of the House Committee on Personnel and Pensions. I decided to stay with pensions because more than ever, I believe that Illinois’ future will be determined by how we deal with out pension debt. Name a problem that the state is dealing with. I bet that at least 9 out of 10 times, I can show you how our inability to handle our pension debt has caused that problem or made it worse. If we are to solve Illinois, we must solve the pension debt crisis.
As I read Amanda’s thoughts, something echoed in my mind. Nearly every solution that has been ever been proposed to deal with pensions has involved putting LESS money into the fund, not more. Whatever your political persuasion, there is one undeniable fact: If you try to pay off a debt by putting less money toward that debt, you will not succeed. Whether it was the Edgar ramp, the Blagojevich pension holidays, we have constantly tried to lower the payment in order to solve whatever our crisis of the moment is. Until we commit money into front loading the repayment schedule, we will only make the problem worse. In my role, I will continue to push for math based solutions that solve the problem. No one wants a tax increase. No one.
However, I believe that our citizens will support us if we actually solve problems. According to COGFA, adding $1B per year to the annual pension payment would cut 7 years off the repayment schedule, reaching 90% funding by 2038 instead of 2045, saving the taxpayers $60 billion in repayment costs.
Under this scenario, the payment in 2039 would drop from approximately $16 billion to about $2 billion. That $14 billion dollar annual budget windfall could be used to pay for an increased investment in K-12, higher education, infrastructure, and social programs. It could even be used to pay for a tax decrease. Imagine that. Instead of just empty promises that certain legislators make to “fight” for lower taxes, we could provide a plan to pay for one.
We can and should consider to look at creative ways to manage the repayment so that we can find any and all savings possible. That’s what Rep. Batinick and I did with pension buyouts, and I will always be open to new and creative ideas like reamortization, consolidation and bonding. However, I will continue to advocate for additional funds. The sooner we pay down our debt in a responsible manner, the sooner we will return Illinois to a fiscally responsible state on the path to prosperity.
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