Afternoon roundup
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Herald & Review…
Twelve inmates in the Sangamon County Jail have been declared unfit for trial and ordered to be taken from the jail’s custody and committed to a state approved treatment facility.
But all 12 of them are still in jail, having waited multiple weeks or months to access critical inpatient psychiatric care from the state. […]
Lee Enterprises reporters spoke to seven Central Illinois sheriffs, state’s attorneys and jail administrators about the inmates declared mentally unfit for trial left in their custody pending transfer to Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) approved facilities.
A spokesperson for the department discussed this story in a phone call with a reporter, who provided a detailed list of questions by email at the spokesperson’s request. However, IDHS did not respond to the questions, or to any subsequent attempts to follow up by email and phone.
Some county officials reported inmate wait times of well over 100 days. In Macon County, for example, three inmates are awaiting care. One of them has been waiting for over 140 days. McLean County Sheriff Matt Lane said one inmate has waited since Nov. 3 of last year.
The state simply has to put a bigger effort into building up its psychiatric services. And not just for inmates. The governor has announced a plan, but dollars need to be put into hiring ASAP.
* Crain’s…
A little over a year ago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker extolled the beneficial effect his Climate & Equitable Jobs Act would have on ComEd customer bills thanks to a credit they would get from the owner of Illinois’ nuclear power plants.
“I’m proud that our commitment to hit carbon-free power by 2045 is already bringing consumers savings just months after becoming law,” he said in a press release at the time.
That credit of 3.087 cents per kilowatt-hour, though, quickly turned out to be overly generous — so much so that ComEd customers now owe the utility $1.1 billion for credits it provided them but couldn’t collect from nuclear plant owner Constellation Energy Group when wholesale power prices dropped unexpectedly beginning last year.
* Also Crain’s…
Illinois pharmacists are now allowed to dispense certain types of birth control to patients without a prescription from a doctor thanks to a new order from the state that looks to expand access to contraception.
The order, signed May 10 by the head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, proclaims that with additional training, pharmacists can dispense self-administered hormonal contraceptives, which includes birth control pills, vaginal rings and injections. […]
More than 20 other states, including California and South Carolina, have enacted similar policies that allow residents to receive birth control from pharmacists.
* A couple of Brandon Johnson inauguration excerpts…
It’s true, y’all know we need revenue. We have a structural deficit. And we have to invest in people. And we have to do that without breaking the backs of working people with fines, fees and property taxes.
You can’t make people feel bad because they have a payment plan. [applause]
You can’t stop someone with a payment plan from becoming mayor of the city of Chicago. [massive applause]
And…
We cannot afford to get it wrong, Chicago. We don’t want a Chicago that has been so overwhelmed by the traumatization of violence and despair that our residents felt no hope or no choice but to leave, shrinking our economy and make it difficult for this city to remain a world class city.
* This is just nuts and it’s becoming all too common…
…Adding… Mayor Johnson has signed four new executive orders…
EO 2023-15 — Boost Youth Employment
Mayor Johnson’s youth employment executive order instructs the Office of Budget and Management to prepare an analysis of all resources in the City’s FY2023 budget that are available to fund youth employment and enrichment programs, including any state, county, or federal funds. In addition, the executive order instructs the Deputy Mayor of Education and Health and Human Services to lead all city departments and agencies in identifying additional entry-level jobs that would be suitable for young people. The order instructs the Mayor’s Office staff to coordinate year-round youth employment and enrichment activities among City sister agencies and City Departments, including collaboration with companies and non-profit organizations, for summer internships and community service credit opportunities with Chicago Public Schools and college credit opportunities with City Colleges of Chicago.
EO 2023-16 — Establish a Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights
Mayor Johnson’s executive order to establish a Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights makes the new role responsible for the coordination and communication between all applicable City departments and officials related to the City’s efforts to support newly arrived and established immigrants, refugees, and migrants. In addition, the order instructs all City department heads to take direction from the Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights to assist with efforts to address immediate needs and long-standing policy and programmatic goals to ensure the efficacy of Chicago’s status as a welcoming and sanctuary city.
EO 2023-17 — Establish a Deputy Mayor for Community Safety
Mayor Johnson’s executive order to establish a Deputy Mayor for Community Safety calls on the new office to focus on eradicating the root causes of crime and violence and advance a comprehensive, healing-centered approach to community safety. In addition, the order instructs all City departments to work with the Deputy Mayor for Community Safety to achieve this goal.
EO 2023-18 — Establish a Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations
Mayor Johnson’s executive order to establish a Deputy Mayor for Labor Relations will allow coordination to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of Chicago, in addition to improving working conditions, advancing new job opportunities for employment, and protecting workers’ rights.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* WAND | Illinois House Democrats pass firearm omnibus bill helping domestic violence survivors: The plan could allow judges to order law enforcement to seize guns while issuing emergency orders of protection. Although, Republicans and gun advocates are worried police will take expensive guns from families.
* Sun-Times | Federal prosecutors urge judge to block defense efforts to contact ComEd jurors, call it a ‘fishing expedition’: Federal prosecutors argued the appropriate response is “not to authorize the defendants to hound this jury — a move that no doubt will send a public message that jury service is something to be avoided.”
* Tribune | Brandon Johnson sworn in as Chicago mayor: ‘Our best and brighter days are ahead of us’: Johnson began his sweeping remarks by shouting out the greatness of Chicago: the “beauty” of Lake Michigan, its “boundary-breaking” arts and cultural scene and even the signature Italian beef. And, ever eager to reference his former profession as a social studies teacher, he shouted out the unique history of Black Chicago, starting from its founder, the Haitian voyager Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, before broadening to the city’s tapestry of immigrants who hail from all corners of the earth.
* Sun-Times | ‘Soul’ searching: Johnson takes office, vows ‘to tell a different story’ for ‘Chicago with its sturdy shoulders’: The inauguration started with the introduction of the newly-elected City Council, which includes 16 fresh faces; a record 14 Hispanics; 18 women, matching a previous all-time high; and nine members who identify as LGBTQ. The average age is 47. That’s nearly four years younger than the average age of the old Council.
* ABC Chicago | Brandon Johnson sworn in as Chicago mayor at inauguration ceremony: Later Monday night, Johnson will celebrate at an invitation-only gala at what’s being called the “people’s ball” at 7 p.m. at the UIC Forum.
* Crain’s | In inaugural address, Johnson promises to bring ‘the soul of Chicago’ to City Hall: Delivering his speech with local, state and federal elected officials, labor allies, campaign aides and their guests seated behind him, Johnson said the “soul of Chicago is alive in each and every one of us” and only by working collaboratively would the city fix its “shared challenges.”
* Fox Chicago | Brandon Johnson sworn in as Chicago’s 57th mayor: Andrea Sáenz, president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust foundation, said she’s hopeful that Johnson can bring philanthropies, businesses, police and activists together to create a wide-ranging strategy to prevent violence now and chip away at the conditions that let it flourish. “It feels like this is a moment — the moment — to have those conversations, for a mayor to bring everybody to the table,” Sáenz said.
* Joe Cahill | Chicago’s $20 million club shrinks: Belts tightened across corporate America in 2022, and Chicago’s $20 million club was no exception. Membership in the exclusive club for CEOs paid $20 million or more shrank to eight from 10 amid a broader slowdown in CEO pay growth last year.
* Sun-Times | Funeral arrangements set for Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston: Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn, police said. Her funeral will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side.
* Tribune | Urban Prep’s looming closure concerning for students, parents as CPS takes over: ‘The school was a safe haven for these boys’: Looking ahead to his senior year of high school, Myles Brown isn’t sure what to expect. He’s conflicted, hopeful, sad. “I really thought this would be the school I graduate from,” the Urban Prep Academies junior said last week. “But just the turn of events has been very turbulent, to say the least.”
* Rev. Charles Straight and Rev. Michael P. Russell | Illinois is ready to redefine community safety : During Chicago’s 2023 mayoral race, conservative democrats and the right-wingers supporting Paul Vallas repeatedly claimed that Brandon Johnson wanted to defund the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Millions of dollars were spent trying to convince voters that Johnson would make Chicago less safe because of his association with community organizations leading the charge to redirect money from policing to resources like mental health care, substance use treatment, and violence prevention programs. Vallas’ supporters failed to leverage fear to convince marginalized communities that crime would worsen if Chicago adopted a more holistic approach to public safety — one centered on preventing crime before it happens instead of simply responding afterwards.
* Crain’s | Pharma services giant expands in Fulton Market: Charles River Laboratories, a Wilmington, Mass., pharma services giant, is further expanding its footprint in Chicago as it takes up more space in one of the two buildings that make up Fulton Labs.
* Block Club | Northeastern Illinois University Faculty Avoid Strike As Contract Agreement Reached: The ratified contract adds 3 percent yearly pay raises and bonuses to faculty salaries, better balances workload and brings back awarded merit pay, the union president said.
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A tale of two state budgets
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Associated Press…
April’s plummeting general funds receipts — a drop of $1.84 billion from the previous year — is stunning in anyone’s estimation. But budget-makers at the state Capitol aren’t panicking.
Compared with 2022, revenue fell a whopping 23% last month, driven by a drop of $1.76 billion in personal income tax, according to the legislative Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
On its face, that would seemingly cause jitters and with one week left in the spring legislative session, it might historically be a call for the May money magic from days of yore that led to mountains of debt in the last two decades. […]
Gov. J.B. Pritzker pointed out that the budget he proposed last winter for the fiscal year that begins July 1 relies on estimated revenue of $49.94 billion. His Office of Management and Budget currently estimates next year’s revenue increase at $532 million, about 1%, more.
* Now, on to California Public Radio…
California’s expected budget deficit has grown to $31.5 billion, standing in stark contrast to $100 billion surpluses of the past two years. It’s driven largely by lagging tax revenue from high-income earners.
Governor Gavin Newsom is currently presenting his $306.5 billion spending plan. It includes plans for filling the deficit, which has grown from the $22.5 billion shortfall predicted in January.
The deficit is “well within our expectation and well within our capacity to address,” Newsom said. […]
Despite a shortfall, the governor is proposing a 5% increase to higher education budgets and an 8.2% cost of living adjustment for K-12 and community college staff. […]
His revised budget would spend $3.7 billion on homelessness, up from the $3.4 billion he proposed in January.
Jerry Brown brought some much-needed sound management to state government and Newsom has been able to build on that. In Illinois, balanced budgets have not been a normal thing for decades.
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Question of the day
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Associated Press…
Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces.
But even though nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors, the issue is far from settled, with many diners and restaurants pushing back against the increasing presence of pooches.
“I’d like to be able to enjoy my meal without having to worry about fleas, pet hair, barking and entitled dogs and their owners,” said Tracy Chiu Parisi, a food blogger in New York, who was once startled by a dog that stuck its head in her lap while she was reading a menu.
Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that a handful of states — including Florida and Illinois — began passing laws allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University. Twenty-three states now have such laws or regulations.
* I’m sure I have a photo of Oscar at a restaurant somewhere, but here’s one from the weekend in a park…
* The Question: Your thoughts on dogs in outdoor areas of restaurants?
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It’s just a bill
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* State Journal-Register…
Legislation granting victims of digital forgeries, commonly known as deepfakes, to take legal action against perpetrators who create and share inauthentic media is now one step closer to becoming law.
House Bill 2123 from Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville, passed in the Senate unanimously on Thursday. The bill, previously led by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, will return to the House for a concurrence vote where it is expected to pass.
The growing presence of artificial intelligence and it is abilities have made it more challenging to depict fiction from reality, Edly-Allen said. When the technology is used to make deepfakes, often used to make pornographic material, there is not a legal avenue for victims to seek compensation.
* HB1 is on First Reading in the House. Chicago Tribune…
Evanston Councilmember Devon Reid’s hope to decriminalize psilocybin and other entheogenic plants, commonly known as “magic mushrooms,” was shot down when the Human Services Committee instructed city staff not to move forward with his referral earlier this month. […]
Reid’s push for looser psilocybin restrictions may still be granted with a proposal in the Illinois General Assembly brought forth by Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago).
Ford’s legislation, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act, aims to “establish a new, compassionate, and effective approach to entheogens.” This would create a two-year program development period to adopt rules to eventually implement a regulatory program allowing adults to receive psilocybin services, create the Illinois Psilocybin Advisory Board within the Department of Public Health and examine scientific research on treating mental health conditions with psilocybin, according to the bill.
The CURE Act is currently in the Rules Committee after being taken up by the Executive Committee.
* State Journal Register…
The Illinois House passed a bill Friday that would bar anyone convicted of a felony, bribery, perjury or misuse of public funds while serving as a public official from ever being elected to a state or local office again.
That measure was introduced as an amendment to House Bill 351 on Thursday and moved quickly through the House Ethics and Elections Committee Friday morning with bipartisan support. It then went to the House floor where it passed 106-0.
Current law bars anyone convicted of a felony from holding a state office until they’ve completed their sentence. And a provision of the Illinois Municipal Code bars anyone who has ever been convicted of a felony from holding an elected municipal office.
But those people are free to run for the General Assembly, governor or any other constitutional office once they’ve completed their sentence.
* Press release…
The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence and our partners across the gender-based violence (GBV) services community commend the Illinois House of Representatives and the House Firearms Working Group and lead sponsor Representative Hirschauer, on the passage of HB676 on Friday, May 12, 2023. This common-sense firearms package includes important provisions to ensure the timely removal of firearms from respondents in emergency orders of protection.
“The data shows that 70 women are killed by an intimate partner every month in this county. Ensuring removal of firearms is happening in a timely fashion and that the weapons are kept with our trusted law enforcement is commonsense policy that will make a huge impact in ensuring survivor safety” Amanda Pyron, Executive Director of The Network, stated in the wake of its passage.
This bill was drafted in partnership with Legal Action Chicago, an attorney-led organization with expertise in orders of protection. Focusing on justice and equity through policy, advocacy and litigation, they know the risks associated with leaving and filing an order of protection.
“This bill recognizes the often-terrifying risk that survivors of domestic violence must face when seeking safety and takes a real step forward in addressing those risks” John Bouman, Executive Director of Legal Action Chicago.
The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a membership driven organization representing direct service providers in the domestic violence community across the state has been a strong proponent of this legislation.
With the legislative session ending this week, The Network, including more than forty direct service providers across the state, urges the Senate to pass HB676 promptly to send to the Governor’s desk for signature. Survivors experiencing gun-involved domestic violence have a 500% greater likelihood of being murdered. Survivor safety during the highest time of lethality cannot wait.
* WAND…
Illinois House Democrats approved a sweeping gun control bill Friday morning despite concerns from Republicans, the Illinois State Rifle Association, and law enforcement.
The plan could allow judges to order law enforcement to seize guns while issuing emergency orders of protection. Although, Republicans and gun advocates are worried police will take expensive guns from families.
House Democrats say the firearms should go directly to trusted law enforcement to keep domestic violence survivors and their families safe.
“We are adding penalty enhancements to the law which as disfavored by the majority party unless it suits them,” said Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis). “And we are putting additional burdens on law enforcement when they have not requested those burdens.” […]
The legislation passed out of the House on a 70-36 vote. This plan now heads to the Senate for further consideration next week. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May 19.
* SB2261 is on First Reading in the Senate. Block Club Chicago…
Youth advocates are pushing for more investment in jobs programs following a new study by the University of Illinois at Chicago that shows a dramatic increase in unemployment among Black youth in Chicago — and especially young Black women — during the pandemic. […]
The Alternative Schools Network commissioned the study as part of a push for a bill currently moving through the state Legislature that would provide $300 million in funding for a statewide youth jobs program. […]
Howell was a part of a group of students who testified before the state’s appropriations committee and the Illinois Senate in support of the bill that would provide $300 million in funding for 80,000 jobs for youth across the state.
The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Robert Peters and Rep. Kam Buckner, both Chicago Democrats. If passed, students could work five to 15 hours a week, earning $15 an hour during the school year. The bill also provides for an eight-week summer program in which students could work 25 hours a week.
* AP…
Holed up at home during the pandemic lockdown three years ago, 13-year-old Shreya Nallamothu was scrolling through social media when she noticed a pattern: Children even younger than her were the stars — dancing, cracking one-liners and being generally adorable. […]
But as she watched more and more posts of kids pushing products or their mishaps going viral, she started to wonder: Who is looking out for them? […]
Illinois lawmakers aim to change that by making their state what they say will be the first in the country to create protections for child social media influencers. Nallamothu, now 15, raised her concerns to Illinois state Sen. David Koehler of Peoria, who then set the legislation in motion. […]
The bill passed the state Senate unanimously in March, and is scheduled to be considered by the House this week. If it wins approval, the bill will go back to the Senate for a final vote before it makes its way to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said he intends to sign it in the coming months.
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It’s almost a law
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Crain’s…
Among the moves by the General Assembly last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker hailed the Illinois House’s passage of House Bill 579, which would allow Illinois to set up its own insurance marketplace similar to Obamacare.
“Through the adoption of a state-based insurance marketplace, we can expand health care access by effectively identifying traditionally underinsured communities, conducting effective outreach to them and assisting in the enrollment process,” Pritzker said in a statement, adding that he looks forward to following the bill’s progress in the Illinois Senate.
A bill that’s already heading to Pritzker’s desk for a signature would require health insurers to cover preventative liver screenings and other diagnostics. The bill, championed by state Rep. Hoan Huynh, D-Chicago, will expand access to tests that may detect forms of cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.
“People shouldn’t have to choose between buying their next meal or their medication,” Huynh said in a statement. “Rising costs of health care and general inflation are suffocating our working families and seniors. I remain committed to working to find ways to implement real relief for those who need it most.”
* The Intelligencer…
A bill by state Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, to help alleviate the teacher shortage across the state by providing flexibility and incentives for established educators now awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature.
House Bill 1297 would extend the current statute in the pension code to allow teachers the ability to buy up to two years of service credit at a private or parochial school from the Teachers Retirement System. It passed in the Senate on May 4; it was approved in the House on March 23.
“Our teachers are incredibly important and with the teacher shortage still a persistent and serious issue across our state, we must look at collaborative ways to address the issue,” said Harriss. “This bill is a good step in allowing teachers the flexibility to move from the private sector into public schools and buy back their time in the retirement system.
“With the current law set to expire June 30th, this legislation is merely an extension of a sunset now set for 2028 if signed into law.”
* WAND…
State lawmakers have passed a plan to improve drug overdose education standards in K-12 schools to help students understand substance use and overdose trends.
The bill will require education on the history of drugs and health policy in Illinois and the United States, the impact of zero tolerance, and restorative justice practices.
House and Senate Democrats filed the bill in memory of Louie Miceli who died from an overdose in 2012. Louie’s mother and other advocates say young people haven’t properly learned about healthy coping mechanisms, the truth about drugs, or potential risks they could face. […]
Senate Bill 2223 passed unanimously out of the House Friday. It previously received unanimous approve in the Senate on March 30.
Louie’s Law now moves to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk for his signature of approval.
* Chicago Tribune…
All state-funded affordable housing would be required to have air conditioning under a bill sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker by legislators spurred to action by the heat exposure deaths last year of three seniors in their apartments on Chicago’s Far North Side.
The bill on Pritzker’s desk will require housing financed under the Illinois Affordable Housing Program to have cooling and dehumidification systems capable of operating independently from heating systems. There is also a requirement that newly constructed buildings that fall under the state program include permanent cooling.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Illinois would become one of the first states to make so-called crisis pregnancy centers subject to the same consumer fraud standards as car dealerships, retailers and service-based businesses under a bill that will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker.
Upon the measure becoming law, crisis pregnancy centers could be sued under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if they engage in “unfair methods of competition” or “deceptive acts or practices.”
Crisis pregnancy centers are facilities affiliated with anti-abortion, often religious, organizations designed to deter newly pregnant women from seeking an abortion.
Democrats working to expand Illinois’ role as a “haven” for abortion-seekers in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer overturning Roe v. Wade say CPCs often intentionally deceive those who are trying to end their pregnancies.
* WMBD…
The Illinois Senate passed House Bill 3224 on Thursday, highlighting future opportunities for children with disabilities.
Championed by Senator Dave Koehler (D – Peoria), House Bill 3224 will grant students with individualized education plans (IEP) and their parents would be provided information on the school district’s career and technical education and dual credit opportunities.
“This measure helps families and children with disabilities see the career options that are available to them,” said Koehler (D – Peoria). “Every child deserves additional opportunities outside the classroom.”
* WICS…
A new bill is now headed to Governor Pritzker’s desk that would require judges to consider a different set of circumstances when determining criminal sentences for juveniles.
HB3414 would amend the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 by requiring judges to consider factors such as home environment and childhood trauma when sentencing juveniles.
“Many people don’t want to see our children locked up and basically put into solitary confinement when some of our resources in our jails and our juvenile system are not there to protect children in a way that they absolutely need it,” Sen. Rachel Ventura, (D) Joliet, said.
If signed, judges would be required to consider additional factors when determining a sentence for a person under the age of 18, including home environment, childhood trauma, peer pressure, and the results of a comprehensive mental evaluation.
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Civic Federation: Look before you leap
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Alex Nitkin has a solid piece on the future of Tier 2…
An influential state legislator is digging up what he calls a fiscal time bomb his predecessors buried more than a decade ago, arguing the General Assembly can’t wait any longer to defuse it. But experts and city officials are warning of collateral damage if he doesn’t slow down.
State Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) is proposing legislation he says would “fix” a 2010 law that aimed to stem Illinois’ pension crisis by cutting back retirement benefits for future public employees. Researchers have since warned that the measure likely went too far, potentially depriving workers of benefits they’re entitled to under federal law. […]
The 2010 [Tier 2] law dramatically narrowed retirement benefits for public workers who would come on the job after Jan. 1, 2011. Instead of reaping compounded interest on their pension payouts every year from retirement until death, as older workers had, pensioners in the new “tier” would only see nominal annual bumps. It also placed a cap on how high benefits could reach and lowered the standard for how annual payouts are calculated.
The result was a significantly smaller cost outlay for governments once “Tier 2” pensioners start to fully vest their pensions and retire. That hope is why many actuarial projections show Chicago and Illinois starting to make real progress toward shoring up their pension funds starting about 2030.
Even as they crafted the pension rollback legislation in 2010, lawmakers heard warnings that the Tier 2 calculus could someday invite costly legal challenges. If pension payments are too small, public workers could sue their employers on the back of a federal rule that pension payments must exceed the income that workers would otherwise earn from Social Security payments.
The story then goes on to talk about a bump to Downstate first responder pensions when the pension funds were consolidated, and efforts to pass similar legislation for Chicago first responders (who were promised the change years ago when the casino bill was passed) and for Cook County workers.
* Conclusion…
Legislators will seek out further analysis as they explore “fixes” for other Tier 2 pensioners, like teachers and department staffers, all across the state, Martwick said.
“I would posit that they all need to get done,” he said.
* But it’s difficult to argue with this warning from the Civic Federation…
Benefit enhancements are likely necessary to meet Safe Harbor requirements, but the solution should be thoroughly vetted, actuarially sound and the most cost effective of all possible options. The Civic Federation urges legislators and the Governor to demonstrate the need for the specific Tier 2 enhancements before taking any binding legislative action. The State cannot afford to take a step backward by unnecessarily increasing Tier 2 pension benefits. The Illinois General Assembly must ensure that the financial impact of any proposed Tier 2 changes is fully evaluated by pension actuaries and publicly disclosed before any action is taken. Until a complete analysis is done, there should be no urgency to pass these supposed Safe Harbor “fixes.”
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* The Peoria Journal-Star covered Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ trip to the area…
DeSantis brought a crowd of roughly 1,150 Republicans to the event at the Peoria Civic Center, plus protesters and the New York Times. While he did not announce an anticipated run for president while in Peoria, he did use a roughly 42-minute speech to take shots at Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and levy a barrage of verbal jabs at Democrats, while also lauding his accomplishments as governor of Florida.
“I’m a little disappointed your governor said I wasn’t welcome in Illinois,” DeSantis said in response to remarks made by Pritzker ahead of his arrival. “Because I seem to remember when he was locking down this state, he sent his family to live in my state and live in our freedom.”
We talked about this months ago…
Um, they were in Florida before the stay at home order was issued and then sheltered in place (his kid goes to college there). Did they know what was coming? Probably. Not saying it was the case with them, but I had friends down there who were miserable during the spring. The beaches and pools were closed. The restaurants and taverns were shuttered. And then summer hit and COVID zoomed as people retreated indoors to avoid the Florida heat and humidity. I put off visiting the Sunshine State to the fall, when cases were rising in Springfield as people went back inside and Florida’s dropped because people could enjoy the outdoors again.
Natalie Edelstein from the Pritzker campaign…
The governor and his family live in Illinois. As you know, they have one daughter who attends the University of Miami. If this pathetic, repeated lie about someone’s child is the best thing the GOP can come up with to campaign on, then it tells you everything you need to know about their ideas for the future.
* Back to the PJ-Star…
Peoria Congressman Darin LaHood cracked a similar joke at Pritzker’s expense saying, “you know it’s a sign we’re having a good Lincoln Day when J.B. Pritzker is tweeting and crying that Ron DeSantis is not welcome in Illinois.” […]
During his speech, DeSantis frequently criticized Illinois laws and policies, including the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois tax rates, and criminal justice reform. DeSantis specifically mentioned Florida’s lack of an income tax and said “you should try it sometime.”
“We have to reject the weaponization of the criminal justice system, this is being driven by woke ideology,” DeSantis said. “We reject the idea that you defund law enforcement, we reject the idea that you tolerate rioting and looting and disorder. We reject soft on crime policies like abolishing cash bail and releasing prisoners from jail early.”
Back to Edelstein…
“Inviting a failed governor who is at war with Donald Trump to keynote one of your largest events is emblematic of today’s Illinois GOP,” said JB For Governor spokesperson Natalie Edelstein.
“Republicans are too busy fighting each other to get out of their own way and solve the issues facing working families. While they celebrate banning books and picking on LGBTQ+ kids, Illinois Democrats will continue to win elections and build a state where everyone is free to be who they are.”
* Dave Dahl…
State Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) was part of a private pre-event with DeSantis.
“He set his agenda out when he first ran for office, and he has accomplished everything,” Rezin said. “So now he is on his second set of accomplishments. He works to govern. I think that is what’s missing in politics today: leaders who really appreciate and work on governing for their state.”
* Meanwhile, the Florida legislature passed a bill to allow DeSantis to run for president…
In addition, the bill would amend Florida’s resign-to-run law to resolve legal ambiguity surrounding DeSantis’ expected presidential run. Currently, Florida law requires public officials running for another office that overlaps with their current term to submit a resignation from their current office before running. This resignation is irrevocable, meaning even if a candidate were to run and lose, they would still have to resign their office. The bill would instead explicitly exempt candidates running for president from this requirement, a change that would allow Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to run against former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 without resigning his governorship.
The bill passed and was enrolled on April 28, but hasn’t yet been sent to the governor’s desk for whatever reason.
* More…
* Tribune | Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tells Peoria crowd that Biden’s reelection would leave U.S. ‘unrecognizable’: More than 1,100 tickets were sold for the event at various levels, starting at $85, and an estimated $240,000 was raised by the two county organizations, organizers said. The ticket sales eclipsed last year’s event, when 700 people attended a speech by another potential 2024 presidential contender, former Vice President Mike Pence.
* Politico | DeSantis takes anti-woke show to Illinois: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday doubled down on his attacks against “woke” policies in big business, saying he will soon sign legislation to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion language “from all our public institutions.” … A large portion of his speech zeroed in on business policies: Along with attacking DEI language, he criticized the investment strategy that addresses environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), calling it an effort to “weaponize corporate power.” And he poked at Walt Disney Co., which opposed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law last year. “They don’t run the state of Florida. We run the state of Florida.”
* WCBU | Progressive groups protest Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Peoria visit: As of 4 p.m. Friday, the protest saw between 60 and 70 people spread between both locations. No counter-protesters appeared throughout the day.
* Press Release | ACLU of Florida Statement on 2023 Legislative Session: These bills included banning abortions after six weeks, creating an unaccountable private police force for the governor, reintroducing unconstitutional non-unanimous juries for death penalty recommendations, censoring and intimidating students and faculty for engaging in speech with which lawmakers personally disagree, further prohibiting conversations related to LGBTQ+ people and their lives in schools, limiting immigrants’ ability to live safely in Florida, suppressing free speech, and allowing medical professionals to deny medical services due to personal beliefs. … “All Floridians and all Americans should be outraged by how easily the legislature stripped people of their rights, focusing their efforts on censoring our classrooms, controlling people’s bodies, limiting our right to vote, and creating the Governor’s own personal army by diverting over $100 million in taxpayer dollars to build, equip, and train a Florida State Guard of 1,500 people to serve at the sole discretion and direction of the governor, including an armed specialized unit with the authority to apprehend and make arrests.”
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* Daily Herald, Thursday, May 11…
The Chicago Bears and three Arlington Heights-area school districts are millions apart on what they think the team’s new Arlington Park property is worth and how much the team should pay in taxes, according to documents obtained by the Daily Herald.
During the parties’ closed-door negotiations after Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s reassessment of the 326-acre site, the schools suggested a $95 million value for the land, for which the Bears would be responsible for paying $7.9 million in annual property taxes for the next two years.
But new Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren called that proposed settlement a “nonstarter” and not “viable,” especially considering where negotiations began in January, according to a May 4 letter he sent to the superintendents of Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211. […]
The Bears countered with a land value of $52.5 million and annual tax payments of $4.3 million.
Kaegi’s reassessment would hike the property value from $33.5 million to $197 million, which is just below the $197.2 million the Bears paid Churchill Downs Inc. for the old racetrack.
* Daily Herald, Friday, May 12…
After new Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren called the property tax and assessment settlement proposed by three school districts a “nonstarter,” the superintendents fired back with a letter of their own Friday that doubles down on their offer. […]
But given a “substantial gulf” between the two sides, the school district superintendents told Warren Friday they don’t see the need to make a counteroffer. […]
The school districts said they now intend to proceed with resolution of the 2022 assessment year on its own, which will help inform both the schools and the Bears on an “appropriate” assessment for tax years 2023 and 2024, when the Bears will have full responsibility for the taxes.
* Tribune…
With one week remaining in the Illinois legislature’s spring session, a revised version of proposed legislation to aid the Chicago Bears’ move to Arlington Heights has surfaced in Springfield.
Like the previous proposal, the new bill would freeze the property tax assessment on the former Arlington International Racecourse, where the Bears have proposed a new stadium as part of a $5 billion mixed-use development, and create a $3 admission tax to help pay off debt incurred to fund renovations of Soldier Field two decades ago. […]
Democratic state Rep. Marty Moylan of Des Plaines said the new bill, filed Wednesday, reflects negotiations that have taken place since he filed a measure last month. That proposal caught some local officials and fellow lawmakers off guard. […]
Joining Moylan as a co-sponsor on the measure is freshman state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a fellow Democrat who just completed a term as an Arlington Heights village trustee.
Rep. Canty’s full statement…
Throughout negotiation on a new Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights, my focus has been on the impact on our communities – the Village of Arlington Heights itself as well as neighboring communities that would be affected just as much. Every affected community needs a seat at the table. The latest proposal is a step forward, but by no means final. My sponsorship of this legislation reflects my support for continued discussions with all stakeholders engaged. I hope to continue these conversations in the months ahead.
Subscribers know more.
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* Isabel wrote this week’s syndicated newspaper column…
My associate Isabel Miller recently interviewed Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago) about the national controversy he found himself in after posting a statement on Twitter. I thought I’d share it with you this week. Here’s Isabel…
A few weeks ago, Sen. Robert Peters posted a tweet that he knew would generate backlash. What he didn’t know was that it would go national.
The tweet was in response to teens converging on downtown Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported three teenagers were wounded in two shootings and 16 were arrested during the violence: “I would look at the behavior of young people as a political act and statement. It’s a mass protest against poverty and segregation.”
Now-former Fox News host Tucker Carlson jumped in, telling his millions of viewers: “So, what happens if you encourage this kind of behavior, if you cheer the mob rather than restraining the mob? Well, ugly and totally inevitable things will happen. Productive people will flee, innocents will die and ultimately you will get from this mob racial attacks. All of that is happening in Chicago right now. All of it.”
Peters said he was paraphrasing a 1966 quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
“If I actually said what Dr. King said, I think… [people] could’ve responded even more harshly,” Peters said. “I don’t want anybody to ever get hurt. I have a district where there’s a lot of violence, particularly in a lot of working class areas. And I think everybody deserves to have their fair share of safety and comfort and I think we seem to be caught up responding to the same questions in relatively the same way. And I think a lot of people are sick and tired of it.
“And we have to look at it from both the historical context and the present context about what are we going to do to change things. If a kid has had their school closed, or healthcare institution closed, or they’ve had their housing foreclosed or they’ve been evicted, or they’re living cooped up in housing too small, mismanaged, then we have to do whatever we can to change that. And it’s clear that we need to push back on what has been a terrible, terrible status quo for people.”
Despite receiving hate and threats for his comments, Peters said he remains committed to his stance. “I do not believe in violence, that needs to be clear. I just want a good-faith discussion about what it means to have safety in every zip code. Instead, I was met with a person [Carlson] who defended terrible people and far-right extremism and thought it would be good to come after me.”
Peters said he struggles with whether speaking out is worth the threats. “I don’t want to have to worry about not only my well-being, but the well-being of the people I care and love.”
“Everyone’s ‘tough on crime’ until they want to send dangerously violent, anonymous emails,” Peters said. “There was a massive contradiction and hypocrisy by some people, and it just goes to show some people authentically want to bring safety to every community and make sure that every kid and every parent and every person, whether they’re struggling with housing and health care, there are people who really want to do that. I think I belong to those people.”
Peters is known for carrying a heavy workload in Springfield, and he also served on Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s transition team. Asked how he balances all of his tasks, Peters said, “Well, I mean, I have the unfortunate thing of having been born with ADHD. And, you know, it has its ups and downs. But it’s almost sometimes this work is kinetic; you know what I mean? It’s moving quickly. And you have to make quick assessments and you need to power map what you can and cannot do, and you need to know… what is an immediate thing you can make happen and what is something that might be longer term.”
“When I was younger, I was told I would amount to very little. After my dad passed away, I struggled with what the meaning of the world was and sort of figured that out and you combine all the sort of kinetic sort of ADHD energy with a drive that the meaning of my existence is to show that nobody has to go through the things that myself or my family, or the people I love around me had to go through.”
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Pre-inauguration coverage roundup
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* The Chicago mayoral inauguration ceremony begins at 10:30 this morning. Click here for more info and to watch it live…
* Tribune | Brandon Johnson: His rise from union organizer to Chicago’s new progressive mayor, and the challenges he inherits: To get here, Johnson took an unconventional route compared with previous mayors. Having cut his teeth politically as a top Chicago Teachers Union organizer a decade ago, Johnson brings with him a labor-friendly resume that has galvanized the city’s political left. That coalition of progressive unions and grassroots organizations propelled Johnson to victory after their chosen candidates suffered mayoral runoff losses in 2015 and 2019.
* Tribune | Facing CPD remake, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson promises new approach, including adding police detectives: When Johnson is sworn in as the city’s 57th mayor Monday, he inherits a Chicago Police Department in a swirl of transition. Along with his promise to add detectives, Johnson needs to choose a permanent CPD superintendent, and he has promised to eliminate controversial recent additions to the city’s police landscape, including the ShotSpotter system.
* WGN | A decade before his election, Brandon Johnson foreshadowed his own rise to power: Johnson spoke about how Emanuel’s decision to close 50 Chicago Public Schools a year after the strike became a personal issue for him – as a teacher, CPS parent, and a union member. Then CTU-president Karen Lewis viewed the school closures as proof the CTU would have to have its own candidates run for government offices.
* Sun-Times | Migrant crisis ‘one of the most challenging’ problems facing Chicago’s new mayor, chief of staff says: Rich Guidice spent nearly 20 years running the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Emergency response is his forte. But Guidice said he has never seen an emergency quite like the more than 8,000 asylum-seekers who have poured into Chicago since September, with scores more on the way.
* Crain’s | It’s inauguration day for Chicago’s next mayor. Here’s what you need to know.: A full guest roster hasn’t yet been announced, but we already know it’ll be pretty crowded onstage. Gov. J.B. Pritzker; Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton; both Illinois U.S. senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth; and a long list of other local and state elected officials are listed as inauguration co-chairs, so there’s a good chance they’ll be in attendance.
* Sun-Times | Brandon Johnson fleshes out senior staff, shows continued influence of Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Teachers Union: Annette Guzman, Preckwinkle’s county budget director, will be Johnson’s city budget director. Jennifer Johnson, chief of staff for the CTU, where Brandon Johnson has been a paid organizer, will be deputy mayor for education.
* Daily Herald | When it comes to transportation, there’s a lot riding on Chicago’s new mayor: Inexplicably to those of us obsessed with things that move, the O’Hare 21 expansion, which involves building a new Global Terminal plus two concourses costing $7 billion, was a nonfactor in the mayoral election. But aviation expert Joseph Schwieterman expects Johnson will support the plan. “The need for a better O’Hare is pretty obvious,” he said. “The new mayor will need to champion O’Hare 21 to keep the mega-project moving at maximum speed. Delays will both hamper the airport’s revenue potential and hurt our image as a premier convention town.”
* The New Yorker | Chicago’s Unlikeliest Mayor, Brandon Johnson: The attention from powerful Democrats indicates the importance of the race not just to those who live in the city of Chicago but to national politics. In the aftermath of the 2020 uprisings and Presidential contest, the Republican Party went all in on two issues: opposing crime and what they describe as “woke intolerance.” In doing so, they conflated the rise of crime rates during the height of the pandemic with the political outcry throughout that summer. Within this recriminating narrative, Chicago loomed large. For years now, Chicago has been described by Republicans as the quintessential example of big-city chaos. As former President Donald Trump once said, “All over the world they’re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.”
* Fox Chicago | Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel shares message for incoming Mayor Brandon Johnson: Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel shared a message on Sunday for incoming Mayor Brandon Johnson: “I’m rooting hard for your success.” Emanuel shared the message via Twitter from Japan, where he serves as the U.S. Ambassador. Emanuel was Chicago’s mayor from 2011 to 2019.
* Block Club | Brandon Johnson And All 50 Alderpeople Will Be Inaugurated Monday.: Clerk Anna Valencia will be the first official sworn in, followed by all 50 alderpeople and Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, according to the meeting agenda. Johnson will take his oath of office last and then deliver an inaugural address.
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Open thread
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* I hope you all had a relaxing weekend! I’m not gonna jinx it by counting down the days. What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | Budget, Bears, Chicago school board and ethics: Illinois legislators face busy agenda in spring session’s final week: The Illinois General Assembly heads into the final scheduled week of its spring session facing unresolved issues from the budget to a proposal to help the Chicago Bears move to the suburbs, while also coming under pressure to toughen government ethics laws in the wake of the “ComEd Four” corruption case convictions. Also on the table is the possibility of additional funding to help Chicago address its growing influx of migrants and asylum-seekers, and the need to finalize a map for the city’s new elected school board.
* Capitol News Illinois | Illinois Supreme Court considers whether a fetus can be a ‘victim’ of murder: In 2007, Reginald Lane shot and killed Jwonda Thurston, his pregnant girlfriend. For the murder, he was sentenced to life in prison, following state statute for someone who is found guilty of killing “more than one victim.”
* Daily Herald | ‘My kids will have to live with the decisions that I make’: How parenthood affects moms in office: When Kara Lambert first ran for Mundelein trustee in 2019, a man cornered her in a local Walgreens and asked how she effectively could serve while also being a mom to her then-2-year-old son, Theo. It’s not the kind of question a father running for office likely would face.
* Sun-Times | Former red-light camera exec who helped feds gets his bribery case dismissed: During a telephone hearing that lasted around a minute, federal prosecutors dismissed the single count of conspiracy to bribe a public official that had hung over businessman Omar Maani’s head since he was charged in 2020.
* Tribune | Brandon Johnson: His rise from union organizer to Chicago’s new progressive mayor, and the challenges he inherits: The mayor-elect, 47, will enter his inauguration ceremony on a mission to uplift the working class after campaigning on an anti-establishment platform that denounced what he called “the tale of two cities.” A former Cook County commissioner and teachers union organizer, Johnson will succeed Lori Lightfoot after her tumultuous term, which saw widespread discontent following the pandemic and civil unrest.
* Sun-Times | Migrant crisis ‘one of the most challenging’ problems facing Chicago’s new mayor, chief of staff says: Rich Guidice, who spent nearly 20 years running the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said he has never seen an emergency quite like the thousands of asylum-seekers who have poured into Chicago since September, with scores more on the way.
* WTTW | Brandon Johnson Commits to Reopening Chicago’s Public Mental Health Clinics Closed 11 Years Ago: “We are going to reopen the mental health clinics,” Johnson said, putting it first in a list of his top priorities, which he said included fully funding Chicago’s schools, making sure Chicago’s public transportation system is clean, safe and efficient and Chicagoans have access to clean water and fresh food.
* WBEZ | Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart to Illinois lawmakers: Fund gun enforcement: Dart, who has an annual budget of more than $500 million, set up a task force to go after guns in 2013. However, he said with the other demands on his office he couldn’t devote enough officers to go after the thousands of licenses revoked in Cook County every year.
* Sun-Times | Chicago man accused of selling fake Cubs hats while on probation for selling fake White Sox tickets: Bruce Lee was arrested Wednesday after undercover officers purchased the counterfeit Cubs bucket hats from Lee on two separate occasions in Wrigleyville, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said in a news release.
* Crain’s | Groupon terminating HQ lease early: Groupon is ending its lease for its River North headquarters two years early as it risks running out of cash, creating a big leasing challenge for Chicago developer Sterling Bay much sooner than expected. The struggling online-deal company recently executed an option to terminate its lease at 600 W. Chicago Ave. as of Jan. 31, 2024, according to a regulatory disclosure filed earlier this month. Groupon’s lease for nearly 300,000 square feet was due to expire in January 2026, but the company paid a termination fee of $9.6 million to end its commitment early. The imminent exit is not surprising, given the company’s warning to investors this week that there is substantial doubt it can remain a “going concern.”
* Daily Herald | Campton Hills trustee-elect Timothy Morgan vows to be seated despite 2002 Michigan DUI conviction: Morgan previously deferred taking his oath of office at the May 2 Campton Hills Village Board meeting because Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser had warned him that a 2002 felony DUI conviction in Michigan made him ineligible.
* NBC | Migrants say rumors encouraged crossing before Title 42 ended: In total, Border Patrol apprehended just over 6,200 undocumented migrants crossing the border on Friday, the first day after Title 42 was lifted, two Homeland Security officials told NBC News on Saturday. That figure was lower than the 11,000 apprehended each day on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as the 10,000 apprehended on Thursday.
* CNN | Border crossings down 50% after Title 42: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tells CNN’s Dana Bash that only 4,200 migrants were encountered at the border on Saturday, down from more than 10,000 per day earlier in the week.
* Tribune | These mothers sell flowers on the streets of Chicago for Mother’s Day: Every Mother’s Day, Minerva Garcia is surrounded by hundreds of bouquets of roses. The red ones are her favorites. They remind her of love, she said as she softly touched a petal. There are also dozens of white and pink roses, but none of them are for her.
* Sun-Times | Giant snapping turtle ‘Chonkosaurus’ evidence of a much cleaner Chicago River: Everything about the video screams Chicago, from the previously polluted stream of water to Santore’s recognizable accent as he marvels at the turtle’s size. “That’s a Chicago river snapper,” Santore’s friend comments from the background. “Are you kidding me?”
* Daily Beast | There Are 2 AI Booms Happening. We’re Caught in the Middle.: In December, the Princeton student used his holiday break to create GPTZero, a tool for educators to help them determine whether student essays were written with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Buoyed by growing concerns about the emerging technology and the nascent AI boom, Tian’s tool went viral—garnering more than 6 million users in just a few months.
* AP | ‘Robo umps’ reach Triple-A, but MLB rollout is uncertain: ‘You’re losing some of the human emotion of the game’: “Nobody complains about anything anymore with the strike zone because there’s nothing to complain about,” Saints manager Toby Gardenhire said after his first series with the so-called “robo-ump.” “You take that as good and bad. It’s kind of entertaining to watch a guy argue.”
* Sun-Times | White Sox drop another series, lose 4-3 to Astros: Lucas Giolito was strong after the first inning. Luis Robert Jr. continued his torrid May by hitting a home run in his third consecutive game. And Jake Burger returned from the injured list with a two-run homer of his own. But those are just details for a White Sox team that has a major hole to escape, one that got deeper with their 4-3 loss Sunday to the Astros.
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Live coverage
Monday, May 15, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Isabel’s afternoon roundup
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* WBEZ | An Illinois town was at risk of becoming a local news desert. Then a startup newspaper began publishing: Stout now has time to write for a growing startup that’s harnessing the journalism expertise that’s still in Macomb to fill the local news void. It’s called the Community News Brief. “People really realize they’re getting something local,” Stout said of the Brief, which was founded by editor Lynne Campbell, a McDonough County native with a robust journalism and marketing resume including time with Gannett’s owner, GateHouse Media.
* Russ Stewart | Leftists plot “Peoples Forums” as state Rep. Andrade mulls Senate pick: Rumors abound that state Representative Jaime Andrade Jr. (D-40) will be the area Democratic committeepersons’ pick to fill the soon-to-be-vacant 20th District state Senate seat, from which incumbent Cristina Pacione-Zayas will depart on May 15. The senator will become new Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first deputy chief-of-staff for policy and director of intergovernmental affairs.
* Illinois Newsroom | Providers say Illinois set to become haven for gender-affirming care: Michelle Hanlon, a nurse at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and trans woman, said she’s had to turn down work opportunities because not every state has the same protections for the trans community as Illinois.
* Center Square | Republicans reveal proposals they say will spur jobs, help families: House Bill 4085 would allow the Illinois Commerce Commission to keep a power plant online if they feel the closure would put the health of the power grid or the affordability of power in jeopardy.
* KFVS | Grand opening of Cairo, Ill. grocery store set for June: The grand opening for Rise Community Market in Cairo will be Friday, June 16. Organizers say the event will start at 10 a.m. They said they’re finalizing vendor agreements and selecting/pricing products. They’re also in the process of hiring an assistant manager, full-time clerks and stocking positions.
* WMBD | Positive nursing outlook in Central Illinois: The 2023 AMN Healthcare Survey of Registered Nurses examined the pandemic’s impact on 18,000 nurses’ career plans, job satisfaction, and mental health. Thirty percent of nurses said they are likely to leave their nursing careers post-pandemic and just 15 percent said they will stay in their hospital roles. And 95 percent reported a moderate or severe nursing shortage at hospitals.
* Crain’s | The high-profile union organizing campaign at Starbucks spotlights Mellody Hobson’s dual role: In her day job, she’s co-CEO of Ariel Investments, which manages hundreds of millions in pension funds for union workers, including members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). On the side, she serves as chairman of Starbucks as it battles SEIU’s efforts to unionize the coffee chain’s stores.
* NYT | Generation Connie: It was on my first day of college at the University of California, Berkeley, when I started to realize there were more of us out there. […] Afterward, I went back to my dorm room and typed “Connie” into the campus Facebook. I found the girl from the sandwich line — and I also found many, many more. In my freshman class alone, there was a Connie Zheng, a Connie Guo, a Connie Xu, a few Connie Chengs, and multiple Connie Wangs. No wonder the university email address I’d wanted had been taken. All this time, I’d thought the story of my name was special; little did I know it was the story of a generation.
* The Guardian | ‘It’s hell’: life under the American mobile home king who calls himself a ‘grave dancer’: Billionaire Sam Zell is the largest mobile home landlord in the US, but his tenants say they reckon with disrepair, neglect, flooding and rising rents. Some have had enough
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That toddlin’ town roundup
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Two days ago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the appointment of Kevin Barszcz as the city’s Director of Veteran Affairs. She also signed an executive order and declared a state of emergency earlier this week. Today, Lightfoot signed several more executive orders, just days before her term ends…
• Executive Order Requiring Recommendation on Continuation of Key Fines and Fees Reform Programs
• Executive Order Establishing the Pension Advance Fund
• Executive Order Establishing the Youth Commission as a Formal Advisory Body to Ensure Youth Voice Remains in City Government
• Executive Order Expanding Access to U/T Visa Certification
• Executive Order Formally Establishing the Office of New Americans
• Executive Order Enhancing Zoning Transparency and Consistency
• Executive Order to Promote LaSalle Street Revitalization
• Executive Order to Operationalize Annual Progress Reporting of City Departments’ Requirement to Create and Maintain Racial Equity Action Plans
• Executive Order to Ensure Implementation of ‘We Will Chicago’ Citywide Plan
• Executive Orders on Procurement and Delegate Contracting Reforms
Crain’s…
The move follows an executive order on Wednesday on environmental justice and another on Tuesday declaring a state of emergency due to a wave of asylum seekers arriving in Chicago.
Similar to those executive orders, the Johnson transition team was caught off guard by the orders and were not briefed in advance. Johnson’s transition team declined further comment until they read through the implications of the orders. […]
Those orders can be rescinded by Johnson, but their issuance forces him into the tough position of publicly doing away with policies, even if they are largely ceremonial. Some of the orders touch on policies Johnson has expressed are priorities of his incoming administration, but would want to craft the specifics of the policy with his own team.
Crain’s has posted the orders on its site.
* From the BGA’s David Greising…
Under Lightfoot, the City Council began to exercise a modicum of independence. There even was talk about appointing a parliamentarian to help the council further assert autonomy. Or perhaps a legislative counsel might supplant the city’s corporation counsel — a mayoral appointee — in ruling on legal matters before the body.
Such talk has mostly gone silent — at least for now. Waguespack was banished to the backbenches, and in case the point wasn’t made, Lightfoot-era heavyweights Aldermen Anthony Beale, 9th; Brendan Reilly, 42nd; Brian Hopkins, 2nd; and Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, were sent there too. They hold not a single committee chairmanship among them.
The guy needs a fact-checker. Hopkins will chair the Committee on Public Safety. And, according to a Brandon Johnson press release today, “Ald. Walter Burnett will make history as the first African-American Vice Mayor.” The current Vice Mayor is Tom Tunney.
Ald. Beale was quoted as saying “The only candidate in this election who has encouraged racial division is Brandon Johnson.” Ald. Reilly worked more closely with Vallas than just about anybody.
* The ILGOP is fundraising off the new mayor-elect…
Incoming Chicago Mayor and avid defund the police advocate Brandon Johnson appeared before the Illinois General Assembly to talk about his agenda for the city.
It’s worse than you’d think…
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Chicago deserves better, and we will work with Republicans and conservatives across Chicago and Cook County to win in future elections and combat this failed agenda.
You can aid us in our efforts to combat the radical agenda of Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Democrats with a contribution of any size today
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* The Triibe…
In the month leading up to the April 4 mayoral runoff, Tio Hardiman Jr., a native of the Austin community on Chicago’s West Side, was paid to work for former Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Paul Vallas’s unsuccessful campaign for mayor. […]
In the final push for votes ahead of the runoff, Vallas spent more than $600,000 to hire hundreds of people like Hardiman Jr. to get out the vote in the Black community. Payments to such workers were listed under the catchall category “services” on campaign expenditure reports. A TRiiBE analysis found much of what Vallas spent on individual services went to residents of South and West Side wards.
And that doesn’t include the $700K he paid to Chima Enyia. We won’t see his April spending until July.
* A few more…
* ADDED: Sun-Times | Chicago cops’ racist social media posts detailed in new COPA report: Among the cops’ posts: Sgt. Keith Olson described Chicago teenagers as “little animal f—-” but expressed encouragement that “the ghetto building” hadn’t gotten approval yet. Officer Dallas Englehart responded to a post endorsing then-President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico and proposed shooting down what he called “undocumented Planes” with anti-aircraft blasts. Sgt. Anargyros Kereakes equated the Black Lives Matter movement, the NFL and Black entertainers to the Ku Klux Klan and asked, “do Black Lives really Matter to black people?” Officer Angel Avalos Jr. used the social media platform to write “Work will set you free!” — a variation of a phrase that appeared on the gates to the Nazis’ Auschwitz concentration camp. Officer Scott Kniaz predicted, when a police officer was reported to have been injured after video was released showing the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago cop: “It will not be long until the war starts.”
* Tribune | Incoming City Hall chief of staff was suspended for role in free United Center parking ‘scheme’: The city suspended Richard Guidice for 30 days in 2017 after a report from the Chicago Office of Inspector General found he and several other city employees participated in a “scheme” in which they set aside free street parking for friends and family during Blackhawks playoff games and Bulls games in 2015 and 2016.
* Sun-Times: NASCAR to use mufflers in Chicago, keep lakefront accessible: “Given the information provided from NASCAR related to their noise-reducing mufflers, we do not anticipate any negative noise or vibration impacts on our facility or to our animals,” Shedd Aquarium spokesman Johnny Ford said in an email Thursday.
* CBS Chicago | Lightfoot going on bus tour as part of final send-off as Chicago mayor: Today, Lightfoot will visit the Bronzeville Winery as part of a bus tour around the mayor’s INVEST Southwest and Chicago Works community development programs. Then at 4:30 p.m., a final sendoff as she leaves City Hall for the last time.
* Greg Hinz | As Mayor Lightfoot becomes Citizen Lightfoot, a look back at the good — and the bad: Mayor Lori Lightfoot had some choice words earlier this week when she declared a city emergency over a renewed wave of immigrants and asylum seekers now flooding the city, many of them on buses and planes dispatched from Texas.
* Tribune | Meet ‘Chonkosaurus,’ the Chicago River’s massive, fat snapping turtle: Scoot over Chance the Snapper: There’s a new famous critter in town. Its name is “Chonkosaurus” and it likes to bask in the sun. The massive snapping turtle was caught on camera by botanist Joey Santore as it lorded over a Chicago River pylon Saturday. In a widely shared video, the turtle suns itself as its fat, leathery legs burst beyond its shell.
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* Hannah Meisel…
Illinois would become one of the first states to make so-called crisis pregnancy centers subject to the same consumer fraud standards as car dealerships, retailers and service-based businesses under a bill that will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker.
Upon the measure becoming law, crisis pregnancy centers could be sued under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act if they engage in “unfair methods of competition” or “deceptive acts or practices.” […]
Another measure pushed through by Democrats would require university and community college campuses to maintain at least one vending machine where students can buy the emergency contraceptive Plan B “morning after” pill – a medication that, if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, will stop or delay the female body from releasing an egg from an ovary. […]
Also this week, Democrats pushed through an initiative of Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. House Bill 3326 would prohibit out-of-state law enforcement from getting access to Illinois’ automatic license plate reader data unless they stipulate they won’t be using that information to investigate someone seeking an abortion in Illinois or based on his or her immigration status. The bill passed on partisan lines and has yet to be heard in a Senate committee.
* On to reaction on SB1909 in the order received. AG Raoul…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today applauded the Illinois House of Representatives’ passage of his legislation to hold crisis pregnancy centers that engage in deceptive practices accountable.
Illinois law establishes the fundamental rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about their reproductive health. There have been reports in Illinois and nationwide of limited services pregnancy centers, often referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” using deceptive and misleading practices to spread false information and interfere with patients’ timely access to the full range of reproductive care.
“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 us away from the health center,” Raoul said. “Patients report going to crisis pregnancy centers – sometimes even receiving exams and ultrasounds – thinking they were visiting a different clinic that offers the full range of reproductive care. This is an extreme violation of trust and patient privacy that should not occur in our state. I would like to thank members of the House for passing legislation to help my office hold those engaging in deceptive practices accountable.”
Senate Bill 1909, sponsored by Rep. Terra Costa Howard, will next go to the governor for approval.
“These fake clinics were set up specifically to deceive patients who are seeking reproductive healthcare,” said Rep. Costa Howard. “These so-called clinics actually put patients’ health at risk by interfering with their access to comprehensive care, and it’s time to hold them accountable for their deceptive practices.”
While crisis pregnancy centers’ advertising may offer general pregnancy-related services, these facilities do not offer the full range of reproductive care, and the mission of most crisis pregnancy centers is to convince pregnant people to carry to term and not have an abortion. Many provide misleading information overstating the risks associated with abortion, including conveying false claims that abortion causes cancer or infertility.
Some are located near clinics that do provide comprehensive reproductive care and use names similar to clinics to misdirect patients and prevent them from accessing the full range of information and care. Crisis pregnancy centers do not provide abortions or referrals for abortions. Many do not provide contraceptives or comprehensive prenatal care. They often do not have any medical professionals on-site, and they do not necessarily disclose any of these limitations in their online or in-person materials. They also may not keep medical records and personal information private and confidential.
In addition to initiating SB 1909, Attorney General Raoul has offered recommendations to patients seeking reproductive care to ensure they can access comprehensive health services. Patients should check to be certain that they are entering the correct facility because crisis pregnancy centers may be located near abortion clinics and use similar names to divert women away from abortion providers. They should also make sure the facility they plan to visit offers the full range of reproductive care options if that is what they seek.
* Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri…
“Everyone must have access to accurate, comprehensive, evidence-based, judgment-free health care and information from expert providers — especially when it comes to decisions about sexual health, pregnancy, and abortion. Deception and disinformation have no place in health care and neither do fake clinics designed to target and shame patients.
“I commend the General Assembly for advancing this important legislation — an example for other states — and I look forward to Governor Pritzker signing it into law.”
* Personal PAC CEO Sarah Garza Resnick…
“For too long, so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ have been intentionally deceiving pregnant Illinoisans in order to stop them from accessing abortion and other reproductive health services. Employees of these centers use scare tactics, misinformation, and pressure to prevent people from seeking abortions, emergency contraception or even birth control. Today, we applaud the Illinois General Assembly for passing new protections for consumers and ensuring Illinois continues to be a safe place to access reproductive health care, including abortions.
“We are pleased that people seeking reproductive care are now an explicitly protected group under the Consumer Protection Act. We look forward to working with the Attorney General and Illinois municipalities to hold so-called crisis pregnancy centers accountable for their deceptive practices. We thank Attorney General Kwame Raoul and chief co-sponsors Sen. Celina Villanueva, Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, Sen. Cristina Castro, Sen. Mattie Hunter, Sen. Adriane Johnson, and Rep. Terra Costa Howard.”
* Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City)…
“It is not enough for the far-left politicians running our state to merely enact laws to keep abortion legal – which they have the constitutional authority to do – but they are now engaged in using the power of government to target people with whom they disagree. Senate Bill 1909 is an intentionally vague measure to give the Illinois Attorney General complete autonomy to intimidate and harass crisis pregnancy centers. There has been no evidence provided to suggest crisis pregnancy centers engage in deceptive practices begging the question why do we need this legislation?
Women who seek help from a crisis pregnancy center do so by choice. The counseling, the assistance with baby clothes, diapers and other resources are given freely to anyone who wants them. No one is forced to go to a crisis pregnancy center. No state dollars are used to fund them. Yet under this legislation, which JB Pritzker will sign into law, anyone can file a complaint and trigger an investigation. Even people who have had no direct interaction with a crisis pregnancy can file a complaint. This legislation is the epitome of evil. It is important for all pro-life people to speak up because there is no end to the lengths the far left will do to ensure more babies are killed and more money is put in the hands of the monsters who make a living killing unborn babies.”
* Illinois Freedom Caucus…
We hear a lot about protecting women, we keep using the word women in reference to this bill. How far should we go to protect women?
Should we protect young women in high school restrooms from intact males in that space? Should we protect women in collegiate athletics from having into contact with males in their dressing rooms?
We all agree women need to be protected, and we acknowledge that a woman that is born female and only a biological female can give birth. So, if we are going to talk about protecting the health and safety of women in one space, we need to stop ignoring that there is deception in other spaces which is a tremendous danger to women as well.
Senate Bill 1909 is nothing more than a power grab to give the Attorney General carte blanche authority to target crisis pregnancy centers for any reason. Anyone – even people who have had no direct connection to a crisis pregnancy center – can lodge a complaint and essentially launch an investigation.
This legislation is not about protecting anyone but the monsters in our state who celebrate the brutal murder of innocent children as a ‘right.’ This bill is not only a violation of the First Amendment rights of those involved (mostly volunteers) at crisis pregnancy centers, but it also is an overt persecution of people whose only crime is disagreeing with the abortion death cult. Senate Bill 1909 will be challenged in court. It will be overturned, and we will continue to speak out against the extreme positions of the pro-abortion advocates in our state.
* Planned Parenthood Illinois CEO Jennifer Welch…
Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) is thrilled Senate Bill 1909 passed the House and is headed to the Governor’s desk. This bill holds anti-abortion Limited Service Pregnancy Centers (LSPC) accountable for spreading misinformation and deceiving patients who are seeking reproductive health care. At a time when access to health care is under attack like never before, it’s critical that people have access to accurate and unbiased information when making decisions about their health.
PPIL provides reliable and medically-accurate information to our patients about the full range of abortion care options. LSPCs routinely spread misinformation and use deceptive practices that lead to confusion, anxiety, and even physical harm for our patients.
We look forward to Governor JB Pritzker signing SB 1909 and ensuring individuals have the medically-accurate information and resources they need to make decisions that are best for their bodies, their lives and their futures.
* Rep. Adam Niemerg…
The Illinois House this week moved the state even further to the left with the passage of a series of pro-abortion, gun control, immigration, and trans agenda measures, according to State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Dietrich).
One bill the House approved (SB 1909) gives the Illinois Attorney General unchecked power to investigate and harass crisis pregnancy centers.
“Senate Bill 1909 is intentionally vague and is a response to a nonexistent problem,” Niemerg said. “There was a FOIA request made to the Attorney General’s office for these supposed complaints, and the results of that request showed there was a grand total of ZERO complaints against crisis pregnancy centers for violations of the state’s deceptive business practices act. They say they want choice, but they are passing legislation aimed at preventing any other choice than abortion.”
Another measure approved prevents Illinois law enforcement from providing law enforcement agencies in other states with information gathered from automatic license plate readers to help prosecute people seeking an abortion in Illinois and to use that data to detain people based on immigration status.
“Essentially sex traffickers can transport young women to Illinois to get abortions and law enforcement here can’t do anything about it because they are going to an abortion clinic,” Niemerg said. “We are also ignoring immigration laws with this legislation and ultimately putting people’s lives at risk all for the sake of advancing the far left’s radical agenda.”
Finally, the House also passed legislation (HB 218) paving the way to make gun manufacturers liable for the illegal use of firearms and another measure (SB 1344) requiring insurance companies to cover abortifacients, hormone therapies and PrEP medication for HIV treatment.
“On the way hand, the far-left refuses to hold criminals responsible for their actions by instead focusing on gun manufacturers and on the other hand they want everyone else in society not only to embrace their radical agenda but to also pay for it as well,” Niemerg said. “We are living Georg Orwell’s nightmare scenario every day in Illinois thanks to the extremists running our state.”
* And now, HB3326 react. Personal PAC CEO Sarah Garza Resnick…
We applaud the passage in the House today of HB3326 and thank chief sponsor Rep. Ann Williams and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias for introducing it. Reproductive rights are under attack like never before, and we are surrounded by states with severe restrictions on abortion access. That’s why we must do all that we can to ensure that Illinois remains an oasis for safe access to abortions and other reproductive healthcare. HB3326 ensures that those coming to our state seeking healthcare can rest assured that their license plate data will be secure and protected, and that our Illinois law enforcement agencies and municipalities will never turn their information over to states seeking to persecute them. We urge the Senate to take up the final version of this bill and pass it quickly.
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* Sun-Times…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker stood together in April 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to showcase the rapid transformation of an empty convention hall at McCormick Place East into a medical facility with 500 beds — and 2,500 more to be installed later. […]
The city kept 126 full-size beds from the McCormick Place temporary hospital. City officials say it would be difficult to set them up quickly because the beds include a mattress, headboard, footboard, bed frame and no linens.
Instead, the Lightfoot administration chose to send cots for immigrants to sleep on at temporary shelters because they’re “easy to deploy and set up during an emergency,” according to Mary May, a spokeswoman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. […]
The state has kept 750 “quick beds” and 375 hospital beds from the McCormick Place field hospital, according to Kevin Sur, a spokesman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security. A quick bed is a heavy, sturdy, tubular metal frame bed. The hospital beds are powered to help position a patient for better care and recovery, he said.
Sur said the state is willing to provide those beds to the city, but the city hasn’t requested them.
* Block Club Chicago…
Migrants are being temporarily housed at police stations while the city’s shelters are at capacity — but the stopgap is reaching a breaking point.
A migrant, who asked not to be named, told Block Club people who showed up Monday evening at the 12th District station at 1412 S. Blue Island Ave. were turned away and locked out.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), whose ward includes the station, said Tuesday he heard about the situation from district Cmdr. Beth Giltmier. The alderman said he was told the police station had nearly 100 people staying inside and officers had to turn away people because there was no more room. […]
The Police Department referred questions to Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office, which didn’t respond.
* CBS Chicago…
With shelters at capacity, lobbies of police stations like the one behind me, now serve as temporary housing. But compassionate people, and volunteers are stepping up big time.
Air mattresses, food along with access to bathrooms and showers. A once empty warehouse in Pilsen is alive again, serving as an emergency shelter for at least 70 migrants.
Most of them from the 12 District police station.
“They’ve already given us mattresses. They’ve already given us clothes. We’re eating well.”
* Sun-Times…
Heather Kofke-Egger, who lives in Logan Square, has delivered meals and other necessities to the new arrivals since mid-April and estimates she’s spent hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars.
“People don’t want to look away,” Kofke-Egger said. “They don’t want to see children go hungry. They don’t want to see their new neighbors sleeping on the floor of police stations in these really difficult conditions.”
With more people now sleeping in police stations, Kofke-Egger said the last few weeks have been like running a small government in the absence of a city response.
“We need a city response that is comprehensive and addresses both the needs as people are waiting for shelter and the needs as people transition into the shelter system,” she said. “Counting on volunteers to do this work is just not appropriate.”
* ABC Chicago…
Residents of South Shore are taking legal action against the city of Chicago over plans to turn a shuttered neighborhood high school into a migrant respite center.
“Members of the Black Community Collaborative, South Shore constituents and stakeholders are extremely dismayed by the city of Chicago’s inability to control and develop safe parameters around housing migrants that have been transported here from the border,” said Natasha Dunn.
A week ago, hundreds of South Shore neighbors packed into an auditorium and pilloried city officials as they attempted to explain plans to open a respite center for incoming migrants in the former school building.
“There is also a due process issue,” said attorney Frank Avila. “We want the refugees and the asylum-seekers and migrants to come in, but we have areas across the city where they can go. Not centralized in one community.”
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* ISP…
MT. VERNON – The Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Internal Investigation continues its investigation into the discharge of an Illinois State Police Officer’s duty weapon during a motorist assist on May 9, 2023 at 3:30 a.m. on Interstate 64 near milepost 72. During the incident, an altercation occurred and 23-year-old Brandon L. Griffin of Albuquerque, New Mexico brandished a firearm. Griffin and an officer exchanged gunfire and Griffin was fatally shot. An ISP officer was also shot and was taken to an area hospital. The Officer has since been released and is recovering at home.
Griffin’s wife, 31-year-old Christine J. Santos, was present at the time of the incident and is currently being held at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on a no-bond arrest warrant out of New Mexico for bond violations on a pending aggravated assault with a firearm case in which Griffin was her co-defendant.
In accordance with ISP’s commitment to integrity and public transparency, the video of the event is being made available to the public and can be found by clicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc01KTJOEI8.
This video is being released after consultation with and authorization by the Jefferson County State’s Attorney. ISP provided Griffin’s mother the opportunity to review the video before its release to the public.
This remains an ongoing investigation being conducted by ISP and is under review by the Jefferson County State’s Attorney’s Office. No additional information is available at this time.
I can totally understand if you don’t watch the video, but both troopers seemed to handle things pretty well during some serious chaos. At one point, Griffin yelled as he was struggling to break free: “I was in the military. You’re gonna have to shoot me.” Griffin continued resisting, eventually obtained a gun from the car and shot one trooper and then the other trooper fired at him in response.
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The state needs to step in
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune has a story about often-shady smoke shops…
On a recent school day, a student at Uplift Community High School in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood began vomiting multiple times and became unresponsive.
A short time later, other students alerted security that they had taken cannabis gummies from a classmate and felt sick, the school incident report showed. Another student who’d taken a gummy was “extremely paranoid and delusional.”
Five students were transported to hospitals, one classified as code red, suggesting a potentially serious condition, though all recovered. The Chicago Fire Department tweeted that the gummies came from a “dispensary” — but those involved indicate that’s not the case.
The gummies came not from a licensed cannabis dispensary, but from a neighborhood smoke shop, according to the school report of the incident and one of the parents of the teens involved. […]
Uptown Smokes is located within 1,000 feet of Uplift school and would not be allowed to be a licensed dispensary. The store, according to its Instagram account, advertises delta-8 and delta-10-THC, tobacco, and another drug called kratom, sold alongside potato chips, pop, candy and other items popular with high schoolers. […]
Uptown Smokes was shut down by the city the day after the incident — not for the overdoses, but for building code violations. Chicago officials say they generally have no authority to regulate the sale of delta-8, but can use code citations to temporarily address problem sites. The store was to remain closed until violations were corrected. The registered agent for Uptown Smokes, Zeyad Abughoush, could not be reached for comment.
The state has no authority to regulate the gray-market stores, either.
According to an online archived copy of the now-defunct website CBD At Work, there were an eye-popping 9,712 CBD shops in Illinois alone two years ago. And that doesn’t include the gas stations which sell it everywhere you look.
So far, the legislature hasn’t stepped up to do anything about it, although Rep. Bob Morgan tried a couple of years ago. There is no bill in the hopper right now, but the subject is being addressed by Rep. La Shawn Ford’s cannabis working group. Morgan ran the state’s medical cannabis program under Pat Quinn.
* From Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago)…
Incidents like what happened in the high school in Uptown are exactly why we need regulatory controls over these products. We regularly hear from people confused by storefronts calling themselves dispensaries, parents upset that their minor children have been able to purchase from these stores who are frustrated that there’s no recourse, and people who’ve purchased these products believing them to be tested and regulated. Regulation is about protecting consumers and ensuring the safety of the products being sold.
This reminds me of the taverns and other places offering the shady “sweepstakes” games that have never truly been addressed by the state.
* If the General Assembly is looking at reforms, maybe addressing this kind of stuff would be a good place to start. After all, the gray-market sweepstakes game industry was behind the former Rep. Luis Arroyo bribery scandal which resulted in the indictment of his alleged bribery paymaster James Weiss.
I doubt it will be too long before this delta thing attracts similar federal interest.
Either legalize, tax and regulate it or ban it. The status quo is not acceptable.
…Adding… Mark Peysakhovich…
Hi Rich –
I am one of the lobbyists who represents some Illinois companies involved in various aspects of Illinois’ hemp industry, including cultivation, research, processing, and retail of products like delta-8. They have invested years of our lives and millions of dollars to build hemp businesses, which, by the way, was legal before adult use applications even started. The industry includes hundreds of demographically and geographically diverse companies and a lot of jobs in Illinois.
The honest, legitimate companies in this space have been advocating for strict regulation of hemp-derived cannabinoids for almost two years. (Fact sheet attached.) Unfortunately, the insatiable cannabis companies see delta products as competition and they really do not just want regulation, which is part of why there is no regulation. They want to take the hemp businesses away for themselves by putting the hemp products (like the deltas) under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA.) If they can’t do that, they will push for a ban. They went as low as hiring a retired DEA agent to spy on Illinois hemp businesses and presenting the cherry-picked information to the House Cannabis Work Group a few weeks ago.
The Illinois General Assembly acknowledged that hemp products, such as delta-8, are legal when it passed the Industrial Hemp Act in 2018. But now, even though their products remain federally illegal, Big Cannabis is advocating a hostile takeover of the hemp industry by moving hemp regulation under the CRTA rather than amending the Hemp Act. This step would put us out of business and give control of our industry to the huge cannabis corporations.
While my clients already carefully test and label products and restrict sales to consumers who are 21 or older, we know there are irresponsible people out there cutting corners to make a fast buck. That’s why we have been advocating for age restrictions as well as robust state licensing and regulation of hemp consumer products for years. This approach will protect consumers by ensuring they get fairly taxed, carefully tested, quality hemp products that are professionally made in local state-of-the-art facilities, rather than dangerous, potentially tainted, and mislabeled or unlabeled products made by shoddy operators in basements and garages.
At the same time, hemp and cannabis cannot be put under the same regulatory structure, which is what Big Cannabis wants. Hemp is federally legal. Cannabis is not. Giving control of the hemp industry to Big Cannabis is neither fair nor viable. It would disenfranchise those in the hemp industry and give away our businesses to the few hundred wealthy individuals who already own the licensed cannabis industry.
In short, we hope the Illinois General Assembly will protect consumers by enacting a strong hemp licensing and regulatory network. At the same time, we hope the General Assembly to resist Big Cannabis’ cynical scaremongering and to protect Illinois’ legal and legitimate hemp industry.
I am attaching a fact sheet we’ve been sharing widely. Please let me know if you have questions.
The fact sheet is here.
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Pritzker remains optimistic about budget
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I told subscribers about the latest Governor’s Office of Management and Budget report to the Legislative Budget Oversight Commission a couple of days ago. The GOMB lowered its FY 2023 revenue estimates by $616 million, which makes it even lower than the recently revised Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s estimates. But GOMB increased its FY 2024 revenue estimate by $532 million ($802 million increase in state revenues, minus $270 million in an expected federal $ decrease), although at least some of that is said to be one-time revenues. Here’s Capitol News Illinois…
Gov. JB Pritzker said this week that the state remains “on a great trajectory from a fiscal perspective,” even as his office decreased its current-year revenue estimates in light of falling tax revenues.
The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget this week shaved $616 million off its estimate for current-year revenues, marking a downward revision of about 1.1 percent. The move corresponded with a $532 million, or roughly 1 percent, increased revenue estimate for the upcoming fiscal year.
* That report also showed a small uptick in spending. And the governor was asked yesterday about the revised forecast…
Q: Yesterday, you said that your budget put forth as it is now, if it was passed that it would be balanced. But it looks like for Fiscal Year 23, the spending estimate is a little bit higher than revenues with the supplemental funding that you have proposed. So do you have to maybe consider not putting more into pensions or not doing the supplementals for daycare facilities?
Pritzker: I think the good news is, as you know, that the amount that we’re talking about is a very small percentage of the entire overall budget. We’re talking about possibly 1% of the entire budget. So we, knowing that this might be coming, we’ve ramped down some of the spending here and there within all of our agencies to make sure that we could cover that 1% difference.
* The governor was also asked yesterday what specific suggestions he made to the General Assembly to rein in the exploding costs of undocumented immigrant healthcare. He listed two of what he claimed were several: Co-pays based on income and provider reimbursement rates..
Q: Yesterday, when I had asked you a question about what you plan on doing in your budget proposal about the nearly $1.1 billion budget hole regarding the [Medicaid-like program for non-citizens], and you had said that it’s basically up to the General Assembly, and you indicated that you would hope that they consider some of the options that you had presented to them so that they could fit it into the budget. Could you elaborate about what some of those options from your administration are to the General Assembly?
Pritzker: Well, as you know, it’s a program that’s different than Medicaid and different than regular private insurance. It is possible, for example, that there could be for some people at certain income levels, co-pays. That’s an example of something that would defray the cost of the program. That’s one example. Another is, you know, a question about reimbursement rates, and what level the reimbursement rates would be for whatever services are given to people. So those are two, among many. But really, we gave them many options to choose from and ideas that they could take back to their caucuses and talk about and, and we’ve tried to answer every question that’s been brought to us. But these are all things that that I think are reasonable, to consider to make sure that we’re reining in the cost, but also serving the people who most need this healthcare.
I think he was talking about the enhanced reimbursement rate that’s given to Cook County’s health system because it churns Medicaid dollars. This isn’t, for the most part, a reimbursable program, however.
Other ideas include a hard spending/enrollment cap, but the Latino Caucus is digging in its heels so far…
The recent upward revisions to estimated program costs have prompted sharp criticism from Republicans. But in a news conference earlier in the week, state Rep. Lilian Jimenez, D-Chicago, pushed back against calls to end the program.
“Many immigrants in the state of Illinois do contribute to taxes. They pay their taxes when they work, they file their taxes with an ITIN number,” she said. “They are taxpaying members of this state and should be treated as such. And they’re also human beings, most of all, and we have to remember that when we talk about cutting this or cutting that.”
* One small caution about this next story is that the Civic Federation’s report doesn’t include GOMB’s newly revised outlook for this and next fiscal years. Crain’s…
Despite a huge drop in revenue last month, Illinois’ overall budget outlook remains good and within earlier forecasts, according to Fitch Ratings.
And that report comes just as the watchdog Civic Federation gives Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2024 spending plan its thumbs-up.
In its assessment released today of Pritzker’s proposed $49.6 billion operating budget, the Civic Federation praised “smart” moves to inject an additional $138 million into the state’s rainy-day fund and to make $200 million in supplemental pension payments. […]
The federation expressed concern that non-pension spending is proposed to rise 8.3% over last year’s budget. However, that increase is smaller — 1.2% — when supplemental appropriations are added to the proposed budget.
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It’s just a bill
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* The Senate’s consent calendar sure comes in handy…
* Patrick Keck…
Legislation granting victims of digital forgeries, commonly known as deepfakes, to take legal action against perpetrators who create and share inauthentic media is now one step closer to becoming law.
House Bill 2123 from Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, D-Libertyville, passed in the Senate unanimously on Thursday. The bill, previously led by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, will return to the House for a concurrence vote where it is expected to pass. […]
The scene on the Senate floor, several Republicans thanking Edly-Allen for the bill, was vastly different from several committee hearings on the matter earlier in session.
Prior coverage:Digital forgeries bills advance out of House, Senate committees
Members of the minority party had expressed First Amendment concerns for when the technology was used for parodies or for political ads. Democrats and supporters of the bill answered by saying the bill only applies to bad actors, meaning those forms of speech would not be impacted. […]
Like the Digital Forgeries Act, HB 3563 is also heading back to the House for concurrence and tasks the Department of Innovation and Technology to build an AI task force. The Generative AI and Natural Language Processing Task Force would be created to investigate the potentials for the technology through the bill.
* WCBU…
Peoria environmental advocates and community leaders are advocating for the passage of legislation expanding regulations on the construction of carbon dioxide transport pipelines.
At a press conference Thursday, Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance member Joyce Harant said House Bill 3119 and Senate Bill 2421 include protections for the communities proposed carbon dioxide pipelines would pass through. […]
Measures included in the bills would place liability for pipeline accidents on the development companies, establish financial benefits for the communities near pipelines and prohibit the use of forced acquisition or eminent domain in pipeline construction.
The company Wolf Carbon Solutions is currently in talks with BioUrja about a potential trunkline that would transport captured carbon dioxide from the BioUrja ethanol plant in South Peoria to a sequestration site in Decatur.
* Bryant Greening…
If you are an Uber or Lyft customer, you have probably received an email recently urging you to press your lawmakers to oppose House Bill 2231. The rideshare companies say the legislation is a “disguised safety bill” and will cause dramatically increased fares.
These misleading tactics are an attempt to trick passengers into lobbying against a bill that would protect them. The fact is that House Bill 2231 is not a disguised safety bill but rather a legitimate effort to ensure the safety of rides-hail passengers. That Uber and Lyft are trying to deceive their passengers into believing that this legislation is solely about increasing fares is deeply concerning. It is clear that their primary concern is their bottom line, not the safety of their customers. This type of behavior is unacceptable and must be called out.
It is worth noting that other cities and states have implemented increased safety standards, and the rideshare companies seem to be operating without issue. Furthermore, safety improvements like driver training, enhanced background checks, and in-app emergency features can be effective and cheaply employed.
* Green Power Alliance…
Core partners of the Campaign to End Energy Poverty held a press conference to discuss the energy unaffordability crisis plaguing the state. New data issued from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), the agency that oversees the state’s energy assistance programs, reveals the depth of the problem. Five pending utility rate increase requests and utility record profits will only exacerbate the situation.
To bring attention to this crisis, the Green Power Alliance, the lobbying affiliate of Blacks in Green, the National Consumer Law Center, and other advocacy organizations called on the utilities to come to the negotiating table and work to achieve passage of the People’s Utility Rate Relief (PURR) Act - HB2172, and SB1842, a separate bill that would increase available energy assistance dollars to begin to meet the immense need throughout the state.
The PURR Act - HB 2172 – will protect the interests of Illinois consumers and keep families safe by minimizing disconnections of essential utility services for medically vulnerable populations and requiring the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to specifically assess the impacts of utility revenue collection practices by zip code. The Bill is the product of the Campaign to End Energy Poverty, sponsored by the Green Power Alliance, the lobbying arm of Blacks in Green (BIG™), and the National Consumer Law Center, with input and support from consumers and advocates from throughout the state.
“We’ve been inviting decision-makers to come to the table and work out a morally-correct bill by May 19 for months now,” said Naomi Davis, founder and CEO of Blacks in Green. “In the meantime, the data keeps rolling in, painting the painful reality of the severity of the affordability crisis that affects millions of Illinois customers struggling to pay for heat and light.”
* WAND…
Illinois school buses could soon have extended stop arms to help kids stay safe thanks to a plan passed out of the House and Senate.
Senate Bill 2340 will allow school buses to have two stop arms with flashing lights to partially obstruct roads when students get on or off the bus.
Most people know that it is illegal for cars to drive around buses when they are stopped to drop off kids. However, sponsors say too many people ignore the stop sign.
“Unfortunately, too many cars and too many vehicles do blow past those stop signs,” said Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville). “This bill allows those buses to have these flashing extended arms to help remind cars that they need to stop.”
* Effingham Radio…
State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is seeking to protect gun owners across Illinois, who recently made legal firearm purchases, from facing unjust criminal prosecution in the future. […]
“First, the Attorney General and the Governor’s Administration refused to issue any guidance, or even to encourage people to be cautious, while the injunction was in effect,” said Plummer. “Now, the Governor is telling people to commit perjury by lying on a form about the date in which they purchased the firearm?”
To rectify the issue and to prevent law-abiding citizens from being turned into criminals, Sen. Plummer filed legislation, Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1073, which updates the affidavit requirements to include firearms purchased during a period in which a court issued an injunction on the law. This would allow individuals who purchased “banned firearms” during this recent injunction or any future ones, to be able to legally keep and possess them.
“This isn’t about how you feel about guns,” said Plummer. “This legislation protects people who were simply trying to follow the law, it’s that simple. This is the right thing to do. If the Governor and the Attorney General say they really aren’t trying to entrap lawful people, they will support this bill.”
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Dems take yet another swing at DeSantis
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This attack has been sustained for much of the week. DPI…
Democrats from Peoria to Florida know just how dangerous Ron DeSantis’ “Florida blueprint” really is. Ahead of his visit to Illinois, Party leaders are speaking out against the spread of his extreme agenda:
“Ron DeSantis’ policies have no place in Illinois, and we won’t let him spread his ‘blueprint’ without accountability. From stripping reproductive rights to attacking members of the LGBTQ+ community and restricting civil rights across Florida, DeSantis has shown us that his vision for our nation contradicts everything that we stand for in Illinois,” said DPI Chair Lisa Hernandez. “Illinoisans have repeatedly rejected extremism, both in races up and down the ballot last November and just last month in school and library board races across the state. It’s clear that DeSantis’ hateful agenda is antithetical to our values and priorities in Illinois. While DeSantis callously enacts his dangerous platform in Florida, we’re lucky to have leaders here who respect the dignity of all Illinoisans, especially the most marginalized among us.”
“We here in Florida have seen firsthand the devastating effects of Ron DeSantis’s failed ‘Florida blueprint’. DeSantis spent Florida’s legislative session pushing through extreme legislation—including a more extreme abortion ban and a law that could make it easier for criminals to carry weapons—while ignoring the growing cost-of-living crisis that working Floridians are facing,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. “Ron DeSantis is shadow campaigning for president with an extreme MAGA agenda built on the backs of Floridians, and we will make sure that people in every state know how devastating DeSantis has been for Florida, and how devastating he would be in the White House.”
“The differences between Illinois and Florida under Ron DeSantis’ leadership could not be more clear. I am proud and grateful that our state’s leaders have never stopped working to uplift working families, defend women’s rights, and make Illinois a place where all are welcome and have opportunities to thrive,” said Illinois Senator Dave Koehler. “In Peoria, we believe in access to quality education, equitable economic opportunities, and the freedom to make our own decisions about how we live and who we love. While DeSantis seeks to divide us in pursuit of his own ambitions, I have no intention of ceasing our efforts to build a more inclusive, accepting, and supportive community for all.”
“Ron DeSantis is waging a self-serving culture war at the expense of Floridians, decimating access to health care, childcare, affordable housing, and educational resources. I hope that in visiting Peoria, DeSantis can learn that in Illinois we trust women, we say gay, and we will never allow extremists like him to intimidate us into turning back the clock on freedom and progress,” said Peoria County Democrats Chair Rick Fox.
Illinois Democrats have a successful record of progress that continues to serve working families across the state. Illinoisans have made it abundantly clear: hate and extremism are not welcome in Illinois
* Pritzker campaign…
It is no coincidence that the party that was unable to make any statewide gains in the last Midterm election would invite failed governor Ron DeSantis to keynote one of their largest dinners. DeSantis, who is trailing Donald Trump in the polls and has yet to show he is ready for primetime, will keynote tonight’s Peoria-Tazewell Lincoln Day Dinner and share the policies he has implemented that has made Florida one of the most restrictive states when it comes to exercising reproductive freedom, one of the worst states for health care access, and one of the worst states for teacher pay––with one of the largest number of banned books.
DeSantis has repeatedly failed to lead Florida, passing draconian abortion bans, overseeing the collapse of the state’s unemployment insurance system, delaying needed evacuations during a devastating natural disaster, and even running campaign ads during the state’s latest crisis.
“Inviting a failed governor who is at war with Donald Trump to keynote one of your largest events is emblematic of today’s Illinois GOP,” said JB For Governor spokesperson Natalie Edelstein. “Republicans are too busy fighting each other to get out of their own way and solve the issues facing working families. While they celebrate banning books and picking on LGBTQ+ kids, Illinois Democrats will continue to win elections and build a state where everyone is free to be who they are.”
DeSantis has shown time and time again he is an authoritarian career politician who has no business being in public office. From passing a harsh abortion ban in the dead of night to erasing Black history from textbooks, it is clear the only direction he wants the country to go is backwards. The Illinois GOP would be better off putting their resources into helping families across the state instead of playing footsie with an extremist who will forget all about central Illinois the minute his plane takes off.
Your thoughts on this?
…Adding… A DPI fundraising pitch just landed in my inbox…
Hey Richard, JB here.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in Illinois. Today, DeSantis will give a speech to GOP donors in Peoria about how Illinois needs to be more like Florida.
He’ll try to pass off his racism, homophobia, and misogyny as protecting your freedoms.
I’m calling BS.
It’s up to us to show Americans there is a better way forward than DeSantis’ campaign of hate. Here in Illinois, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.
DeSantis tried to force the AP to revise an African American studies course. I announced that Illinois will reject a water-downed course that censors the contributions of Black and queer Americans.
DeSantis signed a 6-week abortion ban into law. I’ve made Illinois one of the strongest states in America for protecting reproductive care.
And while Governor DeSantis is pushing to lower the age to buy an assault weapon, I’ve already signed legislation to ban assault weapons altogether.
Richard, if you agree we should keep being ILLINOIS and not Florida, will you chip in $10 or more today to the Democratic Party of Illinois so we can keep electing real leaders to block the GOP’s attacks on our freedom and rights?
If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately […]
Illinois will not be pushed around. We value our diverse history, we defend our rights, and we know the path forward.
In solidarity,
JB Pritzker
Governor of Illinois
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Open thread
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* It’s finally Friday! What’s goin’ on?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Tribune | Illinois day cares struggle to reduce lead discovered through mandatory water testing: “It was like, well yeah we have to fix it; this is what we considered our responsibility,” Dinkelman said. “But it would have been nice if (the state) had been like, ‘OK here’s what we know; let us help you through this.’ Rather than saying, ‘All right, what are you going to do to fix it?’”
* Capitol News Illinois | Gov’s office revises revenue estimates, calls on lawmakers to ‘defray’ noncitizen health care costs: The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget this week shaved $616 million off its estimate for current-year revenues, marking a downward revision of about 1.1 percent. The move corresponded with a $532 million, or roughly 1 percent, increased revenue estimate for the upcoming fiscal year.
* Crain’s | State finances get two pieces of good news: Despite a huge drop in revenue last month, Illinois’ overall budget outlook remains good and within earlier forecasts, according to Fitch Ratings. And that report comes just as the watchdog Civic Federation gives Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2024 spending plan its thumbs-up.
* Belleville News-Democrat | New regulations could force southern IL power plant to install new technology or shut down: With a few notable exceptions, Illinois appears well on its way to meeting the Biden administration’s proposed limits on climate-changing pollution emitted by power plants. The biggest outlier is a coal-fired plant in southern Illinois owned by dozens of municipalities in Illinois and across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.
* Tribune | Illinois makes it easier for women to get birth control directly from pharmacists, without doctors’ visits: The head of the Illinois Department of Public Health issued a standing order Wednesday that will allow pharmacists who complete additional training to dispense hormonal patches, vaginal rings, oral contraceptives and contraceptive injections to patients. Patients will not need prescriptions from their own doctors first.
* WBEZ | Brandon Johnson campaigned on reopening mental health clinics. Will he follow through?: Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson was clear on the campaign trail that he supported reopening the shuttered city-run mental health clinics that closed more than a decade ago. It’s a goal he said “that we have to work towards immediately in this first budget.” But as he prepares to take the keys to the 5th floor office next week, his new administration says much of their approach has “yet to be determined.”
* Sun-Times | He used to do business with reputed mob figures. Now, he’s licensed by the Illinois Gaming Board.: Jeffrey Bertucci testified in 2010 to illegally paying out winnings from video gaming machines installed in his Cicero diner and splitting his take with the mob’s so-called video poker king. In 2019, gambling regulators gave him a license to legally operate video gaming devices.
* The Telegraph | Farmers need state help with soil conservation: With seven people dying and dozens injured when a dust cloud enveloped Interstate 55 south of Springfield and made international news, there have been a lot of people commenting about the need to do something to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
* Capitol News Illinois | General Assembly approves criminal sentencing reforms for minors: House Bill 3414 adds to the factors that judges must consider in the process of sentencing children found guilty of a crime. The bill would require a judge to consider a child’s involvement in the child welfare system, whether they have a history of domestic abuse or sexual exploitation and the results of any mental health evaluations the child has gone through. This is in addition to existing factors that judges already consider, such as age, maturity and potential for rehabilitation.
* WCCU | Disability worker shortage putting pressure on family caregivers: The Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (IARF) is calling on Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office to raise the pay of disability workers. The agency said people have left the industry for less stressful jobs, and it’s causing families to depend on each other to provide care.
* Sun-Times | Lawsuit seeks to stop former South Shore High School from being turned into shelter for migrants: ‘We were forced to do this’: The suit alleges a plan to house asylum-seekers at the shuttered school violates a lease agreement and names the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools as defendants.
* USA Today | Federal judge blocks Biden from ‘paroling’ migrants hours before Title 42 set to lift: A federal judge in Florida on Thursday blocked a Biden administration plan to release migrants in the U.S. on “parole” because of an surge expected once an emergency immigration restriction known as Title 42 lifts.
* Sun-Times | Brandon Johnson fleshes out senior staff, shows continued influence of Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Teachers Union: Annette Guzman, Preckwinkle’s budget director for Cook County government, will be Johnson’s city budget director. Guzman replaces Susie Park, who for the last four years has been part of a triumvirate of women credited with engineering a financial turnaround under Mayor Lori Lightfoot tha has included a record low $85 million budget shortfall, a $272 million pension pre-payment and 13 bond rating upgrades.
* Sun-Times | 100 years, 37 convictions later, City Council begins second century bullish for future, sheepish about past: Reformers were aiming to root out corruption with the advent of the 50-ward system in 1923, but illegal backroom deals have remained all too common for a legislative body that has otherwise seen massive change.
* Daily Herald | ‘Nonstarter’: Bears, suburban school districts millions apart on property tax deal for Arlington: “This is an excessive sum for property that will sit idle and will have no commercial use for at least the next two years,” Warren wrote. “This is simply not financially feasible and has negative consequences for all parties, including Arlington Heights and the surrounding communities.”
* Tribune | Teachers authorize strike at Acero charter school network in Chicago, says operator, accusing teachers union of ‘bad-faith bargaining’: An Instagram account attributed to the CTU’s charter division posted Wednesday that 93% of more than 500 members across the Acero network voted in favor of authorizing a strike. “It’s up to Acero management to avoid a strike by meeting our demands for Supportive, Safe and Sustainable schools. They must increase staffing to support our students and provide Equal Pay for Equal Work,” the post read.
* Politico | She Stole $54 Million From Her Town. Then Something Unexpected Happened.: “You have not been doing your job,” said a gray-ponytailed man in flannel once he got to the microphone. City Council members and the mayor sat stone-faced on the dais, absorbing this and similar blasts of anger from the public, still grappling with the shock of the crime they’d discovered far too late. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re all fired. Thank you very much.” Among the scores of citizens of Dixon, Illinois, who had packed the council chambers, lined stairwells, spilled out the front door of the red brick building and across the street into the library parking lot, this was not an uncommon sentiment.
* Tribune | This summer’s Chicago Street Race promises to boost tourism, but it may be even more pivotal for NASCAR: The Chicago Street Race, which is expected to draw 100,000 attendees during July Fourth weekend, promises to be a potential tourism boon for the city, but the event could be even more pivotal for NASCAR. Faced with declining ratings, dwindling attendance and growing domestic competition from the Formula 1 international racing series, which offers several urban street courses, NASCAR is seeking new roads to build its fan base.
* WBEZ | NASCAR tweaks its Chicago race plan as residents voice concerns about noise and lakefront access: And in response, the racing brand says it will limit car noise, keep access to the lakefront trail open to pedestrians — by way of Monroe Street and Roosevelt Road — and set aside some greenspace areas for public access during the racing festival’s weekend activities.
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Live coverage
Friday, May 12, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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