* We’re entering parody territory here, or Tobin’s just saying the quiet part out loud that others including the Tribune are too polite to utter…
As the U.S. Senate considers whether to pass a $1.9 billion stimulus package, an Illinois nonprofit is urging a no vote.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said despite a $120 million surplus in his proposed budget, the state needs an estimated $7.5 billion.
“This is a budget that is the result of a crisis that we had facing the state and the country,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker has also blamed the state’s dire fiscal condition on voters’ rejection of his progressive tax amendment and on Congress’ failure to provide unrestricted state bailouts earlier.
Jim Tobin, the founder of the Taxpayer Education Foundation, is opposed to any kind of federal bailout and said the Illinois state government needs to fail to change its irresponsible spending habits.
Kill it in order to save it. That worked so well for the Confederacy’s approach to the United States, and Tobin fancies himself an expert on that bit of history, believing the Civil War was fought over tax revenues.
First, both state and local governments should refill and reopen small-business grant programs that have to date only provided assistance to a fraction of the businesses that have been dealt a blow from COVID-19-related closures and restrictions. The highly touted Business Interruption Grant program, for example, awarded grants to just 20% of the businesses that applied. Many businesses are also struggling to pay their crushingly high property tax bills from a year in which they may have seen their property closed or restricted a majority of the time — a property tax relief program could go a long way in reducing that burden. And further mortgage and rental assistance to families who have seen their income drop because of COVID-19 closures would help reduce foreclosures and housing insecurity.
Second, the current state budget relies heavily on borrowing more than $3 billion from the Federal Reserve. All of that is due to be repaid within the next 2½ years. Carrying a short-term debt load like that will put further strain on the state budget, even after the pandemic. An influx of federal aid should be used to immediately pay off that short-term debt and avoid a repayment problem that is right around the corner.
Third, Illinois is notorious for carrying billions of dollars in unpaid bills. By paying our bills and reducing the current $5 billion backlog, we put cash in the pockets of Illinois service providers and vendors who are waiting to be paid — and we also reduce our overall debt load. As businesses fight to stay afloat during the pandemic, we shouldn’t add to their problems by making them wait and wait for the state to pay its bills. Further, when the state pays Medicaid bills — which is one of the largest programs in the state budget — we get matching funds from the federal government. During the pandemic, the matching rate has been temporarily enhanced for all states, meaning that Illinois can stretch every dollar even further.
The debt and backlog ideas are already on the table, as is more relief to businesses.
The most cynical actors in Washington have portrayed pleas for aid as an undeserved “bailout” for states that don’t share their politics. The opposite is true. States don’t seek funds for legacy costs. While both Illinois and Connecticut have been addressing long-standing fiscal challenges and legacy costs within our respective state budgets in recent years, both also act as donor states, contributing more in the form of federal taxes than we receive back in federal aid.
This year, we do this dutifully, to proudly support our fellow states as they face identical challenges of their own. This crisis has provided a clear example that we are one nation, meeting a common challenge together. The federal government’s response should reflect that, and not leave anyone behind. Our states, our residents and small businesses can’t wait.
Tuesday, Mar 2, 2021 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Representative democracy works best when people actively engage in policy discussions and elections, ensuring that communities of color, long disenfranchised, are prioritized. Historically, Illinois’ redistricting process favors incumbents and is dominated by partisan, rather than community, objectives.
In 2021, we can create a fair map for Illinoisans that puts their interests first with a process that:
● Invites broad, meaningful public input through at least 35 public hearings for community members
● Requires fairness standards that prioritize people of color through the Federal Voting Rights Act, the Illinois Voting Rights Act, and communities of interest
● Allows for the public to weigh in on a map proposal through a public hearing and responses to suggestions before a final vote
● Is transparent, with a centralized website including all remap records and discussions and a compliance report detailing how the map meets these standards
Spring is the new Christmas for marketers preparing to unleash media spending in anticipation of an explosive sales uptick as the weather warms and consumers rush to resume their everyday lives. From retailers to airlines and hospitality, special-occasion brands and media vendors, the marketing industry is looking to spring, typically a time of rebirth and renewal, to reconnect with customers eager to get out and spend as COVID-19 vaccines roll out and the threat of the coronavirus diminishes.
Consumer sentiment is switching from “hesitation to hope,” as Marriott International’s Brian Povinelli, senior VP, brand loyalty and portfolio marketing puts it. That’s fueling an anticipated spending surge from consumers releasing their pent-up shopping demand—which marketers are looking to help along. […]
The National Retail Federation is forecasting the highest growth in retail spending in 17 years—a jump between 6.5% and 8.2% to as much as $4.4 trillion this year. Much of the growth may come from high-income households. In a recent survey conducted late last month by Ad Age-Harris Poll, 30% of households making $100,000 or more a year said they’ll spend more this spring compared to last; the majority of this group said the vaccine rollout has influenced this decision.
And shopping will extend beyond ecommerce to brick-and-mortar stores as well as consumers get comfortable again with in-person experiences. Some 62% of consumers say they plan to shop in stores this spring at least once a week, the Ad Age-Harris Poll found.
* The Question: How will your life change when you are fully vaccinated?
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 1,577 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 47 additional deaths.
IDPH anticipates that the state of Illinois will receive 83,000 doses of the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine by Wednesday. Unlike the currently available Pfizer and Moderna doses, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot and can be stored at much higher temperatures. Like Pfizer and Moderna, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 100% effective in protecting recipients against death and hospitalization.
The vast majority of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – more than 90% – will be distributed to mass vaccination sites throughout the state. The remaining doses will be shipped to other providers across the state.
These doses are in addition to the approximate 288,000 doses the federal government allocated to Illinois this week. This total does not include doses for the city of Chicago, which will receive its own allocation.
“As Dr. Fauci and many medical experts have pointed out time and again, we are so fortunate to have three effective vaccines that are proven to fully protect against death and hospitalization,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed for use at mass vaccination sites across the state, so that we are maximizing their capacity and getting as many eligible Illinoisans vaccinated as possible so that we can win the race against the new virus variants and end this pandemic.”
The newly reported deaths include the following:
- Alexander County: 1 female 70s
- Clay County: 1 male 70s
- Cook County: 2 teens, 2 males 50s, 2 males 60s, 4 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 4 males 80s, 4 females 90s, 3 males 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Jefferson County: 1 male 40s
- Jersey County: 1 male 60s
- Kane County: 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- Lake County: 1 male 90s
- McLean County: 1 female 90s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 50s
- Union County: 1 male 70s
- Vermilion County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s
- Wayne County: 1 male 70s
- Will County: 1 female 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,189,416 cases, including 20,583 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 56,181 specimens for a total of 18,234,668. As of last night, 1,231 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 281 patients were in the ICU and 148 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from February 23–March 1, 2021 is 2.4%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 23–March 1, 2021 is 2.8%.
A total of doses of 3,186,385 vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 443,700 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 3,630,085. A total of 2,817,892 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 324,827 for long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 80,416 doses; the highest 7-day rolling average to date. Yesterday, 61,061 doses were administered in Illinois.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
State to get 83,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Chicago bars and restaurants can stay open until 1 a.m., boost capacity to 50%, Lightfoot announces
Parents tear into Naperville District 203 School Board for not reopening schools full time: ‘You will all be replaced’: Many in attendance Monday argued it’s now safe to return all students to full-time, in-person classes, and used the meeting to not only criticize the board but also to castigate district Superintendent Dan Bridges, the current return-to-learn plan and the social distancing restrictions that kept several people from being allowed into the meeting.
Indiana makes COVID-19 vaccine available to residents 55 and older
Merck will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, Biden official says
Brookfield Zoo reopens with new polar bear, Mexican gray wolves making their debut
Schools in Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 to reopen schools for full-time in-person learning
Two big annual trade shows canceled — again — at McCormick Place
A new report underscores just how much small hospitals on Chicago’s South and West sides struggle financially, and what can be done to prevent them from closing.
These small so-called “safety net” hospitals tend to be staples in their communities. They typically treat low-income and elderly Black and Latino patients, and often don’t have enough money flowing in to make ends meet.
A new study commissioned by the Health Care Council of Chicago estimates that by 2024, a dozen of these hospitals could lose at least $1.8 billion combined. And that doesn’t even account for money hospitals lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they suspended money-generating surgeries and shifted patients to video and phone visits to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“We cannot do this for another three or four years and expect that we are not going to see the threat of more hospital closures, more job loss, while health does not get better,” said David Smith, CEO of Third Horizon Strategies and lead author of the paper. “This does not have to be our future.”
The report comes as one safety net, Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville on the Near South Side, recently filed for bankruptcy protection and has been preparing to close this spring.
* House Speaker Chris Welch was asked by Greg Hinz the other day what issue was personally important to him to address this session and he talked about hospital closures…
Welch: You and I have talked a number of times, because you personally witnessed my fight to save Westlake Hospital out here in my area, and to watch and see what’s going on with Mercy Hospital. I was warning people back then that this was just the tip of the iceberg. We really need to do something about hospitals closing, particularly in black and brown communities. The disparities already are so wide, you can drive a Mack truck through them. They’re only going to grow if we continue to allow hospitals to close in poor communities. How does a hospital like Mercy post 6$05 million profits in a quarter and then file bankruptcy? It’s crazy. Allowing these hospitals to close is something that we need to take a good long look at and protect communities like the one that I serve and like the one that Rep. Lamont Robinson serves out on the South Side where now Mercy Hospital is threatening to close his doors. This is something that I really want to take a look at. And we can address it this session that would be great.
Hinz: Is the problem that there was not adequate public help for these facilities to keep them open or is the problem that people who operate some of these hospitals are not acting in the public interest, or is it both?
Welch: I think there’s a combination. I certainly think government can do do better. As I told you earlier, our budget is a moral document. I think on the federal level on the state level, we can probably do more to help these these hospital systems. But I certainly think that the hospital industry has changed. Healthcare shouldn’t be a for-profit industry. Unfortunately, it’s become a for-profit industry. And it should be about care and compassionate, compassion, and healing. And unfortunately now it’s about dollars and cents. That’s really unfortunate. And to leave poor communities with gaping holes for access to healthcare has been the byproduct of the healthcare industry becoming a for-profit industry. We have to correct that. That’s a serious issue that has to be corrected.
Hinz: There’s already laws on the books as you know that says before you close a hospital facility have to go to a board, and the board has to sign off on it and the board usually goes along that way. What more should the state be doing?
Welch: I think we have to give that board some more teeth to the law. Because right now it’s more like a ratification a check the box type of process. You talk about an entire community, heartbreaking. That process that we went through at Westlake Hospital was demoralizing and heartbreaking. And people really loved that community hospital. It provided care to folks who otherwise otherwise aren’t getting it. There’s a hole now that they’re not getting that care. And so, watching, I was in Bolingbrook when the board met. And you know, it was more like checking the box because there was really nothing they can do other than grant the application. […] The last thing I want to see is another hospital closing in a low income community. I want to see them opening up, not closing.
* Some of the news coverage of yesterday’s developments wasn’t exactly clear on how big the news actually was. One headline…
Dueling Memos Raise Questions in Race for New Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, 2 Days Before Vote
Um, the memos actually say the exact same thing: If elected, Robin Kelly can’t be involved with raising or spending non-federal “soft money.” That’s huge. Beyond that, it’s just spin, some more clever than others.
The race for the reins of the Democratic Party of Illinois heated up on Monday with the release of a legal opinion contending that U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly may be ineligible to serve in the top state party post.
The congresswoman’s team called that “suggestion” both “false and offensive.”
Kelly released her own legal opinion conceding that, as a federal elected official, she would be barred from raising or spending money for state or local campaigns, something the Matteson Democrat suggested would empower other party leaders.
* Illinois Democrats always snipe at their party’s governors, so this is just another level added to the mix…
It’s unusual that Illinois Democrats are haggling like this. In many states and even for the national Democratic Party, the person at the top of the ticket gets to choose who leads the party operations. President Joe Biden, for example, gave the nod for Jaime Harrison to lead the Democratic National Committee.
With that in mind, Pritzker would be calling the shots on party leadership ahead of the 2022 election where he and Sen. Tammy Duckworth will be the Democrats’ marquee candidates. Duckworth also backs Harris.
Some Democrats, however, have a nagging concern about Pritzker’s control over the party’s checkbook. The billionaire governor’s deep pockets would allow him to dictate which races get more attention than others.
Yes, but isn’t that the case already?
* From Robin Kelly…
Dear Fellow Central Committee Members:
Change isn’t easy. And it’s clear some are resistant to opening up the party and being inclusive. From the beginning, I’ve been committed to a positive and transparent vision for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. If you’re afraid, don’t be. Help is on the way at 6:00 pm this Wednesday.
What we have seen over the course of the last 48 hours should not be what our party is about. Democrats unite and come together. You know me. I have always told you the truth, I have always been inclusive, and we can do this as long as we keep working together. Stay with me.
Together, we will build a party apparatus that acts collaboratively, not unilaterally - that includes raising the funds and resources to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. We’re about to make history together. Thank you, Robin
I’ve known Robin Kelly for years and have always had a high regard for her, but she was not up front about her inability to raise and spend soft money if she was elected and has not yet explained how she intends to get around that and who would be making those major multi-million-dollar decisions in her stead.
Endorsement of Robin Kelly for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois
- - - - -
We are about six months from the start of the 2022 election cycle, and the Democratic Party of Illinois needs to start rolling up its sleeves and getting to work on earning the vote of all Illinoisans. They say that it is the responsibility of Local Democratic Parties, but most local Democratic Parties don’t get all the resources that they need to be effective. They never have the funds they need because their economies do not even support small dollar donations. Let me see, “Do I put food on the table this week or donate $10 to the local Democratic Party or a local candidate who probably has no chance of winning?” Tough choice, right?
The Democratic Party needs to understand and value the needs of ALL of Illinois. This starts by finding and supporting good Democratic candidates for all offices across the entire state. We need to give all Illinois Democrats and independents a reason to vote.
From South Beloit to Cairo
From Quincy to Danville
From East Dubuque to Mt. Carmel
From Winthrop Harbor to East St. Louis
It is no secret that voters outside of Chicago feel that the Democratic Party of Illinois picks the winners and losers, only supporting Democratic candidates of their choosing. They won’t support candidates in a red district, claiming it would just be a waste of resources. Because of this, few Democrats step forward to run for office, leaving few or no local Democratic candidates on the ballot. Democratic voters stay home, and these districts stay red. It hurts statewide candidates on the ballot like the Governor and our two US Senators, but I am told not to worry; we have enough votes in the blue areas of Illinois.
This is our first opportunity in decades to break from underneath the thumb of the Chicago machine. We must avoid a continuation of the old. It is time for us to finally live up to what we say we are - The Democratic Party of ILLINOIS.
I believe Robin Kelly has the personal commitment and skills to lead us there.
Peter Janko
Democratic State Central Committeeman
14th Congressional District of Illinois
* Latest tally…
My chart of the race for Democratic Party of Illinois @demsforillinois chair is updated with 14th District Committeeman Peter Janko endorsing Robin Kelly (https://t.co/kXGUxp5FbQ)
Look, we as reform groups tried to pass redistricting reform. The Supreme Court led by Democrats threw that out. There was a pension reform bill passed, some years ago. Supreme Court threw that one out, led by Democrats.
The pension decision was unanimous, but I digress. Back to Andy…
So these things have been tried. I’ll tell you, the most interesting election in 2022 may not be for governor, or Attorney General or legislative seats, it may be for an open Supreme Court seat. You know, James Kilbride, he wasn’t retained, he lost his retention fight in November. And now, if the Republicans can win that seat, they take over the majority in the General Assembly [I think he meant Supreme Court]. And even though I’m nonpartisan, I’m not, I don’t want Republicans in just because they’re Republicans. But they would be in support of pension reform and term limits, and income tax reform, there’s a lot of reforms that they would approve of that the Democrats didn’t. And so that will be an interesting one to watch to see how that plays, a lot of money will be spent to either protect the seat for Democrats, or turn it over to Republicans. And that could be one of the most important things that happens in 2022, regardless of who the governor is.
STATE SENATOR MICHAEL E. HASTINGS TO ANNOUNCE RACE FOR SECRETARY OF STATE
Elk Grove Village, IL — State Senator Michael E. Hastings to announce bid for Secretary of State. Hastings wins a major endorsement from the Carpenters union, which represents 30,000 Illinois working families.
WHO: Senator Michael E. Hastings (D-19) and Gary Perinar, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters
WHAT: Press conference to announce bid for Secretary of State
WHERE: The Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters Apprentices and Training Program, 1256 Estes Ave, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Illinois House Democrats have introduced a resolution condemning state Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, after a decal of a far-right wing militia group was displayed on the back of his pickup truck as it was parked near the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The resolution, filed Monday, states that Miller “violated his oath to the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois by actively and publicly promoting the actions of an internationally recognized para-military hate group.”
The resolution, introduced by state Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Highland Park, has already garnered more than two dozen co-sponsors, including House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and members of his leadership team. No Republicans have signed on so far. […]
“Supporting and participating in insurrection against the government is way beyond the pale and violates our oath of office,” Morgan wrote in an email. “The State of Illinois deserves to know what role Rep. Miller had in the riot of January 6 in Washington D.C., and that is why I referred this matter to the Legislative Inspector General for proper investigation.”
I reached out to Rep. Miller’s spokesperson yesterday and didn’t hear back. From Speaker Welch’s spokesperson…
The insurrection on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol was sickening. It was deliberately planned and orchestrated by white supremacists. The fact that Rep. Chris Miller was involved amounts to a violation of his oath of office. Speaker Welch strongly condemns his actions and wants accountability.
With the U.S. Senate preparing to take up a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the Illinois Municipal League wants local governments, not the governor, to control dollars local governments are meant to get. […]
The federal spending plan the U.S. Senate could take up this week could include $7.5 billion for the Illinois state budget and an additional $5.7 billion for local budgets. [Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole] doesn’t want Gov. J.B. Pritzker to capture dollars meant for local governments as was done last year.
“If there is a federal relief package, we’re hoping the money will flow directly to communities and without additional restriction put on by the state which was the case with the federal CARES Act last year,” Cole said.
If federal funds are distributed directly to locals, Cole said the state shouldn’t use that as an excuse to cut state funding for local governments.
“That money can’t be in lieu of our regular state-shared resources that provide for the operations of the community just in regular times,” Cole said.
The governor’s proposed state budget has around $152 million in cuts for local governments statewide unless state lawmakers approve ending $930 million in tax incentive programs. Cole said even if those incentives were closed, there’s no guarantee the state would generate that much money.
While the Illinois AFL-CIO remains neutral in the decision of the Democratic Party of Illinois to select a new chair, we would like to bring your attention to the attached memo from the law firm PerkinsCoie regarding the contribution of soft money to an elected federal office holder serving simultaneously as a political party chair.
After reading the memo and receiving questions for our affiliates , we asked IL AFL-CIO General Counsel, Joel D’Alba to review the memo and offer his legal opinion on how Illinois labor unions would be affected when making contributions under such a scenario. His response follows:
Dear Tim,
You have asked me to review the legal issues that have been raised in a legal memorandum prepared by a law firm that has an excellent, national reputation in advising political candidates and officials. The memorandum deals with the issues that would arise if a federal office holder becomes the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. The related legal consequences under the federal election laws include control by a federal office holder over political funds that are solicited, received, directed, transferred and spent outside the limits and restrictions established by the Federal Election Commission.
The main point of the memorandum is that federal law, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, was enacted to bar the use of “soft” money as a means of influencing federal office holders, and the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois has significant responsibility over the use of such funds. The chair as a federal officer holder according to this memorandum could expose the DPI and possibly its labor donors and labor recipients of solicitations for funds to federal scrutiny by the Federal Election Commission.
Accordingly, it would be prudent for the State Federation and its affiliates to be quite cautious about making such contributions to a political organization that is governed by a federal office holder.
Regards and be safe,
Joel D’Alba
Joel A. D’Alba
Asher, Gittler & D’Alba, Ltd.
Organized labor is the lifeblood of the state party.
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Kelly’s spokesperson…
Nancy Pelosi asked Robin Kelly to raise 1 million dollars, Robin Kelly raised 3 million. No one can sincerely challenge her ability to raise money for Democrats.
State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and State Representative David Welter (R-Morris) announced legislation today that would finally implement key recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the Quincy Veterans Home Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Both lawmakers said the implementation of the recommendations could have saved lives during the deadly LaSalle Veterans’ Home COVID-19 outbreak.
In March 2019, the Illinois Auditor General released its report outlining a series of recommendations for the Illinois Departments of Public Health (IDPH) and Veteran Affairs (IDVA) to strengthen internal policies and procedures. Those recommendations included:
• Ensuring a timely response for on-site assistance
• Improving communications between IDPH and IDVA personnel, and
• Implementing CDC recommendations following a confirmed outbreak.
During the legislative hearings into the LaSalle Veterans’ Home COVID-19 outbreak, an IDPH official confirmed IDPH still has no policy governing when the agency will make on-site visits. This lack of a clear policy persists even though IDPH has had nearly two years since the Auditor General’s report recommended that IDPH institute such a policy. As an IDPH official noted at a previous hearing, the failure to go on-site in a timely fashion negatively impacted the state’s response to the COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
“As with IDVA, IDPH must be held accountable, too. It’s the Pritzker Administration’s responsibility to ensure the safety of our veterans, but key recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s report were ignored, which led to fatal errors by the administration in their response to the deadly COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home,” stated Sen. Rezin. “The Pritzker Administration had nine months to implement these recommendations before the pandemic began, yet they failed to do so with devastating consequences. They have had another three months to implement these recommendation since this tragic outbreak, yet again they still have not done so.”
In response to this failure, Sen. Rezin has filed Senate Bill 2251, which would implement the core recommendations from the Auditor General’s report. Senate Bill 2251 would do the following:
• Redefine the definition of an outbreak to include two or more individuals at a Veterans Home who have contracted an infectious disease within 48 hours of the first diagnosis;
• Require the home administrator or administrative staff to notify IDVA and IDPH as soon as an outbreak has occurred;
• Require IDVA and IDPH to conduct an on-site visit within one business day of being notified of an outbreak; and
• Require IDVA to post the findings of the on-site inspection on their website.
Had IDPH developed a policy, as recommended by the Auditor General, state public health officers would not have waited nearly two weeks to respond to the 2020 LaSalle Veterans’ Home outbreak. Sen. Rezin and Rep. Welter said the failure by IDPH to conduct such a visit led to a delay in discovering significant deficiencies and lapses in protocols, including failure to follow CDC guidelines, and the lack of effective supplies to safeguard against COVID spread, including improper hand sanitizer and face masks. By ignoring the Auditor General’s findings, the Pritzker Administration mismanaged the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
“Safeguards must be put in place to ensure that our nation’s heroes are fully protected in any future public health crisis,” said Rep. Welter. “The fact is the tragedy at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home that claimed the lives of 36 veterans in the state’s care could have been prevented had the Administration acted beforehand to implement the recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s report on the Quincy Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, and had they not waited 12-days to conduct an on-site visit at LaSalle. By introducing this legislation today, we are putting the full weight of our efforts behind making the reforms we know Illinois needs to put the health and safety of our veterans first.”
In part because of this delayed response, 208 cases occurred with 36 deaths, making this the deadliest outbreak at a state-run facility in Illinois history.
The protocol of notifying the local public health department and leaving it up to those folks to contact the state has got to be changed. If we’ve learned anything from this pandemic, it’s that local public health departments are spotty at best.
* Press release…
Following the recent announcement of its effort to aid in restoring the American people’s confidence in the integrity of their free and fair elections, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) today released additional secretaries of state and state legislators who are serving on its Commission on Election Integrity. The RSLC is convening these leading policymakers in order to share and discuss voter-centric current laws and future reforms that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
“Restoring the public’s trust in our democracy may be a national debate right now, but the Constitution makes clear that improvements to our election laws need to be enacted by state leaders,” said RSLC President Dee Duncan. “We have assembled a group of strong leaders who offer a variety of perspectives on the best policies to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, and we look forward to continuing to serve as a hub of communication for them as they guide their colleagues across the country on how to tailor critical reforms to their respective states. While state Democrats defer to the radical federal legislative changes being pushed by liberals in Washington that will do irreparable damage to our elections, state Republicans are leading on this issue and are focused on producing commonsense results for the American people.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin is on the commission. It’s priority list is here.
With warmer weather just around the corner, boaters are counting on the state to finally do something about skyrocketing trailer fees.
Lawmakers are doubling down on efforts to reverse a 555 percent increase in license plate registration fees for some small trailers. […]
Borkowski saw our stories in early 2020 about annual license plate fees for small trailers jumping from $18 to $118 due to language in the state’s massive infrastructure bill.
We were assured at that time that lawmakers were working to reverse the hike.
“Our understanding was it was a drafting error, and it was never intended to be,” said state Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore).
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 1,143 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 20 additional deaths.
- Cook County: 1 female 60s, 2 males 70s, 6 males 80s, 1 male 90s
- Douglas County: 1 male 70s
- Henry County: 1 female 80s
- Iroquois County: 1 male 90s
- Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 60s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 60s
- Union County: 1 male 60s
- Will County: 1 female 80s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,187,839 cases, including 20,536 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 42,234 specimens for a total of 18,178,487. As of last night, 1,288 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 308 patients were in the ICU and 148 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from February 22–28, 2021 is 2.4%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 22–28, 2021 is 2.7%.
A total of doses of 2,740,105 vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 443,700 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 3,183,805. A total of 2,756,831 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 319,393 for long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 77,876 doses. Yesterday, 50,897 doses were administered in Illinois.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
The University of Illinois System received emergency use authorization (EUA) today from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for covidSHIELD, its innovative saliva-based COVID-19 test that was used on the U of I campuses to hold the virus in check by utilizing widespread testing with rapid results.
Under FDA guidelines, the EUA allows the U of I System to broadly expand its covidSHIELD testing beyond its universities. […]
The $20 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding released by Pritzker will provide a million tests across the state’s 12 public universities and 48 community colleges, under an agreement between the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U of I System. […]
The million tests will be allocated based on a formula developed by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Each university has determined how it will handle COVID-19 testing for the spring semester, as was the case during the fall, but SHIELD Illinois provides a proven option.
* Vox interviews Hilda Bastian, who has been consistently prescient on the pandemic for the past year…
I don’t think there’s been a pandemic quite like this because they were either that the thing went through and did its worst and left horrific death in its wake, or the smaller ones in more contained areas that are recent.
But this thing on this scale, while there’s this level of antibody-based treatments out there, and vaccines of different efficacy, and all of this stuff that could play in the favor of variants, this situation has never existed before.
I don’t think that the past tells us where this is going. [But] I believe the people who are saying that we appear to be on a course to eventually get to the point where we get vaccinated against this each year. The path to global eradication — through very high levels of vaccination with a high level of other suppression efforts — seems narrow. That could change, though, and I hope it does.
With millions of residents in Chicago to vaccinate, the city has prioritized restaurant workers in the so-called group 1c — which Chicago officials estimate won’t start getting vaccinated until March 29.
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Meanwhile, indoor dining is accelerating. Restaurants can now seat 40% of their total capacity or up to 50 people, whichever is fewer.
Officials say they may soon allow 50% capacity if COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline. As of Wednesday, the rolling 7-day average test positivity in Chicago was 3%.
Restaurant workers who talked to WBEZ said they agree some of the groups ahead of them — which include health care workers, the elderly, and frontline workers like teachers and grocery store workers — should be a priority.
But, they’re frustrated that indoor dining keeps getting expanded, increasing their risk to COVID-19 before they can be vaccinated.
Palmer pointed out that her husband, who works in a brewery, which is considered a manufacturing job, got his first dose — even though he only comes face-to-face with his masked coworkers. She doesn’t think it’s right for most restaurants to open up before workers have a chance to protect themselves.
“I’m angry at both the city and the bigger restaurant corporations because it seems like they are the ones pushing to be open, even without vaccines, and the city is allowing that,” she said. “I’m in the service industry, not the servant industry.”
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Illinois’ daily caseload has surpassed 2,000 only three times in the last 15 days. Because of this, the state’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped to the lowest its been since June. On Sunday, that figure, which experts use to gauge the spread of the virus across the state, was 2.4%.
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You have asked under what circumstances a federal officeholder or candidate may serve as Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois (“the DPI”). The DPI maintains a federal account that raises and spends funds within the limits, restrictions and reporting requirements of federal campaign finance law. It also maintains a nonfederal account that raises and spends funds outside these same limits, restrictions and reporting requirements in connection with nonfederal elections. Federal law prohibits a federal officeholder or candidate from directly or indirectly establishing, financing, maintaining or controlling an entity that raises and spends funds outside of federal limits and restrictions in connection with nonfederal elections.
For an individual who is now a federal officeholder or candidate to serve as Chair of the DPI, one of the following events would need to occur:
1. The individual would need to resign from federal office and cease to be a federal candidate;
2. The DPI would need to cease raising and spending funds outside federal limits and restrictions; or
3. The DPI would need to curtail the Chair’s duties and powers so that he or she does not “establish, finance, maintain or control” the DPI for purposes of federal campaign finance law. While possible in theory, such action is impractical in fact. It would essentially turn the Chair into a purely honorary role, without power to direct large portions of the DPI’s activities. Because even such a restricted role would almost certainly result in a complaint to, and potentially an investigation by, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”), we would advise against this approach without an FEC advisory opinion approving the specific arrangement.
The vast majority of money raised by DPI is under non-federal rules.
I’ll be asking for responses.
…Adding… My favorite comment so far is from somebody who said he was more interested in what Speaker Pelosi’s attorneys say. Um, Perkins Coie works for the DCCC. That firm represents basically everybody in national Democratic politics, including Sen. Durbin.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Response…
“A suggestion Congresswoman Robin Kelly is ineligible to be the Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois is false and offensive. Federal and state elected officials follow all applicable election laws. Congresswoman Robin Kelly can be and would be the best person to lead the Democratic Party of Illinois as its next chair.”
“Illinois Democrats watched Georgia Democrats execute a winning strategy in November - led by their Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, Congresswoman Nikema Williams. Georgia Democrats were energized, mobilized and followed the law to big wins. Illinois Democrats can too. But it starts with new ethical and transparent leadership for a new day for Illinois Democrats — that’s with Robin Kelly as our next Chair.”
Pointing to someone else who might also be in violation is not a solid defense, but OK.
*** UPDATE 2 *** US Rep. Kelly has released a letter from attorney Michael C. Dorf. Most important part…
In its most basic interpretation, Section 300.62 would prevent you from raising or spending soft money in state and local elections. In addition, the DPI would be prohibited from spending soft money to the extent that you directly or indirectly “controlled” DPI. […]
I believe that policies and procedures can be constructed to permit you to serve as Chair within the provisions of federal law. These will include the delegation by you to others of certain spending authority as well as the erection of firewalls for designated activities to ensure that you are not directly or indirectly controlling decision making in those activities. Your ability to raise funds for use in state and local elections will be limited, but your ability to ascend the “bully pulpit” to advocate for Democratic policies, principles, and candidates on behalf of DPI should not be impinged.
So, a party chair who can’t raise or spend money. Pure figurehead.
Education researchers in Illinois say the reasons for the teacher shortage are numerous and complex, but it boils down to the fact that there are more veteran teachers around the state retiring or leaving the profession than there are new teachers coming out of university schools of education.
James Anderson, dean of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Education, said in an interview that for a variety of reasons, including the cost of a college education and the salaries teachers earn after graduating, teaching has become a less attractive career than many other professions.
“You graduate from high school, you come to college to become a teacher, you borrow a significant amount of money along the way, then you go into the profession with a very low salary,” he said. “And then you try to pay off your student debt and perform your job as a teacher. And that’s a very difficult invitation to accept.”
The minimum wage for a teacher in Illinois is $34,576 for the 2021-2022 school year and is scheduled to increase under state law to $40,000 by the 2023-2024 school year.
An analysis of the survey results showed a strong correlation between the severity of the shortage and the average teacher salary in a given district. As teacher salaries increase, superintendents report less of a problem with teacher shortages.
In other words, treat your people well and make sure they can earn a decent living.
Golden Apple, an Illinois nonprofit committed to preparing, supporting, and mentoring aspiring teachers, is working to resolve this crisis. Golden Apple prepares future teachers to serve in schools and communities in need, resulting in not only adding more teachers to our classrooms, but also increasing diversity within the profession. Over half of Golden Apple’s Scholars are teachers of color, compared to only 15% of Illinois teachers statewide.
Golden Apple President Alan Mather released the following statement re the report:
“Today’s report is sadly no surprise to those of us who work every day to support and prepare future teachers to serve in schools- and districts-of-need. Over the past few years, there’s been a series of taking two steps forward and then one step back; the shortage continues despite programs like our Scholars and Accelerators that are boosting the number of teachers, especially teachers of color, entering Illinois classrooms. We have willing partners in State government who recognize the teacher shortage cliff we face, but Illinois can’t go it alone; the federal government needs to join in this critically important fight for our children’s futures.”
The February University of Illinois Flash Index rose to 96.6 from its 96.3 level in January. Last year’s February 2020 reading of 105.7 was the last reading above the 100-dividing line that indicates growth before the COVID-19 crisis caused the index to plummet to 92.8.
“Although the Flash Index does not predict the future, most signs suggest that both Illinois and the nation are on the verge of a strong economic expansion,” said University of Illinois economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the monthly index for the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA). “The shutdowns and the threat of the virus suppressed demand. The return to near-normal anticipated in the next few months with the availability of various vaccines and the likelihood of additional federal stimulus spending are expected to unleash some of that pent-up demand.”
Like last month, the indicators for Illinois were mixed, with unemployment increasing while tax revenues remained strong. All three components of the index (corporate, individual income and sales tax receipts) exceeded the levels of the same month in 2020 after adjusting for inflation even though last year’s numbers were not impacted by the health emergency.
The Flash Index is normally a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income as estimated from receipts for corporate income, individual income, and retail sales taxes. These are adjusted for inflation before growth rates are calculated. The growth rate for each component is then calculated for the 12-month period using data through February 28, 2021. Ad hoc adjustments have been made to deal with the timing of the tax receipts resulting from state and Federal changes in payment dates beginning in March.
Personal information of nearly 9,000 Illinois families was sent by the state to the wrong mailing address in November and December last year. The state says they’re working to ensure the error doesn’t happen again.
The Illinois Department of Central Management Services said Friday that a change of address registry from the USPS was matched with an out-of-date client file by a state employee.
“The resulting file was loaded into IES, the State’s eligibility system, and incorrectly changed the address for 8,848 [Health and Family Services] and [Illinois Department of Human Services] households,” according to a news release. “As a result of the error, in late November and December 2020, notices were mailed to 8,848 households at incorrect addresses. Notices were sent to the right customer name at the wrong customer address.”
Those notices may have included names, case numbers, names of dependents, birth dates and even confidential medical information.
“Of the 8,848 notices that were mailed, one notice included a complete Social Security number, and five notices included a complete bank account number,” the agency said. “To date, the Departments are unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of personal information as a result of the incident.”
I checked with the state and was told “The data matching error occurred during a National Change of Address process executed by a DoIT employee.
Several Illinois county GOP organizations and the Chicago Republican Party have censured Kinzinger in the wake of his impeachment vote. The Chicago GOP party vote on Feb. 23 was among 34 ward committeemen; the organization has 16 of those 50 ward spots unfilled.
What’s noteworthy is that the Illinois Republican Party is not pursuing a Kinzinger censure.
According to the GOP party spokesman, the view of the new state GOP party chair, Don Tracy, is that the state party “will not be censuring Congressman Kinzinger. His goal is to unite the party and stop the circular firing squad.”
“Darkness has replaced light. Conspiracy has replaced truth. Division has replaced unity and worst of all, courage is fading and fear is rising,” Kinzinger said in a new video on behalf of his anti-Trump PAC.
“Rather than dispel the fear, most of our leaders stoke it. Gone are the days of inspiration. Now they amplify fear for their own selfish gain. Yet what’s good for them is bad for the nation,” said Kinzinger, who turned 43 on Saturday. “Division is widening. Anger is growing. Fear creates more fear, and it leads to the conflict that will tear America apart. Enough is enough.”
Kinzinger’s vote to impeach Trump and subsequent actions to take on Trump supporters have earned him a sanction of disapproval from the Illinois GOP and censure motions by county GOP organizations within his 16th Congressional District. He also now has an announced 2022 primary opponent, Catalina Lauf of Woodstock, who finished third in an unsuccessful bid last year for the GOP nomination in the 14th Congressional District.
Of Lauf, Kinzinger said that anyone declaring their candidacy against him now, so early in the campaign cycle and before new congressional district boundaries are drawn reflecting the 2020 federal census, are “making it clear that they have no interest in representing the people they live with. They’re more interested in representing the interests of a man.”
Earlier this week, at a Zoom meeting of the Chicago Republican Party Central Committee, a resolution to censure Illinois Congressional Rep. Adam Kinzinger was presented, discussed and voted upon. The resolution passed and is presented below.
RESOLUTION OF THE CHICAGO REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE
WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump was impeached by the United States House of Representatives without justification as there was not a proper investigation of the causes of the January 6, 2021 riot at the United States Capitol; and, Whereas President Trump was denied basic due process rights at the hasty and hyper-partisan impeachment proceedings conducted in the House of Representatives; and,
WHEREAS, subsequent and ongoing investigations of the riot have established that many of the unlawful activities were premeditated having been planned in advance of January 6, 2021 and therefore were not incited by President Trump’s speech delivered on that date; and,
WHEREAS, the resulting impeachment trial in the United States Senate was unconstitutional as the Senate lacked proper jurisdiction over a former President; and,
WHEREAS President Donald J. Trump was nonetheless acquitted by the Senate despite the unethical conduct of the House Managers throughout the trial; and,
WHEREAS, United States Representative Adam Kinzinger from the 16th Congressional District of Illinois has repeatedly engaged in conduct injurious to Republican Party harmony and unity in terms of his wholly unwarranted criticisms and defamatory attacks upon President Trump throughout the impeachment hearings and the trial before the United States Senate;
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE CHICAGO REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE:
RESOLVED, that Congressman Adam Kinzinger shall be and hereby is censured by this Committee; and
FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chair is directed to transmit this Resolution to Representative Kinzinger and publicize the Resolution by means of an official press release to Illinois media outlets.
I certify that the above resolution was approved by affirmative vote of the Ward Committeepersons of the Chicago Republican Central Committee of the City of Chicago on February 23, 2021.
Stephen F. Boulton
Chair of the Committee
…Adding… The Chicago GOP is inconsequential in local races, but it has an important place in statewide bids…
President Trump received almost as many Chicago votes as he did in DuPage. 181,234 in Chicago, 193,611 in DuPage https://t.co/wqZzrnYdG9
One veteran is celebrating after donating his 50th gallon of blood.
Don Schaefer has been donating pints since he was on tour in Germany back in the 1950s.
As of today, he’s donated blood 402 times. The Red Cross in Charleston honored Schaefer with his very own plaque and banner, but Schaefer says the most rewarding thing is knowing his blood could be saving a person’s life.
* Mr. Schaefer has actually upped his game this century. Flashback to 2009…
Donald Schaefer’s family gathered around him Sunday afternoon to celebrate a special milestone.
This milestone was not a birthday, anniversary or retirement; it was the Charleston resident’s 200th donation of blood to the American Red Cross. […]
[American Red Cross District Recruiting Manager Garry Allison] said a unit of blood is equivalent to a pint, so Schaefer has given the equivalent of 25 gallons of blood over the years to the Red Cross. He said each unit is divided into red blood cells, platelets and plasma, so Schaefer’s 200 donations could have helped save the lives of up to 600 people.
The average donor gives blood once a year, although they can give blood every 56 days, Allison said.
“It is people like (Schaefer) that make what I do each and every day worthwhile,” Allison said.
The contest for Illinois Democratic Party chairman is down to two candidates after state Sen. Cristina Castro dropped her bid Sunday and her supporters sided with U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly over Ald. Michelle Harris. […]
Despite Sunday’s shift, Harris still holds the early lead over Kelly in securing the votes needed to replace Madigan, who resigned the post last week.
With Gov. J.B. Pritzker in her corner, the veteran 8th Ward alderman so far has public support from party leaders who represent about 44% of the weighted vote, while Kelly of Matteson has nearly 19%, including the 5% Castro had collected.
It’s not just a race between these two candidates. It’s also a race to 50 percent plus one weighted vote…
I changed the format of my chart so that you can easily see which candidate each committeeperson is supporting.
* The Kelly folks were demanding a vote this coming Saturday, but the acting DPI chair, a Harris supporter, is calling a meeting instead for this Wednesday night. Just saying, but you usually call the vote when you have the votes rounded up…
The Sun-Times has learned the vote will be held during a virtual meeting of the state central committee members at 6 p.m. Chicago time on Wednesday.
According to a notice sent to members on Sunday night by party executive director Mary Morrissey, “the meeting will also be livestreamed so that Democrats across the state can be present for the meeting.”
* Not a bad question…
I genuinely want to know the conversation that led to releasing Mike Madigan supports her candidacy. #Twillhttps://t.co/0WQWE2mIqG
Kelly, you will recall, demanded a probe last week of some transfers Madigan did with the party’s federal money before his resignation took effect.
…Adding… Back when Mike Madigan and Gary LaPaille took the state party away from Vince Demuzio, Vince sent out a lot of press releases announcing endorsements of his candidacy by people who didn’t have a vote on the state central committee. Kelly has been doing much the same thing the past week…
Today, Congressman Sean Casten, Congressman Mike Quigley, Congressman Brad Schneider, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Congressman Bill Foster announced their endorsement of Congresswoman Robin Kelly for Chair of the Illinois Democratic Party.
Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch gave his standard reply to a question about redistricting reform last week when queried at the Chicago Economic Club, saying different people have different opinions about what a “fair map” actually is.
But then the new House speaker leaned a bit harder into the concept of protecting minority rights when redrawing the new legislative district maps than I’ve heard him do in the past.
“I think a fair map is a map that reflects the diversity of our state,” Welch said. “Diversity is the strength of Illinois. Look at the Democratic Caucus, for instance. Diversity is the strength of our caucus. If you look at a map and it doesn’t reflect the diversity of the state, I don’t know how anyone can call that a fair map.”
While former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s folks often talked about that very issue, the media tended to ignore their argument because it was emanating from the widely proclaimed Gerrymanderer in Chief. Illinois now has its first ever Black House speaker with Welch, and that likely will mean much more focus on this particular topic.
The House Black Caucus did quite well with the 2011 remap, considering Black population loss in the previous decade, and undoubtedly it will do whatever it can to hold onto its position during the coming map-drawing process, whatever that process entails. The chamber’s Latinx Caucus made some gains a decade ago, but it and the Asian American/Pacific Islander/Native American demographic still have a long ways to go before they reach any sort of parity with their U.S. Census numbers.
As a whole, the Illinois House is somewhat more diverse than the state. The House is 69.5% white, while the state is 76.8% white. The House is 18.6% Black, which is more than the state’s 14.6% Black population. But the House is just 8.5% Latino, including last week’s addition of new Rep. Angie Guerrero Cuellar, which is less than half of Illinois’ 18.5%. And though 6.6% of Illinois is AAPI/Native American, just 3.4% of House members are in that demographic.
And since Welch mentioned the diversity of his party’s caucus, it’s now 50.7% white, while the 2016 demographic Census estimates of House districts his Democrats represent shows 48% of those residents are white. That’s pretty close.
However, 30.1% of the House Democratic Caucus is Black, even though Black residents make up just 20% of the population in districts represented by House Democrats, according to Census estimates.
Compare that to the 13.7% of the House Democratic Caucus that is Latino — much less than the actual Latino population of 23% in House districts represented by Democrats. And while 5.5% of the House Democratic Caucus is AAPI/Native American, that demographic comprises 9% of the population in House Democrat districts.
To be fair, making nearly a quarter of House Democratic seats into Latino-led districts and almost one in ten AAPI/Native American-led districts probably will not be possible because of population concentration or the lack thereof. But whatever the final number, Speaker Welch has quite a delicate balancing act ahead of him.
While we’re on the topic of reform, Welch also said last week that the required economic interest disclosure statement for legislators and others in government is “a worthless piece of document.”
Responding to a question about ethics reforms he supports, the new House speaker said the legislature’s Commission on Ethics Reform was a “good start,” though the group has barely got started. He also said Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposals were a “good start,” adding, “We need to take a look at many of those things and go from there.”
That’s when he mentioned the Statement of Economic Interest. “You know, it confuses us,” he said of those who have to file the statement every year, disclosing some forms of outside income. “So imagine what it does to the layperson.”
Some legislators have claimed to have been confused about what they should disclose after stories were written about income they didn’t disclose. While some of that was just excuse-making, there are some legitimate gripes about the vagueness of the law. On the other hand, the public might wonder why the recently retired Senate Republican leader didn’t legally have to disclose an interest in a video gaming company.
Welch also said the General Assembly should take a look at other things like legislators working as lobbyists and revolving-door prohibitions. We’ll see if he pulls any of this off.
The Biden White House said Sunday that John Lausch will continue as the U.S. Attorney based in Chicago, confirming the Chicago Sun-Times report last week that he won’t be forced to resign.
President Joe Biden’s team wanted all top federal prosecutors to resign as of Sunday, with only two exceptions. Lausch became the third, with the Biden White House reversal.
“In very limited exceptions, including the Northern District of Illinois, the administration has opted not to seek new candidates for U.S. Attorney positions at this time,” said a White House official Sunday who did not want to named.
Lausch’s office is investigating Commonwealth Edison’s alleged bribery scheme to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to then-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s loyalists in exchange for his help with state legislation. Madigan has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the scandal helped topple him from power.
The White House statement Sunday was the first official comment by the Biden administration on the situation. The White House did not elaborate on the reason for the change of heart and stopped short of confirming that Lausch would stay on until a new U.S. attorney is installed.
*** UPDATE *** Seems pleased…
JUST IN: Statement from U.S. Attorney John Lausch, who was nearly forced out of his job last month as Chicago's top federal prosecutor. Lausch says, "I am humbled by the support I have received" and "we look forward to continue working with our partners to pursue justice." pic.twitter.com/C04PYHO7yj
An internal document seen by the Guardian shows that at least 14% of Uline’s corporate workforce has tested positive for Covid-19 since last April, compared to 8.7% of the population in Kenosha county, where the company’s corporate office is located.
Nearly 19% of the company’s Illinois workplace has tested positive, 23% of its California-based workforce, and nearly 27% of its workforce in Texas.
One complaint filed to federal worker safety regulators, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which was received in July 2020, described workplace hazards including: social distancing guidance not being enforced; lax mask-wearing inside the office; symptomatic employees being allowed to continue to work without face coverings; and employees being forced to return to work in close contact with others even when they could feasibly work from home. […]
Workers at Uline’s corporate offices are also made to follow strict rules on attire, including, for women, making sure their suit jacket is closed when walking through the building, and wearing pantyhose with skirts from November to April.
Richard Uihlein has nearly single-handedly financed an Illinois-based political action committee with a $24.5m donation in the 2020 election cycle. The group, called Restoration Pac, spent nearly $19m attacking Democratic candidates in the last election cycle – in eight races. Seven of the eight Democrats the group attacked, including Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock, won their races.
Ald. Michelle Harris Announces More State Central Committee Member Endorsements for Party Chair
“I’m honored to announce the endorsement of additional colleagues in my campaign for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” Ald. Michelle Harris said.
The following State Central Committee (SCC) members have endorsed Ald. Michelle Harris for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois:
Hon. Bobby Rush, CD-1
Hon. Michael J. Madigan, CD-03
Hon. John Cullerton, CD-5
Hon. Cynthia Santos, CD-5
Hon. Danny Davis, CD-7
Hon. Karen Yarbrough, CD-7
Hon. Michael Cudzik, CD-8
Hon. Jerry Costello, CD-12
Hon. Kathy West, CD-12
Hon. Jayne Mazzotti, CD-13
Hon. Brandon Phelps, CD-15
Hon. Vivian Robinson, CD-15
Hon. Tom Walsh, CD-16
Hon. Don Johnston, CD-17
“I am grateful for the confidence of these members of the SCC in my ability to lead the Democratic Party of Illinois and will continue to prioritize the input and seek the support of all SCC members throughout this process,” Ald. Michelle Harris continued. “We were elected to represent the interests of the people within the party and only together can we do that to move the party forward. The Democratic Party of Illinois is one that must include Democrats from across the state and if elected, I am committed to collaborating with every SCC member to ensure the party is one that every Democrat can call home.”
* On Wednesday, I wondered aloud if the story about Speaker Chris Welch’s comments on another graduated income tax vote were “actually anything beyond some public spitballing during a webcast.”
* Well, Speaker Welch did another event today, and Greg Hinz was the moderator…
At the top of my list as moderator was asking Welch how serious he was when he suggested during an interview earlier in the week with the Economic Club that officials take another run at enacting a graduated income-tax amendment, one that would dedicate much of the proceeds to paying off $144 billion in state pension debt.
Welch described that as “spitballing,” saying he only was talking about what might happen “if” the subject returned again. Welch said the General Assembly will “probably not” revive the issue this spring, in time for a new referendum in 2022. But he also described the state’s current tax code as “unfair to working families,” a suggestion he’d still like to see some change.
* The Question: How do you think Speaker Welch is doing so far? Make sure to explain your answer.
In late September, before covid-19 swept through southern Illinois like a prairie fire, before nearly every single resident of a nursing home in Du Quoin was infected, before the disease pushed Perry County’s rural health-care system to the breaking point, confidence was in the air.
The county clerk, Beth Lipe, realized the pandemic wasn’t causing any rush for absentee ballots. Of 9,300 applications she mailed out, she got back fewer than 1,000 requests, about the same as any other year.
The staff of the St. Nicholas Brewing Co. on a Friday afternoon set up 10 tables for their evening food and bar service next door in the parking lot of the Du Quoin State Bank. As usual, fewer than half their customers showed up in masks.
Fairview Rehabilitation and Healthcare, on East Jackson Street, had yet to see a single case of covid-19, six months into the pandemic. “I had escaped it,” said the home’s owner, Scott Stout. “We hoped and we prayed.” That month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded the nursing home a $19,000 incentive grant recognizing its superior infection-control procedures, one of thousands of such grants across the nation. […]
When [November] began, Perry County, population 20,000, had experienced fewer than 500 coronavirus cases over seven months, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. By Nov. 12, when word came of the first positive test at Fairview, the county had 653 cases. By the end of the month, 1,238. By the end of January, 2,940, or nearly 15 percent of the county’s residents. That’s almost double the percentage of New York City’s caseload. Fifty-six have died.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 2,441 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 55 additional deaths.
Champaign County: 1 male 90s
Christian County: 1 male 70s
Coles County: 1 female 80s
Cook County: 2 females 40s, 3 males 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 50s, 2 females 60s, 4 males 60s, 3 females 70s, 3 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 4 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
Crawford County: 1 male 70s
DuPage County: 1 male 50s
Grundy County: 1 male 70s
Kane County: 1 male 80s
Kendall County: 1 female 90s
Lake County: 1 male 70s
LaSalle County: 1 male 70s
Livingston County: 1 male 70s
Massac County: 1 female 80s
McHenry County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 80s
McLean County: 1 male 60s
Mercer County: 1 female 80s
Peoria County: 2 females 90s
Sangamon County: 1 female 80s
St. Clair County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
Vermilion County: 1 male 50s
Warren County: 1 female 90s
Will County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
Winnebago County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,183,667 cases, including 20,460 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 92,256 specimens for a total of 17,988,085. As of last night, 1,393 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 336 patients were in the ICU and 174 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from February 19–25, 2021 is 2.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 19–25, 2021 is 2.7%.
A total of doses of 2,726,745 vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 444,500 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 3,171,245. A total of 2,543,620 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 307,382 for long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 68,988 doses. Yesterday, 102,670 doses were administered in Illinois, marking the second highest reported amount of vaccines administered to date.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
* Kass’ recent column asked whether crime victims received a pen from the governor when he signed the criminal justice reform bill into law…
Pritzker said critics “don’t want any change, don’t believe there is injustice in the system and are preying upon fear of change to lie and fearmonger in defense of the status quo.”
I decided to call someone who has much more experience than Pritzker or Foxx in criminal law:
But instead of calling any legitimate groups that represent crime victims, he called a judge who retired rather than face the voters last year.
It’s a free country, but maybe if you write about crime victims you could at least briefly chat with people who run groups that help crime victims, like, for instance, the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, which, among other things, offers legal representation for sexual assault survivors.
The pen victims got was more precious than a souvenir. It was one used to help ink this law. Survivor advocates like [the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence], [The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence] & [the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation] were at the table. Our input was based on experience that cash bail does not equal safety.
The #PretrialFairnessAct ends cash bail, replacing the practice of using wealth to determine who’s free before a trial with a system based on assessing risk. That’s particularly important to survivors of gender-based violence, who gain a stronger voice in the new process.
Releasing ppl who can pay bond w/ little regard for threat they may pose is nonsense. These reforms ensure ppl held for forcible felonies (including domestic/sexual violence) are kept up to 48 hr, providing time to determine if they’re a risk. Those who are remain detained.
Yes! IL is the 1st state to entirely end cash bail. That came about w/ support from the community of people who have survived sex crimes & domestic violence. Learn more about why we support the #PretrialFairnessAct here
Through our work with survivors of sexual violence, we know how the criminal legal system often fails them. That’s why we are cheering the signing of the Pretrial Fairness Act into law. It ends money bail, replacing the practice of using wealth to determine who has their freedom before a trial with a system based on assessing risk. This is particularly important to survivors of gender-based violence, who gain a stronger voice in the new process.
Survivor advocates like CAASE had a seat at the table in crafting this transformative bill. Our input was anchored in our understanding of why criminal justice reform is so important to the safety of survivors and the whole community. When it’s implemented in January 2023, people with low incomes will no longer be locked up simply because they can’t pay bail. People won’t be incarcerated pre-trial because of racist and classist stereotypes that perpetuate fear against Black men, in particular. Survivors can advocate for what they need to feel safe and secure.
These reforms are based on lessons learned from other states, with Illinois being the first to abolish cash bail with support from the community of survivors. This law empowers them to be part of the process and allows people who have caused harm to repair their lives and be restored to the community. It’s a step towards a system rooted in equity and safety, rather than fear.
In other words, dangerous people with access to money can currently avoid jail. More folks need to keep that in mind.
Q: [To Sen. Durbin] You and the governor do not agree on who should lead the state Democratic Party […]
Durbin: The good news is, the people who have been mentioned as potential party chair, all three are excellent. All three can lead our party effectively. We may have a difference of opinion on which may be better at the moment, but I think there’s a common belief that all three are excellent.
Q: And family feud? Seems like there’s quite a fight behind the scenes.
Durbin: If it was a real family feud, I wouldn’t be here today. We let our responsibility as public officials really guide us, number one; and number two, long-term friendships will take us through even rocky periods.
Q: Gov. Pritzker, can you talk about [unintelligbile] that there’s really been a hard sell on your part, of phone calls and promises made? Why is that necessary to get Michelle Harris through?
Pritzker: Well, there are no specific, no special promises being made. I’ve called members of the state central committee to let them know why I’m supporting Michelle Harris and how she’s been an activist, somebody who has really built a ground operation to get Democrats out to vote. She has one of the most productive wards in the city of Chicago in terms of getting votes out, someone who’s a listener and a leader. So, I’ve made that case to people on the state central committee. When you say ‘necessary,’ there are a lot of calls that are going on around the state. You saw some state reps and others trying to weigh in on this. Look, I just believe that we need great leadership for building the Democratic Party of Illinois, which really has been something that hasn’t been done for a number of years. We have a great opportunity to do Latino outreach, to communities of color broadly. We need great leadership and we need forward momentum. And I’m very excited about the leadership that I think Michelle Harris will offer.
…Adding… This just in…
Special Meeting of the Central Committee
Dear Chair Karen Yarbrough:
We, the undersigned, wish to co-sign yesterday’s request from fellow State Central Committee Members in calling for a meeting of the Central Committee on March 6, 2021.
Our colleagues deserve the opportunity to discuss this cohesively as a group. Additionally, we should ensure transparency by providing a live stream for the media and general public to view all candidates for Chair presenting their credentials to the Central Committee.
Sincerely,
Hon. Chuy Garcia
State Central Committeeman IL-6
Hon. Cristina Castro
State Central Committeewoman IL-8
* More complaining about the proposed corporate tax loophole closures in Crain’s…
The tax hike only adds to the “ticking (fiscal) bomb” that is Illinois’ $144 billion in unfunded pension liability here, says another relocation consultant, Boyd Co.’s Jack Boyd. Combined, his clients, including some now in Illinois, increasingly are looking at places such as Texas, he says.
In fairness to Pritzker, Illinois is not the only state to be moving its tax structure in his proposed direction, at least in part. For instance, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington research group that’s fairly conservative but also frequently cited in economic circles, only 16 states grant the full accelerated depreciation that’s now in federal tax code. Pritzker’s proposed change there is worth $214 million a year.
On the other hand, the largest change the governor wants—capping deductions of corporate losses at $100,000 a year for three years, worth $314 million a year—would absolutely make Illinois an outlier relative to other states, says Taxpayers Federation of Illinois President Carol Portman. Such unpredictability is what really irks business, she says. Beyond that, according to the Tax Foundation, Pritzker’s changes overall would reduce Illinois’ business-tax-climate rating from a weak 36th of the 50 states to an even sadder 39th.
What in some ways is most concerning about all of this is the aura of payback Pritzker and his aides seem to have embraced. The message seems to be: Hey, business, you beat my graduated tax amendment, so now you have to pay.
Tens of millions of dollars were spent against a graduated tax rate last year. Deleting specialized loopholes makes the tax structure flatter. Careful what you wish for. /s
* Also…
Nestled delicately within this piece is saying the quiet part out loud: what businesses really want is stability. But, it’s way easier to vilify “Springfield” in the hopes good ideas get worn down.
PolitiFact: “Natural gas, not wind turbines, main driver of Texas power shortage. Of the power shortfall that hit Texas, over 80% was due to problems at coal- and gas-fired plants.”
Chicago Tribune: “Texas blackouts in winter storm falsely blamed on renewable energy, Green New Deal”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott: “It’s frozen in the pipeline. It’s frozen at the rig. It’s frozen at the transmission line. The natural gas providers are incapable of being able to come up with the gas that feeds into the generators that send power to people’s residences …”
Kansas City Star: “One lesson that should not be taken away from this weekend: that it underscores the need for more natural gas and fossil fuel production…”
When Illinois experienced the Polar Vortex in 2019, it was coal plants that shut down in freezing temperatures.
Reject the noise. Get the facts in this new video from the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza requested that former Rep. Edward Guerra Kodatt, in the spirit of good governance, decline the full month’s salary he was entitled to under current Illinois law for the days he served.
She is pleased to announce that Kodatt informed the Comptroller’s office via email today that, “In the spirit of good governance and in the best interest of the people of the state of Illinois I decline the one month salary to which I am entitled by law.”
Comptroller Mendoza is making a similar request of newly appointed Rep. Angelica “Angie” Guerrero-Cuellar, who will serve these last two business days of February but is entitled to a full month’s pay under the law.
Former Speaker Michael Madigan’s final paycheck for a full month’s salary has already gone out for him representing the 22nd district for most of the month of February.
“Taxpayers should not have to pay three different representatives three full months’ salary for the same seat for the same month,” Mendoza said.
Comptroller Mendoza has introduced legislation, SB484 and HB3104, sponsored by State Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, and State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville called the “No Exit Bonus” bill which would provide that legislators going forward are paid on a pro-rated basis for each day of service – not a full month’s salary for a day or two of service. She expects broad bipartisan support.
[I’ve made a couple of typo corrections at the request of the comptroller’s office.]
The Biden Administration, Governor JB Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth today announced eligible Illinoisans from every part of the state will be able to be vaccinated starting March 10 at a new United Center site that prioritizes access for seniors and equity for the hardest hit populations.
The Biden Administration is opening pilot Community Vaccination Centers across the country. The United Center site will open on March 10 with the capacity to administer 6,000 doses per day, all of which will be provided directly by the federal government and not taken out of the state or city’s allotment.
The site will be by appointment only; seniors will have first access to appointments before the site opens, and if appointments remain available after seniors have had their exclusive registration period, any remaining available slots will be open to any Illinoisans eligible under the state’s guidelines. After the launch on March 10, registration will continue to be open for all Illinoisans eligible in the state’s Phase 1B+.
Preparations and buildout of the United Center Community Vaccination Center are now underway. Information about where and how to make appointments will be available in coming days. Demand is anticipated to be high.
The United Center will be open to all Illinois residents currently eligible to be vaccinated under the state guidelines and will be managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency with support from the Department of Defense, State of Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago.
The United Center site builds on an expanding network of state-supported sites operating across southern, central and northern Illinois. The United Center location is one of the best places in the country to advance key equity priorities through its proximity to medically underserved communities and goals of reaching those most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.
“The United Center is one of the best locations for vaccinating large numbers of people in America: it’s easy to get to, is in the midst of a medically underserved community, can handle large crowds and is well known to everyone in Illinois,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Thanks to FEMA, the United Center is just our most recent among a growing number of state-supported mass vaccination location for residents. To date, the Illinois National Guard has launched 15 state-supported sites, including locations in Springfield, Rockford, Carbondale and Metro East – and that’s on top of mass vax sites operated by our 97 local health departments. I am deeply grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for working closely with us to bring on this high-capacity site, and I’m particularly proud that we’ve worked together to prioritize seniors in this process, moving us that much closer to putting this pandemic to an end.”
“The federal government is committed to the equitable distribution of vaccines across the country and in the state of Illinois,” said Kevin M. Sligh, acting regional administrator, FEMA Region 5. “The goal of establishing these joint federal pilot centers is to continue expanding the rate of vaccinations, with an explicit focus on socially vulnerable or underrepresented communities.”
“The opening of the federal mass vaccination site at the United Center brings us another step forward in our equity-centered COVID-19 vaccination plan,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “From our seniors to the communities hardest hit by the pandemic, we will not stop until we get shots into the arms of our residents who patiently wait to see the light at the end of this pandemic.”
“The new United Center mass vaccination site is a game changer for Chicago and the entire region,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “This is what Presidential leadership looks like—bold, collaborative, and science-based. With this new site, we’ll now be able to take our vaccination success to a whole new level and bring to bear the historic and inclusive recovery that is soon to come.”
“Getting vaccine shots into the arms of Americans will help break the back of this pandemic. This site in the City of Chicago, which Senator Duckworth and I have been working for, will help our most vulnerable communities get the protection they desperately need. I applaud Governor Pritzker, Cook County President Preckwinkle, and Mayor Lightfoot for working with us and the Biden Administration to make this site a reality. Help is on the way, Illinois,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).
“This new mass community vaccination center is an important step in our efforts to overcome this pandemic, and it will help get shots in the arms of Illinoisans at a much higher rate, especially in the communities hit hardest by COVID-19,” U.S. Senator Duckworth said. “Senator Durbin and I worked closely with the Biden Administration to help bring this center to Chicago, and I am also thankful for the support of Governor Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Lightfoot in bringing this facility to Chicago.”
This federal pilot site will not divert allocations from other jurisdictions, as vaccine will be provided direct by the federal government to the site. The site will operate seven days a week for eight weeks under the federal government’s vaccination pilot program.
The United Center was selected by the Biden administration in coordination with state, county and city partners to fulfill the administration’s commitment to expanding the rate of vaccinations across the country in an efficient, effective and equitable manner, with a keen focus on making sure that communities with a high risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection are not left behind.
In addition to the United Center, Illinois has 15 state-supported mass vaccination sites already open across the state. These sites are currently open to any eligible resident via appointment. For more information on how to make an appointment to receive the vaccine, updates on the state’s plan and eligibility, and answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, go to coronavirus.illinois.gov.
Seems like a good plan. And despite it being open to every Illinoisan, let’s hope this helps Chicago catch up with the rest of the state on vaccinations. As we’ve discussed before, the city is lagging at getting shots into arms and nobody in the Chicago media seems willing to press the issue. The city is also refusing to move into “1B+” even though the other cities which also receive direct vax shipments from the CDC have done so. Philadelphia, New York City, San Antonio and Houston are all in 1B+ as Chicago stubbornly refuses to join them. If it takes the state stepping in, then so be it. Chicago is part of Illinois, too. Its residents deserve a chance at their shots like everyone else in the state.
* From the United Center…
We are proud to partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the City of Chicago, Cook County, and State of Illinois leadership, to transform the United Center campus to help expedite vaccine distribution. From the onset of this pandemic, the United Center’s team of dedicated professionals have worked tirelessly with relief agencies, first responders, City, County and Federal agencies and the public on a wide array of initiatives to support the region’s Covid-19 relief efforts. It is our hope that by partnering with FEMA to create a mass vaccination center, we are one step closer to putting this pandemic behind us. We are grateful for the dedication of our United Center professionals, and our incredibly supportive vendors and partners, to help turn these plans into a reality. Without their support this effort would not be possible.
* Sens. Durbin and Duckworth…
“Getting vaccine shots into the arms of Americans will help break the back of this pandemic. This site in the City of Chicago, which Senator Duckworth and I have been working for, will help our most vulnerable communities get the protection they desperately need. I applaud Governor Pritzker, Cook County President Preckwinkle, and Mayor Lightfoot for working with us and the Biden Administration to make this site a reality. Help is on the way, Illinois,” said Durbin.
“This new mass community vaccination center is an important step in our efforts to overcome this pandemic, and it will help get shots in the arms of Illinoisans at a much higher rate, especially in the communities hit hardest by COVID-19,” Duckworth said. “Senator Durbin and I worked closely with the Biden Administration to help bring this center to Chicago, and I am also thankful for the support of Governor Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Lightfoot in bringing this facility to Chicago.”
Durbin is scheduled to be at today’s event with the governor, which should be interesting considering they’re on opposite sides of the state party battle. Duckworth is with Pritzker on this one.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Today, Uber announced its Uber Zone at the United Center will host a COVID-19 mass vaccination site with the City of Chicago, FEMA, the United Center, and ZocDoc. The Uber Zone site will become the primary vaccination location in the city of Chicago, helping to increase the number of Chicagoans who can get vaccinated against COVID-19. Uber also announced that it is providing 20,000 free rides in partnership with the City and ZocDoc to help remove transportation barriers that may prevent some Chicagoans from accessing these lifesaving vaccines. While these free rides to and from the vaccination site are available citywide, Uber credits will be targeted to residents on the South and West sides to help close equity gaps on vaccination access.
* Press release from Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi…
“The opening of the United Center’s mass vaccination site and its capacity of more than 6,000 vaccines per day is a crucial step forward for the efforts of the Chicago region, and Illinois overall, to achieve universal inoculation against the coronavirus. In my position on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, I will continue to fight to expand vaccine production, access, and transparency until everyone in Illinois and our country is able to receive this life-saving vaccine.”
In honor of spring training kicking off this weekend, thought I would share a couple of photos of Secretary White when he played AAA ball for the Salt Lake City Bees. He played for the Bees in 1963 and 1964.
Attachments…
If I was fully vaccinated, I’d probably already be blogging from Arizona.
Ald. Michelle Harris Announces More State Central Committee Member Endorsements For Party Chair
“I’m proud to announce the endorsement of several more of my colleagues in my campaign for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” Ald. Michelle Harris said.
The following State Central Committee (SCC) members have endorsed Ald. Michelle Harris for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois:
Hon. Michael Cudzik, CD-8
Hon. Vivian Robinson, CD-15
Hon. Tom Walsh, CD-16
Hon. Don Johnston, CD-17
“I am honored by the trust of these esteemed members of the SCC, and I will continue to listen to their thoughts and concerns and those of the members who remain undecided,” Ald. Michelle Harris continued. “The future of the Democratic Party of Illinois is one that must include Democrats from every part of the state and if selected, I promise to work each day as Chair together with other SCC members to build a party we can all be proud of.”
So far, several members of the Democratic Central Committee have committed to a candidate, giving Chicago Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) an edge with nearly 40 percent support. Congresswoman Robin Kelly has 10 percent, and state Sen. Cristina Castro, 4 percent. (Each member holds a different weighted vote.)
But half of the committee still hasn’t committed, including former state Sen. Carol Ronen and Board of Review Commissioner Mike Cabonargi, whose votes have sway in the contest. They represent the 9th District, which has a combined 10 percent of the vote. Neither returned a request for comment.
Ronen, Cabonargi and other Democrats have sent a letter to acting party Chairman Karen Yarbrough calling for a public meeting March 6 to hear the candidates talk about their priorities. Kelly signed the letter, too.
* Here are the weighted vote totals for each member of the central committee…
A pickup truck parked in a restricted area designated for members of Congress during the deadly January 6th insurrection bore the insignia of a right-wing anarchist militia group and a government-issued license plate belonging to an elected official from the Land of Lincoln.
The truck belongs to Illinois state representative Chris Miller (R-Oakland), a 66-year-old second-term statehouse Republican, and his wife Mary Miller, a newly elected member of Congress who recently apologized for quoting Adolf Hitler the day before the pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election.
The image of the truck was first identified online by a group of web sleuths that scours social media for video evidence of the insurrection incident and calls itself the ‘Sedition Hunters.’
Deeply troubled by this embrace of an anti-government extremist symbol by @RepMaryMiller and IL State Rep Chris Miller. Just last week we shared with @RepMaryMiller a map of 54 incidents of hate, extremism, antisemitism, and terrorism in and just outside the 15th CD from 2019-20. https://t.co/SG3scFHqkcpic.twitter.com/Fyal6o72ah
But in an email to The Daily Beast, Chris Miller, Rep. Miller’s husband and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, conceded the truck belonged to him even as he pleaded ignorance about the militia group.
“Army friend gave me decal. Thought it was a cool decal. Took it off because of negative pub,” Miller wrote in an email late Thursday. He says he “never was member” of the militia and “didn’t know anything about 3% till fake news started this fake story and read about them.”
* And then came this statement via his spokesperson last night…
I have never been a member of the 3 percenters. My son received the sticker that was on my truck from a family friend who said that it represented patriotism and love of country. The original group, which has disbanded, was not a violent anti-government group. They were not involved in the Jan. 6th riots. They have issued a statement distancing themselves from the extremists who have copied their name. I have since removed the sticker. My intention was to display what I thought was a patriotic statement. I love our country and consider myself a patriot. My intention was not to hurt or offend anyone but simply to express what I thought was a statement of patriotism. God bless America.
Yes, because I’m constantly putting stickers on my own $50K truck about groups that I know nothing about. Right. Sure. Totally believable.
*** UPDATE 1 *** IDCCA…
Following multiple public reports showing State Representative Chris Miller in attendance at the January 6, 2021, rally that led to an insurrection of the U.S. Capital, President Kristina Zahorik of the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association (IDCCA) submitted a request to the Office of the Legislative Inspector General to investigate Miller’s involvement in the day’s events. A copy of the letter is below.
“Representative Chris Miller swore an oath of office to support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois. Miller’s attendance at the rally that turned into a mob and insurrection of our nation’s Capitol is troubling, and to date many unanswered questions remain about his subsequent actions and whereabouts that day. The Legislative Inspector General, at a minimum, should investigate to what extent Miller played a role in the events of January 6, 2021.”
The Office of the Legislative Inspector General receives and investigates complaints of violations of any law, rule, or regulation or abuse of authority or other forms of misconduct by members of the General Assembly. As criminal charges accumulate for those involved in the attack on the Capitol, Representative Miller has removed his social media posting showing he attended the rally suggesting he hopes to distance himself from the insurrection.
* Letter to LIG…
Dear Inspector General Pope:
Following public reports showing State Representative Chris Miller was in attendance January 6, 2021, at the rally in Washington, D.C. that led to a deadly insurrection, we are calling on the Office of the Legislative Inspector General to open an investigation into Representative Miller’s presence and involvement in the day’s events.
• Mark Maxwell, Twitter, January 7, 2021: https://twitter.com/MarkMaxwellTV/status/1347236821512695810
• Huffington Post, January 22, 2021: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republican-lawmakers-at-the-capitol-riot_n_6009e17cc5b6df63a91e5cf4
• Huffington Post, February 13, 2021: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/57-gop-officials-at-capitol-insurrection_n_6026e5e2c5b6f88289fb90a6
• The Daily Beast, February 26, 2021: https://www.thedailybeast.com/rep-mary-millers-husband-owns-three-percenter-militia-truck-at-capitol-riot
As federal charges accumulate against those who stormed the nation’s Capital — ranging from unlawful entry in a restricted building to assault on a federal officer — very little is known about Representative Miller’s activity that day. Miller has since deleted his social media posting showing himself at the aforementioned rally.
As the United States Congress pursues the creation of a commission to investigate the mob attack of January 6, it is only appropriate that the Office of the Legislative Inspector General investigate any potential violations of any law, rule, or regulation or abuse of authority or other forms of misconduct by a member of the General Assembly. At minimum, this constitutes the type of conduct that is unbecoming of a legislator and warrants an investigation by the Inspector General.
Conducting unbecoming is what the Republicans used against Speaker Madigan last year. I’ve asked Speaker Welch’s spokesperson for comment.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The state GOP has been mighty quiet today…
Rep. Miller put a militia sticker on his car and is suspected to have been at the insurrection. Our party needs to handle this and I support further investigation. #RestoreOurGOP#CountryOverPartyhttps://t.co/IxCbEt1DRP
The happiest place in medicine right now is a basketball arena in New Mexico. Or maybe it’s the parking lot of a baseball stadium in Los Angeles, or a Six Flags in Maryland, or a shopping mall in South Dakota.
The happiest place in medicine is anywhere there is vaccine, and the happiest people in medicine are the ones plunging it into the arms of strangers.
“It’s a joy to all of us,” says Akosua “Nana” Poku, a Kaiser Permanente nurse vaccinating people in Northern Virginia.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had an experience in my career that has felt so promising and so fulfilling,” says Christina O’Connell, a clinic director at the University of New Mexico.
The man who called me, a long-retired Chicago police officer, was alternately charming and curt. He insisted he had nothing to do with the murder.
“All the things you wrote in your letter to me are not true,” he said, speaking slowly, his voice occasionally shaky. “Everything in there is a f****g lie.”
In the letter, I had asked him about a murder I’d been examining: the unsolved killing of a prominent Black politician in Chicago. I had reason to think he knew something about it.
On Feb. 26, 1963, Ben Lewis, the first Black elected official from Chicago’s West Side, won what was set to be his second full term on the City Council. Lewis, 53, appeared to be climbing the political ladder. Newspapers were reporting talk — encouraged by the alderman himself — that his next stop would be Congress, a move that would have made him one of the highest-profile Black politicians in the country.
