Johneece Cobb was at the gravesite of her nephew, shot to death in 2015, when she got a horrifying call: Her 14-year-old granddaughter had just been shot outside Wendell Phillips Career Academy in Bronzeville.
Police said the shooter laid in wait outside the Bronzeville school as classes were letting out, and “immediately starts shooting” when the security guard opened the door for students leaving the building.
Cobb’s granddaughter, a freshman, was shot twice when bullets pieced the door. The 45-year-old security guard was shot multiple times, police said. He was taken to University of Chicago Hospital in fair condition. […]
Pastor Michael Pfleger, frustrated by the lack of response from City Hall, is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a “state of emergency” as gun violence continues to plague the city. An online petition created by Brave Youth Leaders — the church’s violence prevention program — has been circulating on social media.
With this state of emergency we are asking that additional emergency funds be allotted via state grant opportunities to community grassroots organizations/programs for:
1.Youth Mentoring and After School Violence Prevention Programs, Organizations and Services
2.Organizations Servicing At-Risk and Criminal Involved Youth under 25 years and younger.
3.Initiating a Taskforce with the ATF (The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) assigned with the IL State Police to gun/drug trafficking and shooting/homicide cases.
4.Full time mental health/trauma specialists staffing in to public schools and community organizations along with a combination of trade and vocational classes and certification opportunities with college readiness resources for youth.
5.Incorporating of a Statewide Violence Prevention Office With Grassroot Organizations as Liaisons
Pfleger also called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare a state of emergency and come up with a plan on “how we’re going to stop this. It just keeps getting worse.” […]
“How many children, how many lives before we say it’s a state of emergency? We are at a state of emergency now,” Pfleger said. “And I believe that the governor is cautious, doesn’t want to embarrass the city or, you know, overstep the city. I don’t care about feelings anymore.
“I don’t care who’s embarrassed, I don’t care who’s hurt,” he said.
* The Question: What do you think the governor should do about this? Make sure to explain your answer.
A campaign official for Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said this week there is “no way” the mayor will join the race for governor.
Dennis Cook, a campaign spokesman who has served as Irvin’s campaign manager in his races for mayor, said this week an online video interview that named Irvin as a potential candidate in the Republican primary was likely “just wishful thinking.”
“No, he’s not running for governor,” Cook told The Beacon-News. “Richard just got re-elected in April. We have a job to do.” […]
Irvin himself did not address the rumors, and referred questions about it to Cook.
He ran for the House and was elected. He then ran for the Senate and is serving there, even when he’s being asked to leave because he refuses to wear a mask. Now, he’s running for governor.
“God’s opening these doors and we’re being obedient in walking through these doors, that’s all we’re doing,” Bailey said. “A message of hope, standing up for the people, that’s something different and unique to Illinois.”
He’s not fond of career politicians, saying, “As soon as people get elected, they try to figure out to get re-elected and when they do that, then you’ve got to start pleasing everyone. It’s that simple. George Washington served to terms and stepped aside, that was the example.”
So, instead of trying to get re-elected he just keeps running for another office. Got it.
Jonathan Logemann is a soldier, a high school teacher, a family man and a Rockford alderman.
He would like to add congressman to the list.
Logemann, a Democrat, announced on Wednesday that he is running to represent the 17th Congressional District. It is the seat U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline has announced she is retiring from in January 2023 following her fifth term. […]
Re-elected to a seventh term in an uncontested race in April, Alderwoman Linda McNeely, D-13, has also said she plans to run for the seat.
Illinois Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, also said he is considering a run for the seat, but is waiting to see final district boundaries before announcing his candidacy.
His promise to not be one of the fighters in DC may not go over too well in a primary, however. And defeating Stadelman on his own turf could be pretty tough. But, hey, we have zero idea yet what the district will look like.
The Illinois House Legislative Black Caucus has formed a political action committee that will be chaired by Reps. Nick Smith and Lakesia Collins.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a few years, and it took some time to put it together,” Smith told Playbook of the Illinois House Legislative Black Caucus PAC.
Black legislators have for years relied on the Black Caucus Foundation to help boost civic and philanthropic efforts in members’ communities. “We felt we needed something to support the caucus politically, too,” Smith said.
The goal, said Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Kam Buckner, “is to raise funds, mobilize volunteers, and have an effective apparatus to elect and re-elect members of the Black Caucus.”
Creating the PAC comes as the Democratic Party shifts its operations under new leadership. Party members can no longer rely on former House Speaker Michael Madigan to open the purse strings for campaigns. New party Chair Robin Kelly has created a separate fundraising arm for state and local campaigns, while she focuses on fundraising for federal positions.
“Speaker Welch is doing a great job but he’s focused on his entire caucus. And it’s too early to tell how the party’s local [fundraising] committee will do,” Smith said. “There’s a vacuum with Michael Madigan gone, and we see an opportunity to fundraise to help fill that hole.”
Smith is right. Also, If Rep. Buckner really does want to run for mayor, he’ll need some significant fundraising experience.
* Press release…
Today, Congressman Sean Casten announced he has raised over $473,000 in the third quarter of 2021. The campaign’s impressive fundraising haul brings its total cash on hand to $1.05 million.
Campaign Spokesman Jacob Vurpillat released the following statement:
“These impressive fundraising numbers reflect a wide surge of support for Rep. Casten and everything he has accomplished so far this Congress, like passing critical legislation to safeguard our economy from the devastating effects of the climate crisis. People in the 6th District have sent a loud and clear message—Rep. Sean Casten is the best person to represent their values and interests in Congress.”
* And here’s a press release I didn’t post earlier…
Nikki Budzinski, a labor activist, Chief of Staff at President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget and former senior advisor to Governor JB Pritzker, announced her campaign has raised 455k since entering the race on August 24th.
Budzinski made the following statement: “I’m humbled and grateful for the support that my friends, family, and supporters in Illinois have shown me since we announced this campaign. I’m eager to continue working to build a broad coalition of support to win the 13th Congressional district for working families.”
This total raised in just over 5 weeks places Budzinski in a strong position as one of the highest-raising Congressional candidates in the country this quarter.
Pretty darned good haul.
*** UPDATE *** Speaking of good hauls…
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth’s (D-IL) reelection campaign announced today that it raised more than $1.8 million in the third quarter of 2021, with more than 43,000 individual contributions averaging under $35 each. Of those contributions, 98% were $100 or less. The campaign, which ended the quarter with nearly $5.8 million cash on hand, issued the following statement regarding this announcement:
“These impressive numbers reiterate how eager Illinoisans are to keep Tammy’s unique and powerful voice in the United States Senate. We’re energized by having this many early supporters and are well into our efforts to build a robust campaign that can reach Illinoisans in every corner of our state and help ensure Tammy can continue executing her mission of advocating for working families, new parents, small businesses, servicemembers and Veterans as our Senator for years to come.”
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh says the disappointing jobs report released in recent days points not only to fears among eligible workers about COVID-19′s highly contagious delta variant, but also an attitude shift in the American workforce.
“I think that we’re seeing people still living with the concern and maybe fear of the pandemic. Maybe their health is not necessarily the best and then they’re worried about their personal health,” Walsh said in a phone interview with the Tribune. The former Boston mayor, whose political star began to rise as a labor leader, said he’s also hearing from employers ranging from health care to financial institutions to construction who say some employees have reconsidered their professional path amid the pandemic and “have just left the job market because of their work-life balance.”
The U.S. logged 194,000 new jobs in September, according to monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. That’s less than half the 500,000 jobs economists were predicting would be added to the economy as enhanced federal unemployment benefits expired and a new school year brought the promise of a raft of teacher and support staff hires, which typically boost fall jobs numbers.
Neither scenario played out. Walsh said it’s clear to him the special federal unemployment benefits, which ended early last month, weren’t keeping people out of the workforce — an argument that picked up political steam as the pandemic wore on — or “we would have seen different numbers” in the recent jobs report.
A group of parents are suing a school district in southern Illinois over who has the right to issue a mask mandate. The suit, in the Triad district, hopes to overturn mask mandates in schools, arguing that the State Board of Education doesn’t have the right to issue one.
Governor JB Pritzker says groups like those are working against the best interests of everyone connected to a school.
Transcript…
There are people who are irresponsible, extraordinarily irresponsible, who are going around the state suing because they basically want to make schools less safe. That’s not right. I mean, we are not at a moment when this pandemic is over.
The Delta variant and its limited impact on Illinois children
Response from the governor’s office…
Misinformation is killing people and putting the wellbeing and safety of communities at risk. The administration, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Illinois Department of Public Health have worked closely with school districts to require masks, establish a vaccine mandate for teachers and staff, and ensure students have access to learning. The pandemic is still here, and it will be irresponsibly prolonged by those twisting data and spreading misinformation.
Also…
The CDC found that the odds of a school-associated COVID-19 outbreak in schools without a mask requirement were 3.5 times higher than those in schools with an early mask requirement.
Minnesota on Tuesday reported a COVID-19 test positivity rate of 8.3% that is the highest in the vaccine era and a level of hospitalizations that hasn’t been seen since the first shots against the coronavirus were administered in mid-December.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Minnesota reached 960 on Monday and included 254 people needing intensive care because of breathing problems or other complications. While that is below the record 1,864 hospitalizations on Nov. 29, it is the highest in 2021 and combines with patients with trauma and other illnesses to fill up 96% of available intensive care beds and 93% of non-ICU beds. […]
Minnesota hospitals continue to report observational findings about COVID-19 patients that match recent vaccine research.
While vaccines might be losing some effectiveness at preventing any infections, studies show they remain protective against severe illness, hospitalization and death.
* With a booster vaccine, should we expect the same kind of side effects?: Dr. John Segreti, medical director of infection control and prevention at Rush University Medical Center, said this is something we will continue to study, and it’s possible that side effects might be similar to initial vaccinations.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been working to change the Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which some have invoked in the fight against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
The 1998 Health Right of Conscience Act bans discrimination because of such persons’ refusal to receive or participate in any way in any particular form of healthcare services contrary to his or her conscience.
Some have said the law allows people to avoid getting the COVID-19 vaccine and evade Pritzker’s executive order mandating vaccination or regularly testing for health care workers, educators and other state employees.
Ameri Klafeta, of the ACLU of Illinois, said people are abusing the 1998 law and using it in a way that was not intended.
“The cases that have been brought under this law have always involved health care professionals,” Klafeta said. “This was never a law for individual citizens.” […]
State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said last month that addressing the HCRCA through legislation would be the first major action Democrats have taken on policies concerning COVID-19.
“I don’t think they want to be put in that vice-like position, but the governor’s pushing it,” Rose said.
Democrats too often allow themselves to be spooked by a tiny and vocal minority. It’s a big reason why they’ve sat on the sidelines for so long.
All over Illinois, said State Representative La Shawn Ford (D-101st) people are outraged by the rash of catalytic converter thefts, sold to scrap metal operators and used car parts dealers for cash.
“So right now, if I have a catalytic converter, I can go into a company and sell it to the scrap yard and they don’t ask any questions.”
Ford has introduced a new Illinois law that would require catalytic converter sellers to shows buyers a drivers license or state ID. Buyers would then have to log that personal information. […]
The hope to dry up the market for the stolen parts. Similar laws have been passed in other states, including legislation in California in 2019. But State Farm Insurance said its customers claims for catalytic converter thefts jumped a 175% in California between June of 2020 and June of this year.
Prohibits the sale and purchase of catalytic converters not attached to motor vehicles unless the seller is a licensed automotive parts recycler or scrap processor.
* Press release…
Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart and Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins on Thursday will announce proposed state legislation to ban the possession and sale of guns without serial numbers, known as “ghost guns,” and the unserialized gun kits used to make them. Ghost guns are homemade firearms that cannot be traced. The kits used to build ghost guns do not require background checks, which allows anyone – even individuals prohibited from owning a firearm – to purchase them.
Who: Sheriff Thomas J. Dart, Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Collins, and Delphine Cherry, of Brady Illinois
We are requesting pool coverage. Proper COVID-19 precautions will be observed, including social distancing, appropriate use of face masks, and hand sanitization.
* More…
* Medical marijuana, more popular than ever, could still cost you your job in Illinois: Morgan has introduced legislation to challenge Illinois law so most workers or job seekers would not be punished after testing positive for low levels of marijuana, whether recreational or medical.”This law would change the burden in the sense that the individual who fails a drug test alone should not lose their job, and should not be refused an opportunity to work someplace” he explained. “Unless you show impairment, you can’t be discriminated against in the workplace.”
As reporters in Springfield Tuesday tried to pin down Gov. JB Pritzker on whether he’ll try to repeal the state’s Parental Notification Act, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) launched a passionate argument to repeal it.
Abortion rights advocates believe repealing PNA would be a good response to Texas’ anti-abortion laws. As for Duckworth, “Had I gotten pregnant at 16 or 17, I would have been one of those kids who lied to their parents if there were parental notification laws, and I would have gotten an illegal abortion,” she said in Springfield Tuesday. “When you talk about parental notification, it sounds like a good idea, but it also puts those vulnerable young people – the ones who do not have good communications with their parents – in a very vulnerable place, where they have no other options.”
Abortion rights advocates in Illinois believe a repeal would be an appropriate response to, for example, new restrictions in Texas.
Lawmakers are back in town for veto session, which starts next week. Pritzker says a repeal would be up to lawmakers..
* What Pritzker said when asked and then pressed further…
I’m a lifelong pro-choice advocate. I believe in standing up for a woman’s right to choose. This is just one component, but a vital component of making sure that that right is available to all […]
I think I’m clear about it. I’m in favor of a woman’s right to choose. I’m in favor of repealing PNA. I don’t know whether the legislature will bring this up over the two weeks of veto session, but I have stood in favor of it since I was elected. In fact long before that, when my mother had me marching in favor of a woman’s right to choose back in the 1970s.
There’s an opportunity for state lawmakers to create a second Latino congressional district, according to a remap consultant who testified before the Senate Redistricting Committee on Tuesday. The panel is taking public input before it goes behind closed doors to come up with the new boundaries for 17 congressional districts — one less than the current 18.
Illinois has a larger Latino population than Arizona, which has two Latino members of Congress. Only California, Texas, Florida, and New York have higher Latino numbers, according to Frank Calabrese, who is representing Chicago Ald. Gilbert Villegas, chairman of the Latino Caucus, in calling for a second Latino congressional district.
Calabrese says voter engagement among Hispanics has changed since lawmakers first drew Illinois’ 4th Congressional District, now held by Rep. Chuy Garcia. (The district was nicknamed “the earmuffs” because of its odd shape.)
“The 4th District was created a few decades ago because Latinos weren’t voting at high rates and you had to make it a super-Latino district to work,” Calabrese told Playbook after the hearing. “That’s not the case anymore. You don’t need to have a district that needs to be 70 percent Latino.”
He pointed to New York as a good example. The state has one Latino majority district and three other districts that have a Latino plurality. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district, for example, is 47 percent Latino, according to the presentation packet Calabrese gave to lawmakers Tuesday.
In Illinois, he told lawmakers, there’s an opportunity to create a second district in addition to Garcia’s district, which encompasses the South and West sides of Chicago.
There are enough Latinos on the North Side of the city and in the suburbs to create a Latino-centric district that would count 50 percent of Latinos — from northwest Chicago, Melrose Park, Franklin Park, Bensenville, Addison, and Des Plaines. Garcia’s district could continue with a supermajority of Latinos, 67 percent. Some of those areas are now part of Rep. Mike Quigley’s 5th Congressional District.
* Click the pic for a larger version of Calabrese’s proposed maps that he sent me yesterday and more explanation…
The Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting (IAAFER) has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice to ensure that the [new state legislative] maps optimize opportunities for minority voters to elect candidates of their choice. IAAFER also shared concerns regarding prison gerrymandering and how the practice will divert over $800 million from Black communities to prison towns between now and the next Census.
Spokesman Norman Montgomery called the latest version of the maps the most retrogressive redistricting plan in state history, with the lowest number of majority Black districts in 40 years. The number of majority Black representative districts has been cut from 16 in 2011, to 8 in 2021. The number of Black senate districts has been cut from 8 to 4.
“We are back to where we were in 1990,” Montgomery said. “How do you make progress if you lose what you’ve gained over the last 20 years in 20-year increments? You can’t do that.”
IAAFER notes that Black people comprised 14% of Illinois’ population in 2011, and still comprise 14% of the state’s population. However, the number of majority Black districts has been cut by 50%. Whites comprised 60% of Illinois’ population in 2011, and 58% in 2021. Yet, 69% of the districts drawn in the Democrat’s redistricting plan are majority white.
Let’s look at the House data. Click here for district demographics. You’ll see, for instance, that House districts 6-10 have between 39 and 49.5 percent Black voting age population. All but one of them had 50+ percent in the last remap. All of the current incumbents in those districts are Black and some are quite powerful, including House Speaker Chris Welch (42.3 percent) and Rep. Sonya Harper, the Joint Caucus Chair for the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus (45.4 percent). Population on the West Side is becoming more racially diverse as whites and others move in, so Rep. La Shawn Ford’s new district went from 55.3 percent VAP Black to 49.5 percent this time around.
But a House hearing on Tuesday lasted only 15 minutes, most of which was taken up by a roll call for attendance and a pro-forma introductory lesson on the redistricting process, given that zero witnesses submitted testimony virtually, or in-person.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said the address listed for the Joliet hearing site location was incorrect and led to a literal dead-end; he said he was the only legislator on the committee to physically attend.
House redistricting chair State Rep. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, noted that additional hearings are scheduled the rest of this week and encouraged members of the public to participate in them.
Urging its members not to comply with the city’s vaccine reporting mandate, the Chicago police union plans to take Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to court, even though unvaccinated city workers will go into “no-pay” status starting Friday.
Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara said in a video Tuesday that sending home non-compliant officers could cut the city’s police presence over the weekend in half.
The union president said that the FOP already has a class-action grievance drafted to cover “everything under the sun” that police officers might lose if they refuse to get vaccinated, including pay and benefits.
City Hall has announced that any city employees who fail to report their vaccination status by Friday will be placed in a “non-disciplinary, no-pay status.
But Catanzara instructed rank-and-file officers to file exemptions to receiving the vaccine, but not to enter any information into the city mandated vaccine portal.
Former Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo Sr., 67, who led the union during the tumultuous years immediately after the shooting of Laquan McDonald, has died after a weekslong battle with COVID-19.
Mr. Angelo, who served as president of the police union from 2014 to 2017, died Tuesday, according to his son, Chicago Police Sgt. Dean Angelo Jr. He said his father had tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-September and had been in intensive care since Sept. 26. His son had earlier declined to say whether his dad had been vaccinated.
More than 460 American law enforcement officers have died from Covid-19 infections tied to their work since the start of the pandemic, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, making the coronavirus by far the most common cause of duty-related deaths in 2020 and 2021. More than four times as many officers have died from Covid-19 as from gunfire in that period. There is no comprehensive accounting of how many American police officers have been sickened by the virus, but departments across the country have reported large outbreaks in the ranks.
While the virus has ravaged policing, persuading officers to take a vaccine has often been a struggle, even though the shots have proven to be largely effective in preventing severe disease and death.
Some elected officials say police officers have a higher responsibility to get vaccinated because they are regularly interacting with members of the public and could unknowingly spread the virus. The debate echoes concerns from earlier in the pandemic, when police officers in some cities resisted wearing masks in public.
Yet as more departments in recent weeks have considered requiring members to be vaccinated, officers and their unions have loudly pushed back, in some cases threatening resignations or flooding systems with requests for exemptions.
Chicago city employees who fail to report their vaccination status by Oct. 15 will be placed in a “non-disciplinary, no-pay status,” but there will be a testing option for those who haven’t gotten the coronavirus vaccine.
After weeks of confusion and united opposition from police unions, Mayor Lori Lightfoot finally announced the testing option that Fraternal Order Police President John Catanzara told his members about one week ago.
“Employees who are not fully vaccinated by October 15, 2021, including employees who have received an approved medical or religious exemption, must undergo COVID-19 testing on a twice weekly basis with tests separated by 3-4 days,” the policy states.
“Employees are responsible for obtaining those tests on their own time and at their own expense, if any, and for reporting those results to the city,” it says. “The testing option will only be available through December 31, 2021. Thereafter, employees will be required to be fully vaccinated unless they have received an approved medical or religious exemption.” […]
“Employees who fail to report their vaccination status by October 15, 2021 will be placed in a non-disciplinary, no-pay status. Disciplinary action may also be taken against employees who fail to report their status as required by the policy” on the city’s vaccine portal, the policy states.
[River Trails School District 26, Superintendent Nancy Wagner], said she remains optimistic that potential employees will be attracted to the district’s benefits package and friendly, neighborhood work environment.
“We’re advertising, and doing everything we can, but part of the problem is some of these jobs don’t pay as well as what some local restaurants are offering,” said Wagner, who recalled seeing a sign posted in front of a nearby restaurant, promising wages of $17 an hour.
“All of our full-time employees get health insurance, so we’re hoping that might be enough of an impetus to apply,” Wagner said, adding: “But some applicants have said they’d need their whole paycheck just to pay for day care. It looks like it’s going to be a really tough year.”
One reason America’s employers are having trouble filling jobs was starkly illustrated in a report Tuesday: Americans are quitting in droves.
The Labor Department said that quits jumped to 4.3 million in August, the highest on records dating back to December 2000, and up from 4 million in July. That’s equivalent to nearly 3% of the workforce. Hiring also slowed in August, the report showed, and the number of jobs available fell to 10.4 million, from a record high of 11.1 million the previous month.
The jump in quits strongly suggests that fear of the delta variant is partly responsible for the shortfall in workers. In addition to driving quits, fear of the disease probably caused plenty of those out of work to not look for, or take, jobs.
As COVID-19 cases surged in August, quits soared in restaurants and hotels from the previous month and rose in other public-facing jobs, such as retail and education. Nearly 900,000 people left jobs at restaurants, bars, and hotels in August, up 21% from July. Quits by retail workers rose 6%.
* And, finally, is there something that Dr. Ezike can’t do?…
Over 10,000 tennis players across 668 teams participated this year in the quest for the USTA National Championships. And who won?
Team Illinois! Congrats to the entire team, including @IDPH’s very own Dr. Ezike, on this incredible feat. We’re so proud of you. 🏆🎾 pic.twitter.com/p0uNEpO0AB
Heyworth schools are taking an “adaptive pause” and returning to remote learning this week amid rising COVID-19 cases and staffing shortages.
“Staffing and substitute shortages have been a challenge all school year, and the issue is heightened when we have multiple staff missing for extended periods of time,” Superintendent Lisa Taylor told The Pantagraph on Tuesday.
In a social media post Monday after students were off for the Columbus Day holiday, Taylor said students would not have homework Tuesday and would begin working in the remote learning schedule Wednesday.
What’s known for sure is that three-person panels—comprised of aides to House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, Senate President Don Harmon and Gov. J.B. Pritkzer—have been meeting separately in recent days with every Democratic member of the state’s congressional delegation to see what they want out of decennial reapportionment.
Sources who know say those meetings have been strictly one-way, with the congressmen talking but getting no answers as to what to expect. Members have been told only the General Assembly likely will adopt a new map in its fall veto session, which begins next week, on Oct. 19, and lasts six days over two weeks.
In other words, the members’ proposals are “under review.”
* Meanwhile, US Rep. LaHood talked about the remap process and opposes federal intervention, of course…
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood still doesn’t know what his new district will look like, however, he’s not in favor of the federal government intervening with the redistricting process. […]
LaHood says despite the frustration with the process Illinois Democrats are using to determine the deficits, he does not want to see the federal government intervene.
“Because we don’t want to federalize our elections across all 50 states. The unique thing in our system is every state ought to decide where its lines are drawn. But there’s a better way of doing it, and again having non-politicians do this is currently being done in a number of other states and it’s a trend now.
There is I guess a presumption that we could pass a federal law that says every state could use an independent commission, but I don’t think the votes of support are there to do that. But clearly, this is in my view undemocratic, it’s not healthy for democracy and I think it leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.”
The Republican-led Texas Senate has passed a 38-district congressional map that shores up GOP incumbents and draws 25 districts in which Donald Trump would have defeated Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
* “We’re totally transparent, but I, as chairman, don’t know who’s drawing the maps.” Hilarious…
Republicans still call the process a “dog and pony show” if Democrats block people from participating. They also stressed the online mapmaking portal is “pointless” if people can’t log in to use it.
Yet, Committee Chair Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) stressed this is a transparent process.
“I do believe that in practice it has worked. Doors have been open, zooms have been open,” Aquino said. “Our ears have been open. We’ve had a number of folks that have participated in this process without fail.”
Aquino said his caucus posts all the proposed maps and written testimony from advocates on the Senate Democrat’s redistricting website and the state legislative website.
Republican members of the committee want to know who is drawing the congressional map. However, Aquino claims he doesn’t know.
Ryan Tolley, policy director for the advocacy group CHANGE Illinois, urged the House Redistricting Committee to listen to community groups and afford them more opportunity than they had during the legislative redistricting process to review any proposed new maps before they are voted on.
“I had trouble finding one group that participated in the legislative remap hearings that publicly endorsed the legislative maps. But there are a lot that rejected those maps,” Tolley said. “And I just want us to think about how can we have a map that reflects the interest of communities if almost every group that tries to engage with this process says their voices were ignored and their communities were harmed. Their efforts really should not be in vain.”
In March 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported there was a backlog of 5,000 DNA tests throughout the state — including 658 homicides unsolved after one year. [The Illinois State Police] indicated at the time that measurable improvements in DNA testing may not be seen for up to two years.
Now, in 2021, the progress is tangible. According to data provided by ISP Sgt. Joey Watson, 8,766 DNA assignments were still pending in June 2019. That number decreased to 6,093 by June 2020. This past June, it was 3,670 — that’s less than half of what it was two years ago.
As of June, the average turnaround time for DNA tests done by ISP was 84 days.
Labs across Illinois are tasked with a tall order: 16,465 DNA assignments were received from June 2020 to June 2021. That was 2,122 more assignments from the year before. […]
Watson said cases submitted to ISP are triaged to find items for analysis that will provide the strongest evidence for an investigation.
This has been a problem for years, but got even worse under the previous governor. And, like with most things, you just can’t snap your fingers and make it all better at once. But in 2018, according to the Tribune, the “average time to process DNA evidence for all cases, including sexual assaults,” was 285 days. So, the reduction to 84 days as of June has been immense.
Mayors from across the state have joined the Illinois Municipal League (IML) to urge the General Assembly to pass measures that promote the long-term success of all 1,296 cities, villages and towns in Illinois during the upcoming 2021 Fall Veto Session.
Municipal leaders are backing several pieces of legislation that will protect local revenue, support businesses and economic recovery and remove barriers for cities, villages and towns to respond to public health emergencies. This includes proposals that would grant municipalities greater authority to conduct remote meetings, as well as allow municipalities to provide aid to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency.
“The proposals outlined in our agenda not only empower local leaders to solve problems in times of crisis, but also ensure they are able to successfully rebuild their communities from damage caused by the pandemic,” said Brad Cole, IML Executive Director. “We’re asking state officials to take action to ensure local governments are able to address the many unique challenges facing their communities and best serve their constituents.”
One proposal includes SB 482 (Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin), which removes the requirement that a gubernatorial or Illinois Department of Public Health disaster declaration must be issued before municipal leaders can conduct remote meetings. In a crisis, and at other times, remote meetings provide additional transparency and more opportunities for residents to participate in the governing process.
* The Question: Should municipal governments be allowed to conduct remote meetings at will going forward? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
Illinois has a long history of leaders guilty of fiscal irresponsibility. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle isn’t one of them. Now wrapping up her 10th year as the county’s chief executive, she has built a reputation for balanced budgets that avoid hitting residents with tax hikes or new fees.
She keeps the impressive streak alive with her proposed 2022 budget. […]
Last December, Gov. J.B. Pritzker struggled to find ways to close a $3.9 billion budget hole, a gaping maw created in part by pandemic-diminished tax revenue but also by years of state politicians borrowing and spending far too much. Making matters worse for Illinois is Springfield’s refusal to tackle what Moody’s Investors Service says is a whopping $317 billion state pension system shortfall.
Um, OK, but they skipped over the intervening months where the governor and the General Assembly passed a balanced budget and Moody’s increased the state’s credit rating. I wonder why.
The editorial board also points out that a big reason why the county’s budget is balanced is “the county’s ability to now collect sales tax on online purchases.” Yeah, that would be because of a state law.
The Trib heaped praise on Preckwinkle for not spending all of the county’s federal bailout money in a single year. Illinois has done the same.
And the paper says that Preckwinkle is getting the county on track with its pension obligations. A third of her proposed $1 billion budget increase actually goes to pensions. The paper is right. That’s how it’s done. You can’t just jawbone your way out of this problem. But when other governments take the same responsible approach, they come in for criticism.
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2021 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois families will soon be losing their opportunity to purchase dogs and cats from safe, highly-regulated local pet retailers, such as Petland, who offer their customers the choice of a pet that best fits their needs and provide health warranties. This change is coming because the state’s Animal Welfare Act has been updated through HB 1711 which bans the retail sales of dogs and cats obtained from licensed and regulated professional breeders.
But HB 1711 needs fixing, because while singularly blocking retail pet sales, it fails to strengthen any animal standards or protections at unregulated puppy mills across the state. Consumers looking for particular breeds will have no choice but to purchase dogs from unregulated breeders or dog auctions – thus perpetuating puppy mills. Responsible breeders and retailers will be heavily penalized while HB 1711 does nothing to address the issue of substandard breeders across the state.
Petland is dedicated to improving animal welfare and we have publicly demonstrated this commitment; in fact, we support the Humane Society’s petition effort to improve standards of care. Petland’s breeder pledge is a commitment to provide more space, more exercise, and more socialization for their pets plus numerous other improvements to standards of care.
* I saw this Sun-Times lede and then scrolled through the rest of the story looking for his actual proposals. I didn’t see any…
Illinois’ newest Republican candidate for governor slammed Democrats during his first Chicago news conference Friday, suggesting it’s time for them to stop worrying so much about the COVID-19 pandemic and start worrying more about rising crime.
Jesse Sullivan, a venture capitalist from downstate Petersburg, lambasted President Joe Biden, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx outside the Cook County Criminal Court building, where he said Democratic leaders have been “putting criminals ahead of victims.”
The 37-year-old Sullivan — who made himself an instant contender in the four-man GOP gubernatorial primary with a $10.8 million campaign fund fueled by out-of-state donors — said that’s partly because Democrats in power are too focused on fighting the coronavirus.
Maybe the Sun-Times just skipped over the solutions part. So, I found his press release online and saw not a single idea.
Another key to Bailey’s campaign is correcting the pension system, that appears to be a problem.
“The pension problem has to be addressed,” Bailey said. “I am the only governor candidate, practically the only legislator talking about possible solutions.
“Everybody else is saying it’s protected or there are solutions already in place. No, it just continues to balloon out of control.
“I want to protect the earned obligation of the pensioner and I want to protect that future. To do that, we’ve got to stop the downhill slide now and talk about,” Bailey said.
Part of his proposed solution is to converse with the people that matter to him — the public. He wants to hear what people have to say about the problems being faced.
“I don’t want to talk to the union bosses, and I don’t want to talk to the political leaders,” Bailey said. “I want to talk to the people and offer solutions and see what’s good with them and what’s not. See what ideas they have. We have to come up with a final fix for the pension problem.”
So, basically he wants to focus-group our way out of this?
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK on IL-17: State Sen. Steve Stadelman, a Democrat who represents the Rockford area, is considering a run for the IL-17 congressional seat now held by Rep. Cheri Bustos, who isn’t seeking re-election. “I’m seriously looking at the race. But there’s no congressional map. Until you know the boundaries and where the lines are drawn, you’re a candidate in search of a congressional district,” Stadelman told Playbook. The Illinois senator and former TV journalist made headlines recently for his legislation to create a Local Journalism Task Force to help promote local news, especially in towns that have lost their news source due to an industry in crisis. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the legislation into law.
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK also for IL-17: Angela Normoyle, a member of the Rock Island County Board, is making calls in anticipation of a run in IL-17, the seat now held by Rep. Cheri Bustos, who is not seeking re-election. Normoyle is already lining up a campaign team that so far includes B.J. Neidhardt and Maura Dougherty from Prism Communications (to handle media), Mike Luce and Emily Campbell from the Dover Group (mail) and Melissa Bell and Angela Kuefler from Global Strategy Group (polling). Normoyle is well-versed in the area. She’s a communications professor at Augustana College and previously served on the Moline-Coal Valley School board.
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Palatine community organizer Nabeela Syed is running as a Democrat for state representative in the 51st District now represented by Republican Rep. Chris Bos. Syed recently served as campaign manager for Township High School District 211 School Board Member Tim McGowan. She also has mentored high school debate students and done fundraising for Emily’s List. Professionally, Syed works in the nonprofit world on digital strategy. Her campaign points out Syed would be the first Muslim or South Asian woman to be elected to the General Assembly. “I’m hoping to use my lived experience as a young woman of color to elevate the voices and concerns of underrepresented communities,” she said in a statement.
The Daily Herald published a story about Syed’s bid yesterday.
Two potential buyers have submitted proposals to purchase the James R. Thompson Center, the state of Illinois’ controversial Loop headquarters, officials said Friday.
The names of the bidders and their plans for the future of the 1.2 million-square-foot glass-and-steel structure designed by famed architect Helmut Jahn were not disclosed. State law allows officials to keep the proposals under wraps until a winning bidder is selected.
Facing an April 5 deadline to sell a building admired by preservationists but reviled by many state workers and amateur architecture critics, the Department of Central Management Services is aiming to choose a buyer by the end of the year and sign a purchase agreement by February.
The bids, which were originally due in August before the state pushed back the deadline, come a week after the State Historic Preservation Office submitted a nomination to the National Park Service to list the Thompson Center on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pritzker’s move sparked outrage from preservationists who’ve called Thompson Center “iconic” and said it deserves landmark protection and creative ideas for reuse.
In September, the Chicago Architecture Center and the Chicago Architectural Club picked the winners of a global design competition for the Thompson Center. The top submissions transformed the steel frame, red and blue accents building into a waterpark, a “vertical Loop” of homes and commercial space with a rooftop vegetable garden, or a prototype building school.
Organizers of the contest hoped the results might influence discussions about whether the Thompson Center can be saved.
While I would love to see Scott Kennedy’s dream of a waterpark become reality, I’m kinda doubting the contest did much good. I suppose we’ll see.
The Illinois House Redistricting Committee held its first hearing last week on new congressional and judicial subcircuit district maps. Another half-dozen hearings were scheduled for the following seven days to redraw the maps, which have to be reconfigured after each ten-year census.
The hearings aren’t likely to matter a whole lot when push actually comes to shove. After all, legislators paid next to no attention to public input during the General Assembly’s own remap process last spring and summer. A new map that was passed in the spring by super-majority Democrats then was redrawn in the summer when more detailed data was released by the federal government.
But an updated lawsuit filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund could matter.
MALDEF alleges that the revised legislative district map creates fewer “opportunity districts” — where more than half the voting age population is Latino — than the state currently has. This despite the fact that the voting age population of Illinois went from 8% in the 2010 census to 11.2% in the most recent count.
This seems like a pretty straightforward argument to non-lawyers like me. But the Democrats have never seemed at all concerned that they will lose this or any court case. Even when given an opportunity to redraw the maps, not much changed. And not to mention that the chairs of both the House and Senate Redistricting Committees are Latinx.
Why the confidence?
We’ve seen a whole lot of news media coverage of the plaintiff’s case against the new maps. But the defendants mostly have stayed silent because the issue is under litigation, so their position is less understood. I decided to seek out a top source who could help me understand what the Democrats are thinking.
“Remember, you’re drawing a map for the next ten years,” the Democratic attorney with years of experience dealing with redistricting explained to me. “You’re not only looking at what the district looks like now, but you’re looking at what the districts are going to look like in the next [ten years].”
There are several factors to consider when drawing maps in Latino areas, the lawyer explained, including voting age population (because Latinos tend to skew much younger than the population as a whole), the specific area’s citizenship rates (a statistic not measured by the U.S. Census, but which can generally be estimated using American Community Survey data) and sometimes competing factions within the “Hispanic” umbrella (Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, for instance).
“If you want to ensure that Latinos can win a district,” the lawyer said, “you have to make sure that the citizen voting-age population is high enough where they will continue to be able to elect their candidates of choice. So if you have an area with high non-citizenship rates, you want to have higher levels of citizen voting-age population.”
And while several of the new districts’ voting-age populations are low, that will change over time as the districts’ residents get older and eventually strengthen Latino candidate chances long before the next Census in 2030. The Democrats also have sophisticated arguments about population movement trends to buttress their cause.
The differing factions within the broad-brush of Latino voters means voters can sometimes be played off against one another, which has to be another consideration when drawing the maps. “Latinos don’t necessarily coalesce,” the attorney continued, pointing to traditional rivalries between Mexican and Puerto Rican voters.
Beyond regional origin differences, national political trends also can have a major impact. For instance, Asian-American Rep. Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, capitalized on the 2nd House District’s strong Latino support for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary to woo progressive Latino Democrats in her bid against a “regular” Latino Democrat.
And that brings us to something I’ve mentioned before in other places. The Democrats contend the evidence clearly shows that white Illinois voters are willing to vote for candidates of color at multiple levels. This evidence, they say, is what helped them win the last legal challenge to their remap. And American University’s Allan Lichtman testified to just that evidence in his late May testimony to a joint redistricting committee hearing.
So, if the Democrats can prove-up their reasoning behind their map-making decisions and show again that Illinois elections aren’t racially polarized by white Illinoisans only voting for white candidates, they believe they’ll walk away with a court win this time as well.
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2021 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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Innovation is the cornerstone of our curriculum, with emphasis on human factors, design thinking, and entrepreneurship. Our students are immersed early in clinical, case-driven, problem-based active learning intended to instill passion and creativity for discovering innovations that improve patient care.
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Ok I went down a dark hole to figure out how Illinois ended up on this map and long story short a bull shark made it into Lake Michigan in 1955 and bit a boy. There have though been ZERO shark attacks since @GovPritzker was elected. https://t.co/Yi4X32wZ9y
Illinois Education Association (IEA) intervenes in Edwardsville-Triad lawsuit; seeks enforcement of mandates for masks, vaccines, testing
Today, the unions representing teachers and support staff in the Edwardsville and Triad school districts filed a motion to intervene in a Madison County lawsuit in an effort to protect the safety of the workplaces and the health and lives of students and employees by keeping the governor’s vaccine-or-test order in place.
In late September, three teachers from the Triad Community Unity School District #2 and seven from the Edwardsville Community Unit District #7 filed a lawsuit claiming the districts did not have the authority to tell school employees they need to either be vaccinated or to test at least once a week for the COVID-19 virus. Instead, the suit says, these decisions should be left solely to local health department authorities and that the order should be lifted.
The court filings today were made on behalf of the 660 combined members of the Edwardsville Education Association (EEA) and Edwardsville School Service Personnel Association (ESSPA), and another 361 members of the Triad Education Association (TEA), Triad Educational Support Personnel Association (TESPA) and the Triad Custodial, Maintenance and Utlity Association (TCMUA), combined.
The TEA surveyed its members in regard to the pandemic mitigation measures. And, the district has provided information on the number of vaccinated employees.
“Ninety percent of our members are vaccinated and the majority of those who aren’t are willingly complying with the testing process,” said Andrew Frey, president of the Triad Education Association. “We have been in person, almost entirely, since the start of the 2020-21 school year. We want that to continue. We know it’s what’s best for our students. But, we only do that if it’s safe for them and safe for all of the staff who work with them. We have trusted the science all along and we continue to do so.”
Safety is not limited to those who are in the buildings.
“I have two members who are married and have a child who goes to school in the district who was born with a severe lung issue,” said Jennifer Fowler, co-president of the EEA. “The only reason she has been allowed to attend school in person is because of the mitigation factors that have been put in place. The only reason this child’s parents have been able to work is because those mitigation factors have been put in place. It’s imperative to the lives of so many, and to the lives of so many they love, that the school environment be kept as safe as possible during this pandemic.”
Oral argument on the case is expected to be set in the coming days.
“The IEA proudly represents the educators in these districts and this filing represents those members’ true will,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the IEA. “We are respectfully asking the court to support the districts and the educators in this matter to ensure continued in-person instruction in a safe environment. We believe the governor did what was legal, prudent and necessary to provide the best educational environment for students and that the districts followed those executive orders because they were following the law, doing their best to keep our students and members safe.”
The five local associations represent more than 1,000 education employees in the two school districts. Those employees include teachers, school psychologists, social workers, speech/language specialists, nurses, custodial workers, food service workers, paraprofessionals, security and secretarial staff. There are about 11,500 students in the two districts.
* Bruce Rauner tried the same sort of thing with AFSCME and it didn’t work. I suppose we’ll see soon enough. Press release…
After recently reaching Illinois’ first union agreement requiring vaccines for certain state workers, Governor JB Pritzker announced two new agreements with the Illinois Nurses Association and Illinois Federation of Public Employees that will ensure nearly 1,300 more state employees are protected with the COVID-19 vaccines.
The agreement with the Illinois Nurses Association covers about 1,100 nurses working in 24/7 facilities like McFarland Mental Health Facility, Quincy Veterans’ Home and Jacksonville Correctional Center. The agreement with the Illinois Federation of Public Employees covers about 160 employees working in Human Services and Veterans’ Affairs. Employees must receive their first shot by October 14. Should an employee elect a two-dose vaccine, they must receive the second shot by November 18.
State employees who remain unvaccinated pose a significant risk to individuals in Illinois’ congregate facilities. Therefore, if employees do not receive the vaccine or an exemption by the dates identified, progressive disciplinary measures will be implemented, which may ultimately lead to discharge. The agreement includes a process whereby employees can seek an exemption based on medical contraindications or sincerely-held religious beliefs.
“Vaccinations are helping to keep our schools and businesses open, protecting our children, our workers and our customers from getting sick with this deadly virus,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’ve now reached three agreements to ensure the workers at our congregate facilities will be taking the most powerful action they can by getting vaccinated to keep themselves and the residents they serve safe. I’m proud to reach these agreements and applaud the Illinois Nurses Association and Illinois Federation of Public Employees for working to keep our state safe. Millions more residents are being called to do their part, and I thank President Biden for his leadership in rallying employers to keep people healthy.”
Illinois reached its first union agreement with VR-704 on September 20, 2021, covering 260 supervisory employees at the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). The first agreement came after Gov. Pritzker announced that all state workers who work in state-run congregate facilities would be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, spanning IDOC, DJJ, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA), subject to bargaining. Negotiations between the unions representing the rest of the workforce impacted by this mandate are ongoing.
To further encourage vaccinations under the agreement with the unions, employees will receive an additional personal day. If the vaccine administration is not available during an employee’s regularly scheduled shift, the employee may be compensated at their regular pay for the time taken to receive the vaccine. In addition, vaccinated employees will receive paid “COVID time,” so that if a vaccinated employee gets COVID-19, or must quarantine due to COVID-19, they will receive a period of paid time off without using their benefit time.
“We are pleased that we were able to collaborate with CMS to reach this agreement. Our union always strives to ensure that members’ rights and safety are protected, and their voices are heard,” said Matt Emigholz, President of the Illinois Federation of Public Employees, Local 4408. “We believe that this agreement provides options for employees while offering them a way to do what they are committed to — providing excellent service to the citizens of Illinois.”
The administration has taken extensive measures to make the COVID-19 vaccine equitable and accessible. The Pritzker administration established 25 mass vaccination sites. The Illinois National Guard supported more than 800 mobile vaccination clinics on top of an additional 1,705 state-supported mobile sites that focused on communities hardest hit by the pandemic, young residents, and rural communities. The COVID-19 vaccine has been available for healthcare and nursing home workers since December 15, 2020, and open to teachers since January 25, 2021.
Vaccination is the key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and returning to normal life. All Illinois residents over the age of 12 are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost and proof of immigration status is not required to receive the vaccine. To find a vaccination center near you, visit vaccines.gov.
Moments ago, the Illinois House of Representatives Redistricting Committee concluded their first public hearing on the redistricting of Illinois’ Congressional map. U.S. Representatives Darin LaHood (IL-18), Rodney Davis (IL-13), Mike Bost (IL-12), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), and Mary Miller (IL-15) released the following joint statement on the Illinois Democrats’ sham redistricting process:
“In Springfield and Washington, Illinois Democrats like to talk about empowering voters, but their sham redistricting process shows they only care about protecting their own political power. Illinois citizens have been clear that they want an independent redistricting process free of political influence, but as we speak, Democrat lawmakers are picking their own voters behind closed doors.
“We would hope Governor Pritzker keeps his campaign promise to veto any map drawn by politicians, but our failed governor has shown twice already that he’s perfectly fine with lying to the people of Illinois if it means his party can stay in power. The Democrats’ corruption in Illinois will continue as long as Pritzker and Democrats in Springfield can pre-ordain the results of elections before voters cast a ballot.”
Not only are cases of COVID-19 decreasing among Southern Illinois adults, but instances of the virus among school-aged children also is dropping.
“We have seen some really good signs with the number of COVID infections among school-age children across the area,” explained Nathan Ryder, community outreach coordinator for the Southern Seven Health Department COVID-19 team. “That’s a good sign and tells us that the procedures that are in place in the schools to mitigate the exposure to COVID-19 are working and so we are seeing less peer-to-peer transmissions in school students.”
Statewide, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 4,291 reported cases of COVID-19 among ages 5-17 for the week ending Sept. 25. That’s down 30 percent from two weeks prior when more than 6,100 cases were reported.
Additionally, the IDPH website shows no significant school outbreaks of COVID-19 in the region with the exception of Okawville Grade School, where more than 16 cases were reported in September.
“Schools are doing very well working with the health departments, monitoring students and staff and monitoring possible potential cases,” said Cheryl Graff, regional superintendent for the Regional Office of Education #30, which includes Alexander, Jackson, Perry, Pulaski and Union Counties.
* It’s not even a bill yet, but when it’s finally drafted and filed it’s going nowhere. Without right wing media and Facebook, nobody would’ve ever even noticed…
In response to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for California students, a state representative for the 64th house district, based in Fox Lake, is filing a bill to prevent such vaccine mandate in Illinois.
State Representative Tom Weber, R-Fox Lake, is drafting the bill and expects it to be filed this week, according to his office.
* More…
* COVID-19 update: 1,676 hospitalized, 36 more deaths, 3,371 new cases, 2.2% positivity rate
* Pfizer Asks FDA to Authorize Its COVID Vaccine for Kids Ages 5 to 11
* America Is Running Out of Everything: The container situation is even weirder than it looks. With demand surging in the United States, shipping a parcel from Shanghai to Los Angeles is currently six times more expensive than shipping one from L.A. to Shanghai. J.P. Morgan’s Michael Cembalest wrote that this has created strong incentives for container owners to ship containers to China—even if they are mostly empty—to expedite the packing and shipping of freights in Shanghai to travel east. But when containers leave Los Angeles and Long Beach empty, American-made goods that were supposed to be sent across the Pacific Ocean end up sitting around in railcars parked at West Coast ports. Since the packed railcars can’t unload their goods, they can’t go back and collect more stuff from filled warehouses in the American interior.
State Sen. Dave Syverson announced his candidacy for re-election Tuesday by touting experience and a track record of serving constituents regardless of what party is occupying the governor’s office.
Incumbent Illinois Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, announced his candidacy for re-election Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2021, at a campaign event at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Rockford. […]
Syverson, R-Cherry Valley, said during his nearly 30 years in Springfield he and his staff worked to bring back to the are more than half billion dollars in capital projects such Mercyhealth Sportscore, the developing Hard Rock Casino as well as “roads, bridges, schools and other projects that we hope has reduced some of the reliance on property taxes.” […]
When [fellow Republican Eli Nicolosi], 42, of Loves Park, announced his candidacy [against Syverson] in July, he spoke of a desire to see term limits become law.
“Anything more than 10 years, you are pushing it,” he said. “And what I can tell you is 30 years is too long.”
* The Question: Is 30 years too long to be in one elected office? Make sure to explain your answer in comments, please.
Thursday, Oct 7, 2021 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Illinois families will soon be losing their opportunity to purchase dogs and cats from safe, highly-regulated local pet retailers, such as Petland, who offer their customers the choice of a pet that best fits their needs and provide health warranties. This change is coming because the state’s Animal Welfare Act has been updated through HB 1711 which bans the retail sales of dogs and cats obtained from licensed and regulated professional breeders.
But HB 1711 needs fixing, because while singularly blocking retail pet sales, it fails to strengthen any animal standards or protections at unregulated puppy mills across the state. Consumers looking for particular breeds will have no choice but to purchase dogs from unregulated breeders or dog auctions – thus perpetuating puppy mills. Responsible breeders and retailers will be heavily penalized while HB 1711 does nothing to address the issue of substandard breeders across the state.
Petland is dedicated to improving animal welfare and we have publicly demonstrated this commitment; in fact, we support the Humane Society’s petition effort to improve standards of care. Petland’s breeder pledge is a commitment to provide more space, more exercise, and more socialization for their pets plus numerous other improvements to standards of care.
The share of the Democratic presidential vote in the Midwest declined most precipitously between 2012 and 2020 in counties that experienced the steepest losses in manufacturing and union jobs and saw declines in health care, according to a new report to be released this month.
The party’s worsening performance in the region’s midsize communities — often overlooked places like Chippewa Falls, Wis., and Bay City, Mich. — poses a dire threat to Democrats, the report warns.
Nationally and in the Midwest, Democratic gains in large metropolitan areas have offset their losses in rural areas. And while the party’s struggles in the industrial Midwest have been well-chronicled, the 82-page report explicitly links Democratic decline in the region that elected Donald J. Trump in 2016 to the sort of deindustrialization that has weakened liberal parties around the world. […]
Nine of the 10 states included in the survey have accounted for 93 percent of the loss of union members nationwide in the last two decades. And just in the last 10 years, these states have lost 10 percent of their union membership — an average that is three times greater than nationally.
Lots of small blue-collar cities in this state. They went for Reagan in the 80s, trended back Democratic somewhat, then went for Trump.
Illinois political strategist Porter McNeil contributed to the research that he says played out in some Illinois counties, too — Rock Island, Macon and Winnebago, to name a few. “These manufacturing counties are spread throughout key regions critical to winning legislative and congressional seats across the Midwest in 2022. Democrats need to change their game plans to reverse this trend,” he said.
* But it’s not as pronounced in Illinois, perhaps partly because our small town factories were decimated long ago…
• A 2 million vote shift away from Democrats: In our 10 states, Obama in 2012 had a net vote margin of +1,966,304 votes over GOP nominee Mitt Romney. Eight years later, Biden’s net margin in these 10 states was a negative 38,175 votes. Combined, that’s a staggering net shift of –2,004,479 votes away from the Democratic nominee in these 10 states.
• A flip of partisan support in midsize manufacturing counties: In our 10 states, Obama won midsize manufacturing counties by +105,848 votes in 2012. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost them by 814,690 votes. While Biden improved on Clinton’s performance in these midsize factory towns, Trump still had a net margin of +660,831 votes in these counties, a shift of –4.4 percentage points away from Democrats from 2012.
• Huge growth by the GOP in small manufacturing counties: In factory town counties during this time period, Republican net margins skyrocketed, especially in small Factory Town counties. In this segment, the GOP gained a net +1,868,210 votes in 2020 compared to 2012 – a gain of +8.6 percentage points. Despite his working-class background, Biden won only 11 of these 480 counties. In contrast, GOP vote share grew in 470 of these 480 small manufacturing counties. […]
• Eight of 10 states have shifted away from Democrats: Only Minnesota and Illinois have gained. Eight other states have suffered a net shift of votes away from Democrats, ranging from a loss of 136,160 in Upstate New York to a 641,939 shift in Ohio. On average, 200,448 votes have shifted away from Democrats in each of the 10 states we studied.
• Dems in all 10 states lost votes in factory town segments: Though some states realized an increase in Democratic performance in metro, college, or suburban county types, all 10 states saw Democratic declines in small and midsize manufacturing counties. This vote shift away from Democrats ranged from a high of 582,372 in Ohio to a shift of 133,540 votes away from Dems in Upstate New York. The average factory town vote shift away from Democrats was minus 263,489 votes.
A judge in Effingham County has issued a temporary restraining order against the Illinois State Board of Education and reinstated the recognition status of two public schools that aren’t following the governor’s COVID-19 mask mandate.
The case was brought by attorney Thomas DeVore on behalf of Red Hill, Woden-Herrick and Beecher City school districts.
While Red Hill schools were at one point on probation for not having a mask mandate, they complied with ISBE’s mandate and their status was returned to recognized.
“Beecher City and Cowden-Herrick’s recognition status is hereby restored to ‘fully recognized’ instanter [immediately] until such time as the Court has held a preliminary injunction hearing and ruled on the District’s request for a preliminary injunction,” the judge’s order Wednesday says. “The State Superintendent is hereby enjoined from altering the recontamination status of the Districts except as authorized during the annual compliance provisions.”
* The ADL describes Nicholas Fuentes as a “white supremacist leader and organizer and podcaster who seeks to forge a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP.” He was a featured speaker at the “We Will Not Comply” (with COVID mandates) rally in Springfield last weekend. If any reporters showed up, they didn’t write about it that I could find. Here’s his 37-minute speech in full, but just remember what type of person this is before clicking play…
The frantic chanting of “Christ is king!” was particularly repulsive.
The closing speaker, Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist, gave them more momentum before they all left; making it well known there is no way he is getting a vaccine.
“They are going to knock my door down, kill my dog and shoot me before I take a COVID-19 vaccine,” Fuentes said.
Plaintiffs in two lawsuits challenging the state’s legislative redistricting plan have filed new complaints in federal court charging that the district maps that lawmakers approved in August dilute Latino voting power and thus violate the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational fund, or MALDEF, and legislative Republican leaders both argue that while the Latino population in Illinois experienced strong growth over the last 10 years, the new maps actually reduce the number of Latino “opportunity” districts – those in which Latinos make up 50 percent or more of the voting-age population.
“The General Assembly did not merely fail to create more Latino opportunity districts, it created fewer of them,” MALDEF argued in its latest filing. […]
In both cases, plaintiffs are now asking a three-judge federal panel to declare the maps unconstitutional under the one-person-one-vote doctrine as well as illegal under the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits states from using any “standard, practice or procedure” that results in the denial of the right of any citizen to vote on the basis of race or membership in a recognized language minority group.
In their amended complaints, both sets of plaintiffs argue that while Illinois lost population overall between 2010 and 2020, the Latino population grew by more than more than 300,000, to just over 2.3 million, while the Latino voting-age population – people 18 years of age and older – grew to just over 1 million. That meant their overall share of the state’s population grew to 18.2 percent, up from 15.8 percent, while their share of the voting-age population grew to 11.2 percent, up from 8 percent.
* Meanwhile…
The House Redistricting Committee will hold a series of public hearings to gather public input as the General Assembly begins the process of creating new congressional and judicial subcircuit boundaries.
As Democrats remain committed to enacting a fair map that reflects the broad racial and geographic diversity of Illinois, hearings will be held at several locations throughout the state. In addition, all of the hearings will include a virtual component to ensure stakeholders from across the state can safely participate during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the public will have the option to provide testimony in person or virtually, submit electronic testimony or submit electronic witness slips in advance of the hearings via the General Assembly website www.ilga.gov or through email at redistrictingcommittee@hds.ilga.gov.
House hearings are as scheduled:
· Thursday, Oct. 7 at 12 p.m. – Subject Matter: Congressional Map
o Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 N LaSalle St, Chicago, IL
· Friday, Oct. 8 at 12 p.m. – Subject Matter: Cook County Subcircuit Map
o Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 N LaSalle St, Chicago, IL
· Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m. – Subject Matter: Congressional & Subcircuit Map
o Plumbers Local 130 UA, 2114 S. I-80 Frontage Road, Joliet, IL
· Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 12 p.m. – Subject Matter: Congressional & Subcircuit Map
o Belvidere Recreation Center, 412 Lewis Ave., Waukegan, IL
· Thursday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. – Subject Matter: Congressional & Subcircuit Map
o Illinois State Capitol, 301 S. 2nd Street, Springfield, IL
· Thursday, Oct. 14 at 12 p.m. – Subject Matter: Congressional & Subcircuit Map
o Peoria Public Library Auditorium, 107 NE Monroe, Peoria, IL
· Friday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. – Subject Matter: Congressional Map
o Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville National Corn to Ethanol Research Center,
400 University Park Drive, Edwardsville, IL
“As this redistricting process continues, our goal remains the same: to pass a map that adheres to state and federal law while ensuring the final product is reflective of the great diversity of this state,” said Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, Chairperson of the House Redistricting Committee. “I look forward to hearing from the public so that we can ensure Illinois has a strong representation in Congress.”
The House Redistricting Committee has relaunched the online map making portal to allow residents to draw and submit proposed boundaries for lawmakers to consider. The map making portal can be accessed at www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting. While the portal will remain open for the duration of these redistricting efforts, residents are encouraged to submit their proposals as soon as possible so that they may be considered as the new boundaries are drawn. Returning users that have previously used the portal do not need to create a new account.
For more information visit www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting, or www.ilga.gov .
State Senators Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), John Curran (R-Downers Grove), Jil Tracy (R-Quincy), Steve McClure (R-Springfield), and Brian Stewart (R-Freeport) today unveiled a package of legislation specifically designed to empower law enforcement and other members of the community to take on the crime wave that has enveloped the state.
The legislative package includes:
Fund the Police Act
· SB 2918: Creates Fund the Police Grant Fund with $100,000,000 with appropriations to the ILETSB to make grants to local governments and universities to hire police officers, purchasing equipment designed to prevent gang violence, motor vehicle theft, carjacking, or sale of contraband, and training for law enforcement in preventing gang violence, motor vehicle theft, carjacking, or the sale of contraband. This includes mental health, hiring and retention incentives, and overtime.
Eliminate Good Time for Weapons Offenses and Attacks on Law Enforcement Officers
· SB 2916: Requires a defendant who commits Aggravated Battery to a Police Officer to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.
· SB 2917: Requires a defendant who brings a weapon or contraband into a penal institution serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.
Ending Deadly Delay
· SB 2927: Requires Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to track gun crimes by convicted felons. Amended to include real time reporting by county of gun offenses charged and outcome of the case.
· SB 2926: Gun Crime Charging and Sentencing Accountability and Transparency Act. Requires State’s Attorneys to provide written justification when a weapons offense is plea bargained down to a lesser offense or non-weapons offense. Similarly, in imposing a sentence, the judge shall set forth in a written sentencing order his/her reasons for imposing the sentence or accepting the plea agreement.
· SB 2924: Allows a school or school district to employ qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry out the duties of a school resource officer.
Getting Serious on Gun Crime:
· SB 2928: ‘10 and life’ for violent firearms offenses. First time conviction of the following offenses receives a mandatory 10-year sentence, second offense receives life sentence.
o Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm.
o Use of a stolen or illegally acquired firearm in the commission of an offense.
o Unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons.
o Armed Habitual Criminal.
o Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking, or Aggravated Carjacking.
· SB 2925: Mandatory minimum penalty for Gun trafficking/Straw purchases. Imposes a 10-year minimum on those who sell or give a firearm to a convicted felon.
Juvenile Court Reforms:
· SB 2929: Juvenile commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice for use or discharge of a firearm in a school that results in bodily injury or death to any person.
· SB 2923: Restore offenses of aggravated vehicular hijacking and armed robbery committed by juveniles with a firearm to the automatic transfer provisions of adult court.
· SB 2922: Prevent “catch and release” of juvenile carjackers by requiring a shelter care hearing to determine if it is safe to release the juvenile or continue holding until the adjudicatory hearing.
Bail Reform:
· SB 2020: Deny bail for previously convicted gun offenders or a felon charged with a gun offense.
· SB 2921: Adds violation of bail bond, escape, and aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude to the more serious “Category A” bond provisions.
· SB 2919: Allows counties to opt out of Bail Reform Act provisions if county board adopts a resolution to do so.
Mental Health Reform:
SB 1649: Amends the Community Mental Health Act. Provides that upon receipt of all the annual moneys collected from the tax levied under the Act, each governmental unit that levies that tax shall immediately deposit 20% of those moneys into a special fund directly controlled by the county sheriff to be used for mental health services within the county jail.
“The people of Illinois need action right now,” said Rose. “We are demanding that Senate President Harmon (D-Oak Park) call these bills for a full vote of the Senate this veto session.”
All bills have been filed and language can be found here. The legislation will show up www.ilga.gov after the next perfunctory session.
In addition to calling for $100 million in funding for police training, overtime, and retention incentives, Rose wants to make the sentencing guidelines stricter and simpler for criminals convicted on felony gun charges. His proposal would impose 10-year sentences for first-time felony firearm offenders, and a life sentence for repeat offenders.
“I wish it was that simple,” Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz responded. “I don’t think we need any stiffer penalties.”
Rietz said it’s often a lack of hard evidence, not lenient laws, that allows violent criminals to go free. She called for greater resources to fund street surveillance cameras and lab equipment to process evidence. […]
She described difficult cases with scant evidence as a “poker game” where the suspect is playing a hand and betting the government doesn’t have a strong case. She scoffed at Rose’s proposal that would require prosecutors to show their hand and justify any plea bargains in writing, warning such a requirement could backfire and put cooperating witnesses in harm’s way.
Rose said his plan would “require any State’s Attorney in this state who plea bargains down a gun crime to put it in writing so the citizens who elect them will be able to hold them accountable for the decisions they made.”
“He should know better,” Rietz said, referring to Rose’s prior work as a traffic court prosecutor.
“I was a prosecutor and I wouldn’t have liked that at the time,” Rose acknowledged, “but you know what, it’s the right thing to do. People are sick and tired of the plea bargain nonsense that’s leaving people to shoot buses on our streets.”
Also, none of the bills were amended onto existing legislation, which would make their passage difficult in the veto session even if the majority wanted to go along. And the majority obviously does not…
Rose’s plan would allow counties to opt out of ending cash bail if the county board adopts a resolution supporting it. That plan was not well-received by Senate Democrats, who hold a supermajority in the chamber.
“This is not a solution,” Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) responded. “This is dog whistle politics from people who just like to round up poor people. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
* From the governor’s office…
Since taking office, Governor Pritzker has worked to rebuild the hollowed out government left by his predecessor Bruce Rauner. Over the last three years, the state has invested record amounts of funding into gun violence prevention programs, increased investments in social services like mental health and substance abuse treatment and prioritized investments in communities grappling with higher crime rates because of years of disinvestment. On top of rebuilding our social safety net, the budgets signed by Gov. Pritzker have provided hundreds of millions of additional dollars to local governments to support communities. Those same budgets, that Republicans voted against, included funding for multiple new cadet classes to help Illinois State Police restore their hollowed out ranks. A new crime lab that will provide quicker evidence processing is being built with Rebuild Illinois funding signed into law by Gov. Pritzker. Republicans voted against increased funding for training and mental health assistance for officers across the state and have opposed criminal justice reforms that will make our criminal justice system equitable. Spewing rhetoric is easy, taking the votes to support the public policy you claim to care about are what matter. The Senate Republicans have shown us time and time again they care more about getting headlines than supporting solutions.
*** UPDATE *** From the Senate Republicans…
Sen. Rose and his colleagues just unveiled several actual solutions to the current uptick in violent crime with actual legislation filed in the General Assembly – not the media. If the Administration and Democratic Majorities are truly serious about addressing violent crime in Illinois, they can prove it by calling for the package to be heard in committee and voted on in the General Assembly this month. While they may not agree with all proposals, allowing the bills to be heard is an opportunity for both Democrats and Republicans to discuss and debate solutions to these very real problems. As they said, spewing rhetoric is easy, taking the votes to support public policy you claim to care about are what matter.
* The great Ray Wylie Hubbard once sang, “The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, those are good days.” I’ve gotten this backward in the past because I thought I was somehow ahead of the game. Nope.
