The South Suburban Airport may soon be reality, thanks to a law championed by State Senator Napoleon Harris, III.
For the last 40 years, lawmakers have attempted to secure a south suburban airport in the Monee community. Where many lawmakers have failed – Harris (D-Harvey) fought and held the state accountable to fulfill its promises to the South Suburbs by requiring the state to establish the process to find partners in the construction of a new south suburban airport.
“This is a touchdown for communities across the South Suburbs,” Harris said. “This airport will serve as an economic engine for our communities and provide local businesses with access to global markets for generations to come.”
The South Suburban Airport Act, which became law more than a decade ago, established that the state may develop a prequalification process. Since its enactment, no process has been established until Harris’ advocacy and leadership in getting this venture into the end zone.
Harris has worked tirelessly to secure this vital resource that will generate new opportunities for job creation and local revenue and help residents across the Southern Cook and Will counties to improve their quality of life.
“For years, the residents of our district have been promised this economic tool,” Harris said. “I am proud to be able to partner with local community leaders to bring home this win for the region.”
This accomplishment will be truly appreciated by communities across the South Suburbs who have been promised access to this vital infrastructure for decades.
House Bill 2531 was signed into law on Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
* Glowiak Hilton…
All schools in Illinois will now be required to supply opioid antagonists for students thanks to a new law led by State Senator Suzy Glowiak Hilton.
“By ensuring that naloxone is readily available to all students in Illinois, we are helping save our children’s lives,” said Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs). “The opioid epidemic has taken a toll on our communities. It’s time we develop and implement the necessary precautions to protect everyone in our classrooms.”
House Bill 3428 will require all K-12 school districts to maintain a supply of an opioid antagonist, a medication that can be used to reverse an opioid overdose, in a secure location. Naloxone should be given to any person who shows signs of an opioid overdose or when an overdose is suspected.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that opioid overdoses in Illinois have increased 33% from 2019 to 2020, with there being 2,944 opioid overdose fatalities.
“Increasing accessibility of naloxone will provide our educators and faculty with another tool to combat this epidemic,” said Glowiak Hilton. “We need to take every precaution we can to save lives and end this horrific crisis.”
House Bill 3428 was signed into law Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1 2024.
* Koehler…
Drug manufacturers and distributors will now be unable to spike the costs of generic medication thanks to a law spearheaded by State Senator Dave Koehler.
“Every Illinoisan deserves affordable access to necessary medication,” said Koehler (D-Peoria). “This law prevents companies from robbing residents just for an extra buck.”
House Bill 3957 creates the Illinois Generic Drug Pricing Fairness Act, which prohibits manufacturers and distributors from engaging in price gouging of essential off-patent and generic medication.
“We need to stake a stand for our residents and prohibit companies from these manipulative schemes,” said Koehler. “There should never be a situation when someone has to decide between picking up their medication or groceries for their family.”
House Bill 3957 was signed into law Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
* Simmons…
To increase gender inclusivity across the state of Illinois and within state agencies, State Senator Mike Simmons championed a new law that will support state employees who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming by integrating them into the state’s diverse workforce initiatives.
“This law will ensure our state’s workforce reflects the diversity of our population,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “Recognizing and respecting every identity in the workforce is basic common decency, and everyone deserves to feel seen and supported by the field they want to enter.”
The new law adds state employees who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming to the list of women, minorities and persons with physical disabilities in regards to agencies tracking this information to help guide efforts to achieve a more diversified state workforce.
“Recognizing gender non-conforming and non-binary people in our state government and state agencies is the first step to promoting inclusivity and bringing different perspectives to the table,” Simmons said.
House Bill 2297 was signed into law on Friday and goes into effect on July 1, 2025.
* Simmons…
To increase the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, State Senator Mike Simmons successfully championed a set of new laws to require permanent vehicle crossing signs to be added to bike trails and created a task force to monitor the impact of local bicycle and pedestrian plans.
“Last summer we lost the lives of two children, on two separate occasions, to cyclists’ accidents in our community,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “We want our residents to feel safe by providing them with the security of increased protections for pedestrians and cyclists to prevent heartbreaking tragedies like we experienced last year.”
Senate Bill 1710 requires bike trails to have warning signs along the path warning pedestrians and cyclists of a vehicle crossing at least 150 feet in advance. The new law ensures cyclists on a trail have ample warning to know when to slow down and stop before a busy intersection. Permanent signage on state roadways warning vehicles of bicycle trail crossings also must be added within 150 feet of a trail crossing so vehicles can yield. Signs to warn cyclists of other trail hazards, damage to the trail, and maintenance of the trail will be installed.
Additionally, House Bill 2131 creates the Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force to help reduce bicycle accidents on roads by reporting detailed analysis of existing practices around speed limits, the reduction of speed limits, the steps to eliminate vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle fatalities on roads, and their lasting impact.
“We can prevent bicycle injuries and accidents by following the rules of the road and watching out for each other,” Simmons said. “I am happy to see these initiatives go into effect to make roadways and bike trails safer for everyone.”
Senate Bill 1710 was signed into law on Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024. House Bill 2131 was signed into law on Friday and goes into effect immediately.
* Porfirio…
Military service members and the Department of Revenue will see improvements when it comes to requesting and processing sales tax exemptions, thanks to a new law sponsored by State Senator Mike Porfirio.
“There are many sacrifices that our service men and women have made and they deserve any appreciation we can give them,” said Porfirio (D-Lyons Township). “This legislation removes the burden on our service members and provides them with a simpler way to receive this sales tax exemption.”
Senate Bill 1705 would eliminate the need for sales tax exemption certificates by members of the military. Instead, when making an exempt purchase, a service member can present a valid military ID and a form of payment where the military organization is the payor, as well as complete a form by the Department of Revenue.
Currently, the process to receive such exemption requires a single-use sales tax exemption certificate. This has caused the Department of Revenue’s exemption certificate system to become cluttered, with military members frequently applying for certificates as they relocate. Additionally, military members often require an exemption certificate on short notice, leading to delays in the Department’s processing and mailing of certificates.
“This will serve as a small token of appreciation for our service members,” said Porfirio. “It is commonsense to streamline this process for all parties involved.”
The law was signed on Friday and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
* Porfirio…
To build the public’s trust and establish ethical guidelines, State Senator Mike Porfirio supported a measure that addresses ongoing concerns regarding automated traffic enforcement.
“Being an elected official, it’s important to ensure you gain the public’s trust and hold yourself to the highest ethical standards,” said Porfirio (D-Lyons Township). “Accountability and honesty should be at the base of all we do.”
The measure prohibits campaign contributions from contractors who provide the automated traffic enforcement equipment, any political action committee created by such a contractor and any affiliates. Campaign contributions from such sources have been a cause for controversy in past years.
Further, beginning six months before an automated traffic law enforcement system is installed at an intersection, a county or municipality may not change the yellow light interval at that intersection.
Additionally, IDOT can revoke any permit for red light cameras if any official or employee who serves that county or municipality is charged with bribery, official misconduct or a similar crime related to the placement, installation or operation of the automated traffic law enforcement system in the county or municipality.
“It is our duty as state legislators to commit to ethical behavior,” said Porfirio. “Honesty and trust should be at the forefront of our minds. This law will ensure the public can trust those who represent them.”
House Bill 3903 was signed by the governor Friday and goes into effect immediately.
* Villa…
To support the rights of youth committed to county-operated juvenile detention facilities, State Senator Karina Villa championed a new law that ensures youth in these facilities have access to independent assistance and protection.
“Regardless of how these individuals came to be in the detention facilities, they are still young and in need of protection,” said Villa (D-West Chicago). “All people in a detention facility should be treated humanely and equally and deserve the chance for a better future — especially those who are minors.”
Under this law, the Office of Independent Juvenile Ombudsman will act as an ombudsman for and secure the rights of youth committed to county-operated juvenile detention facilities or the Department of Juvenile Justice. The ombudsman’s role is to ensure that the rights of youth within the county-operated juvenile detention facilities are fully observed and to assist in pursuing services for committed youth and their families.
The law defines county-operated juvenile detention facilities as any shelter care home, detention care home, or facility designated to detain youth that is not a police or other temporary law enforcement holding location.
“This law will make sure there will always be someone advocating for youth who are detained in the county facilities,” Villa said. “Just because someone has made a mistake does not mean we should give up on them. This law will fight for the children left behind in these detention facilities.”
Senate Bill 2197 was signed on Friday and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
The SDems are really good at getting releases out the door.
…Adding… I’m gonna post these and then I’m taking my usual Friday afternoon nap. Villa…
There will be more protections against gender-related violence in the workplace thanks to a new law passed by State Senator Karina Villa.
“This law aims to make sure those in a position of power are held responsible for protecting their employees and held accountable when they fail,” said Villa (D-West Chicago). “Work should never feel like an unsafe environment for anyone; employees should feel protected by their employers, especially those more at risk for gender-related violence.”
This new law clarifies when an employer can be held liable for gender-related violence committed in the workplace to include if the employer failed to supervise, train or monitor the employee who engaged in the violence; failed to investigate complaints or reports provided to a supervisor or manager and failed to take remedial measures in response to the complaints; or if the gender-related violence was the proximate cause of an injury.
This law also establishes a four-year statute of limitation for bringing a claim of gender-related violence against an employer. In comparison, the statute of limitations for charges of sexual harassment filed with the Illinois Department of Human Rights or with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is 300 days.
“Gender-related violence has been a growing issue, taking place in stores, homes and the workplace,” Villa said. “I wish for everyone to feel safer in their day-to-day lives, and this law is a good first step to help women and others who feel threatened in the workplace.”
If you or a loved one is experiencing partner- or gender-related violence, help is available through the Illinois Department of Human Services’ 24-hour hotline at 877-863-6338 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.
House Bill 1363 was signed into law on Friday and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
* Villa…
There will be more opportunities to donate to the Illinois Dream Fund, which provides scholarships to eligible college students, thanks to a new law by State Senator Karina Villa.
“No matter someone’s immigration status, they deserve the right to education,” said Villa (D-West Chicago). “This law will increase funds for scholarships, giving more students the opportunity to attend college.”
The new law allows customers who transmit money internationally the option to voluntarily donate a portion of their money to the Illinois Dream Fund, whose mission is to provide life-changing financial support to non-citizens who wish to pursue higher education and help them successfully work toward degree completion.
Under this law, the Illinois Dream Fund Commission will also develop a comprehensive program, including creation of informational materials and a marketing plan, to educate people in Illinois about the purpose and benefits of contributions made to the Illinois Dream Fund, such as increasing scholarship opportunities.
“Contributing to someone’s education is a wonderful and noble thing to do,” Villa said. “I encourage everyone who can donate to look into giving to the Illinois Dream Fund when the time comes.”
House Bill 3233 was signed on Friday and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
* Fine…
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s Newborn Screening program will soon scan for Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, or MLD, a rare genetic disease, thanks to legislation from State Senator Laura Fine.
“Newborns are tested for a variety of disorders with the Newborn Screening Program so that caregivers can plan to support their child’s treatment quickly,” said Fine (D-Glenview). “Including MLD will ensure caregivers of children with MLD are also able to begin their treatment plans as soon as possible.”
MLD is a genetic disorder leading to progressive loss of nervous system function and early death. Currently, MLD is diagnosed through a blood test looking for enzyme deficiency, a urine test or genetic testing. Additional tests can be conducted on those who show progressive symptoms of MLD. While there is no cure for MLD, diagnosing the disease early can lead to treatment options that make a significant difference in the patient’s quality of life.
“Although there is no cure for MLD, having a diagnosis will allow children to receive care that can greatly improve their quality of life,” said Fine. “Adding MLD to the newborn screening list will help families prepare the most effective treatment options to better support their child.”
Senate Bill 67 was signed into law on Friday. It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
* Villa…
A measure sponsored by State Senator Karina Villa that addresses the shortage of nurses in health care facilities across Illinois was signed into law Friday.
“The ongoing nurse shortage in our state demands our immediate attention,” said Villa (D-West Chicago). “Our nurses are the backbone of our health care system, and we owe it to them and our communities to address this issue with urgency. By empowering the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center to look for ways to address the shortage, our hope is this new law will help us retain and recruit nurses throughout our state.”
The growing scarcity of nurses in Illinois, especially in Southern Illinois, hurts patients and existing nurses who have to work without a full staff in some cases. Nurses are a critical part of health care and make up the largest portion of health care professionals. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that more than 275,000 additional nurses will be needed from 2020 to 2030.
Villa’s law directs the Nursing Workforce Center to develop strategies to make sure proper actions are being taken to address the statewide nurse shortage. The Nursing Workforce Center will be required to develop a plan to increase the number of nurses in the workforce by distributing a nursing workforce supply survey with all license renewals beginning in 2024. By 2027, the Nursing Workforce Center will develop a nurse demand and employer survey that will be collected biennially.
“Nurses are not just vital health care professionals,” Villa said. “They are caring individuals who dedicate their lives to serving others. We must create an environment that supports and values their contributions to our communities.”
House Bill 1615 was signed into law Friday and goes into effect immediately.
* Peters…
Thanks to a new law sponsored by State Senator Robert Peters, time served in county jail will soon be included as part of the minimum 60-day sentence required to earn discretionary sentence credit.
“Public safety reform needs to happen at every stage of the system,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “Instead of being treated as a number, incarcerated individuals ought to be treated as the humans they are. Modernizing earned sentence credit methods is one way to recognize the humanity of incarcerated individuals.”
Peters’ new law also ensures the Department of Corrections will recalculate program credits awarded to those with justice system involvement who completed rehabilitation programs or re-entry planning before July 2021 at the rate set for the credits on and after July 2021.
“Individuals involved in the justice system who participate in rehabilitation programs while serving time are making positive strides toward personal development and should be rewarded,” said Peters. “This new law makes sure that earned sentence credit is not only awarded to those who have earned it, but is rewarded on a consistent basis.”
House Bill 3026 was signed into law Friday.
* Peters…
With the intention of studying a potential payment plan program for owner-occupants to repay delinquent property taxes, State Senator Robert Peters’ measure creating the Property Tax Payment Plan Task Force was signed into law.
“Cook County’s annual sale of delinquent property taxes puts people at risk of losing their homes if they fall behind on their property taxes,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “Property tax sales and delinquent tax redemption disproportionately affect Black and Brown folks, especially seniors and those living with disabilities.”
Peters’ new law creates the Property Tax Payment Plan Task Force to study a potential payment plan program for residents to repay delinquent property taxes and make recommendations for implementing one or more payment plan options in Cook County. The Task Force will issue a report by Nov. 15, 2023, which will take into account the impact of the payment plan on homeowners, taxpayers, local agencies responsible for the collection of property taxes, and local taxing districts.
“Some people are losing their homes despite owing less than $1,000,” said Peters. “This new task force will illuminate the problems with the current property tax payment system and help local agencies develop ways to partner with homeowners to ensure payment of property taxes instead of taking advantage of people in tough financial situations.”
Senate Bill 74 was signed into law Friday.
* Peters…
A steadfast champion of criminal justice reform and the rights of people involved in the justice system, State Senator Robert Peters expanded upon his work broadening the civil liberties of the more than 70,000 people on probation in Illinois, which was signed into law Friday.
“Probation offers individuals an opportunity to have a sense of freedom under supervision,” said Peters (D-Chicago). “Supervision while adjusting back into modern society should reflect the same rights as civilians in order to accurately judge a person’s ability to maintain the safety of a community.”
Under the new law, an individual on probation, conditional discharge or supervision will not be ordered to refrain from cannabis or alcohol except in specified circumstances. If a court orders someone on probation to be tested for cannabis or alcohol, a statement detailing the relation between the condition of probation and the crime must be provided. The law ensures individuals on probation will not be charged for costs associated with mandatory testing.
Peters’ law also prevents courts from ordering a person on probation, conditional discharge or supervision to refrain from using any substance lawfully prescribed by a medical provider or authorized by the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act.
“There are often circumstances in which individuals on probation use substances like cannabis for medical reasons,” said Peters. “Eliminating barriers for those on probation with a medical diagnosis, as long as the liberties are unrelated to the circumstances that landed them on probation, is a positive step toward true public safety reform.”
* It can’t be stressed enough that almost all national economics experts have been consistently and even wildly wrong for more than a year…
Another key economic report further propped up the idea that a soft landing is not only possible, but also in motion: The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge continued its deceleration in June while consumers kept the US economic engine running.
Commerce Department data released Friday showed that the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rose 3% for the 12 months ended in June, easing for the second-consecutive month and stepping back from May’s 3.8% increase.
* Rep. Rita and the Tinley Park mayor have been on the outs for a while now. And it’s coming out into the open…
State Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, is suing Tinley Park and Orland Township as well as village and township officials in federal court, alleging his constitutional rights have been denied because he’s been blocked from taking part in or holding community events.
The lawsuit was filed Friday and cites a “consistent and systematic campaign” to prevent Rita from taking part in events such as the National Night Out Against Crime, scheduled to take place Tuesday in Tinley Park.
The lawsuit also alleges village officials twice denied applications by Rita to hold shredding events last year in Tinley Park, something he had organized for several years prior.
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) awarded scholarships to a record 259 college-bound current and former youth in care – the most the agency has ever awarded in its history. The milestone was celebrated at a lunch and ceremony held in the students’ honor at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Lisle, Ill.
Historically, the department has awarded an average of 53 scholarships each year. This year’s record breaking 259 scholarships is a 389% increase over the prior year, demonstrating the department’s commitment to education and increased investment in DCFS programs by Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly. The Governor’s FY24 budget provided$5.66 million in funding for DCFS scholarships, up from just over $1.2 million in FY19. […]
The DCFS Scholarship Program is available to youth who have an open DCFS case, whose cases were closed through adoption or guardianship, or who aged out of care at 18 or older. DCFS Scholarship Program recipients are selected based on their scholastic record and aptitude, community and extracurricular activities, three letters of recommendation, and a personal essay illustrating their purpose for higher education. […]
“The support I received from my DCFS Scholarship far exceeded its financial pillar. It also provided me with the time to focus on my studies, the confidence to enter a classroom with my head held high, and the assurance that success was obtainable,” said Krystal Hudson, event keynote speaker and 2006 scholarship recipient. “Attending the state university of my choice enabled me to create my own future, family, and career in southern Illinois. I am forever grateful for the opportunities given to me through being a recipient of the DCFS Scholarship.”
Scholarship recipients receive up to five consecutive years of tuition and academic fee waivers to be used at participating Illinois state community colleges and public universities, a monthly grant of $1,506 to offset other expenses, and a Medicaid card. Four awards are reserved for the children of veterans, and two awards are reserved for students pursuing degrees in social work in honor of Pamela Knight and Deidre Silas, two DCFS caseworkers who succumbed to injuries sustained in the line of duty.
[Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg] also accused CPD of going through the motions of complying with the federal consent — by reporting the percentage of the consent decree’s 799 paragraphs where there is “some level” of compliance.
That only means they’ve “written a policy that says that they intend to comply” with the mandate. It has “absolutely no impact on real life on the street — either for Chicagoans or members of the department,” Witzburg said.
“The metric that matters is the number of things that have changed in a real operational way. The number of things that are different on Chicago street corners today than they would have been at the beginning of 2019. And that number is in the single digit percentages,” Witzburg said.
That city’s government is just chock full of fittin’ to get ready types.
* No more indoor vaping…
Put down that vape pen! Gov. Pritzker today signed House Bill 1540, which adds e-cigarettes to the list of products covered under the state's indoor smoking ban. #twill
* Tribune | Gary gun shop, targeted in 2021 lawsuit, to close after more than six decades: The decision comes two months after a Cook County judge sided with Westforth and dismissed a lawsuit brought by the city of Chicago against the shop in 2021. That lawsuit, which attorneys for the city are now trying to revive, accused Westforth of repeatedly violating federal gun laws, often resulting in criminal charges against straw purchasers.
* Sun-Times | In Alsip red-light-camera investigation, feds have done new interviews, issued subpoenas: In 2019, Alsip Mayor John Ryan acknowledged that he’d been approached by federal agents asking about SafeSpeed, the company that village officials had decided to hire for red-light camera services in the south suburb. […] Four years later, Alsip’s decision to bring in SafeSpeed — which the village board voted to hire but whose contract was put on hold amid the questions — appears to be a subject of renewed interest by the FBI and the IRS.
* Tribune | Appeals court upholds 57-month sentence for former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, saying ‘bribery is a premeditated crime’: “Bribery is a premeditated crime — those tempted to sell out the public have plenty of time to weigh the risks and rewards before doing so,” the nine-page ruling by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals stated. “The district judge did not err by reasonably presuming that public officials consider the criminal sentences of other politicians, and that a longer sentence for Arroyo was necessary to deter corruption at the margins.”
* Sun-Times | Banned by City Hall for lying on construction contracts, company is still getting government work: That followed a City Hall investigation that found Joel Kennedy’s Joel Kennedy Constructing Corp. falsified records to make it appear it was meeting a requirement to have Chicago residents do at least half of the work on sewer projects. The city’s ban of Kennedy and his company doesn’t apply, though, to other governmental bodies. So Kennedy’s company has continued to get contracts from other agencies, including the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which serves all of Chicago.
* Fortune | There’s no such thing as a new nuclear golden age–just old industry hands trying to make a buck: The story is selling well but the push for more and more money—in direct subsidies, ratepayer financing, and government grants or loans–has a dark side. To cite just a few examples, former state officials and utility executives in Illinois and Ohio face lengthy prison terms for bribery schemes linked to subsidies for unprofitable nuclear plants. In South Carolina, two former Scana executives received prison sentences after pleading guilty to criminal charges in 2020 and 2021 over a nuclear project that ultimately collapsed. Two Westinghouse executives also charged are facing a similar fate, with one still awaiting trial in October.
* Lexis Nexis | Data Privacy Landscape Continues to Change as States Pursue More Laws: A more recent search of the LexisNexis® State Net® legislative tracking database turned up about 300 bills in 42 states concerning some form of data privacy. These include several wide-ranging data privacy bills in Illinois, Massachusetts and Minnesota, along with robust proposals in Maine (HB 1270) and Montana (DB 4408), the latter of which was put on hold.
* Sun-Times | Chicago cop shot fellow officer while firing at fleeing car in Englewood, investigation finds: “It is believed that during this incident, a Chicago Police Officer discharged their weapon and inadvertently struck a fellow officer in the hand in the course of firing at the fleeing sedan,” said COPA First Deputy Chief Administrator Ephraim Eaddy. “There is currently no indication that shots were fired from the sedan, or by any other civilian and there are no reports of a gun recovered.”
* Daily Herald | The suburban driver’s license offices that will require an appointment starting Sept. 1: Starting Sept. 1, 44 driver services facilities in medium- to large-sized cities around the state will require appointments for driver services — things like renewing a license, updating a license to meet Real ID requirements or taking a driving test. Vehicle services, like title registration, still will be offered on a walk-in basis.
* Daily Herald | ‘It’s in its very infancy right now’: Kane County sets up its own forensic crime lab: “We do everything from blood testing to rapid DNA … to expedite criminal cases in Kane County. … And it gets turned right around in a day or two,” Sheriff Ron Hain said. “It’s a partnership to have our own lab with the state’s attorney and the coroner. I’m paying for it out of my budget, but the cost will be shared. It’s in its very infancy right now.”
* Sun-Times | Chicago’s Chinatown, unlike similar neighborhoods elsewhere, is flourishing: From 2010 to 2020, the population of Armour Square — the community area that includes Chinatown — grew from 13,443 to 13,890, according to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of census data. And the Asian American population increased in neighboring community areas including Bridgeport, McKinley Park, Douglas and the Lower West Side.
* Crain’s | United buys former Motorola building in Arlington Heights for ops center: United bought a 205,000-square-foot building at 1421 W. Shure Drive to provide more space for its network-operations centers, which moved out of the airline’s headquarters at Willis Tower last year after flooding knocked out power and caused it to evacuate flight dispatchers to a backup facility at its former headquarters in Elk Grove Village.
* Reuters | Tesla created secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints: Inside the Nevada team’s office, some employees celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute and striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers who sometimes stood on desks. The team often closed hundreds of cases a week and staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments per day.
* WaPo | ‘Vicious cycle’: Heat waves ramp up U.S. burning of fossil fuels: The problem is global and set to intensify. The International Energy Agency last week said that only a tenth of the 2.8 billion people who live in the hottest parts of the world already have air conditioning, foreshadowing what is likely to become “a vicious cycle.” Use of air conditioning is expected to increase in the years to come, further driving fast-rising energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world, the Paris-based watchdog said.
* Heidi Stevens | The beauty of ‘Barbie’ isn’t that men are subjugated. It’s that no one is.: The movie had been in theaters for all of 24 hours — plenty of time to become a cultural lightning rod. Too woke. To man-hating. Too much feminist agitprop. Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro even made a 43-minute video about the “flaming garbage heap of a film” (his words) and set fire to some dolls to drive his message home.
* Block Club | Take A Ride On A Vintage CTA Railcar Saturday: The oldest railcars in the Chicago Transit Authority’s fleet date to the 1920s. A century later, riders will get to ride the vintage “L” cars around the Loop. The CTA will run the 4000-series railcars in the Loop from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
* Military History | Lincoln’s Spies — Meet Four Union Agents Who Fought in the Shadows to Bring Down the Confederacy: Ultimately, Lincoln and the Union Army had at their disposal a robust network of secret agents infiltrating the South, aeronauts observing enemy movements from hydrogen gas-filled balloons, photographers taking shots of future battlefields and signal corps officers intercepting enemy information transmitted by flag or over telegraph lines. The phone tapping, human collection, and aerial snooping today’s U.S. spy community engages in can be traced back to the Civil War.
* Herald-Review | Glenn Poshard to tour Central Illinois to promote new book: “Son of Southern Illinois: Glenn Poshard’s Life in Politics and Education” follow’s Poshard’s life from his childhood until his founding of the Poshard Foundation For Abused Children, a nonprofit providing funds and resources for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Southern Illinois.
* Bond Buyer | Illinois Senate honors Bond Buyer’s Yvette Shields for her work: The life and legacy of Bond Buyer reporter Yvette Shields was honored Tuesday with a proclamation introduced on the floor of the Illinois Senate. Introduced by Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, the proclamation pays homage to Shields as a “celebrated and beloved financial reporter” who “left behind an indelible mark on the public finance industry in both the Midwest and the nation as a whole.”
The City spent at least $3.25 million on the 2023 NASCAR Chicago Street Race, according to a preliminary analysis by the Weekly. That figure includes more than $2.1 million spent on repairs to the streets that made up the racecourse and an estimated $1.1 million in police overtime associated with the race. The final tally, which could include additional costs such as traffic management, will likely be even higher. […]
NASCAR’s contract is for three years, but it allows either the City or the car-racing company to cancel it. In the deal Lightfoot’s administration inked, NASCAR was required to pay the Chicago Park District a $500,000 fee in the first year along with fifteen percent of concessions and $2 for each ticket sold in its first year (ticket prices started at $269). The fee is slated to increase to $550,000 in 2024 and $605,000 in 2025. […]
Much of that—nearly $1.8 million—was listed as “Engineering” costs related to concrete, pavement, and landscape work on streets and sidewalks along the racetrack before the race. CDOT replaced the curb and sidewalk on the west side of Columbus Drive, resurfaced and repaved roadways, and installed bus pads for the event. The total budget allocated to CDOT’s Engineering division for 2023 is $7.87 million; the NASCAR-related work ate up about twenty-three percent of that division’s annual budget. […]
A NASCAR-commissioned study predicted the event would generate millions in tax and sales revenue for the City and local businesses. It’s unclear how accurate those numbers were. Choose Chicago, the City’s tourism bureau, has commissioned an economic impact study on the race by researchers at Temple University, Crain’s reported last week.
* Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s op-ed in the Sun-Times…
A recent letter, sent under the signature of 19 Republican state attorneys general, demands that the Biden administration allow states with abortion bans to obtain the private medical records of patients seeking legal health care in other states.
In sending this letter, they have made their priorities clear: These attorneys general will use their resources to intimidate women across state lines and weaponize patients’ private health care information against them because they sought legal, and often life-saving, medical care. […]
We know these attempts to pry into patient privacy likely won’t stop at abortion. Access to essential health care like contraceptives, HIV treatment and gender-affirming care may also be at stake. The letter from the 19 Republican attorneys general cites state bans on gender-affirming care as among the reasons the signatories do not want patients’ records to be private. These are attacks on very personal decisions about when and how to build your family and how to live authentically as your true self.
As described above, the proposed rule would bar certain disclosures of PHI [protected health information] to state or local agencies conducting a “criminal, civil, or administrative investigation or proceeding … in connection with” “reproductive health care.” 88 Fed. Reg. at 23552. The proposed rule would thus curtail the ability of state officials to obtain evidence of potential violations of state laws—even when requested under “a court order or other type of legal process.” The proposed rule has deep flaws and should be withdrawn.
The Iowa Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ appeal of a lower court order blocking the state’s ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which Reynolds signed into law this month.
Republican legislators passed the bill this month in a special legislative session, and Reynolds signed it at the Family Leadership Summit, a major gathering of social conservatives that drew top GOP presidential candidates to Iowa.
“Everyone understands that a heartbeat signifies life, and we understand that when it falls silent, something precious has been lost,” Reynolds said moments before she signed the bill into law.
The six-week ban went into effect as soon as she signed it, but it was halted days later, when a Polk County judge temporarily blocked the law following a legal challenge from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, the Emma Goldman Clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. For now, abortion remains legal in Iowa until the 20th week of pregnancy.
This week, a group of teachers filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Tennessee’s law limiting the teaching of race and gender. The statute, signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in 2021, is absurdly vague: It prohibits pedagogy that includes allegedly divisive concepts without defining what that means, leaving teachers fearful that even neutral mentions of such concepts could violate the law.
The lawsuit claims that the Tennessee law violates the 14th Amendment, which requires laws to issue clear, explicit commands. Because of the law’s fuzziness, teachers are left feeling like potential outlaws whenever they voice an idea that a parent might deem unacceptable. […]
The concepts that teachers must not “include” or “promote” in K-12 education are also preposterously vague. Among them are the notion that an individual should feel “discomfort” or “guilt” solely due to her race and the idea that one race is superior to another. The promotion of “division,” whatever that means, is also banned.
Defenders of the law note that it offers an exception for “impartial” discussion of the historical oppression of one group by another and of other “controversial” historical facts. This, they argue, will prevent the whitewashing of history.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is being sued by its transgender clinic patients, who accuse the hospital of violating their privacy by turning their records over to Tennessee’s attorney general.
Two patients sued Monday in Nashville Chancery Court, saying they were among more than 100 people whose records were sent by Vanderbilt to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. His office has said it is examining medical billing in a “run of the mill” fraud investigation that isn’t directed at patients or their families. Vanderbilt has said it was required by law to comply.
The patients say Vanderbilt was aware that Tennessee authorities are hostile toward the rights of transgender people, and should have removed their personally identifying information before turning over the records. […]
The attorney general’s office has said the hospital has been providing records of its gender-related treatment billing since December 2022, and that the records have been kept confidential. Elizabeth Lane Johnson, an attorney general’s office spokesperson, noted Tuesday that the office isn’t a party to the lawsuit, and directed questions to Vanderbilt.
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, doctors providing obstetrics and gynecological care felt the decision’s effects immediately — especially in Missouri, the nation’s first state to implement a near-total ban on abortion. […]
Another consequence of Missouri’s abortion ban is that fewer doctors are coming to Missouri to complete their OB-GYN residencies, Eisenberg and his colleague, Dr. Jeannie Kelly, told St. Louis on the Air.
“We definitely have seen the ramifications of this law impact who comes here for training,” said Kelly. “Applicants come in, telling us, ‘You are the only program we’ve applied to, in a state where abortion is banned, because we know that this is a facility that still abides by all of the training guidelines and provides training for that care in the state of Illinois when needed.’” […]
“We are one of the top 10 OB-GYN residency training programs in the country,” he said. “Every year that I have been a faculty member, since 2009, we have seen an increasing number of applicants — until the fall of 2022, when we saw a 10% decrease.”
Florida’s transgender teens face the longest median travel time to access gender-affirming health care, according to a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association.
That puts up a massive barrier to health care that every major medical association agrees is medically necessary and in certain cases life-saving.
“Access to developmentally appropriate medical and social services for transgender youths is associated with mental health benefits and decreased suicidality,” the study says.
Florida’s median drive time of nearly nine hours was the highest of any state examined in the study.
Mississippi will have to pay more than $400,000 in attorneys’ fees after the attorney general’s office spent years defending a sodomy law that criminalizes oral and anal sex.
The law in question — Section 97-29-59 — was deemed unconstitutional in 2003 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case Lawrence v. Texas that private sexual conduct was constitutionally protected.
But Mississippi kept its sodomy law on the books, opening the door for a 2016 legal challenge that resulted in the expensive attorneys’ fees.
The AGs office, under both Democrat Jim Hood and Republican Lynn Fitch, fought the class action lawsuit by the Center for Constitutional Rights and other advocacy legal organizations, which sued on behalf of five Mississippians who were required to register as sex offenders for sodomy convictions. […]
Yet Mississippi’s “unnatural intercourse” law is still law. A state representative introduced a bill earlier this year to repeal it, but it received no attention and died in committee. And according to an attorney who worked on the lawsuit, there are still 14 people on the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry who were solely convicted under that law.
Disney rejected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent request for immunity from their legal feud Wednesday, with the media conglomerate criticizing the governor and presidential candidate for evading “responsibility for his actions.”
It’s the latest salvo in a legal battle that’s been ongoing since April when the theme park giant filed a suit against the governor in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The broader battle began the year before, when Disney spoke out against the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, which restricts instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in schools.
“The Governor seeks to evade responsibility for his actions on a narrower ground, asserting that a governor cannot be held officially liable for implementing, administering, and enforcing state laws that punish residents for political statements violating a state-prescribed speech code,” company attorneys wrote in a legal filing Wednesday.
DeSantis and his GOP legislative allies responded with actions Disney says were retaliatory and a violation of its free speech rights, such as the governor’s takeover of the company’s special taxing district, previously called the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
* I didn’t go to Gov. Pritzker’s event earlier today, but I watched online and then listened to the CMS audio and there was a hole in both recordings at the beginning of Pritzker’s response to a reporter’s question about the proposed hike in Chicago’s real estate transfer tax on properties selling for a million dollars or more. So, I checked in with the governor’s office to clarify what he said and then reconstructed the first part of the first sentence…
I’m not necessarily against a change in the real estate transfer tax. We need to see what the results are. There’s still some debate going on, as you know, about what it might look like. I think we have to be careful. Property taxes are too high to begin with in general. We have to be careful about, obviously, I believe more in a graduated system than I do in a flat tax system so that wealthier people carry more of the load than people who are not wealthy. But I’m interested to see what they come up with
Supporters claim the tax would generate $160 million a year for homeless programs, but it appears like it’s about to be changed.
Department of Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara, who will step down at the end of the month, said city officials would recommend the proposal be altered to apply to just to the amount of the sale over $1 million, in an effort to ensure it withstands a legal challenge and lowers the incentive for sellers to “game the system.”
Imposing a marginal tax, rather than a flat tax, would make the tax fairer, and ease the tax burden on two- to six-unit properties, both residential and commercial, Novara said, adding that developments subsidized to be affordable could also be exempted.
For example, a property sold for $1.2 million now pays $9,000 in real estate transfer tax, Novara said. The proposal would hike that to $12,800, an effective increase of about 42% on the $200,000 of the sale price above $1 million, she added. […]
Just 4.3% of all property sales in Chicago total more than $1 million, which requires annual incomes of between $200,000 and $240,000, advocates said. Just 6% of Chicagoans earn that much money.
If they’re gonna do it, a marginal rate is definitely the way to go. And small multi-unit relief is another sign that more experienced hands are now working on this. But those changes will mean less revenue.
The only ways to change the rate, however, are through the Illinois General Assembly, which does not reconvene until the late fall veto session, or a citywide referendum. While aldermen Thursday announced they will opt for the latter, Johnson’s transition committee recently recommended going through the state legislature.
The city council always wants the General Assembly to do its dirty work on taxes. They should really consider holding a referendum.
* I looked at this pic posted by Andy Manar and my immediate reaction was, “What the heck is in his ears?”…
Pritzker is chatting here with Andrea Pirondini, the CEO of Prysmian Group North America, which is expanding its facility in Du Quoin. Pirondini was born in Italy, so maybe it was some sort of translating device even though Pirondini speaks English quite well?
Was the governor listening to tunes?
* A dark joke among some journalists goes something like: “The best way to kill a good story is to make one too many phone calls.”
Well, I reached out yesterday to Pritzker’s spokesperson Alex Gough who said, “It was quite loud in there and everyone had these so they could hear the mic’d tour guide.”
Drat.
* Act like you never read the post and only saw the pic.
Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Prohibits a limited services pregnancy center from engaging in unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices: (1) to interfere with or prevent an individual from seeking to gain entry or access to a provider of abortion or emergency contraception; (2) to induce an individual to enter or access the limited services pregnancy center; (3) in advertising, soliciting, or otherwise offering pregnancy-related services; or (4) in conducting, providing, or performing pregnancy-related services. Defines terms. Sets forth legislative intent. Effective immediately.
Anti-abortion pregnancy centers can be penalized by the Illinois attorney general if they use deceptive practices or misinformation to interfere with patients seeking abortion care under a measure Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Thursday.
“Women need access to comprehensive, fact-based health care when making critical decision(s) about their own health — not manipulation or misinformation from politically motivated, nonmedical actors,” Pritzker said in a statement after he signed the bill.
Under the law, clinics are subject to injunctive action and a financial penalty of up to $50,000 under the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if they are found to be dissuading “pregnant persons from considering abortion care through deceptive, fraudulent, and misleading information and practices.”
The bill signing was quickly followed by a federal lawsuit from the conservative Chicago nonprofit law firm Thomas More Society that argued the new law infringes on individuals’ First Amendment rights.
Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation, a former Illinois legislator, spoke about the federal lawsuit just filed against the state, following the governor’s signature of SB 1909, which enacted the discriminatory law.
“This is a blatant attempt to chill and silence pro-life speech under the guise of consumer protections,” explained Breen. “Pregnancy help ministries provide real options and assistance to women and families in need, but instead of the praise they deserve, pro-abortion-rights politicians are targeting these ministries with $50,000 fines and injunctions solely because of their pro-life viewpoint.”
The Thomas More Society filed this afternoon in federal court seeking a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction. NIFLA v. Raoul, case no. 23-50297, is now pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division. The Thomas More Society is seeking to prevent the law from being enforced while the case makes its way through the court system.
Planned Parenthood Illinois President Jennifer Welch said in a press conference Thursday afternoon, in which Raoul and elected representatives also spoke, that the new law is aimed at stopping pro-life pregnancy centers, some that do not provide medical care, from deceiving women with false claims like “abortion causes breast cancer” and “abortion will make you infertile” and from giving false medical information to women about the status of their pregnancy.
The name of the game for deceptive pro-life organizations is to try to stop people from going into Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, Welch said, trying to redirect them to their centers and trying to delay them from their appointments, and from receiving abortions.
Raoul decried the stories he said he had heard of pro-life centers deceiving patients that they were part of existing abortion clinics and removing them from near an abortion clinic to delay them from entering the clinic they intended on entering.
The attorney general said it’s not about restricting speech.
“You’re not free to lie to people, or to use deceptive practices,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said.
Clinic supporters see the law as attempting to effectively shut down clinics and anti-abortion dissent.
The new law is effective immediately, but the legal challenge could block enforcement while the case winds through the courts. The attorney general expressed confidence it will be upheld.
Ralph Rivera, legislative chairman for Right to Life, was relieved to hear of the quick court action seeking a halt to the law. He maintains it not only chills free speech, is too vague in spelling out what the state might consider a violation. During debate on the House floor in May, Republicans pounded the bill’s sponsor for specifics and to each question, she responded that action would be at the attorney general’s discretion.
“These centers are scared,” Rivera said. “They don’t know if they’ve crossed the line and the attorney general will take them to court and demand all their records, a list of all their donors,” Rivera said.
The pregnancy centers have won in court before. A 2016 law requiring them to provide information on where clients could get an abortion was halted by a federal appeals court and still awaits trial court argument. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2018 that a similar law in California was unconstitutional.
* Related…
* KHQA | Illinois law bans pro-life pregnancy centers from ‘deceptive practices’: The Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act, or SB 1909, bars crisis pregnancy centers from using “misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception.”
* AG Kwame Raoul | To stop abortions, 19 GOP attorneys general want access to women’s medical information. They won’t get it from Illinois: We know that patients are traveling to our state for care, and Illinois providers and support networks have stepped up to serve this influx of patients from other states. Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood of Illinois has seen a 54% increase in abortion patients, and nearly 25% of their patients traveled from another state, compared with 7% before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. My role as attorney general is to use the tools I have to protect medical providers and support networks and their patients who seek lawful health care in Illinois.
* Politico | Ohio’s special election has become a proxy war over abortion rights: The push to pass Issue 1 is widely seen as an attempt by Republicans in the state to effectively block a separate initiative for abortion rights that is set to be considered this November. As such, it’s prompting a massive arms raise between heavy-hitting groups on each side of the debate
* Columbus Dispatch | Who’s funding the Ohio Issue 1 campaigns? Donors from Illinois, D.C. and California: An Illinois billionaire dropped another $4 million into the fight over whether it should be harder to amend Ohio’s Constitution, new campaign filings show. But the donations from shipping supply magnate Richard Uihlein aren’t the only out-of-state money flowing ahead of the Aug. 8 special election. The campaigns for and against Issue 1 are relying heavily on donors from California to Washington, D.C. as they blast the influence of special interests on Ohio politics.
The State of Illinois today took a transformative step toward modernizing its supervision system and strengthening public safety as Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 423 into law. The bipartisan legislation earned overwhelming support, including a unanimous vote in the Illinois House, for its commonsense, evidence-based solutions that make Illinois’ supervision system more transparent and effective. It is expected to benefit more than 260,000 people on supervision and save the state of Illinois $16.5 million over the next five years. […]
Speaking at the event, REFORM Alliance co-founder Meek Mill said, “When I was on probation, the system did much more to hold me back than help me succeed. And my experience is just a reflection of millions of other stories that go untold. So it’s an honor to be a part of making the system work better for families in Illinois and across the country. Speaker Pro Tem Jehan Gordon-Booth and Governor Pritzker, we thank you for your leadership.” […]
SB423 goes into effect January 1st, 2024, and includes these evidence-based provisions:
• Improving education credits that incentivize people on parole or Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR) to obtain a degree, career certificate, or vocational technical certificate.
• Streamlining early termination processes and increasing government transparency by standardizing review timelines, encouraging officers to recommend early termination for people who have a track record of success, and providing clear feedback for those denied.
• Tailoring Supervision to an individualized approach to each person’s unique circumstances, focusing on addressing root causes of crime and enhancing public safety. It also limits unnecessary drug testing, saving resources and reducing work interruptions.
• Expanding virtual reporting permanently for remote check-ins for all forms of supervision in Illinois, reducing disruption to work or childcare responsibilities, and removing barriers to success.
More than 100,000 people are currently on probation, parole, or Mandatory Supervised Release in Illinois, many of whom face insurmountable challenges under the current system. Instead of helping people turn their lives around, Illinois’ supervision system too often operates as a revolving door back to prison. A Department of Corrections (DOC) report revealed that more than 1 in 4 - or 25% - of people across the country released from prison end up back behind bars for a technical violation (non-criminal violation) like missing a meeting with their supervision officer) within three years of their release.
The law is projected to significantly improve outcomes for those under supervision in Illinois, enhancing community stability and safety. Illinois now joins several other states where similar reforms have strengthened public safety, modernized supervision systems, reduced the number of people unnecessarily on supervision, and produced better outcomes for families and communities. REFORM has now passed 17 bipartisan bills in 11 states, creating new pathways that did not exist for more than 677,000 people to exit the system over the next five years.
The bill passed both chambers unanimously and the signing is being celebrated with one of the most joyful and interesting press conferences I've seen https://t.co/aSfRul1YEV
Friday, Jul 28, 2023 - Posted by Advertising Department
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Todo Para Todos — a migrant shelter whose name means “everything for everyone” — was established as a promise that Chicago was a welcoming city.
It sprung up in Pilsen in May as the city scrambled to house thousands arriving from Latin America and since then has been a refuge for hundreds.
But after staying afloat for months without city funding, those in charge wonder how long it can last and whether operating a shelter without city support does a disservice to the residents.
As the article goes on to explain, the problems go well beyond money. Pilsen residents banded together, found a warehouse and have been providing food and shelter to asylum seekers. The article claims the shelter now houses 220 people, many of whom are children.
Asylum seekers in official city shelters receive wrap-around services which the Pilsen shelter can’t provide. More importantly, while the city’s official shelter occupants are automatically put on a track to receive affordable housing, the folks sheltering in Pilsen don’t qualify for that track, so they’re now in limbo with no way out. All because a group of admirable Chicagoans stepped up and did the right thing…
Above all, they’re asking for the city to help those staying at the shelter get the same state rental assistance available at city shelters, said Anna DiStefano, another volunteer at the shelter.
Immigrants at city shelters can get money to cover rent and help finding amendable landlords through the state’s Asylum Seekers Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
If the city won’t act, the state needs to step in. Like now.
Decent people who did the right thing are getting kicked in the teeth. Enough, already.
* AP | Misleading clients on abortion could cost Illinois pregnancy centers: The pregnancy centers wasted little time challenging the law’s constitutionality. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, a national network of pregnancy help centers; and several centers in Illinois filed a federal lawsuit in Rockford seeking a restraining order and injunction against the state’s enforcement.
* Illinois Times | Transgender turmoil: The two transgender women at the center of a nationwide controversy involving the Springfield YMCA say they would never act inappropriately in locker rooms. And they don’t want to be forced to use changing areas separate from other women – a practice that YMCA officials said would violate state law.
* BND | Illinois lawmakers, ACLU weigh in on metro-east school’s transgender bathroom policy: Three Republican politicians attended the most recent board meeting July 17: former state Sen. Darren Bailey, state Rep. David Friess and state Sen. Terri Bryant. A representative of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost also was in attendance. Bailey and Bost are facing off in the 2024 Republican primary for Illinois’ 12th Congressional District.
* Tribune | Federal judge rejects GOP lawsuit seeking to block mail-in ballots received after Election Day: U.S. District Judge John Kness ruled that five-term U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro and two prospective 2024 GOP presidential electors lacked standing to sue the State Board of Elections over an Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted in the 14 days after Election Day as long as they were postmarked or certified on or before that day.
* Capitol News Illinois | State announces 3rd manufacturing expansion spurred by new tax credit: Prysmian, which Pritzker described as “the largest cable manufacturer in the world,” produces cables and other products used in energy storage and distribution, renewable energy and electric vehicle charging stations. At the Du Quoin plant in southern Illinois, the company makes insulated power distribution cables that transmit energy underground and inside factories. Some of those cables feed power to companies that generate wind and solar energy, said plant manager Erik Perks.
* WIFR | Hard Rock Casino Rockford granted sports betting license: “We are excited to add sports betting as the latest amenity to Hard Rock Casino Rockford - The Opening Act,” Geno Iafrate, president of Hard Rock Casino Rockford said Thursday in a statement. “We are very appreciative of the IGB’s hard work and diligence to get us to this point.”
* WBEZ | 25 Chicago Park District employees could face firing in COVID relief fraud probe: In a new report, interim Inspector General Alison Perona said an ongoing investigation by her office has grown from 26 cases involving employees who got the loans to help business owners struggling during the coronavirus pandemic to “sustained findings” against 114 workers as of June 30.
* Tribune | Backers of Chicago real estate transfer tax hike aim to take measure to voters; money would fight homelessness: The council’s housing committee met for a three-hour hearing Thursday on the yearslong drive to raise the tax on the sale of properties worth at least $1 million and use that money to address the city’s homeless crisis. The panel did not vote on the proposal, but one of its chief supporters vowed to pass City Council legislation this fall to place the question on next March’s presidential primary ballot.
* Tribune | Cook County landlords face legal challenges alleging eviction screening policies discriminate against Black tenants: Legal Aid Chicago filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Hunter Properties Inc. over the company’s “No-Evictions Policy” — which states in its application portal that “prior evictions filings will result in denial” of housing applications. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges the policy violates the federal 1968 Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Black renters, particularly Black women, since they are disproportionately affected by eviction.
* Scott Holland | Property tax help for veterans requires diligence from public servants: There are no major alarm bells, but discussion will include a rather obvious outcome: in counties dense with development and population, the effect of exempting a few people from paying property tax is fairly easily subsidized across everyone else. In counties with fewer taxpayers, the impact is more noticeable. In this specific situation, some rural counties have an outsized veteran population compared to the statewide average.
* Tribune | She saw a local news void in Harvey. So she started a publication to help ‘those with a voice but without a platform: When she saw a need in her community, Amethyst Davis, 26, didn’t turn away. As traditional newspapers around the country are facing decline, the Harvey native realized there was a local news void in the south suburb and decided to fill it. She started the Harvey World Herald, joining the ranks of alternative hyperlocal, independently owned outlets that are changing the media landscape in Chicagoland.
* Tribune | Chicago’s top Malört bars spill how they sell so much of the ‘taste from home’: Mainard is known as the “Queen of Malört” at Reggies. It’s not just because she decided to exclusively drink Malört six years ago, but also because she’s persuaded numerous customers and Reggies employees to appreciate what she describes as Aqua Net hair spray mixed with grapefruit.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a downstate Republican congressman and two GOP officials that sought to block the state from counting mail-in ballots cast on or before Election Day, but received by election authorities up to two weeks afterward.
U.S. District Judge John Kness ruled that five-term U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro and two prospective 2024 GOP presidential electors lacked standing to sue the State Board of Elections over an Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted in the 14 days after Election Day as long as they were postmarked or certified on or before that day.
More than just rejecting the three Republicans’ standing to file suit, Kness explicitly ruled that Illinois’ 2015 law complied with the U.S. Constitution as well as federal election law. […]
Bost’s challenge to the law was somewhat ironic since he touts his past service in the Marines and the law was designed in part to meet federal voting requirements for military members serving overseas. The U.S. Department of Justice issued a “statement of interest” in support of the state of Illinois, in part citing protections for military members to have their votes counted.
* Democratic Party of Illinois…
Last night, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied Congressman Mike Bost’s challenge to Illinois’ Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute. Bost filed this suit against the State Board of Elections ahead of last year’s election in an attempt to prevent the counting of mail-in-ballots received after Election Day. The lawsuit could have invalidated thousands of mail-in ballots, including those of military members serving overseas, if they are postmarked on or before Election Day but received after. […]
“This ruling by a Trump-appointed judge is a win for voting rights and a loss for those who wish to suppress fairly counted votes to suit their political ambitions. Despite their bad faith effort to undermine free and fair elections, this ruling shows the lack of legal standing Republicans have in challenging laws that protect our right to vote. The Illinois GOP knows how wildly out of touch they’ve become with Illinoisans, but fortunately, their effort to override the will of the voters with this baseless lawsuit rather than accepting the results of our elections was as unsuccessful as their campaigns,” said Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Lisa Hernandez.
Plaintiff argues that the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute directly contradicts Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution. That section establishes that “[t]he Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” Nothing on the face of the Statute runs afoul of this constitutional provision. By implementing the Statute, Illinois is following the constitutional command that states determine the time, place, and manner of elections. In addition, the Statute further does not conflict with the federal mandate that Election Day be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. By counting only mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day, the Statute does not extend the day for casting votes in a federal election. Because the Statute does not conflict with a constitutional provision, it does not fall under the plan of Convention doctrine. […]
Plaintiffs allege that the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute violates 2 U.S.C. § 7 and 3 U.S.C. § 1 by allowing the state to count votes that are received after Election Day, even if they are postmarked on or before the date of the election or certified before Election Day. (Dkt. 1 at 10.) But the Statute does not contradict 2 U.S.C. § 7 and 3 U.S.C. § 1. As the statute says, all mail-in ballots must be “postmarked no later than election day.” 10 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. § 5/19-8(c). If a ballot is not postmarked, it must be certified on or before Election Day to be counted. Id. Nowhere in the text does the Statute allow ballots postmarked or certified after Election Day to be counted. The question, then, is whether ballots that are postmarked or certified on or before Election Day, but are not received by Election Day, should be disregarded as untimely under federal law. […]
In this Court’s view, and with due respect to Plaintiffs’ contrary view, the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute operates harmoniously with the federal statutes that set the timing for federal elections. Many states have post-Election Day absentee ballot receipt deadlines, and at least two states other than Illinois allow mail-in ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted if they are received within two weeks of Election Day. … Other states will accept mail-in ballots received seven to 10 days after Election Day. … Despite these ballot receipt deadline statutes being in place for many years in many states, Congress has never stepped in and altered the rules.
Moreover, the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute is facially compatible with the relevant federal statutes. By counting only these ballots that are postmarked no later than Election Day, the Statute complies with federal law that set the date for Election Day. As the United States notes in its statement of interest in this case (Dkt. 47), even federal laws governing elections allow ballots received after Election Day to be counted. […]
More broadly, Plaintiffs consistently—and wrongly—conflate “voting” with “counting votes.” The word “voting” as used in this case is a gerund; that is, a word derived from a verb that functions as a noun. As a derivative of the verb “to vote,” “voting” refers to a specific act: casting a vote. Under the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute, the voting deadline is unambiguous: the act of voting must take place on or before Election Day. 10 ILCS § 5/19-8(c). Counting those votes, however, may take place up to 14 days after Election Day. Id. Voting (as an act) and counting votes (as a separate act) are not the same thing, and the Statute allows counting alone—not voting—to continue after Election Day. […]
Plaintiffs allege that the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute forces Congressman Bost and other candidates “to spend money, devote time, and otherwise injuriously rely on unlawful provisions of state law in organizing, funding, and running their campaigns.” Plaintiffs do not, in connection with their right to stand for office claim, explain why the Statute constitutes an invalid regulation of the times, places, and manner of federal elections. Instead, Plaintiffs merely set forth their reasons why the Statute could make standing for federal office in Illinois more challenging
These allegations do not assert a plausible claim that the Ballot Receipt Deadline Statute impairs the right to stand for office. Spending time and money on campaigning is an inevitable feature of running for office, and Plaintiffs do not contend that the extra time and money they might have to spend due to the Statute prevents them from standing for office at all. For these reasons, Plaintiffs’ “right to stand for office” claim is unavailing.
* Rick Morrissey wrote this earlier in the week, but it’s even more true after last night’s loss to that team on the other side of town…
You know what 19 games below .500 is? It’s the kind of record rebuilding teams have. The Sox aren’t rebuilding. Their 26-man payroll is $130.2 million, which is the 11th-highest in baseball. Their .406 winning percentage is the lowest among the top 15 spenders. Ten of those 15 teams have records above .500.
You almost have to try to be as bad as the Sox are. This can’t be emphasized enough: The Sox aren’t trying to be this bad. They’re not trying to get higher draft picks. Their prolific losing is completely organic. Their losing is a living thing, a creature. This is spontaneous dreadfulness. […]
The Sox have finished above .500 only twice in Rick Hahn’s 11 years as general manager.
Governor JB Pritzker joined Hoyleton Youth and Family Services today to break ground on a once in a generation construction project that will provide a new model of care for vulnerable youth 9-18 years old living in residential care. The new residential campus will allow youth, who are both developmentally and intellectually delayed and have experienced trauma, to heal and grow in a therapeutic environment.
GDP grew at a 2.4% pace in the second quarter, topping expectations despite recession calls
• Gross domestic product rose at a 2.4% annualized pace in the second quarter, topping the 2% estimate.
• Consumer spending powered the solid quarter, aided by increases in nonresidential fixed investment, government spending and inventory growth.
• A Commerce Department inflation gauge increased 2.6%, down from a 4.1% rise in Q1 and well below the estimate for a gain of 3.2%.
* IDES…
Over-the-year, total nonfarm jobs increased in all fourteen metropolitan areas for the year ending June 2023, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES). Over-the-year, the unemployment rate increased in thirteen metropolitan areas and decreased in one. […]
The metro areas which had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in total nonfarm jobs were the Danville MSA (+3.3%, +900), the Peoria MSA (+2.7%, +4,600), and the Champaign-Urbana MSA (+2.6%, +2,900). Total nonfarm jobs in the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metropolitan Division were up +2.0% or +74,000. Industries that saw job growth in a majority of metro areas included: Education and Health Services and Leisure and Hospitality (twelve areas each); Government (eleven areas), Other Services (ten areas); Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities (nine areas); and Manufacturing (eight areas).
The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate increases were the Danville MSA (+1.0 point to 5.9%), the Kankakee MSA (+0.9 point to 5.7%), the Rockford MSA (+0.9 point to 6.3%) and the Lake County-Kenosha County IL-WI Metropolitan Division (+0.8 point to 4.6%). The only metro area with an unemployment rate decrease was the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metropolitan Division (-1.0 percentage point to 4.3%).
* Press release…
Joint Statement from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Bears President & CEO Kevin Warren:
“We continued our productive discussion this week that began in early June. We plan to have regular dialogue with each other, and across our respective staffs, as we work together to meet the needs of the citizens of Chicago and Bears fans.”
Johnson has been preparing an offer to work with the Bears to find multiple city sites within Chicago that could satisfy the demands of an NFL stadium, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. […]
State Rep. Kam Buckner, who served on Johnson’s transition team, previously said the city should be “proactive” in finding another location for the team outside of Soldier Field, including the 500-acre former U.S. Steel site on the Southeast Side along Lake Michigan.
Other sites that could hold a smaller footprint are Related Midwest’s The 78 megadevelopment between Chinatown and the Loop, but the developer has been focused on the development of space for the Discovery Partners Institute with the University of Illinois.
Another possibility is just south of Soldier Field on land occupied by the Lakeside Center, part of the McCormick Place Convention Center campus that is set to be redeveloped.
* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker, Prysmian Group, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today joined local leaders and partners to announce a new Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois (REV Illinois) agreement and break ground on Prysmian Group’s expanded facility in Du Quoin. The expanded Southern Illinois facility will enable the company to increase cable manufacturing for the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors. […]
Bolstered by a REV Illinois incentive package, Prysmian Group plans to invest $63.8 million and create 80 new high-paying jobs while retaining 225 jobs in Southern Illinois – solidifying its position as one of the largest employers in Perry County. The expansion paves the way for increased renewable cable production in Illinois, adding over 100,000 square feet of new manufacturing space and seven major pieces of equipment, including a two-line expansion for renewable cable production. The expansion will also help modernize the existing infrastructure and implement an Energy Management System within the facility.
“This expansion will produce cutting-edge, high-quality, sustainable products that not only help enhance the grid – by increasing reliability, preventing blackouts and reducing overall maintenance costs,” said Andrea Pirondini, CEO of Prysmian Group North America. “Ultimately, we will ensure we have the capacity needed, when it is needed, in order to ensure we can build an electrical grid that’s built for the future. As we work to help harden the grid across the U.S., Du Quoin will play a large role in that.”
With 150 years of experience, Prysmian Group is supporting the worldwide transition to clean energy by manufacturing thousands of miles of cables and systems for power transmission and distribution, as well as cables in microgrids, energy storage, renewable energy and EVs and EV charging stations – which have different requirements and specifications than traditional cables.
* Mike Bost…
U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today announced that his re-election campaign has been endorsed by over 100 Republican elected officials from across the 12th District. This comes two weeks after Bost announced his re-election campaign has been endorsed by 19 GOP county sheriffs.
“Southern Illinois’ mayors and local officials have a unique feel for the pulse of the people,” said Bost. “They understand better than anyone what their community wants and whether or not they have a representative in Washington who can deliver. That’s why I’m thrilled to have the endorsements of over 100 Republican officials from across the 12th District, including in our new central and southeastern counties. They know I’m fighting for our conservative values and will never sacrifice what’s best for Southern Illinois just to please the Beltway insiders.”
* The ILGOP’s latest press release on the SAFE-T Act included this kicker at the end…
Let’s put it this way: if Al Capone was arrested today on tax evasion, the Democrats would’ve had him released before lunch.
* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker joined Hoyleton Youth and Family Services today to break ground on a once in a generation construction project that will provide a new model of care for vulnerable youth 9-18 years old living in residential care. The new residential campus will allow youth, who are both developmentally and intellectually delayed and have experienced trauma, to heal and grow in a therapeutic environment.
“Every child deserves an opportunity to be equipped with the tools they need to reach their full potential,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Coupled with the superior therapeutic treatments provided by Hoyleton, this expansion will enable more of our vulnerable youth to receive these outstanding services as well as provide them with modern physical and outdoor spaces encouraging full wrap around services in this unique setting.”
The new facility, which will cost $16 million, has had more than 50% of its project costs funded by Illinois DCFS through its capital development program. Remaining funds will come from federal programs as well as a capital campaign supported by both private and corporate donors.
The project will allow for the creation of seven brand new homes, increasing residential capacity from 36 to 42 youth. Each resident will have a private bedroom, semi-private bathroom, sound and sensory appropriate space, art spaces and planned outdoor areas. Each home will be equipped with solar panels and there will be electric vehicles as well as two charging stations with the capacity for a total of up to six. The housing portion of the project will be completed by January 2024 and none of the residents will be displaced during the construction.
* Bill signing…
Governor JB Pritzker signed SB1909 into law, also known as the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act. This law bars so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” from using misinformation, deceptive practices, or misrepresentation in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception. The law allows the Illinois Attorney General to investigate complaints against centers using such tactics and strengthens the AG’s Offices power to prosecute incidences of consumer fraud in such cases.
“Women need access to comprehensive, fact-based healthcare when making critical decision about their own health—not manipulation or misinformation from politically motivated, non-medical actors,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “By empowering the Attorney General’s office to battle deceptive practices, we’re ensuring Illinoisans can make their own decisions about their bodies using accurate and safe information.”
“Misinformation is a form of injustice, particularly when it is used in an attempt to control women’s healthcare decisions,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “In Illinois, we refuse to accept anything less than bodily autonomy for all, and that includes the right to accessible and accurate medical information. We are committed to protecting Illinoisans from these manipulative tactics and ensuring all have the power to choose what is best for their futures.”
“I witnessed deceptive crisis pregnancy center tactics firsthand on a visit to tour a Planned Parenthood health center in Illinois. People who appeared as though they might work there were outside attempting to divert patients away from the health center,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said. “Patients report going to crisis pregnancy centers – sometimes even receiving exams and ultrasounds – thinking they were visiting a clinic that offers the full range of reproductive care. As a result, patients may disclose personal medical information, unaware the center may not keep that information private and confidential. By signing this law at a time when reproductive health access faces continued attacks in other states, Governor Pritzker is helping to protect patients who seek care in Illinois from these extreme violations of trust and privacy.”
“Crisis pregnancy centers,” which are often located near facilities that offer full-service abortion or contraceptive care, are non-regulated and at times even nonmedical facilities. As such, they are not subject to laws regarding confidentiality or accuracy as laid out by medical governing boards. Over 100 of these centers exist in Illinois. Many of these centers advertise to women unsure about continuing a pregnancy, and present inaccurate information on risks of procedures, fetal development, and other aspects of reproductive healthcare to discourage patients from accessing abortion or emergency contraceptive services.
The Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act clarifies how the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act applies to crisis pregnancy centers. Centers are not required to provide information about abortion or emergency contraceptives but cannot give incorrect information or use false advertising to attract clients. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has recommended that states strengthen laws against these centers to preserve patient safety. The law is effective immediately upon signing.
…Adding… A lawsuit was filed today…
Today, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, seeking to stop him from enforcing Illinois Senate Bill 1909, a measure drafted by Raoul’s office that declares the pro-life speech of the state’s life pregnancy help ministries to be a “deceptive business practice.” Thomas More Society is representing NIFLA, a national pregnancy help center network, along with several Illinois pregnancy help centers and pro-life organizations.
“This law is a blatant attempt to chill and silence pro-life speech under the guise of ‘consumer protection,’” explained Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation, and a former Illinois State Legislator. “Pregnancy help ministries provide real options and assistance to women and families in need, but instead of the praise they deserve, pro-abortion politicians are targeting these ministries with $50,000 fines and injunctions solely because of their pro-life viewpoint.”
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, seeks a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction against SB 1909. If temporary and preliminary injunctions are granted, they would prevent the law from being enforced while the case makes its way through the court system.
“The state government has completely overstepped the bounds of any logical and relevant authority by inserting insane partisan politics into their governing bodies and attempting to trample the First Amendment rights of those with whom they disagree,” said Thomas Glessner, President of NIFLA. “There is no basis for their blatant attacks on pregnancy centers, who provide all of their services for free for women and their families throughout Illinois. They do so out of their deeply held beliefs of caring for one another and exhibiting human decency and compassion for those in need, something the leaders of Illinois are completely clueless about. This attempt to deny mothers their constitutional right to choose life is disgraceful and should be an embarrassment to the people of Illinois.”
The Illinois State Police welcomed 17 new Troopers today from Cadet Class 142 at a graduation ceremony at the Illinois State Police Academy in Springfield. The new Troopers will report to three different Troops throughout the state on Sunday July 30, 2023. The total number of ISP Troopers added since 2019 now stands at 445.
Cadet Class 142 marks the 14th cadet class graduation under Governor JB Pritzker. […]
The new officers are assigned to the following areas of the state and will immediately begin their patrol duties, joining veteran Troopers in the effort to safeguard the public and Illinois roadways.
Troop 2 La Salle, 1 Trooper
Troop 3 Des Plaines, 12 Troopers
Troop 8 Collinsville, 4 Troopers
* I was privileged to be quoted in this article about Yvette Shields…
Yvette Shields, a reporter originally trained to cover Chicago City Hall, turned her fearless pen to Midwest state and local finance when she joined the Bond Buyer nearly 26 years ago and launched a career that enriched the public finance industry with unrivaled coverage of the people, deals and events that matter to the bond world.
Along the way she earned a reputation as a consummate financial reporter who had great personal charm, intelligence, and humor. She built an extensive network of sources and friends, routinely scooped the competition, and acquired a deep understanding of the political and financial nuances that shape municipal finance.
Shields died suddenly on July 19 of what is believed to be sepsis. She was 57.
You can contribute to the Yvette Shields Memorial Fund by clicking here. Thanks.
* WMBD | Illinois Secretary of State program to reduce wait times at DMVs: Giannoulias said that the program, which will start Sept. 1, is expected to eliminate the unpredictability of wait times at the DMV and improve customer service. The program will require everyone to make appointments for in-person visits at the 44 busiest DMVs in Illinois. In Central Illinois, that includes Peoria, Pekin and Bloomington.
* KFVS | Gov. Pritzker announces new initiative, attends groundbreaking in Du Quoin: Prysmian, based in Milan, Italy, is considered a world leader in the design, manufacturing and sale of wire and cable products, including aluminum, copper and fiber optic wire and cable products for the energy, communications and automotive industries.
* Journal Courier | Illinois attorney general calls on Congress to extend GI Bill benefits: The bill would extend eligibility for Veterans Affairs housing loan and Post-9/11 GI Bill educational assistance programs to Black World War II veterans and their families and descendants if the veteran can prove they were denied GI Bill benefits on the basis of race. It would also create an accountability office to monitor how many veterans received benefits from the bill and a panel to study inequalities in how women and minority veterans are given benefits.
* Crain’s | Chicago climate-tech investor raises $300M fund: The new fund will make growth-stage investments in companies that have proven their technologies and products and now need money to scale up their operations or pursue acquisitions. Interest in clean-energy technology was helped by the nearly $500 billion in government incentives aimed at climate change from last year’s federal Inflation Reduction Act.
* Bond Buyer | Illinois Senate honors Bond Buyer’s Yvette Shields for her work: The life and legacy of Bond Buyer reporter Yvette Shields was honored Tuesday with a proclamation introduced on the floor of the Illinois Senate. Introduced by Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, the proclamation pays homage to Shields as a “celebrated and beloved financial reporter” who “left behind an indelible mark on the public finance industry in both the Midwest and the nation as a whole.”
* Tribune | Updated X-ray machines for searching backpacks approved for more than 100 Chicago Public Schools buildings: The $1 million renewal agreement follows an initial two-year, $1.4 million investment in new X-ray equipment, approved by the board in 2021. (During the remote learning period of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtually none of those funds were spent, Chou said.) But, with six of seven members just appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson early this month, new leadership presides over the Board of Education. And in response to the district’s renewal request, some members initially questioned CPS’ reliance on the technology — though all members ultimately voted Wednesday to approve the funds.
* Daily Herald | ‘I want to build bridges’: Officials make pitch for cops in Arlington Heights, Elk Grove schools: Arlington Heights Police Chief Nick Pecora has proposed the addition of two full-time officers to work at the two middle schools in Arlington Heights Elementary District 25, where a pair of officers already split their time among the district’s nine schools. The officers also make the rounds at 10 other schools both public and private within the village boundaries.
* Crain’s | Johnson makes pitch to Bears to keep team in Chicago: As the Chicago Bears appear to be in stalled negotiations to build their new stadium in Arlington Heights, team president and CEO Kevin Warren met with Mayor Brandon Johnson at City Hall on Wednesday to discuss potential new stadium sites within the city but outside of Soldier Field. […] The locations Johnson is offering are unknown, but there are only a handful of options that are large enough to satisfy the need for an NFL stadium and potentially a surrounding entertainment district.
* Block Club | Broadway Armory To Become Migrant Shelter Starting Next Week, City Says: The conversion will require the relocation of multiple park programs and services by Saturday, giving city officials time to prep the massive complex into a shelter. Though most park programs will either end early or be moved elsewhere, the city-run senior center at the Broadway Armory will remain open, according to the mayor’s office. The senior dining center will continue to serve meals, though the computer lab and ping pong room will be closed.
* WGEM | Public squirrel hunting opening in Schuyler, Pike, Scott Counties: IDNR reported Thursday it has leased more than 4,400 acres of private land for 2023 squirrel hunting through IRAP, creating more than 30 public access squirrel sites in 18 counties, including Schuyler, Pike and Scott Counties. Sites are available at no cost to participants. Hunters simply must register, sign a liability waiver, and reserve a site through IRAP’s online registration system.
* Sun-Times | Chicago first responders stage dramatic emergency drills on Chicago River: And the departments delivered — the river became a simulated active incident, with police officers running onto a Chicago Water Taxi with guns drawn and actors in distress. A helicopter swooped in, hovering just feet above the water as swimmers jumped out and propelled themselves toward the chaos.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked today if he felt like there was a “safety crisis” inside the state’s developmental centers, including Choate. Here’s part of his response…
These facilities often are located in places where it’s very hard to find the qualified labor that you’re looking for. We have terrific people that we attract, but it’s also very difficult to fill positions when we don’t have enough people with the kinds of credentials that are necessary to do this work.
This is hard work. The people who work there deserve to be compensated properly, and they deserve to be rewarded and recognized for good work that’s done. But if we can’t attract more people like that, then the provision of health care that’s necessary isn’t going to be up to the standard that we like.
This is a problem we’re all trying to solve. It’s not an easy one, because people are not willing to drive 100 or 150 miles to a job every day. And so where are we going to find those quality workers in an environment by the way where there’s a labor shortage, too? So we’re working on all those problems simultaneously, they won’t be solved immediately.
What we can do immediately is resolve the complaints to determine if there is actual wrongdoing, and then address that wrongdoing, hold people accountable.
Thursday, Jul 27, 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.
With $14 billion in new federal funding, the infrastructure law was supposed to jolt efforts to protect the U.S. highway network from a changing climate and curb carbon emissions that are warming the planet. New records show the effort is off to an unsteady start as hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent elsewhere.
Last year, 38 states made use of a provision in the law to shift about $755 million to general-purpose highway construction accounts, according to Federal Highway Administration records. The sum is more than one-quarter of the total annual amount made available to states in two new climate-related programs.
* Illinois shifted more than $39 million, according to WaPo…
Illinois shifting more than 42% of climate reslience funding to general purpose highway construction accounts. Give state DOTs money and they will do whatever they can to spend it on highways. https://t.co/WIdgD3kyHCpic.twitter.com/rSI8pBZb87
California shifted $97 million to pay for safety projects. New York moved $36 million to fund what officials called the state’s “core capital program.” Arizona said it used $20 million for its five-year highway construction program, largely for “pavement preservation,” and Louisiana used $8.2 million to fund roundabouts near an outlet mall. […]
A legal provision predating the infrastructure law allows states to shift up to half of their federal transportation funds among several different programs — a provision that also applies to transportation money from the new law. Kevin DeGood, director of the infrastructure program at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said Congress clearly intended for money to be allocated to projects that would reduce emissions or protect against extreme weather.
* Related media advisory…
On Monday, July 31, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will join Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski and other local leaders in the Champaign-Urbana, IL, and East St. Louis, IL, areas to highlight major infrastructure investments and announce new funding.
These projects are examples of how the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in America and working to build the next generation of American infrastructure, while creating good-paying jobs.
* The governor received a lot of national kudos for this…
Here in Illinois, we don't hide from the truth, we embrace it. By outlawing book bans, we’re showing the nation what it really looks like to stand up for liberty. pic.twitter.com/4QoN6acB9Z
While punchy national headlines announce that Illinois has outlawed book bans, Chicago Books to Women in Prison board president, Vicki White, can’t help but point out that this bill applies only to public libraries, not Illinois jail and prison libraries, or books sent by mail that are regulated by the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
In response to the governor’s tweet, White, who has been involved with the volunteer-run nonprofit organization for over a decade, urges the state to incorporate incarcerated folks in Pritzker’s declaration to “stand up for liberty.”
“I would just ask Pritzker to spearhead the same type of action in prisons, and not just prison libraries but prisons in general,” White said. “Because there are the books in the prison libraries, but books from organizations like ours go through the mail room. Another thing that would be excellent would be for an [assessment] to happen from the top; fold in the prison library system into the Illinois library system and [take it] out of the Illinois Department of Corrections…JB Pritzker, I love what you’re saying. Maybe just think a little more broadly.” […]
According to a 2023-updated article by The Marshall Project about banned books in prisons by state, while most of the titles are pornographic, the list also includes books on Asian martial arts, the fundamentals of tattooing, how to write believable fight scenes, and Prison Ramen, which details prison recipes and personal narratives from incarcerated inmates. In contrast, Mein Kampf is banned in Illinois, but inmates are free to read it in Texas, according to a 2019 Illinois Library Association article.
The Marshall Project is here. You can download the full list of banned Illinois prison books by clicking here and scrolling down.
In May 2019, the Illinois library community received an alarming bit of news: Between November 2018 and late January 2019, more than 200 books were removed, censored, or banned from the Education Justice Project library at the Danville Correctional Center, located in East Central Illinois. Among these books were titles such as Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington; Don’t Shoot: One Man, A Street Fellowship, and The End of Violence in Inner-City America by David M. Kennedy, and “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D. […]
EJP students are University of Illinois students, and so also have access to Interlibrary Loan materials from U of I libraries. Students complete loan requests for specific titles or topics of study, and the requested items are provided by the EJP librarian—if the items pass the correctional facility’s clearance process.
1. Publications shall not be disapproved solely because its content is religious, philosophical, political, social or sexual content, or because the content is unpopular or repugnant.
Publications that meet one or more of the following criteria may be disapproved:
a. It contains sexually explicit material.
b. It is written in code or facilitates unauthorized communication between offenders.
c. It blatantly encourages activities that may lead to the use of physical violence or group disruption.
d. It facilitates unauthorized organizational activity.
e. It overtly advocates or encourages violence, hatred or group disruption.
f. It encourages or instructs in the commission of criminal activity.
g. It depicts or describes procedures for the construction or use of weapons, ammunition, bombs or incendiary devices.
h. It depicts or describes procedures for making alcoholic beverages or manufacturing drugs.
i. It depicts, describes or encourages methods of escape from correctional facilities or provides material that may assist in an escape attempt such as a detailed map of areas surrounding Illinois correctional facilities.
j. The content contains security threat group (STG) material or depictions of hand signs or symbols that appear to be related to an STG and could promote or enhance the image of an STG within the facility or may be interpreted as legitimizing gang behavior.
k. It is detrimental to the security or good order of the facility.
l. It is determined by a mental health professional or counselor to be detrimental to mental health or rehabilitation. Disapproval of publications under this criterion shall be made on a case-by-case basis and documentation of the mental health professional or counselor’s determination shall be provided to the Central Publications Review Committee with the Publication Review Determination and Course of Action, DOC 0212.
Sexually explicit material – for the purpose of this directive shall mean any publication that contains pictorial depictions of actual or simulated sexual acts including intercourse, oral sex or masturbation; any publication that by word or picture depicts or describes illegal activity of a sexual nature, sadomasochism, bestiality, sexual activity involving children (whether actual or perceived) or any publication that depicts or describes anything otherwise contrary to law. Publications that contain nudity without additional elements as provided above or publications that provide research or opinions on sexual health, reproductive issues or are scientific in nature shall not be considered sexually explicit.
Except for the illegal stuff, of course, that definition seems pretty harsh, particularly in a state that’s supposedly trying to get away from using prisons as punishment centers.
In an effort to improve customer service and eliminate the unpredictability of wait times at Illinois DMVs, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias will begin implementing a Skip-the-Line program starting September 1.
The Skip-the-Line program includes:
Simplified Online Services — Customers are encouraged to take advantage of the many services offered online at ilsos.gov, including renewing their driver’s license or ID card and license plate sticker online.
Appointment Scheduling — Customers will be required to make appointments for in-person visits at 44 of the busiest DMVs including all Chicago and suburban locations and some central and downstate DMVs for those seeking REAL ID, driver’s license and ID card services, and in-car driving tests.
Those seeking vehicle-related services, such as title and registration or renewing their license plate sticker, do not need to make an appointment and can just walk in.
Upon arrival, customers will check in with DMV staff and “Skip the Line,” eliminating lines and unpredictable wait times. Illinoisans may visit ilsos.gov or call (844) 817-4649 to schedule an appointment.
New Extended Hours of Operation — All DMVs statewide will extend hours of operation, with 16 facilities open six days a week – Monday through Saturday.
• All DMVs will change their days and hours of operation from Tues-Sat to Mon-Fri,
8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• 16 DMVs will also be open on Saturday, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m., as noted below.
“Customers will save time by skipping the line,” said Giannoulias. “Our goal is to eliminate the Time Tax that has plagued Illinoisans for years, forcing them to stand in long lines wasting time – just to conduct basic services. Extending hours at all DMVs and requiring appointments at our 44 highest-volume facilities is the most efficient way to get the services you need quickly and without the headache of unpredictable wait times.”
The appointment-only facilities include 24 Chicago and suburban DMVs and 20 DMVs in central and downstate Illinois that are within 10 miles from a population center of at least 25,000 residents. The list of these facilities is below, along with their days of operation.
The full list of appointment-only facilities is here.
People tend to dislike change, sometimes just because it’s different. With that in mind…
* The Question: Do you like this idea? Explain.
Also, we discussed the whole DMV thing yesterday, so try to focus solely on the new policy. Thanks.
…Adding… I noticed some folks chiming in about closing on Saturdays. Giannoulias said at his press conference that people just weren’t coming in much on Saturdays…
What I would say is what we’ve seen, and data backs this up, people are way more inclined to visit a facility on a weekday than they are on a Saturday. That’s pretty universal. Foot traffic at our facilities on Saturdays is just not there. The other thing we noticed is that, and while we changed the hours from 8 to 12:30, that some of the facilities that were open Saturday afternoons, for months and years, no one stepped foot in a facility at 2:30, 3pm on Saturday. So we want to shorten those hours, increasing for 16 locations that we think are pretty strategically placed that people have the ability to go in six days a week.
House Bill 2831 codifies an executive order Pritzker signed in 2021 that established the Illinois Interagency Task Force on Homelessness and the Community Advisory Council on Homelessness. It centralizes programs across 17 state departments and agencies to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to combat homelessness.
At a bill-signing ceremony at Featherfist, a homeless services organization in Chicago, Pritzker said the goal of the initiative is to bring homelessness in Illinois to “functional zero.”
“For those who don’t know and who may be listening, it’s a measurable metric of success that reduces homelessness to something that’s brief and rare and nonrecurring,” Pritzker said. […]
Christine Haley, the state’s current chief homelessness officer and chair of the interagency task force, said Black people and other people of color are disproportionately affected by homelessness.
“We stand here in one of the few Black-led homeless services organizations in our state. And as we stand here, we know that this housing crisis before us is rooted in housing injustice, is rooted in segregation, is rooted in racism,” she said. “We know this because in our city of Chicago, where now less than a third of its residents are Black, 73% of individuals and 90% of children and their parents who are experiencing homelessness are Black.”
The bill codifies the Interagency Task Force and Community Advisory Council, formed in 2021 to work across 17 Illinois state departments and agencies to develop a comprehensive plan to combat homelessness. […]
The state’s budget sets aside $360 million for the task force, with $118 million to support unhoused populations seeking shelter and services. Also appropriated is about $40.7 million for the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program, $50 million in Rapid Rehousing services for 2,000 households and $40 million in Permanent Supportive Housing.
The funding is an $83 million increase from last year’s budget.
The administration’s Home Illinois initiative is expanding options for affordable housing, targeting people in high-risk situations, and providing comprehensive support individuals experiencing homelessness. Several communities across the state have reached “functional zero homelessness,” meaning people can quickly find new housing options through local resources.
“We will build from the successes of serving unhoused veterans to advance housing strategies to serve all Illinoisans - from infants to our elders,” said Christine Haley, Chief Homelessness Officer for the Illinois Department of Human Services.
The Fiscal Year 2024 budget includes $360 million to help people find shelter and support services, build short-term and long-term housing units, and secure financial stability.
“We know the difference it can make when all of our partners from all levels around the state work together,” said Carolyn Ross, President and CEO of All Chicago Making Homelessness History. “We are in this for the long-term. And this legislation demonstrates that our Illinois leadership is in it for the long-term too.
Featherfist’s founder and CEO Melanie Anewishki called this a very encouraging day.
“It’s saying keep going; keep going, Mel. It’s OK; it’s gonna be all right,” said Melanie Anewishki, Featherfist founder and CEO.
Anewishki said it will help reduce what is often a silo’d approach to helping the homeless.
“So, yes, I’m reenergized. I feel great. Today is a very great day,” Anewishki said.
The goal of this coordinated effort is by 2025 to reach what’s called functional zero homelessness, which in essence means more people are finding housing, than are becoming homeless.
* WTVO…
“Every person deserves access to safe shelter and the dignity that comes with housing,” Pritzker said. “This is a first-of-its-kind multi-agency cooperative effort — bringing together state agencies, nonprofit organizations, advocates, and people with lived experience to prevent and end homelessness. I’m grateful for their dedication and believe that together, we can prevent and end homelessness once and for all.”
Rockford has already taken strides in this aspect. In 2017, it became the first community to reach “functional zero” levels among veterans and the chronically homeless.
Illinois’ Interagency Task Force and Community Advisory Council works across 17 state departments and agencies, as well as over 100 processes, programs and policies, to develop a comprehensive plan to combat homelessness. […]
“People experiencing the trauma of housing instability are our neighbors and community members who deserve to be treated with humanity and dignity. With this cooperative effort, Illinois is ensuring our state agencies can continue to collaborate, and that stakeholders are at the table with us, to support our most vulnerable in living healthy, well, and with dignity.” Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton said. “Our state is making it clear that we will continue to work together so we can all move forward, and we will focus on holistic strategies that bring us closer to ending homelessness in our state.”
* Lots of political land mines are associated with this convention, and this is just one of them…
Hadn’t thought about it before this @Andrefor40th tweet but yeah seems almost inevitable FL & Texas Governors will try to punk the 2024 DNC by sending bunch of unannounced buses of immigrants in weeks leading up to Convention. Sigh. https://t.co/PKFbCBBZ5a
* CBS Chicago | Illinois Auditor General reports on $5B improperly paid by the state: Among those receiving benefits: 481 dead people who got $6 million and about 3,500 inmates who received more than $40 million. The report dings the Illinois Department of Employment Security for its call center, describing hundreds of people who had to call more than 1,000 times to get through.
* Scott Holland | New union contract includes action steps for staffing concerns: The terms include several items aimed at improving the state’s hiring process and employee retention. The new contract language reflects the state’s switch to an electronic system for filling open positions and joint commitments to streamlining steps to filling vacancies. A new labor-management committee is tasked with identifying hiring roadblocks. There will be a pilot program testing recruitment bonuses for tough-to-fill jobs and a commitment to making sure current employees away on parental leave aren’t cut off from applying for openings.
* WSN | Illinois Set to Award More Sports Betting Operator Licenses Soon: The state’s $20 million application fee is a big reason for the struggles. That is a far larger number than in other states, and obtaining a license would only be the first step. New operators would enter a small pool of online sportsbooks filled with all of the major players. Operators like FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars have driven out smaller competitors nationwide. That makes entering the market a high-stakes move, driving away many second or third-tier operators.
* Bloomberg | Chicago, Milwaukee Seek Extra $50 Million to Cover Convention Security: “Cities shouldn’t be expected to front the cost,” Representative Mike Quigley, a Chicago Democrat and House Appropriations committee member, said in an interview. He added that risks aren’t static. “If anything, they have increased,” he said.
* WBEZ | New Chicago Public Schools board lays out ambitious agenda for school system: The newly seated Chicago Board of Education hand-picked by Mayor Brandon Johnson unveiled ambitious plans Wednesday to transform the school district into a place where parents of students with disabilities want to send their children and where the definition of safety includes “dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.”
* WBEZ | Chicago’s Urban Prep school for boys wins right to remain open this fall: Cook County Judge Anna Loftus this week sided with Urban Prep in ruling that a state moratorium on CPS school closings applies to charter schools and CPS “thus may not close, consolidate, or phase-out Urban Prep-Englewood and Urban Prep-Bronzeville until after the moratorium expires on January 15, 2025.”
* WBEZ | Chicagoans remember trailblazing cop Renault Robinson: A South Side church service Tuesday celebrated the life of Renault Robinson. He’s a former Chicago cop who organized against police racism in the ’60s and ’70s. He also sued successfully to force CPD to hire more minority and female officers. In the ’80s, under Mayor Harold Washington, Robinson had a stormy tenure as head of the Chicago Housing Authority. He died this month at age 80.
* Gizmodo | Twitter Deletes Its Own Fact Check Correcting Elon’s Bogus Vaccine Tweet: Unfortunately for fans of accurate information, that label no longer appears on Musk’s tweet, but you can see a copy preserved by the Internet Archive. There’s no indication that Musk intervened to take the note down. The company’s press email auto-responds with a poop-emoji, a joke that continues to bring joy to five-year-olds across the globe.
* NYT | What ‘The Bear’ Gets Right About Chicago: Leave it to a Chicagoan like me to note that there are, in fact, more than 20 restaurants in the city with at least one Michelin star. But “The Bear” captures something real about the city’s dining culture — and, more broadly, what you might call the geography of ambition.
