More school bus woes
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chalkbeat…
More than 8,000 Chicago Public Schools students will not have bus service on the first day of class on Aug. 21, a problem the district blames on an ongoing bus driver shortage.
With only half of the 1,300 drivers needed to transport students who require bus service, Chicago said it will instead prioritize transportation for students with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness. Both groups are legally required to receive transportation to school. […]
This is the third year in a row in which the return to class has been marred by transportation woes that have left thousands of students without transportation or with long commutes. The district, which contracts with outside companies to provide transportation, has attributed bus service snarls in previous years to nationwide driver shortages.
In an effort to help fix ongoing transportation problems, the district in March approved a $4 million contract with Education Logistics Inc., known as EduLog, to schedule bus routes, determine start times for summer school and assign bus vendors during the school year. The contract is set to run through June 30, 2026. […]
Last year, Chicago provided bus service to 17,275 children, or about 5% of students.
Looks like that new contract hasn’t work out too well. More money hasn’t helped…
CPS contracts with 13 school bus companies, and has added alternative modes of transportation like taxis and vans over the past two years to help deal with the bus driver shortage.
CPS says in the past year, busing companies have increased wages for drivers to $20 to $25 an hour and many have also increased recruitment fairs and added referral bonuses.
Yes, the labor market is super tight, but this is a national and statewide problem and has been a problem for quite a while. There was a time when school districts directly employed bus drivers. That’s not the case so much anymore, as districts have sought to slash short-term and long-term costs. It ain’t working right.
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Afternoon roundup
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz on the search to replace the late Todd Maisch…
Sources close to the matter say the Illinois Chamber of Commerce has hired an executive recruitment firm, Koya Partners, and is getting ready to interview candidates, with a decision likely by sometime this fall.
A Chamber spokesman said only that the search process has begun and is in the opening stages. But sources say the list of applicants includes former state GOP Chairman Pat Brady, now a Springfield lobbyist; Clark Kaericher, the chamber’s senior vice president of government affairs, and former state Rep. Keith Wheeler, an Oswego Republican who lost his seat in the 2022 election after Democrats remapped him into a difficult district.
* Southern Illinois news…
Governor JB Pritzker, Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today celebrated Contour Airlines’ “first flight” – the very first flight of a new route established between Chicago and Marion. The new route will make Southern Illinois more accessible for business travel and visiting family and friends, while opening the door to the many tourism gems and attractions throughout each region. […]
The new route will offer daily direct passenger flights between O’Hare in Chicago and Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois in Marion, making travel between Southern Illinois and Chicago more seamless, accessible, and affordable. This marks the first time a passenger route between O’Hare and Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois is being offered. […]
In support of the new flight route, the Airport Authority in Marion – which oversees Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois – will receive a $1.4 million grant through DCEO.
* Crain’s…
The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board isn’t taking any time off, as evidenced by its sharp critique of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker published over the weekend.
Using the new contract that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 and Pritzker recently agreed to as a springboard, the editorial touches on what it considers consequences for “workers in the private economy” as well as Illinois’ pension woes, while labeling the governor a “union boss.”
There’s also a reference to Pritzker’s reported White House aspirations and a bold prediction: “Mark it down: Democrats will demand a federal taxpayer bailout when Illinois pensions become unaffordable.”
2012 called, it wants its pension rhetoric back.
Pritzker’s office responded to the WSJ editorial…
Governor Pritzker is committed to ensuring that every Illinoisan has access to good-paying opportunities while balancing the very real financial needs of a state that went years without labor contracts under the previous administration. This contract represents a negotiated agreement that expands the pool of state employees, attracts top-tier talent to fill vacancies, retains our strong workforce, and provides opportunity for every employee and their families. This contract continues Governor Pritzker’s track record of fiscal responsibility and management, including eight credit upgrades, additional pension payments and a rebuilt Rainy Day fund, after years of failed policies that decimated the state.
* Gotta hand it to the Mendoza crew, this is pretty darned good spin of not-spectacular fundraising…
Of all the recent winners of statewide office, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza spent the least per vote, according to figures pulled from the State Board of Elections.
Dollars and sense: Mendoza spent $1.07 per vote. It’s a pittance considering Gov. JB Pritzker spent a whopping $62.68 a vote in the governor’s race.
How she did it: Mendoza, who holds events downstate as well as in Chicago, likely pulled in Republican voters to help her victory. She received 2,331,714 votes, making her the highest vote-getter in 2022, and spent about $2.3 million on her campaign. Sen. Tammy Duckworth came in with a close second after winning 2,329,136 votes and spending more than $15 million on her race, putting the price per vote at $6.82.
Other statewide office holders: Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias spent $4.29 per vote; Treasurer Michael Frerichs, $1.53; and Attorney Gen. Kwame Raoul, $1.33.
Her opponent was Shannon Teresi, who barely campaigned at all and who spent just $60,946.81 in the last six months of 2022 (which includes part of the primary). I mean, I had to look up Teresi’s name because I couldn’t remember it. That’s less than 4 cents per vote, by the way.
* Staying with politics…
– U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today announced that his re-election campaign has been endorsed by 22 Republican Central Committee leaders from across the 12th Congressional District. Bost’s coalition of support includes the State Central Committeewoman and Deputy State Central Committeeman for IL-12, as well as 21 Republican county chairs. This newest list of Republican endorsements comes just days after Bost announced support from over 100 local GOP leaders.
“These GOP Central Committee chairs know how much work went into turning Southern Illinois into the Republican stronghold it is today,” said Bost. “And they know we put it all at risk when conservatives start attacking each other rather than taking it to Biden and the liberals who are trying to defeat our values. I appreciate the overwhelming support of our local party leaders and will continue working with them to preserve the strong, unified, conservative movement that has served our region so well.”
The list is here.
* Instead of studying accessibility, can’t they just use best practices and finally get the thing built?…
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and author of the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Danny K. Davis (D-IL-07) and Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-01) today announced $778,500 in federal funding for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to develop a modern accessibility strategy in advance of a potential reopening of the Englewood Racine Green Line stop on Chicago’s south side. The Racine El station has been closed since 1996, leaving the surrounding community with fewer public transit options and reduced economic opportunity.
Fittin’ to get ready strikes again.
* Press release…
David Welter will serve as a Member of the Executive Ethics Commission. Welter was first elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2016 and served the residents of District 75 until 2023. Prior to joining the General Assembly, Welter was elected to the Grundy County Board, serving first as Member and then Chairman. He currently serves as a Real Estate Broker and Owner in Morris, Illinois. An active member of his community, he is a member of the Grundy County Chamber, the Grundy County Economic Development Council, and We Care of Grundy County.
* WaPo looked at a growing problem for Democrats: Turnout among Black men…
Many Democrats interviewed said they were less worried about Black women, whose voting enthusiasm has historically been more robust than that of Black men. Black women were a huge factor in Biden’s victory in 2020. Advocates expect that trend to continue, particularly with Vice President Harris on the ticket and the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who both made history as the first Black women in their roles. […]
Part of the problem, [Terrance Woodbury, chief executive of HIT Strategies, a polling firm focused on young, non-White voters] argues, is that the party’s focus on Trump and Republican extremism is less likely to motivate younger Black men than arguments focused on policy benefits. The messaging, he has argued, must focus on how Black communities have benefited from specific policies.
His own polling has shown that voters’ belief that their vote doesn’t matter is the greatest barrier to voting among Black Americans. […]
Brittany Smith, the executive director of the Philadelphia-based Black Leadership PAC (BLP), which is working to turn out Black voters, said she has noticed a change in how Black people respond to her get-out-the vote efforts in recent years. In the past, she simply needed to remind people of where and when to vote. Now, she said, many express a cynicism about politics that requires a deeper level of persuasion.
“There’s not a night I don’t go to sleep thinking about what turnout will look like in 2024,” Smith said.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Illinois Newsroom | Some school districts are using COVID-19 aid to catch up on construction. Is your district one of them?: For many districts, it was a once-in-a-lifetime infusion of cash. “When funding is tight, a lot of things that are put off are bigger projects. It’s a lot harder to come up with $7 million to do something than it is to come up with $30,000 to do something,” said Sullivan Superintendent Ted Walk.
* Chalkbeat | Pell Grants return to incarcerated people after nearly 30 years. Here’s what that means in Illinois.: Pell Grant eligibility will depend on whether an incarcerated person lives in a prison with a federally-approved program. The U.S. Department of Education opened up applications early this month and will approve higher education institutions on a rolling basis.
* Illinois Newsroom | Buttigieg visits Savoy to tout infrastructure money for new underpass: Buttigieg’s department awarded Savoy roughly $22.7 million – half of the cost of the project — from a grant within President Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
* WGEM | Illinois State Police announce new online crash reporting system: “For simple crashes where only one car is involved and no one is injured, the ability to file a report online instead of along the road will make it safer for drivers and our troopers, and eliminate the need to wait for a trooper to make the report,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly.
* Crain’s | Hospital mergers are heating up in the Midwest: Since October, at least a dozen hospital transactions have been proposed or completed involving buyers or sellers in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota. Health systems are joining forces with others in adjacent markets and, in some cases, those that operate in other states.
* Crain’s | Northwestern Memorial, Rush top U.S. News hospital rankings — with a twist: However, unlike in years past, the 2023-2024 Best Hospitals Honor Roll does not call out the 22 top hospitals in order, meaning each of the 22 is essentially equal in the eyes of U.S. News.
* WTTW | US Attorney’s Office in Chicago Aims to be ‘Force Multiplier’ in Anti-Gang Effort: “The Chicago Police Department has 12,000 officers, the federal U.S. Attorneys and federal agents, we can’t replicate that,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Morris Pasqual in an interview with WTTW News. “What we can do is essentially function as more or less a force multiplier. We can bring added resources, added money, added expertise, added personnel and just added effort to the effort.”
* SJ-R | Buscher, 85 days in, discusses changes to emergency response: The new mayor went into detail regarding the city’s response to the storm on Friday during a Citizens Club of Springfield forum. Seeing the impact - an estimated $20 million earlier this month - Buscher announced plans to address future bouts of extreme weather.
* Block Club | Humboldt Park’s Growing Tent City Has Some Neighbors On Edge As Officials Search For Solutions: Before the pandemic, only a few people were living in tents in the sprawling Northwest Side park. But the park’s tent city has since grown to include about 40 people, their bright orange tents visible from North and California avenues.
* The Southern | Fingers crossed: SIU hoping for enrollment increase: Lane showed the trustees a slide indicating a 19.6% increase in undergraduate applications to SIU compared to last year at the same time, a 4.6% increase in admissions and reported that just over 2,200 new undergraduates had enrolled, an increase of 5.1%.
* HuffPost | Abortion Funds Are Hanging On By A Thread A Year After Dobbs: Typically, abortion funds operate with some combination of individual donations and grants from larger organizations or, post-Dobbs, from local governments. California, for example, announced late last year that it would put $20 million toward a fund that helps people access abortion in the state, even if they come from other states. And Megan Jeyifo, the executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said the group was able to meet increased demand — it’s on track to spend $3 million this year, up from around $600,000 last year — thanks in part to support from the city. But other funds are rapidly running dry, even after a spike in donations that followed last summer’s shock court decision.
* Bloomberg | Caterpillar says China demand slowdown even worse than thought: Chief Executive Officer Jim Umpleby said during Tuesday’s earnings call that the company anticipates further weakness in sales of the machines most used for Chinese construction projects. The view follows the CEO’s downbeat comments on April 27, when he said the total share of sales from the Asian nation would be below its normal expected range of 5% to 10%.
* Bloomberg | Miami’s overflowing septic tanks and trash piles test the city’s appeal to the rich: Some of greater Miami’s massive landfills, known by clever names like Mount Trashmore, will run out of space by 2026, according to a report from Cava’s office. More urgent are the septic systems that serve the city’s 2.7 million residents. Many of those front-yard sewage tanks overflow when it rains, releasing fecal bacteria and other contaminants that transform patches of tropical paradise into toxic swamps that kill fish and sicken people.
* The Atlantic | Enough About Ken: I know a lot of impressive women married to men. Maybe the men are impressive too. I don’t give them much thought, to be honest. By the time I catch up with these women on all they are doing, and commiserate on the state of the world, we rarely have time to talk about their husbands. Sometimes, to be polite, I ask, but they normally don’t come up unless some conflict is brewing. This doesn’t mean that my friends don’t love their partners—just that, when given room to talk about their lives, that’s what they want to talk about: their lives.
* Michigan Advance | In Flint, every pregnant person is about to receive cash through Rx Kids: Beginning in January 2024, every pregnant person in Flint is poised to receive a one-time payment of $1,500 followed by $500 payments per month for the first year of their child’s life. Made through a new program called Rx Kids, these funds could mean the difference between being able to make rent or pay for utilities, Hurt explained.
* Herald-Whig | Cattle judging, bags tournament and country concert highlight Saturday at the Fair: On the other side of the fairgrounds, adult co-ed volleyball and the County Fair Bags Tournament filled out the roster of events for early fairgoers. By noon, the temperature at the fairgrounds was already over 90 degrees, but it didn’t slow down either the participants or the spectators.
* WGN | Beyoncé vs Taylor Swift vs NASCAR: Who’s been the biggest boon to Chicago?: Downtown hotel occupancy peaked at 97% on the early June weekend of Taylor Swift’s concert, according to numbers shared with WGN Investigates by data analytics firm CoStar. That was followed closely by the 95% occupancy rate of central business district hotels on the opening night of Beyoncé’s Chicago concert.
* Tribune | Shedd Aquarium announces 40-foot Caribbean tunnel, new learning studio as part of ongoing $500 million plan: The Shedd Aquarium released plans on Tuesday for upgrading many of its exhibits, gardens and learning spaces by 2027. Bridget Coughlin, president and CEO, said instead of the current geographical-based setup at the aquarium, they will shift toward highlighting animal biology and behavior. She hopes it will encourage visitors to take action on sustainability and climate change.
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* As we discussed yesterday, this claim is not factual…
Full text…
To the Left, citizenship is meaningless. Illinois is now letting illegal aliens become police officers.
In Florida, we took action to combat the harms of Biden’s border crisis. We also value our citizen officers who serve and protect our communities.
As President, I will restore American sovereignty.
No illegal alien should have authority over any American citizen. It is a sad commentary on the state of America that this is even a debate.
* Clapback…
* The Hill…
Pritzker has been defending the new Illinois law after many have falsely characterized it as a law allowing immigrants who had entered the country illegally apply for law enforcement positions. In fact, the new law states that “individuals who are not citizens, but are legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law” can apply for police jobs at the beginning of 2024.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) are among the conservative lawmakers criticizing the new law.
Pritzker has argued that similar legislation exists in other states and that many DACA recipients and legal residents already serve in the U.S. military.
* The new law states this…
The sheriff of any county or the corporate authorities of any municipality may authorize, empower, employ, or permit a person to act as deputy sheriff or special policeman for the purpose of preserving the peace, who is not a citizen of the United States, who is legally authorized under federal law to work in the United States and is authorized under federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess a firearm, or who is an individual against whom immigration action has been deferred by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process and is authorized under federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess a firearm.
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* March of Dimes…
With over 3.5 million births in the United States annually, and rising rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, there is ample opportunity to improve maternal outcomes across the country. More than 2 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts, areas without access to birthing facilities or maternity care providers. Access to maternity care is essential for preventing poor health outcomes and eliminating health disparities. This report expands on the 2022 Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. report by taking a deeper dive into state level data and examining additional barriers that impact access to care. This data can be used to inform policies and practice recommendations in each state.
This report presents data on several important factors: levels of maternity care access and maternity care deserts by county; distance to birthing hospitals; availability of family planning services; community level factors associated with prenatal care usage as well as the burden and consequences of chronic health conditions across the state. While not an exhaustive list, each of these topics contribute to the complexity of maternity care access in each state. Working to improve access to maternity care by bringing awareness to maternity care deserts and other factors that limit access is one way in which March of Dimes strives to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity for all pregnant people.
* You can click here to see an interactive national map. But let’s look at some of the Illinois-specific study findings…
* 34.3% of counties are defined as maternity care deserts compared to 32.6% in the U.S.
* 4.6% of women had no birthing hospital within 30 minutes compared to 9.7% in the U.S.
* 13.7% of birthing people received inadequate prenatal care, less than the U.S. rate of 14.8%.
* 3.8% of babies were born to women who live in rural counties, while 1.8% of maternity care providers practice in rural counties in Illinois.
* In Illinois, women travel 6.8 miles and 12.3 minutes, on average, to their nearest birthing hospital. Overall, in the U.S. women travel 9.7 miles to their nearest birthing hospital.
* Women living in counties with the highest travel times (top 20 percent) could travel up to 47.8 miles and 59 minutes, on average, to reach their nearest birthing hospital.
* In rural areas across Illinois, 35.5% of women live over 30 minutes from a birthing hospital compared to 3.5% of women living in urban areas.
* Women living in maternity care deserts traveled 5.1 times farther than women living in areas with full access to maternity care in Illinois.
* There are 4 Title X [family planning] clinics per 100,000 women in Illinois compared to 5.3 per 100,000 in the U.S. overall.
* On average, people living in maternity care deserts in Illinois, travel 4 times farther to reach their nearest Title X clinic compared to people living in full access counties.
* In Illinois, the [pre-term birth] rate was 10.7 percent, compared to 10.5 percent in the U.S. overall in 2021.
* They also have county interactive maps, so click here to see those…
MATERNITY CARE DESERTS
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The lost art of outreach
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
At a corner in North Lawndale, the familiar tune of an ice cream truck rang out as it drove past crowds of community leaders and advocates who wanted to create a welcoming atmosphere for those in the neighborhood affected by gun violence looking for resources.
The gathering at Deliverance Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith was just a few blocks away from where a 21-year-old woman was fatally shot Sunday morning. The mass shooting, which occurred at a birthday party in the 1500 block of South Keeler Avenue, left another eight people, seven of them women, wounded by gunfire.
* Sun-Times…
The purpose of the temporary center was to help victims “get on the path to healing,” said Aileen Robinson, assistant director of CPD’s Crime Victim Services.
She said city officials had just returned from visiting two cities where this is done. “We are aligning with what is going on in the country,” Robinson said.
Inside the church, counselors sat at tables with brochures outlining services available to them: a pamphlet about CPD’s crime victim services, another about the Center on Halsted’s anti-violence project.
Stress balls and Play-Doh were piled on the table. Two therapy dogs from Lutheran Church Charities sat on the entranceway floor waiting to be petted.
Ald. Monique Scott (24th) praised the city for organizing the resource center in less than a day. But she pointed out that the room was filled almost completely with outreach workers — with no apparent victims or their neighbors.
“We do have to start knocking on some doors,” Scott said. “We must find a different approach because what happened the other day, it was disheartening.”
* Back to the Tribune…
Organizers also knocked on doors on the block to provide support, stopping to chat with people sitting on their porch or walking dogs.
“Because somebody is in their house right now that needs the help and the resources that are here, but they’re scared to come to this type of setting,” [Corniki Bornds, founder of Help Understanding Grief] said.
It’s about meeting people where they’re at, she said.
I’m glad they did get out there to knock on doors and talk to people where they’re at.
Anecdote, not data, but most of the “outreach” I’ve seen at events this summer is basically people from the government or non-profits sitting at a table in a tent waiting for others to come talk to them about an important program. That’s not actual outreach.
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* From the Ogletree Deakins law firm blog last October…
On October 12, 2022, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois concluded that a company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) 45,600 times over six years by collecting truck drivers’ fingerprints to verify identities without the informed, written consent the Privacy Act requires. This is the first jury verdict rendered under the Privacy Act following a spike in class action filings under the statute. […]
Following the jury’s findings, the federal judge assigned to the case awarded $5,000 in liquidated damages for each intentional or reckless violation. Hence, the plaintiff-class received a judgment totaling $228 million.
* The company, BNSF Railroad, filed a motion to overturn or at least limit the jury’s verdict. From the Ogletree Deakins last month…
A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois vacated a $228 million damages award issued following the first-ever jury verdict in an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) class action and ordered a new trial on the issue of damages. However, in doing so, the judge refused to overturn the jury’s finding that the company’s Privacy Act violations were intentional or reckless.
In the June 30, 2023, ruling, the federal district court judge determined that there was sufficient evidence presented to the jury to find that the company was directly or vicariously liable for Privacy Act violations and to find that those violations were intentional or reckless. The judge further ruled that Privacy Act damages are discretionary and “that a damages award after a finding of liability is a question for the jury.” As such, the judge granted the company’s post-trial motion for a new trial on the issue of damages, which according to court records is set to commence in October 2023. […]
In vacating that award, the judge pointed to the subsequent February 2023 ruling by the Supreme Court of Illinois in Cothron v. White Castle. In that case, the Illinois Supreme Court held that Privacy Act claims accrue on each and every scan or collection, but in doing so, observed that a judge has the discretion to fashion damages so as not to result in “annihilative liability.” The judge in the present case stated that this observation “suggests how the Illinois Supreme Court is likely to rule if it were to address this question [of Privacy Act discretionary damages] in the future.” […]
The judge noted that the company continued to collect drivers’ fingerprints without obtaining informed consents for nearly one year after being sued and learning that there were potential compliance concerns with the system under the Privacy Act and only appeared to stop due to the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
It is not clear whether a jury will ultimately uphold the $228 million damages award in the case, but the ruling is nevertheless significant in that it suggests that damages are not simply a strict calculation of a statutory damages amount multiplied by the number of violations. This is especially important for companies following the Cothron ruling, which found that Privacy Act violations accrue on each scan. With violations occurring per scan, which may occur regularly (potentially multiple times per day), and a five-year statute of limitations, Privacy Act damages have the potential to skyrocket, which could also open the floodgates for more Privacy Act class actions.
While the holding is not binding on Illinois courts, the ruling highlights the language from the Cothron decision suggesting that Privacy Act damages are discretionary. That interpretation may be persuasive on other courts to hold that juries should fashion “appropriate” damage awards in Privacy Act class actions.
The ruling is here.
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* Center Square…
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared to concede that his and Democratic lawmakers’ ban on a wide variety of semi-automatic handguns and rifles has a less than 50-50 chance of surviving in the federal court system.
During a discussion the governor’s office said was about “gun violence prevention” at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield Thursday, Pritzker was asked about the chance his ban on certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines survives a challenge in the federal courts.
“It is not zero chance and it is not, you know, 30% chance, I think it’s better than that that we will win,” Pritzker said. “I don’t know what percent to put on it. I just think we have a pretty good argument.”
* What he actually said during the Q and A…
Q: So at the national level, and there was even an article today in the Tribune about this, we seem to have hit a roadblock to pass a Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the Supreme Court’s, particularly Justice Thomas’, rulings in in the cases before the court, the ruling against state gun restrictions. So take out your crystal ball. Where where do you think this is all going?
Pritzker: Where’s this all going? We need to make sure that we get people appointed to the Supreme Court who are going to do the right thing. [Applause]
I do think that that, again, going back to the case that it is likely to be the Illinois case going to the Supreme Court, I do think that we have, you know, I don’t know what percentage chance to put on it. But it is not zero chance and it is not you know 30 percent chance. I think it’s better than that, that we will win. I don’t know what percent to put on it. I just think that we have a pretty good argument. And it’s demonstrated by the quality of the bill that got passed and signed here in Illinois and the commentary of the appellate court judges.
So you know, when you say where’s it all going? We’re in this terrible situation, where essentially it’s been made available to everybody to go by almost any, lots of hand guns are available to everybody in the audience and everybody out there in the world. And more and more of them have been purchased. And I think we have today read that we have 390 million guns in private hands in a country that has about, what, 340 million people in it. And that doesn’t mean that everybody in this room has a gun but it means that somebody else out there has more than one gun. And as I said before, there are lots of people buying guns because they, not because they feel like they should have a gun or you know, but because now they feel like everybody else has a gun. And so they have to protect themselves, or they want to be like their neighbors who are asking, ‘Do you have one? Do you have one?” And so this is the world we’re living in. And I was just abroad in the UK. They can’t believe what’s going on with guns in the United States and they don’t understand how a rational society like ours can let the continuation of the growth of gun ownership, particularly very deadly weapons can continue to harvest among us.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* More from the Q and A…
Q: Someone’s asking ‘How do you feel about the safe storage laws and Ethan’s law in particular which has a penalty to parents with minors in the house where guns aren’t stored properly or safely?’
Pritzker: I think we need to pass legislation to lock up guns in homes. [Applause] I think if you’re going to own a gun, you have to be responsible with it. And this is one way for us to demand and to ask people to do the right thing and keep them safe in their own homes. So I’ll just leave it there.
* Insurance requirements for gun owners…
Pritzker: That’s not from my perspective about trying to make it expensive or difficult, you know, we can’t put roadblocks just for the sake of roadblocks to people buying guns that are legal to acquire. On the other hand, there is a real problem when guns are misused, not kept properly, loaned out willy nilly to people who shouldn’t have them. People have to be responsible. And I think that being held liable for that means that you’re probably going to, should have, the requirement or at least, we should be contemplating a requirement of people who are going to purchase a gun to have some kind of insurance. I say that though, without having done the research on what is the cost of that insurance, what would be the liability that people would be subjected to. So I don’t want to just make an announcement here that I think, you know, broadly, we ought to require insurance but I do think we’ve got to contemplate it and there should be hearings about it and we should ask the insurance industry and we should also try to understand what the the cost to an individual really would be.
* Taxing ammunition…
Pritzker: I think over the course of the last 35 years that I’ve been engaged in this, that’s certainly something that’s come up quite a lot. Could you just tax bullets, you know, with a high tax and then no one will buy them. I think that the Supreme Court essentially would shut that down because the effectiveness of the Second Amendment, they would say, would be nullified. And again, there may be people you know, who think that we should nullify the Second Amendment, but not the Supreme Court of the United States today.
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* Press release…
Northwestern University today announced that it has engaged former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch from the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to lead an independent review of the processes and accountability mechanisms in place at the University to detect, report and respond to potential misconduct in its athletics programs, including hazing, bullying and discrimination of any kind.
As part of her review, Lynch will examine the culture of Northwestern Athletics to ensure it is consistent with the University’s mission and values as a leading academic institution. Lynch will conduct this review with feedback from and engagement with faculty, staff, students and alumni. The results of her review will be made public.
“Hazing has absolutely no place at Northwestern. Period, said Northwestern President Michael Schill. “I am determined that with the help of Attorney General Lynch, we will become a leader in combating the practice of hazing in intercollegiate athletics and a model for other universities. We will provide all of our students with the resources and support they need and do whatever is necessary to protect their safety and ensure that our athletics program remains one we can all be proud of.”
Vice President for Athletics & Recreation Derrick Gragg added, “The Athletics Department welcomes this review as a critical tool in identifying the additional steps Northwestern can take to eradicate hazing. By making the results of her review public, we hope our entire community will be better informed and guided as we all work to address this critical issue in college athletics.
Lynch’s review is part of a series of immediate actions the University has taken in response to the findings from the independent investigation of allegations of hazing in the football program, which were announced July 7. Those actions include:
◦ Monitoring of the football locker room.
◦ In-person anti-hazing training led by outside experts for all University sports teams, coaches and staff. The first session begins Aug. 3 for the football team - its first day of fall practice with training for other teams to follow.
◦ Enhancement of the University’s existing reporting resources with the development of an online tool for reporting complaints of hazing, bullying and other misconduct.
Lynch will begin her review immediately and will provide updates to both President Schill and the Board of Trustees’ Audit and Risk Committee. At the conclusion of her review, Lynch will make her results public.
Thoughts?
* Related…
* In hazing scandal, Northwestern University is flunking crisis management: “Unless everyone gets in the same room to map out and agree upon a prompt, transparent crisis response, then the longer you let the story fester, the worse it becomes,” said Ron Culp, a public relations consultant at DePaul University. He added that Northwestern was slow on the uptake to figure out the seriousness of the allegations. “That’s kind of where they got themselves off to a slow negative start in the public perception of what was going on there.”
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Delivery Helps Chicago Restaurants Grow On Uber Eats
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
At Uber Eats, local restaurants are the backbone of our communities and delivery continues to help small business owners reach new customers and increase sales.
We recently published the results of the 2022 US Merchant Impact Report—which come directly from a survey of merchant partners. Read More.
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Open thread
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s going on? Keep it Illinois-centric please…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois to invest more than $23 million in abortion access, reproductive health care initiatives: To expand Illinois’ capacity to care for the sharp increase in abortion-seekers, the state’s Department of Public Health will spend $10 million to create a hotline to aid callers in finding providers and making appointments. Pritzker had proposed the funding in February, and Democratic lawmakers included it in the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget this spring. The hotline is in its beginning stages as IDPH puts out a request for proposals.
* NBC Chicago | Pritzker defends Illinois bill that allows non-citizens to become police officers: During a press conference where he spoke about legislation protecting reproductive rights in the state, Pritzker emphasized that the bill would be limited to individuals who are legally allowed to work in the United States, and who are legally allowed to possess firearms.
* CBS Chicago | State Treasurer Michael Frerichs launches “First Steps” college savings program: “Illinois First Steps is an important step towards ensuring all Illinois children can access higher education in their future,” Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said. […] All families can open a free 529 college savings account with Bright Start or Bright Directions and submit a claim for the $50 deposit from the state anytime before the child’s 10th birthday.
* WGLT | Some Illinois lawmakers want to see U.S. call a constitutional amendments convention: Three Republican lawmakers plan to represent Illinois at an event in Williamsburg, Virginia, later this week that’s sponsored by a political action group that wants to trigger a constitutional amendments convention within the next three years.
* Vermillion County First | GOP State Rep Mike Marron Announces He Will Not Seek Reelection: The statement closes with Marron saying “Thank you to everyone who was a part of my successes over the years. It really has been a humbling experience. It is time to focus on my family’s farm and spend more time with my wife and daughter. After all, there is so much more to life than politics.”
* Daily Herald | ‘I own this’: Utility company leaders apologize for July water crisis in southern Lake County: “(I) want to convey that I own this, along with our operators at the base level,” Colleen M. Arnold, president of the Aqua division of Essential Utilities, told a large crowd during a special Hawthorn Woods village board meeting at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. “There are things we couldn’t control … but what we could control was our response.”
* WTTW | Police Departments Are Gradually Adopting a More Detailed Program to Report Nationwide Crime Data. Chicago Recently Became the Largest User: Other large Illinois municipalities reporting data to NIBRS through the Illinois State Police system in 2022 include Naperville and Elgin, according to the ISP site and local officials. However Aurora, the state’s second largest community, and Waukegan, 10th largest, only reported one month of data in 2022.
* Sun-Times | Weed giants Columbia Care, Cresco Labs call off plans for $2 billion merger : “In light of the evolving landscape in the cannabis industry, we believe the decision to terminate the planned transaction is in the long-term interest of Cresco Labs and our shareholders,” Charles Bachtell, CEO and co-founder of Cresco Labs, said in the release.
* Tribune | Oak Park has promoted integration for more than 50 years. New challenges have local officials reevaluating their approach.: Over the last 50 years, Oak Park has succeeded in transforming itself from a majority-white enclave to a more racially diverse community through a series of policy measures aimed at promoting integration. But new pressures from a lack of affordable housing to sky-high property taxes and lingering racial tensions threaten to undo those gains, some community members and stakeholders say.
* Aurora Beacon-News | Aurora City Council ratifies business done at ‘closed’ meetings held after doors to City Hall automatically locked: After the Committee of the Whole meeting, the council convened its regular meeting at 6:47 p.m. It was adjourned about 7:10 p.m. After the adjournment, members of the council encountered members of the public who were waiting outside City Hall and said the doors were locked.
* Tribune | Cook County employee sues Clerk Karen Yarbrough over soured land sale: A new lawsuit filed by a Cook County employee against Yarbrough and her husband echoes much of the criticism. It alleges a mix of family, political and professional actions taken by Yarbrough — which the employee states were “wanton, calculated, and with malice and willfulness” — defrauded the employee out of hundreds of thousands of dollars involving the sale of two buildings in Maywood, Yarbrough’s political home base.
* Sun-Times | Prosecutors seek contempt charge against former judge accused of stealing from Tuskegee Airman: On Monday, Cook County prosecutors served notice to Martin that they are seeking to have her held in contempt of court for allegedly transferring about $1,200 from cryptocurrency accounts she set up using money she allegedly stole from Wilkerson. Prosecutors a month ago had announced their intention to file the case at a hearing in Wilkerson’s lawsuit against Martin.
* Sun-Times | Another one of Lightfoot’s Cabinet stars leaving Johnson administration: Gia Biagi ushered in the electric scooter era and pioneered the outdoor dining program that helped restaurants and bars survive the pandemic.
* Sun-Times | Chicago Public Schools’ aggressive tactics for removing principals under the microscope: Nine principals have been removed pending discipline or investigations into “serious misconduct” in recent years. Of those, six are Black men.
* Daily Herald | Some trees in the suburbs are in drought stress: What to look for and how to help: Trees in drought stress often display symptoms like wilted foliage, yellowing leaves and premature leaf drop. This year, tulip trees and river birches seem particularly sensitive to the lack of moisture, Yiesla said.
* Tribune | Plant poachers damage Cook County forest preserves as demand for ramps and morels makes foraging more profitable: “Most people think it’s a harmless act,” said Martin Hasler, deputy chief of the Cook County Forest Preserves Police Department. “The forest preserve is for all of us and taking away anything from it disturbs the forest preserve from its natural state.”
* Market Watch | U.S. stocks roar back in 2023 to book best seven months to start a year in decades: The Nasdaq saw its best first seven months of a year since 1975 when the index surged 39.1% over that stretch, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq went on to give up some of those gains in 1975, but still finished the year up almost 30%, FactSet data show.
* Daily Beast | Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Threats Against a Nonprofit Prove He’s a Free Speech Phony: Under Elon Musk’s ownership, the platform has routinely used every tool at its disposal to push back on critics. And so it is not without precedent that attorneys for X Corp. recently sent a letter to the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) threatening legal action, after several of the organization’s publications revealed repeated failures to enforce X’s policies around hate speech.
* The Hill | Leprosy cases surging in Central Florida: CDC: In a news release Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Central Florida has accounted for 81 percent of reported cases in the state and almost one-fifth of reported cases nationwide.
* SJ-R | Sacred Heart-Griffin football coach wins USA TODAY national coaching honor: Leonard, the winningest football coach in Illinois history, guided the Cyclones to a 44-20 win over New Lenox Providence Catholic last year to collect his sixth state championship. “I’ve been blessed,” Leonard said. “I’m from Chenoa, Illinois. My dad just taught me, ‘Whatever you do, be the best you can be.”
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Live coverage
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Afternoon roundup
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today about the lawsuit challenging a new law that folds abortion crisis centers into the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act…
Pay attention to where this legislation came from. I think you heard that the Attorney General of the State of Illinois was driving into a reproductive rights center when he was essentially flagged down by people who looked like they belong to that center and when he was driving in, stopped, and they began to talk to him about oh, you know, park over here, wherever. It’s a little bit different angle than he was headed because he knew that the entrance where he was going to was in a different place, and began to ask them questions and realized that they were trying to get anybody that was headed to this. I think it was a Planned Parenthood clinic to essentially veer off and talk to people at a crisis - and I put quotes around crisis pregnancy center - and that they were lying to him about where he ought to be going. So this was just the beginning of work that he did to determine that this is happening across the state of Illinois.
Indeed, many of these centers are being put next to clinics where people are seeking to exercise their reproductive rights. And so that was the purpose of it. And that continues to be the purpose of it.
Nobody’s forcing anybody to make any particular decision here. But what we don’t want is misrepresentation, misinformation, people being deceived in the process or just seeking their basic health care rights. I’ll be honest with you, I’m not at all surprised. I think that what the right wing in Illinois has decided is they can’t win at the ballot box. They can’t win in the legislature. They didn’t win the governorship. They didn’t win the races around the state that they were trying to take in, you know, school boards and library boards and so on. And so they have only one thing that they have resorted to, and that’s take every one of these pieces of legislation and try to take it to court and get a decision they like. They typically head for courts where they think they’re going to get a judge that was elected who was one of their own in order to get an initial decision in their favor. But when you go to federal court, less likely to have that happen and you know, my reaction is this is just par for the course. We’ve seen this before.
* More bill signings today…
Governor Pritzker today signed five bills expanding protections for veterans, active-duty soldiers, and military dependents.
“The men and women of this state and this country who heed the call to serve deserve every possible support and protection during and after their time in the military,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “These bills weave together a more comprehensive safety net to protect and uplift veterans and service members dealing with the complexities of life in the military, including the many ways in which service can impact someone’s family and loved ones. To the service members recognized by our newly designed Honor and Remember flag, we thank you for your ultimate sacrifice and mourn with your families and the rest of the state.”
HB0925: House Bill 0925 creates the “Veteran Service Organization State Charter Act.” This act lays out specific requirements organizations must meet in order to be considered state-chartered veterans service organizations. This is a voluntary process that includes demonstrating that an organization must be formed by and for veterans with a majority of board members who are veterans, alongside other financial and legal qualifications.
HB3103: House Bill 3103 eases the process of obtaining a civil no contact order of protection for victims and survivors of military sexual assault. In 2022, Governor Pritzker signed into law SB257, ensuring military sexual assault victims were able to access the same rights and protections as their civilian counterparts. SB 257 allowed Military Protective Orders to be used as a basis for the issuing of criminal domestic violence orders of protection, stalking no contact orders, and gave local law enforcement the ability to enforce a military protective order. This act expands on those efforts to ensure victims and survivors of military sexual assault have access to all necessary resources for protection. The U.S. Department of Defense has cited Illinois’ work in this area as a model for national reform.
HB3295: House Bill 3295 requires the military liaison for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to notify service members’ spouses of federal assistance programs to reimburse licensing fees when they apply to transfer a professional license to Illinois. Under federal law, military spouses may be reimbursed up to $1,000 for obtaining a professional license required when moving to a new state for military relocation. This includes exam and registration fees. Governor Pritzker has previously prioritized aiding military spouses with relocation by creating a liaison to assist eligible members and their spouses, and by expediting certain applications for review. The licensing reimbursement will be paid by the branch of the military the individual serves in.
HB2856: House Bill 2856 amends the Vital Records Act by adding that the death certificate for an individual who has history of military service may include or be amended to include whether or not a military service-related injury contributed to the cause of death. Having such a classification can expand and expedite access to benefits for the spouse or dependents of the deceased.
SB1072: Senate Bill 1072 designated the Honor and Remember flag as the specific symbol to acknowledge American service men and women who lost their lives in the line of duty. The flag was created by the father of Cpl. George ‘Tony’ Lutz II who was killed in action while on patrol in Fallujah, Iraq. The bill creates a mandate on public entities that would then be required to purchase the flag, which cost $55 each. Twenty other states officially recognize this flag.
* Illinois State Board of Education…
Illinois state agencies have released and incorporated new data into the High School 2 Career dashboard tool to ensure Illinois students have the information they need to make informed decisions about their postsecondary and career options. The tool enables students, parents, and guidance counselors to review a wide range of information on Illinois public high school seniors and their actual pathways after they graduate, including postsecondary education choices by degree type and academic area of study, as well as their career and salary outcomes. The interactive online dashboard is available in both English and Spanish. Tutorial videos are also available in both English and Spanish to assist users as they navigate the dashboard.
A data-sharing partnership among the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), and Illinois State University (ISU), makes this newest iteration of the tool possible. It utilizes data from public school seniors representing five academic years– following their progress from high school through nine years post-gratuation to provide an unparalleled snapshot of the education requirements, compensation, and job stability a student can expect from hundreds of different occupations.
* Press release…
Governor Signs Manley-Preston Bill to Protect Against Lewd Displays in Prison
Everyone involved in corrections is entitled to be protected from lewd behavior in prisons. Rep. Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) and Sen. Willie Preston (D-Chicago) have now provided that protection. Governor Pritzker has signed their bill, HB1399, which creates an effective response to such behaviors as gassing, splashing and exposure in prisons by:
* Addressing the underlying motivations for this conduct by providing offenders with a Mental Health Treatment Court option.
* Punishing repeat offenses as a Class 4 felonies.
* Requiring data collection and a 2028 sunset to be able to evaluate the law’s effectiveness.
“Protecting our correctional community, especially female officers and staff, is absolutely necessary and long overdue,” Rep. Manley said. “This bill gives them a two-pronged approach that will result in real, ongoing protection against this behavior: Treatment for what causes the behavior to keep it from recurring and punishment for those who refuse to change their behavior with that treatment. After working with representatives of law enforcement and criminal justice advocates over the past year, I am proud to be able to sponsor a meaningful solution to this dangerous situation.”
“I was honored to sponsor this important piece of legislation which will keep our corrections officers safer in their place of work,” Sen. Preston said. “Ultimately, I believe it can help deter and prevent an ongoing issue of detainee sexual harassment and I am proud to have seen it pass in both houses.”
The bill was an initiative of Safer Foundation, which worked with Rep. Manley to convene a year-long series of workshops where advocacy groups and correctional authorities from the Cook and Will County Sheriffs developed this groundbreaking approach. The resulting legislation was supported by the Illinois FOP, the Illinois Sheriff’s Association, the Kane County State’s Attorney and the Midwest Region of the Laborer’s International Union. It was co-sponsored by a bi-partisan group that included both Democratic and Republican leadership and passed both chambers unanimously.
“This is the way good legislation is made,” said Safer Foundation Public Policy Analyst Mark McCombs. “Driven by Representative Manley’s commitment to this issue, diverse interests thoughtfully crafted an approach that works. It works because it gets to the root of what causes someone to act like this. It works because it treats a mental health issue with a mental health response. And it works because it protects the entire correctional community, including the vast majority of incarcerated individuals who also don’t want to be subjected to this conduct.”
Lewd behavior in correctional facilities has become an increasingly dangerous problem for correctional authorities. Those authorities have seen a rise in incidents where incarcerated individuals subject guards, staff, volunteers – often females — and even their cellmates to indecent exposure, sexual stimulation and the throwing of bodily fluids (commonly called “splashing” or “gassing”). Retaining staff under these circumstances is challenging. The stress created on staff who remain impacts their ability to perform already difficult jobs, including protecting incarcerated individuals. Previously, Illinois law provided no effective response to this conduct.
I omitted their quotes, but outside of the governor’s email above, I think that’s the only email I’ve received specifically touting a House Democrat’s newly signed law after Friday’s mass bill-signing. And that was from the Safer Foundation. Not sure what’s up over there.
* The Cardinals owners did this and it has proved very popular. Same with the area around that minor league park on the North Side…
Expansive development of the surrounding areas at major sports venues is topping the wish list of teams looking to bring new retail space, bars, restaurants and family activities closer to their home venues.
These “mini-cities” have proven to be major success stories in locales like Atlanta at the Battery connected to the Braves’ Truist Park and the ever-growing development around the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium as well as its headquarters in Frisco, Texas.
It’s the same dream the Chicago Bears are pursuing with the team’s plan to develop a $5 billion stadium and mixed-use entertainment district in the northwest suburb. Those initial plans seemed to have stalled, and the Bears are now listening to pitches on other municipalities, including Chicago itself. Mayor Brandon Johnson and any other hopeful to win the team to their side will almost certainly need to offer a site with ample space for such a development.
* My pledge to you…
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup…
* Crain’s | ComEd is on a marketing charm offensive — and you’re paying for a lot of it: These PR campaigns include the celebratory turning on of Buckingham Fountain in mid-May, which ComEd calls Switch on Summer. ComEd most recently promoted the event with three hours of “free family fun, live music and giveaways,” according to recent testimony filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office.
* Sun-Times | We can make Chicago the nation’s best city for biking: One recent survey ranked Chicago near the bottom on bikeability among big cities. But with public support, the right changes can be made to make Chicago even safer for cyclists, an Active Transportation Alliance leader writes.
* Center Square | Illinois to invest millions into the state’s veterans homes: Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza visited the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Anna to highlight the renovation projects. As part of the nearly $3 million project, Mendoza said the entire HVAC ventilation system at the facility will be replaced.
* Crain’s | Danny Wirtz succeeds late father Rocky atop Wirtz Corp.: Danny Wirtz will take his father’s titles as chairman and president of Wirtz Corp., as the fourth generation of the family that owns the Chicago Blackhawks suddenly takes leadership of a sprawling and closely held business worth billions.
* Fox 32 | Illinois launching new program to help parents save for college education: The new program is called Illinois First Steps college savings programs and leaders are encouraging parents to open an account. Nearly $2.5 million is going toward the program, and parents who enroll can qualify for a deposit of $50 from the state.
* Block Club | Illinois Cracks Down On ‘Deceptive’ Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers: The Illinois Attorney General can fine crisis pregnancy centers using false advertising and misinformation about reproductive healthcare — but only if patients complain.
* Tribune | Cresco and Columbia Care call off $2 billion cannabis megamerger; Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs deal also scratched: Chicago-based Cresco Labs and Columbia Care called off their $2 billion cannabis megamerger Monday, citing “evolving” market conditions that include falling stock prices, tightening credit and flattening industry sales. The companies also scratched the $185 million sale of cannabis facilities in Illinois, New York and Massachusetts to rapper/producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, which were part of required antitrust divestitures for the merger.
* Daily Herald | Marijuana dispensaries in Cary, Crystal Lake, McHenry and Richmond close in on opening dates: If opening an adult-use marijuana dispensary in McHenry County were a horse race, then there are several contenders champing at the bit to get started.
* Ms. | Illinois Law Holds Anti-Abortion ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ Accountable for Misinformation and Fraud: Illinois is the fourth state, following Connecticut, Colorado and Vermont, to enact a law reigning in the deceptive practices of CPCs, also known as limited service pregnancy centers (LSPCs), which often masquerade as reproductive health clinics to lure vulnerable women, and use lies and disinformation about abortion to pressure them to carry pregnancies to term.
* Daily Herald | Suburban office market continues to face challenges, change in ‘a time of reset’: The data shows a suburban total vacancy rate of 28.9% in the second quarter, up from 28.5% in the first quarter. In the second quarter of 2022 it was 21.5%, and in the second quarter of 2021 it was 18.2%
* Sun-Times | Loretto Hospital workers set to strike Monday morning: Workers have been working on a new contract with the hospital. Union members are demanding a living wage, more staffing and better working conditions.“Loretto is facing a significant staffing crisis, with vacancy rates ranging from 25 to 35% in various positions and an annual staff turnover of 60%,” the union said in a statement.
* Sun-Times | Could a drastic change in Atlantic Ocean currents leave Chicago high and dry? Yes: Some scientists worry that a shutdown of an important system of oceanic currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could push Chicago’s precipitation farther south.
* Crain’s | Real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle looks to unload part of HQ: The Chicago-based company this month formally began marketing more than 61,000 square feet at its Aon Center headquarters for sublease, according to a flyer. The space on the 47th and 48th floors represents about 30% of JLL’s workspace in the East Loop skyscraper, where its lease runs through May 2032.
* Mother Jones | Tesla Can’t Even Do the One Thing It’s Supposed to Be Good At: A new Reuters report calls into question Tesla’s ability to do the one thing that its vehicles were supposed to be good at: dominating the electric car industry with exceptional battery range. In fact, according to the report, Tesla intentionally overestimated the battery range displayed on drivers’ dashboards by rigging the software, only to then systematically cancel the service appointments of customers who complained. The company even established an entire Las Vegas “Diversion Team” devoted to canceling range-related appointments.
* Semafor | Twitter threatens to sue a nonprofit critical of Elon Musk: Lawyers representing Twitter sent a July 20 letter to the CCDH, claiming the organization “made a series of troubling and baseless claims that appear calculated to harm Twitter generally.”
* The Root | The Alphas Pour Ice Cold Water On Their Florida Convention: Florida has targeted the Black community from restricting voting rights to banning books about basic Black history while completely ignoring the systemic racism being perpetuated by every bill they pass. It’s unsurprising that the oldest Black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., pulled their upcoming conventions from Orlando.
* Crain’s | ‘Barbenheimer’ sets records at Chicago theaters : Officials at AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest movie theater operator, say three of its Chicago outlets garnered their highest-ever box office tallies last week, thanks to boffo business done by “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
* News Channel 20 | Local restaurants start to prepare for State Fair: At Main Gate Bar and Grill, Keeley’s Place, and Kentucky Burn, Co-Owner Bill Tinsley said he’s starting to get ready. He said a tent will be put up between Keeley’s Place and Main Gate for the restaurant and bar. He plans to order double or triple the amount of food for customers coming in during the fair. He’s also planning to make room for up to 70 parking spaces.
* WICS | Redneck fishing tournament returns to Bath, Illinois: On Friday, people head to the Village of Bath in Mason County to come and see how many fish they can get to jump into their boats or snag out of the air with landing nets during two, 2-hour heats. The first heat is from noon to 2 p.m. The second is from 4 to 6 p.m.
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Question of the day
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Rockford Register Star…
Ever want to skip the line at the Illinois DMV? Now you can
Illinois department of motor vehicle offices are known for having long lines and wait times, but relief may be on the way.
Some offices are going appointment-only for certain services, and all offices will be open longer.
It’s all part of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ “Skip-the-Line” program, aimed at improving customer service and reducing wait times.
There is no such thing as the “Illinois department of motor vehicle.” From 2014…
And note that it is not called the DMV – the Department of Motor Vehicles, which is what people want to call the office because people watch TV, and programs are filmed in California, where they have a Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, and it is referred to as such by its acronym. It’s wrong.
Agree or disagree, like it or hate it, the only mention in state statute of the phrase “Department of Motor Vehicles” is a small section about out-of-state DMVs.
* A few years ago, then-Secretary of State Jesse White said he’d given in and would start referring to drivers’ services facilities as DMVs. And now even the SoS website uses the term…
If they want to officially rebrand a state entity, maybe pass a law first.
* Or, I dunno. Maybe the reason I’m just so peevish about this right now is because of Elon’s shenanigans…
* The Question: Should I just let this DMV thing go? Explain.
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Meanwhile… In Opposite Land
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Alabama…
Alabama Republicans on Friday defied a U.S. Supreme Court order by passing a new congressional map that includes only one majority-Black district.
The GOP-controlled Legislature had called a special session to redraw an earlier map after the Supreme Court reaffirmed a federal court order to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, “or something quite close to it.” But on Friday, state Republicans approved a new map with just one majority-Black seat and a second district that is approximately 40% Black.
The bill passed the House in a 75-28 vote after the Senate voted 24 to 6 in favor of the revised map.
The map was completed Friday afternoon — hours before the court-ordered deadline for the Legislature to draw up new boundaries — as a compromise between the House and Senate versions.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the redistricting map into law Friday night. A federal court will hold a hearing on the map Aug. 14.
* Florida…
The Florida Department of Education determined that educational materials geared toward young children and high school students created by PragerU, a nonprofit co-founded by conservative radio host Dennis Prager, was in alignment with the state’s standards on how to teach civics and government to K-12 students.
The content — some of which is narrated by conservative personalities such as Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson — features cartoons, five-minute video history lessons and story-time shows for young children and is part of a brand called PragerU Kids. And the lessons share a common message: Being pro-American means aligning oneself to mainstream conservative talking points.
“We are in the mind-changing business and few groups can say that,” Prager says in a promotional video for PragerU as a whole. He reiterated this sentiment this summer at a conference for the conservative group Moms for Liberty in Philadelphia, saying it is “fair” to say PragerU indoctrinates children.
“It’s true we bring doctrines to children,” Prager told the group. “ But what is the bad about our indoctrination?” […]
Some videos talk about the history of race relations and slavery. In one video, two kids travel back in time to meet Christopher Columbus, who tells them that he should not be judged for enslaving people because the practice was “no big deal” in his time. Columbus argued to the kids that he did not see a problem with it because “being taken as a slave is better than being killed.”
* Wisconsin, West Virginia, Iowa, Michigan…
Wisconsin is just one of a growing number of states where predominantly Republican lawmakers are making quiet moves to roll back the alcohol service age, so that kids who can’t legally buy alcohol – or in Wisconsin’s case, even drive a car – would be allowed to serve hard drinks to customers at bars and restaurants. In addition to alleviating the labor shortage, lawmakers behind the bills argue letting kids serve alcohol would give them valuable work experience.
That’s left some opponents of the bills at a loss for words. “It’s bizarre. I can’t believe that we’re even having this conversation,” says Ryan Clancy, a Democratic state legislator who represents parts of Milwaukee, where he also owns an entertainment center that serves alcohol. He’s seen how drunk customers can harass workers, and “the idea that we would expose Wisconsin’s children to harassment through this is just unconscionable. It’s not only an erosion of labor, but our willingness to protect our kids.”
Until recently, every US state required a worker serving alcohol in a bar or restaurant to be at least 18 to 21. These minimums in part reflect the legacy of the movement to end child labor in the 20th century, says Betsy Wood, a historian of child labor at Bard Early College.
But according to a report published last week by the Economic Policy Institute, at least seven states have enacted laws to lower their alcohol service age since 2021, including West Virginia and Iowa, which lowered the minimum age to 16, and Michigan, which lowered it to 17. The bills are backed by restaurant lobbying groups as part of a broader effort to loosen child labor laws “to cut labor costs and deregulate employment”, the report writes – at a time when child labor violations are on the rise across the country.
* Texas…
The largest school district in Texas announced its libraries will be eliminated and replaced with discipline centers in the new school year.
Houston independent school district announced earlier this summer that librarian and media-specialist positions in 28 schools will be eliminated as part of superintendent Mike Miles’s “new education system” initiative.
Teachers at these schools will soon have the option to send misbehaving students to these discipline centers, or “team centers’” – designated areas where they will continue to learn remotely.
News of the library removals comes after the state announced it would be taking over the district, effective in the 2023-24 school year, due to poor academic performance. Miles was appointed by the the Texas Education Agency in June.
* Arkansas…
Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday.
U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible by kids. The measure, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year, was set to take effect Aug. 1.
A coalition that included the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock had challenged the law, saying fear of prosecution under the measure could prompt libraries and booksellers to no longer carry titles that could be challenged.
The judge also rejected a motion by the defendants, which include prosecuting attorneys for the state, seeking to dismiss the case.
* Iowa…
Hundreds of books would be banned in Urbandale schools, providing the first full scope of just how many titles could be removed from schools under a new Iowa law that forbids teaching about gender identity and prohibits publications that depict sex acts.
The Des Moines Register obtained a list of 374 books that the Urbandale Community School District believes could violate Senate File 496, which, among other changes, requires teachers and administrators to review their libraries and classrooms for books that depict sex acts and prohibits them from buying them in the first place.
The law also prohibits schools from providing instruction about gender identity or sexual orientation before seventh grade, which Urbandale officials believe includes books, according to instructions provided on the list.
Teachers in the school district of about 4,000 students northwest of Des Moines have been instructed to remove those books, which include children’s picture books, titles with LGBTQ themes, and classics like “Ulysses,” “The Catcher in the Rye” and “The Color Purple.”
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* Gov. Pritzker was asked again today about the paused enrollment to the program that pays medical costs for undocumented immigrants aged 42-64. Where do those folks go now?…
So you may recall that there was a time when we didn’t have any program- HBIA, HBIS, those are the names of the programs - for people who were illegal, undocumented rather, here in Illinois. There was no program for them. What did they do? We have free clinics, we have hospitals and emergency rooms that they were going to. I would prefer if we had universal health care. I think that every person on the ground [applause] had access to the health care that they need. Meanwhile, there are, you know, we haven’t done that in the United States and we’re trying really hard to do that in the state of Illinois. There’s still more work to do.
So what will those folks do? We have free clinics. We have, by the way, the open program still for seniors who are undocumented immigrants. And so that program remains open, there’s thousands more slots. But as far as I’m concerned, we need to make sure that we’re also balancing our budget and providing health care. So we support many of those free clinics, the state does and will continue to do that. I think that we ought to have the program that we already have in place for undocumented immigrants cover more people. But we need to make sure that we’re doing it in a cost efficient fashion. And to me, that means running it like Medicaid, because it wasn’t being run like Medicaid. It was on a fee for service basis.
But I think we can run it efficiently and make sure that we’re reopening the program, again, within our budgetary constraints. I think you’re aware that a very deep concern of mine for the state of Illinois making sure that we balance our budgets, run surpluses so that we can afford to do the things that we think are important to protect people across the state. And so I’m going to continue to try to balance all those interests.
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A look at that Auditor General’s report
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Unsurprisingly, Hannah Meisel has the best story out there on last week’s Auditor General’s report on unemployment and PUA overpayments. A tiny excerpt…
While overpayments in “regular” unemployment insurance accounted for a little over $2 billion, overpayments in the PUA program amounted to $3.2 billion, according to the audit.
“Considering gross benefits associated with regular UI claims were 2.5 times higher than gross benefits associated with PUA claims, it shows the magnitude of fraud experienced in the PUA program,” the audit said.
Identity theft accounted for nearly $511 million – roughly a quarter – of the $2 billion in overpayments within Illinois’ regular unemployment benefits system. In contrast, identity theft accounted for the majority of overpayments in the PUA system; $2.3 billion in PUA benefits were paid out in this manner.
The remainder of overpayments are due to what the audit narrowly defines as “fraud” – overpayments resulting from unemployment recipients filing knowingly false information – and “non-fraud,” which is the result of genuine mistakes. IDES has taken steps to stop or claw back these sorts of overpayments, though there are hardship waivers available.
But recovery of that money is only possible because those overpayments were sent to the true claimants of unemployment insurance, the audit notes. Illinois is out of luck on the $2.8 billion in overpayments IDES paid out to those using stolen identities.
PUA was 100 percent federally funded. The state is not on the hook for that.
* The UI fraud, however, represented over half of the state’s overall debt to the trust fund. From March of last year…
Illinois lawmakers this week advanced a measure to allocate $2.7 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay down more than half of the state’s outstanding $4.5 billion Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund debt. […]
Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Swansea Democrat who is a lead House negotiator on unemployment issues, said discussions continue with business and labor interests on addressing the remaining $1.8 billion. But at least $2.5 billion was needed to keep those negotiations moving forward.
“This is an agreed bill process. Business and labor have to agree or we’re not going to move the bill,” he said of ongoing negotiations to pay down the $1.8 billion. “This was a budgetary measure in order to make it easier on the agreed bill process.”
* From November of 2022…
Lawmakers on Tuesday announced a bipartisan plan to use state revenues to pay down the remaining $1.4 billion in debt taken on by the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of the agreement is expected to move through the General Assembly this week before lawmakers adjourn for the year. It would increase an employee’s “taxable wage base” – which is the amount of an employee’s wages for which an employer must pay unemployment taxes – by 2.4 percent for each of the next five years. It would also increase the target balance of the fund’s reserves from $1 billion to $1.75 billion.
It does not decrease the number of weeks or maximum amounts of benefits an unemployed person can receive. […]
Also as part of the agreement, the $450 million in state revenue to supplement the trust fund balance will be in the form of a no-interest loan. It is to be repaid over 10 years as a deposit in the state’s “rainy day” fund, which has its highest-ever balance over $1 billion.
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* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker today joined state leaders, healthcare providers, and advocates to announce several initiatives and programs targeted to lower barriers of access to reproductive care for families. These programs focus on navigating systems, reducing costs for patients, and supporting healthcare facilities, building on years of investment in and prioritization of reproductive care in the public health system.
“Unlike some other states, in the fourteen months since the Supreme Court made the archaic and destructive decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, Illinois has doubled down on our commitment to protect and expand reproductive rights for patients and providers alike,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This most recent batch of nation-leading policy expands access even further—because in the Land of Lincoln, we will not go backwards. Illinois will remain a safe haven for women — and I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure widespread, equitable access to reproductive rights.”
“Illinois continues to lead in the fight to protect women and anyone seeking reproductive care. While others attempt to roll back rights and restrict bodily autonomy, our state is forging ahead to build the groundwork for comprehensive, accessible reproductive healthcare,” said Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. “By addressing barriers to seeking an abortion and supporting providers who meet patients’ needs, these cross-agency initiatives demonstrate what it means to stand on the right side of history in the fight for reproductive justice.”
The initiatives announced today include:
Partnership between IHFS, IDPH, UIC, RUSH, and the Chicago Abortion Fund to create a hospital navigation program: CARLA (Complex Abortion Regional Line for Access), launching in August, is designed to give appropriate and expeditious treatment to patients who present for abortions at clinics who need a higher level of care than can be provided at the clinics. The nurse-staffed and specially trained hotline will aid patients with complex medical needs in scheduling appointments within hospital systems, acquiring required pre-operative testing, and arranging payment, transportation, and childcare for treatment.
Request for Proposals for a public facing hotline for abortion service navigation: IDPH received $10 million for this program in the FY2024 budget. The Reproductive Health Public Navigation Hotline will aid patients, including those travelling from out of state, in finding and navigating care. Illinois has seen a massive influx in patients travelling from out of state as other states in the region and beyond have passed increasingly restrictive anti-choice legislation, necessitating increased support for those navigating these systems.
Creation of a Family Planning Program for Medicaid: The program provides comprehensive coverage for family planning services for people otherwise not eligible for Medicaid based on income threshold. This plan raises the income eligibility above threshold for the regular Medicaid program and includes services such as an annual preventive exam, family planning counseling, all Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved methods of contraception, permanent methods of birth control (tubal ligation or vasectomy), and basic infertility counseling. Additional examples of services include cervical cancer screening and treatment, screening mammograms, breast cancer gene (BRCA) genetic counseling and testing as applicable, vaccines that support reproductive health, abortion care, and transportation for family planning visits. By leveraging federal Medicaid funds in addition to the Title X grant dollars, Illinois is making family planning services more affordable and accessible for residents across the state.
Capital Grant Program: The first-of-its-kind Illinois Reproductive Health Facilities Capital Grant Program will be administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and provides $5 million in capital funding through Rebuild Illinois to support reproductive health care providers in Illinois that are experiencing increased demand for their services. The capital grants fund improvements and repairs, new construction, security upgrades, and equipment to increase capacity and enhance safety, which includes the purchase of vehicles for mobile care units.
Authorization of reproductive health reimbursement for state employees who work out of state: Approximately 1,600 female state employees or dependents live out-of-state, including some in states where access to reproductive healthcare has been seriously restricted. The Travel Reimbursement Program, modeled after an existing state program for organ donation and adoption, will cover transportation and lodging for state employees who must travel to access safe and sufficient reproductive healthcare.
Discuss.
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* Press release…
State Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian) announced he will not seek reelection today.
“Serving the citizens of Vermilion and Champaign Counties in the General Assembly has been a great honor. I’ve appreciated all the support from the constituents of the 104th and the partnerships we’ve built from my days as Vermilion County Board Chairman to my time in the State House. I feel lucky to have been part of a team that accomplished some good things over those years. My favorite part of the job was always helping constituents resolve some significant issues they needed help with. Those successes were largely due to my outstanding staff members who always worked as hard as possible. A special thank you to Tracie Petersak, Barb Nelson, and Marguerite Bailey for those efforts. I am announcing I will not seek reelection again for State Representative in 2024.
Thank you to everyone who was a part of my successes over the years. It really has been a humbling experience. It is time to focus on my family farm and spend more time with my wife and daughter. After all, there is so much more to life than politics.”
Marron’s retirement might give the Democrats a chance to compete, depending upon who wins the GOP primary.
…Adding… Leader McCombie…
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie released the following statement after Assistant House Republican Leader Mike Marron announced he will not be seeking reelection:
“Mike Marron is a reasonable and thoughtful voice in the General Assembly and for the residents he serves in central Illinois. He is a strong advocate for hardworking Illinoisans—and I join the many who will never forget his several-day demonstration outside the IDES offices, supporting constituents from his district and around the state through some of our hardest times. This is one of many examples of the true leadership he exemplifies. He has made his mark in our statehouse, and as my friend, I look forward to celebrating the great things he accomplishes in the years to come.”
* Meanwhile…
The next appointment to the state Senate will expose the strength of Chicago progressives vs. old-school pols.
State Rep. Lakesia Collins (9th), a progressive who heads the Illinois House Black Caucus, is talking to multiple people about running for the seat and is already lining up support from progressives, including the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU 73, Healthcare and Local 1 and some trade unions, too.
State Rep. Jawaharial “Omar” Williams (10th) also wants to be appointed.
And get this: Williams is the son of Ald. and Vice Mayor Walter Burnett Jr., who in the Chicago way also sits on the Democratic committee that will appoint the new senator.
The 5th District Senate seat is opening up with the retirement of Sen. Patricia Van Pelt.
Forget conflict of interest: Burnett has the weighted vote, meaning his voice counts nearly double when the Democratic leaders gather to make the appointment. He told Playbook that “yes” he will be part of the selection process. Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) also has a strong voice on the committee.
Ald. Burnett has a quarter of the weighted vote.
…Adding… Agreed…
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Much ado about very little
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* NewsWeek…
A new bill allowing eligible non-U.S. citizens in Illinois to become police officers was signed into law by Governor J. B. Pritzker on Friday, amid criticism from some Republican lawmakers. […]
The bill’s primary sponsor, Democratic Rep. Barbara Hernandez, defended the bill saying that the measure is a “natural progression” of the federal government’s 2021 decision to allow some undocumented immigrants to become healthcare workers and military members, as reported by CBS News.
According to the bill’s description on the Illinois General Assembly’s website, it amends the state’s Municipal Code providing that “an individual who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law is authorized to apply for the position of police officers.”
Eligible non-U.S. citizens are subject “to all requirements and limitations, other than citizenship, to which other applicants are subject,” and must be able to obtain, carry, purchase, or otherwise possess a firearm under federal law.
So - and this is important - if they can’t obtain federal authorization to possess a firearm, they’re out of luck.
* Criticism from a couple of federal lawmakers is highlighted in the article…
But the bill passed the House 100-7. It had less bipartisan support in the Senate, but still passed easily.
* The Illinois FOP is quoted in the article as being virulently opposed, but the group never officially registered a position with the General Assembly either way, so what the heck were they doing when the bill was being crafted?
On the other hand, Chicago FOP Lodge #7 was an early proponent as was the Illinois Municipal League. The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police was originally opposed, but then switched to neutral after the bill was changed. The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association slipped as neutral.
*** UPDATE *** Gov. Pritzker was asked about US Rep. Mary Miller’s claim during a press conference today and gave a full-throated response…
That’s wrong. That’s false. I appreciate you asking the question, because as usual the far-right is proposing and putting out their false information. They’re saying that we’re allowing illegal, illegal immigrants is the word that they would use. You know, undocumented immigrants are not allowed to become police officers in the state of Illinois. What we have allowed is legal permanent residents and DACA recipients now to become police officers. So we have the ability for people who are legally in this country. And again, permanent residents or DACA recipients now to apply for jobs as police officers.
But I am tired of the right wing twisting these things. They put it out on Facebook, they tell lies. They attack based upon those lies. They’re perpetuating lies. So there are people out there that think that we’re just allowing anybody to become a police officer, that’s just not accurate. Two other states already have provided this. We have a US military that has 35,000 immigrants who are not US citizens who are serving in the US military today. 8,000 more sign up every year. We allow that in our US military. We allow it in a couple of other states and more states are adding on to this list of states that are allowing legal permanent residents. So I’m proud that we are doing this I think it’s the right thing. To do. It’s also good for our police departments. And oh, by the way, the Fraternal Order of Police has supported it.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
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* Crain’s…
The Illinois marijuana market is one of the most expensive in the nation and among the smallest as far as the number of brands – but it also offers plenty of opportunity for entrepreneurs, according to a new report from Seattle-based Headset.
Despite the size of the Illinois cannabis landscape – “one of the largest markets in the country,” the report begins – it’s surprisingly homogenous and dominated by just a handful of brands, which keeps prices artificially high compared to other states, Headset reported.
Illinois has just 118 active cannabis brands, and only 10 of those brands account for 68% of sales, Headset found, putting it “dead last” nationally as far as brand diversity. That’s almost 53% fewer brands than Arizona, which came in second for the fewest cannabis brands and is also mostly vertically integrated, similar to Illinois’ market structure.
By contrast, Washington state has more than 1,000 cannabis brands.
More facilities are coming online, so hopefully that’ll bring down prices.
* From the report…
As of June 2023, Illinois has some of the highest cannabis prices in the country. Illinois’ average item price is 46% higher at $33.82 than the second highest Massachusetts and has a 36% higher price per gram ahead of Nevada. The high vertical integration coupled with the small brand selection likely contributes to a situation where prices are allowed to stay relatively high. Compare that to Washington State which has well over a thousand distinct brands versus 118 in Illinois. Additionally, Washington has some of the lowest prices in the country with an average item price that is 61% less than in Illinois. A strong contrast between mature and emerging markets. Poor access is another factor likely contributing to expensive cannabis. This spring Illinois only had 118 operating retailers compared to several hundred in states with equal or smaller consumer bases. This number is comparable to the number of retailers in Maryland’s medical cannabis program prior to their July 1st adult-use launch.
*Equivalized quantity (EQ) price is the price per gram for inhalable products
Examining the average item price (AIP) and equivalized quantity (EQ) price in Illinois versus the rest of the US we can see that prices are falling across the board. The AIP in Illinois is currently 89% higher than the rest of the US market and EQ Price is 97% higher. In the last year, EQ price has dropped 26.8% compared to 17.3% nationally. AIP is much more stubborn, with the rate of compression being slower than the rest of the US market. Moving to value-driven formats (more THC per dollar) maybe be the cause of the rapidly falling EQ prices.
* Some interesting stats…
While Millennials make up 45% of total sales, there is a higher Baby Boomer and Gen X representation in the Illinois market. Consumers over the age of 41 typically account for 36.4% of sales, however, in Illinois they capture 42.1% of total sales. There is also a slight skew towards women compared to the national market.
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Better management, please
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Heather Cherone at WTTW…
Chicago taxpayers spent $280 million to resolve lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct — including false arrest and excessive force — from spring 2019 to spring 2023, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News. […]
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg in September sounded the alarm about the escalating costs of police misconduct, releasing an audit that found the city does not collect enough data to “effectively manage the risk of expense to the city and harm to its residents arising out of CPD’s operations.”
That lack of detail means city officials rarely link settlements or verdicts — which can run into the millions of dollars — to specific complaints of misconduct, and do not analyze what led up to the incident in an effort to prevent similar cases by disciplining officers, retraining them or offering them counseling or other treatment, Witzburg said.
“We are writing enormous checks and leaving a tremendous opportunity for reform on the table,” Witzburg said. “It is a staggering amount of money.”
The ordinance that created the Civilian Office of Police Accountability calls for a representative of the agency, which is charged with investigating police misconduct, to be present while the City Council’s Finance Committee weighs whether to endorse recommendations from the city’s lawyers to settle a case. But they never are, Witzburg said.
That allows those discussions to “devolve into a shadow trial” about whether the officers committed misconduct, without all of the facts available to members of the committee.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Illinois Republicans have been saying ever since a state budget deal was announced by the majority Democrats that not enough money was appropriated for fiscal year 2024 to pay for the new AFSCME Council 31 employee union contract. Some have even predicted that the contract plus other spending pressures, including health care for undocumented immigrants, will eventually lead to a tax hike.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in June, weeks before the contract was finalized, that the GOP claim was “one of those false things that Republicans like to say about the budget.” In fact, he said, “We built in what we thought might be the appropriate amount of money for what we expect from that AFSCME negotiation.”
The contract ended up with a fiscal year 2024 price tag of $204 million (the Republicans had predicted costs of $200-300 million). So, where is that money in the budget, which passed a month before the negotiations ended?
I turned to Carol Knowles, who is the deputy director for communications at the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB).
“The agencies officially did not budget for COLAs in their budget submissions,” Knowles said via email of employee cost of living raises. And she said her office didn’t give the agencies any guidance about the topic, either, “as that would be not respectful of the labor negotiation process by indicating ahead of time what number the administration was willing to pay.” It also wouldn’t be smart negotiating to tip the state’s bargaining hand in advance, but she didn’t say that.
Because the cost increases weren’t submitted to the legislature, “some lawmakers may have interpreted that as ‘there is no money in the budget for the union contract,’” Knowles said.
But, Knowles continued, “There was cushion in agency budgets to assist them in managing in the new fiscal year.”
Knowles explained that GOMB, “spends most of the year building and planning for upcoming fiscal year agency budgets, and have a lot of knowledge regarding individual agency spending patterns, hiring patterns, lag time to hire and appropriation flexibilities, that sort of thing, and work with agencies to estimate when/if in a fiscal year people will be hired, how many will retire, and what the new folks will earn, etc.”
So, she said, “Early in the budget building process last fall for Fiscal Year 2024, one of the things GOMB did was work to identify what the cost of a 1% COLA for AFSCME employees might mean for each individual agency. We could scale that number when we needed to. That data would then give us a good basis/knowledge going into the spring session.”
Knowles continued that they put some “additional funding/flexibility” into the governor’s budget proposal in February beyond cost of living increases.
I had zero luck getting any actual numbers from the budget office, but Knowles did provide a hint, saying part of what they did earlier this year “was provide more flexibility than in a typical year on various assumptions we use to build the personal services budget,” to help the agencies “absorb some of the likely costs that would be associated with a new contract.”
They then shifted more salary dollars around in the final budget package, she said. And then they gave the agencies even more flexibility by allowing them to repurpose up to 8 percent of their operating budget for other uses. “So, while we didn’t know the dollar amount that would be needed, we believe we have put good tools in place to allow agencies to be able to manage much of the first year impact,” Knowles said.
Now that the contract has been ratified, Knowles said, “we will be working with the agencies to determine whether our various assumptions will work for the agencies.”
I asked for more specifics of how the “cushion” was built. “Increased appropriation authority was added to various lines,” was all Knowles replied.
OK, so the bottom line is we still don’t know where that money was stashed in order to create a “cushion” for agencies. A little extra appropriated here and there, particularly for salaries, is what it looks like.
Allowing agencies to transfer up to 8% of their appropriations between line items is also key. That money can be moved around to pay for 22 different categories of spending, including personal services, pension contributions, group health insurance, etc. So, they basically could’ve padded just about anything.
I assume the budget office refused to reveal much because it would provide keys to legislators and others to figure out how they do the voodoo they do. But this is beyond opaque.
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Open thread
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* I hope y’all had a relaxing weekend and enjoyed the weather. What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
* I made the trip downtown to ride the 4000-series cars this weekend…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* WSJ | J.B. Pritzker, Public Union Boss: The best argument against collective bargaining for government workers is that no one represents taxpayers. Union chiefs and the politicians they support sit on both sides of the bargaining table. That was demonstrated again last week when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a whopping new contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (Afscme).
* Sun-Times | Illinois Gaming Board says it didn’t know of testimony about mob payoffs, now plans to revoke Cicero diner’s gaming license: Officials with the state agency say they hadn’t realized when they approved the gaming license that Bertucci had testified in 2010 in a mob gambling case that he’d paid winnings from illegal video gaming machines installed in his diner — and split his take with the Chicago Outfit’s so-called video poker king, Casey Szaflarski.
* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker signs bill overhauling mandatory supervised release: “Our current supervision system too often operates unfairly, with rules that make it simply a revolving door back to jail,” Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony in Chicago. “In fact, more than 25 percent of people who are released from prison in Illinois end up back behind bars, not because they’re recidivists, but instead for a noncriminal technical violation.”
* CBS Chicago | Meek Mill on hand as Gov. Pritzker signs parole system overhaul bill: Rapper Meek Mill stood by Pritzker’s side as he signed the new law. The rapper talked about how he was in and out of prison for years because of a drug problem. He said he got his life back on track after a parole officer got him into a drug treatment program. The new law limits when a parolee can be drug tested.
* Sun-Times | A new school year means new education laws on the books: Here’s a roundup of the new rules and resources that were put into Illinois law for the 2023-2024 school year.
* WMAY | New Illinois law mandates two formerly incarcerated individuals are included in ICJIA: The law was proposed by the Young Invincibles’ Young Advocates Program, which trains young adults on advocacy and leadership. Participants then present a policy proposal based on what they’ve learned.
* JG-TC | Niemerg to seek reelection to state House seat: In a news release, Niemerg highlighted his sponsorship of HB 2607, a bill to protect minors under 13 in abuse cases allowing them to give remote testimony via closed-circuit television which was signed into law.
* Daily Herald | New Kane DUI problem-solving court aims to help defendants get on the straight and narrow: It goes beyond just ordering a person convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol to attend AA meetings and not drink. The new court wants to address the underlying causes of DUI offenses and provide comprehensive support to those working toward recovery.
* The Pantagraph | Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to visit central, southern Illinois on Monday: Buttigieg will make two stops in the Champaign area and one in East St. Louis, according to a media advisory. He will be joined by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield.
* Greg Hinz | Good intentions aren’t enough to shape smart tax policy: A few facts: According to the city, on an average night, 4,139 Chicagoans are homeless — and that’s not counting refugees. Over the course of a year, 65,611 will spend at least one night on the street or sacked out on a welcoming friend’s couch, about 11,000 of them of school age. Ordinance advocates have seized on the larger number, arguing that it’s big enough that the homeless actually could constitute Chicago’s 51st Ward. The proposed solution would more than triple the city’s real-estate transfer tax, moving it from the current 0.75% of the sales price to 2.65%, on property sales of $1 million or more.
* The Real Deal | All hands on deck: CRE lobby preps opposition to Chicago transfer tax hike: “We’re presuming or working off the version that was introduced previously,” Chicagoland Apartment Association’s Michael Mini said. “It remains to be seen whether the actual ordinance will be exactly like the previous versions that were introduced or there will be some changes.”
* Sun-Times | Groups call for safe-use site as opioid overdose deaths climb: Each of the purple boxes on the West Side was stocked with 200 doses of naloxone (also known by the brand name Narcan), along with instructions on how to use the overdose antidote drug. But that effort will only help so much, prevention groups say, until the state allows safe-use sites to be created. At a safe-use site, users could get high under the watch of care providers.
* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first big fiscal test: How to translate campaign promises into dollars and cents: Each year, the mayor’s office hosts a series of community roundtables across the city to ask Chicagoans for their budget wish lists. Johnson added a special roundtable for a constituency he discussed repeatedly during his run for mayor — teens and young adults — and the administration plans to hold public comment sessions after the official budget proposal is released this fall.
* Tribune | For interim Chicago police Superintendent Fred Waller, stepping in to help new mayor pays off in salary-pension double dip: Mayor Brandon Johnson is on the clock. He faces an Aug. 12 deadline to select the next leader of the Chicago Police Department from a list of three finalists handed to him earlier this month. If he decides none of the candidates fit the bill — a long shot, but not impossible — he could order the vetting process begin anew.
* Tribune | Google plans to open in the Thompson Center by 2026. Will the tech giant help revitalize the Loop?: Google has been credited with sparking the redevelopment of whole neighborhoods when it opens an office. Well-paid workers flock to such areas, including New York’s Meatpacking District, where Google opened more than a decade ago. Google has attracted other tech firms eager to catch the New York neighborhood’s new vibe, sparking new business for nearby restaurants and retail.
* SJ-R | Buscher selected for 2023 class of Edgar Fellows: Forty elected and appointed officials from all levels of government, leaders of non-profit and labor organizations and business leaders make up the class which will meet for the first time at its Executive Leadership Training Program held Aug. 6-10. The program, started in 2012, is housed at the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs in Urbana-Champaign.
* Sun-Times | Nation’s first residency program for free-ranging wildlife veterinarians has been wide-ranging and fruitful: In July of last year, Winter became the pioneer in the nation’s first wildlife residency program accredited by the American College of Zoological Medicine. The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, the FPCC and and the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine collaborated on Illinois Zoological and Wildlife Health Management Residency.
* Sun-Times | Beer summit: U.S. beers win big in restaged Mike Royko 1973 beer taste test at Old Town Ale House: Wisconsin-based Old Style won first place from a panel of 12 judges, most with ties to the beer industry, rating 12 lagers. One judge wrote in their comments that Old Style is a “happy cat.”
* Tribune | Cecilia Rodhe — through son Joakim Noah’s foundation — offers art therapy to mothers who lost a child to violence: “What we’re trying to do here is have the moms be seen and heard,” Rodhe said. “These moms have lived the ultimate sacrifice. It’s not a club that anybody wants to be in because this is a very, very painful situation. … It’s a difficult topic. But I’m just so proud of them coming here and wanting to express themselves.”
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Live coverage
Monday, Jul 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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