* Republican Illinois US Reps. Mike Bost and Darin LaHood signed on to an amicus brief with about half the Republican members of Congress in support of the Texas attorney general’s attempt to overturn the presidential election results in four states. This afternoon, Attorney General Kwame Raoul signed on to a much different amicus brief, and here’s his press release…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 23 attorneys general, today urged the Supreme Court to reject Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit asking that the court overturn the 2020 election results in four states.
In an amicus brief filed in Texas v. Pennsylvania, Raoul and the coalition argue that Texas’ unprecedented lawsuit depends on a misreading of the Constitution’s Electors Clause. Texas’ unsupported theory clashes with a century of precedent, denies states the authority to make their own decisions about election administration and oversight, and threatens to upend basic notions of federalism and states’ rights. Further, the lawsuit depends on specious claims of voter fraud, without offering any evidence of systemic fraud in the November election. Raoul and the coalition are asking the court to throw out Texas’ lawsuit.
“It is concerning and dangerous that the president and his allies have spent the weeks following the election seeking to undermine its results, as elections are at the very core of our democracy. Further, it is unconscionable that a state attorney general would use his authority to file a frivolous, unfounded lawsuit aimed at overturning an election,” Raoul said. “The people of the states in question have spoken decisively, and I stand with my colleagues to defend their right to be heard.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.” President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Subsequent recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia confirmed the results, and election officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have now certified their results.
While the president’s campaign has continued to make allegations of electoral tampering, neither the campaign nor its supporters have produced any evidence of substantial voter fraud or other forms of wrongdoing. The president and his allies have filed 55 election-related suits since November 3, and federal and state judges have rejected their claims in all but one minor case.
Despite this, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, supported by 17 Republican attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the Supreme Court. The lawsuit alleges that the states unlawfully enacted changes to their election laws under the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs are asking the Supreme Court to take the unprecedented step of intervening and invalidating the will of the voters in those four states. Tellingly, the lawsuit makes no mention of other states – including Texas and several other states that supported Texas’s lawsuit – that made similar changes to election processes to guarantee residents could access ballots while staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Raoul and the coalition filed an amicus brief today in vigorous opposition to Texas’ undemocratic effort to overturn the results of the election. Specifically, the states urge the Supreme Court to deny Texas’ lawsuit on the grounds that:
• Texas’ interpretation of the Electors Clause is contrary to a century’s worth of precedent: The Electors Clause of the Constitution grants the states the power to set their own rules for presidential elections held within their own states. While the Constitution grants this authority to “state legislatures,” since the early 20th century, the Supreme Court has allowed legislatures to delegate authority to elections administrators or other state government entities.
• States have a constitutional right to determine the process for administering their own elections: Federalism is a core component of the Constitution, governing the division of power between the states and the federal government. The Constitution makes clear, and the Supreme Court has affirmed, that the framers granted states the right to administer and oversee presidential elections on their own. Yet Texas’ lawsuit – calling on the Supreme Court to intervene in the elections held by the four defendant states – would infringe on that right, and thus, states’ sovereignty. Further, it would set its own destructive precedent limiting states’ ability to make critical changes to the structure and oversight of elections.
• There is no evidence that the states’ commonsense measures to protect the voting rights and health of residents produced significant voter fraud: Since 2000, more than 250 million people in all 50 states have voted using mail-in ballots. In 2018 alone, more than 31 million Americans – or approximately 25.8 percent of voters – cast their ballots by mail. Moreover, five states – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – had all-mail voting systems prior to the 2020 election, through which every registered voter receives a ballot in the mail. Despite the prevalence of voting by mail, officials at the state and federal levels have consistently found no evidence of widespread fraud. This remained true for the 2020 election. Despite the president’s claims that the results were tainted by voting fraud, his lawyers and other allies have consistently failed to produce any evidence to substantiate these assertions. Indeed, Republican and Democratic officials overseeing the elections in all four defendant states have repeatedly confirmed that processes were safe and secure.
Joining Raoul in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington.
* From Raoul’s spokesperson, when asked about Bost and LaHood…
It’s clear the president is asking both state attorneys general and congressmen to take this action, and it is unfortunate.
I’ll be more than happy to post any statement from Bost, LaHood, the Illinois Republican Party or the two GOP legislative leaders in response.
*** UPDATE 1 *** I have yet to hear back from the ILGOP or the two legislative leaders (surprise!), but Congressman LaHood gave a brief statement to Crain’s…
In a statement, LaHood said, “The cornerstone of our democracy is our electoral system and any irregularities presented should be investigated. I support President Trump’s right to make his case and I believe that the Supreme Court is the final venue to examine any election irregularities in full.” He said he believes Illinois’ election results were “accurate and fair.”
“President Trump is using the legal means available to him to ensure that every legal vote is counted,” Bost said in a statement Tuesday, prior signing on to the amicus brief. “At a time of great uncertainty for our country, it is vitally important that the American people have faith in our elections and trust the results.”
Bost followed up after signing the brief with a statement Friday saying the lawsuit represents an effort “to ensure that the American people can have faith in our elections and trust the results.” The Supreme Court, he added, is the “final arbiter in cases of election irregularities.”
* Illinois Democratic County Chairs Association President Kristina Zahorik…
“Darin LaHood and Mike Bost apparently do not believe that the votes and the will of the people matter this election. By signing their name to a legal argument that ignores the rights of a state to determine how to manage their own elections, they are not only showing their hypocrisy when it comes to states’ rights, they are also attempting to undermine votes legally cast by citizens of this country.”
“The IDCCA salutes Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul for standing up for the rights of Americans to vote safely and securely. Shame on Bost and LaHood for tarnishing Illinois’ reputation and for this baseless attack on our democracy.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor was asked about this today…
There are I think more than 100 Congressional Republicans who signed on to that. I am surprised. In the Land of Lincoln, I think of Republicans, Democrats as being a lot more reasonable than the people who have followed Donald Trump down every rabbit hole.
And so I just would say it’s irresponsible.
And it’s a ridiculous lawsuit. I don’t know why they would sign on except for apparently undying commitment and loyalty to a failed president.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Press release…
Rep. Brad Halbrook sends letter to Attorney General Kwame Raoul urging him to join Texas election lawsuit
Reps. Chris Miller; Blaine Wilhour; Darren Bailey; Andrew Chesney; John Cabello and State Reps. Elect Adam Niemberg and Paul Jacobs join Rep. Halbrook in calling for Illinois to join Texas lawsuit
State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) has sent Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul urging him to join Texas and 18 other states that have filed a lawsuit against four states that have failed to follow the US Constitution with changes in election law that were implemented without legislative approval.
“The Constitution makes it clear that it is the sole responsibility of state legislatures to make the rules for presidential elections, but yet in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia there were changes in the rules that occurred without legislative action that affected the outcome of the election,” Halbrook said. “The failure of these states to follow the Constitution diluted the votes of millions of people living in states that did follow the Constitution. It is important to make sure that we can trust the outcome of this and future elections. We cannot and should not tolerate an unequal application of our laws. It is imperative that we have free and fair elections. This is why it is important for Illinois to join this lawsuit.”
The letter asks Attorney General Kwame Raoul to join Texas and 18 other states in the STATE OF TEXAS, Plaintiff, v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, STATE OF GEORGIA, STATE OF MICHIGAN, AND STATE OF WISCONSIN lawsuit. Joining Rep. Halbrook in signing the letter were: State Reps. Chris Miller (R-Oakland); Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City); John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) and Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) State Rep. Elect Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) and State Rep. Elect Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona).
“We are hearing everyday from constituents who are upset with what is going on in the swing states of Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania,” Miller said. “They have no confidence in the results of this election. What is happening goes well beyond the President. This is about the integrity of future elections. We need to make sure the American people can trust the outcome of our elections. The future of our Republic depends on it.”
* Also…
Mary Miller, Congresswoman-elect (IL-15), joins the Texas Attorney General and 18 other State Attorney Generals, several elected officials in the states under question, and numerous elected leaders supporting the Texas lawsuit. She released the following statement.
“I support this lawsuit and President Trump’s efforts to ensure the integrity of our election process. The American people deserve an honest and fair election process where all legal ballots are counted, and illegal votes are removed. This is the only way we can all move forward together in confidence,” stated Conservative Mary Miller.
“Sunshine patriots and fair-weather fighters won’t win this fight or stop the radical left’s attempts to push their socialist agenda. President Trump endorsed my campaign because he needed more actual allies in Washington. I will continue to fight the establishment in both parties that wants to defeat President Trump,” Miller added.
Miller continued: “I was elected to promote Illinois agriculture and economic opportunities, to uphold the rule of law, to defend our values of faith, family, and freedom, and to support President Trump.”
Mary concluded: “We have too many politicians who talk the talk to get elected, but when it comes time to uphold it and fight, they’re nowhere to be found. I’m going to Congress to fight for the things I campaigned on and, more importantly, the people in my district. The fight has begun.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Over…
To explain the statement by Alito and Thomas: This is totally separate from the merits. They think the Supreme Court is required to hear suits between states, so they think they can't just deny the filing. But they also clearly say they would NOT grant relief to Paxton et al.
The surprise jump in new jobless claims filings to the highest level since mid-September signals a weakening in the labor market that could drag down the economy into the first quarter.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped to 853,000, rising 137,000 during the week ended Dec. 5 from the prior week, the largest weekly increase since the height of economic shutdowns in March. Economists had expected 730,000 claims, according to Dow Jones. They note the Thanksgiving holiday period could have added distortions in both weeks, but the trend is clearly negative.
State continuing claims rose by 230,000 to 5.76 million, the first increase since August.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported 107,616 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Nov. 29, the most jobless claims the state has had in nearly eight months.
Illinois’ estimated claims last week were among 853,000 total filed across the country.
The most recent claims represent a 45% increase from the prior week, when 74,131 unemployment claims were filed statewide, and a 627% increase over the 14,798 new claims filed in the same week of 2019.
Illinois numbers have not been this high since mid-April, when there were over 141,000 claims filed the week of April 6.
If these high numbers are due to fraud, as the governor has said, then Illinois is having truly gigantic fraud problems. We have 3.9 percent of the US population and 12.6 percent of the benefit applications?
*** UPDATE *** Text from a reporter buddy…
On unemployment, IL’s situation isn’t quite that bad. (Altho it’s still bad.) Seasonally adjusted national unemployment apps were 853,000. Actual were over 947,000. So IL accounted for 11.3%
“I think we didn’t communicate effectively with voters,” Guzzardi said. “We didn’t tell a clear story about why we needed the money and what we were going to spend it on to help people’s lives. I think we didn’t tell people where to find it on the ballot.
“We didn’t do a good job of pointing people in the right direction,” he added. “And we didn’t really start communicating with voters at all in a serious way. We let a year go by without campaigning at all on the question” after the General Assembly approved the progressive income tax in the spring of last year and passed the ballot initiative on to voters.
Most disturbing, however, was the way the anti-tax TV campaign bankrolled by billionaire Kenneth Griffin gained traction with voters on the issue of “trust” in government.
“I also think we have a credibility problem, a trust problem,” Guzzardi granted. “Illinois voters really responded to the ‘no’ messaging about this campaign. ‘You can’t trust Illinois Democrats with your money.’ And that’s a real problem for us. And it’s going to hinder our ability to solve the state’s challenges going forward. So that’s something we really have to take a hard look at.”
Yep. They had no real-world policy angle, they didn’t adequately inform voters about how to find it on the ballot, they didn’t start communicating at a time when the other side didn’t have any money and there is a serious trust problem which wasn’t adequately addressed with a forceful enough and early enough counter-response to turn voter anger in a different direction.
I’d also add that, like many policy solutions this governor has offered (cannabis legalization, for example), the plan itself was complicated, which allowed the other side to pick it apart.
The “trust” issue resonated after that, even as the General Assembly has seen abundant turnover just in the last few elections. “Next year will be the beginning of my fourth term, and I’m going to be in the top third in seniority,” Guzzardi said, “so a ton of turnover.” Yet voters still bought the argument that they couldn’t trust Springfield, even as this General Assembly little resembles the legislature of 20 or 25 years ago.
Guzzardi explained, “Voters still see the same leadership at the top, and it looks to a lot of voters like Madigan’s been the speaker since time immemorial, so what’s really changed?”
* Hannah Meisel asked Gov. Pritzker on Tuesday if the National Guard was being sent to the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. He gave her the brush-off, saying “I don’t know where you get your rumors from.” That was a needless and disrespectful jab even if it wasn’t true. Turns out, Hannah’s sourcing was right. Here’s her scoop…
Members of the Illinois National Guard staff have been sent to the LaSalle and Quincy Veterans’ homes to assist with COVID-19 testing and screening at the facilities, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office confirmed Thursday.
It’s not a deployment and those going into the facilities are National Guard staff members and not reserve members. But Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said the homes are in need of help with daily COVID-19 testing.
In a statement Thursday, La Salle County Veterans Assistance Commission Superintendent Steven Kreitzer said the staff are “medical units that will be utilized to maintain records of temperature checks and COVID-19 testing as well as make sure PPE is being worn at all times properly.” […]
The extra help comes after a massive deadly outbreak of the virus is mostly under control at the LaSalle facility, and a smaller outbreak at the Quincy home is ongoing. A 33rd resident at LaSalle died this week after testing positive for COVID-19, meaning more than a quarter of the residents in the home since the outbreak was first reported on Nov. 1 have died. There have been two COVID deaths at Quincy.
Hannah also asked Pritzker this week if the LaSalle Veterans’ Home director had been terminated based on new information or information from the initial probe. And if the firing was based on old info, she asked, what took him so long to do it? Pritzker sidestepped the question.
Every time he does something like that, I wonder what else he’s not telling us. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
We also have the Illinois National Guard on the ground, assisting efforts at LaSalle, with their arrival at Quincy and Manteno set for Monday, providing staff support for screening and handling testing data tracking so that medical staff can focus on direct patient support.
Two days ago, I was asked here about the National Guard being deployed to our homes, and I dismissed it as a rumor. In retrospect, I had directed every member of my administration to move quickly to respond with every available resource to assist IDVA, and the National Guard was asked to be of assistance before I was made aware.
That’s a good thing. I want my administration to be nimble and responsive, but I want to apologize for being dismissive when I was asked about it.
I will say this is just one example of how we are directing every available resource to our veterans’ community through the period of exceptional risk here in Illinois. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to safeguard our most vulnerable, especially those who lived to serve.
* The 2020 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Senate Democratic Legislative Assistant/District Office Manager goes to Jan’et Scott, Leader Kim Lightford’s former LA…
Jan’et consistently went above and beyond while maintaining her compassionate and professional demeanor. In a year that the Majority Leader ran for Senate President, lost and tried to step down from the ILBC only to be pulled back in, all while responding to the many COVID-19 crises. Jan’et’s commitment to serving the Leader and her constituents is unparalleled.
Runner-up goes to Rich Jacobs, Sen. Castro’s Chief of Staff, for a very strong nomination.
* The 2020 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Senate Republican Legislative Assistant/District Office Manager goes to Shannon Hogan, Sen. Sue Rezin’s Chief of Staff…
Shannon has worked tirelessly on all constituent issues from unemployment to long-term care facilities and the LaSalle Home in their embattled district that has struggled with high covid numbers throughout most of the pandemic.
Runner-up goes to the late Jeanne Greenfield, Sen. Dave Syverson’s former Chief of Staff. Rest in peace.
* On to today’s categories…
Best House Democratic Campaign Staffer
Best Senate Democratic Campaign Staffer
As always, do your best to nominate in both categories and make sure to explain your answer. Also, if you can’t make a nomination today, please donate to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois if you haven’t yet done so. We’ve surpassed last year’s total, but we’ve kinda stalled out. Click here. Any amount is greatly appreciated and goes to a very good cause. Thanks!
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 11,101 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 196 additional deaths.
- Adams County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- Alexander County: 1 male 80s
- Boone County: 1 female 40s, 1 female 80s
- Bureau County: 1 female 80s
- Champaign County: 1 male 90s
- Clay County: 1 female 80s
- Coles County: 1 female 90s
- Cook County: 1 male 30s, 2 females 40s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 6 males 50s, 2 females 60s, 5 males 60s, 8 females 70s, 13 males 70s, 5 females 80s, 8 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 4 males 90s; 1 female 100+
- DeKalb County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- Douglas County: 1 male 90s
- DuPage County: 1 male 60s, 3 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 females 90s
- Edgar County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- Fulton County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 70s
- Grundy County: 1 male 60s
- Hamilton County: 1 female 70s
- Hardin County: 1 male 70s
- Henry County: 1 female 80s, 2 females 90s
- Jackson County: 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Jo Daviess County: 1 male 30s, 1 female 60s
- Johnson County: 1 female 60s
- Kane County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 4 males 80s, 1 male 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 female 60s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Kendall County: 2 males 70s, 2 males 90s
- Knox County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- Lake County: 1 female 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+, 1 male 100+
- LaSalle County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s
- Lawrence County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 90s
- Lee County: 1 female 100+
- Livingston County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
- Logan County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Macon County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Macoupin County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s
- Madison County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- Marion County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s, 2 males 90s
- McLean County: 1 male 70s
- Mercer County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 90s
- Monroe County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s
- Morgan County: 1 female 90s
- Ogle County: 1 female 70s
- Peoria County: 1 female 70s
- Perry County: 1 female 80s
- Pike County: 1 male 80s
- Rock Island County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 70s, 3 males 70s, 1 male 80s
- Tazewell County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 100+
- Vermilion County: 1 male 70s
- Wayne County: 1 female 70s
- White County: 1 male 60s
- Whiteside County: 1 male 80s
- Will County: 2 males 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Williamson County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s
- Winnebago County: 2 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 823,531 cases, including 13,861 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 114,503 specimens for a total 11,481,848. As of last night, 5,138 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,081 patients were in the ICU and 606 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 3 – December 9, 2020 is 9.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 3 – December 9, 2020 is 11.4%.
*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. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Big hospitals in Chicago with highly trained specialists have treated the most patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, newly released federal data shows.
But the data also shows that when small hospitals that mainly treat low-income people of color were full, these larger hospitals at times had plenty of beds to spare.
During the week of Thanksgiving, this reality was stark. St. Bernard Hospital in Englewood on the South Side had no more intensive care beds for the sickest patients. Neither did Mount Sinai on the Southwest Side in Lawndale, about 10 miles away, a WBEZ analysis of the data show.
Sinai’s sister hospital, Holy Cross in Marquette Park had seven beds left. Roseland Community on the Far South Side had six.
Meanwhile, big teaching hospitals Northwestern Memorial in downtown, Rush University Medical Center on the Near West Side and University of Chicago Medical Center in Hyde Park on the South Side had nearly 200 empty ICU beds combined that Thanksgiving week.
* The story glosses over it, but college campuses and hospitals are exempt for the same reason…
Restaurants and bars across the state are banned from serving customers indoors, but there are two places in Chicago where you can still legally drink inside a bar: the city’s airports.
Despite an emergency travel order requiring travelers from 46 states to quarantine upon landing in Chicago, people are still allowed eat and drink alcohol inside bars at Midway and O’Hare. That’s because the airports are exempt from Gov. JB Pritzker’s Tier 3 mitigation measures.
Allowing indoor drinking at high-traffic airports is dangerous, one doctor said, calling the move “ludicrous.”
The rules, which went into effect Nov. 20, say restaurants and cafeterias within airports, hospitals and college dining halls can remain open as other bars and restaurants in affected state regions must close. These places are exempt to ensure people “can eat a meal with no alternatives provided in these venues for eating,” the measure states, and patrons must wear masks when waitstaff approach them when they are not eating or drinking at a table.
The liquor service thing is a serious sore spot, though. This needs a rethink.
* I’m not sure I’d want to be the lawyer who loses this particular client’s case, if you catch my drift…
Despite a statewide ban on indoor dining and drinking, a River West tavern is continuing to serve patrons inside and has put the city on notice: a letter on its door warns staff “will not comply” should city officials attempt to shut them down.
On the front door of Richard’s Bar, 491 N. Milwaukee Ave., a posted note tells patrons the bar is open and asks people to wear a mask when entering. Below, the letter tells government agencies the bar’s owners won’t comply with any department’s shutdown requests and will send citations to their lawyer.
“If you are asking us to shut down our business, we will not comply as that request is unlawful according to the law identified below,” the note reads. “We have legal counsel … representing us and we’re happy to provide any notices or citations to him if that’s necessary.”
The note also threatens legal action if a health department tries to close down the bar or pull its licenses. […]
Thomas DeVore, an attorney for Richard’s Bar, declined to comment before speaking with his client.
* Sticking with the Chicago angle…
Arwady showing the changes in the city's positivity rate.
"Now it's back up sort of in the 13 percent range. We really want to see that come back down."
* Could you get a jab at the dentist office? Maybe…
Illinois officials don’t want to have ample stores of vaccines with limited numbers of people to administer doses, Ezike said.
“Absolutely all conversations are on the table,” she said. “I think dentists maybe do have the ability to take part in this process.”
Illinois State Dental Society Government Relations Director Dave Marsh said the society is preparing staff to be able to help off-site, like at a public health clinic.
“And then as the vaccines change, obviously they might be able to do them in their office,” Marsh said. “The storage issue is the biggest hurdle for any provider to do the vaccines.”
Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are already in short supply, but that’s not the main reason it will be months before children are able to be inoculated.
“The vaccines have not been tested on children,” explained Dr. Sara Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, headquartered in Itasca. “But now is the time to start enrolling children in the vaccine trials because we should not really expect them to suffer the consequences of COVID-19 without getting the vaccine as well.”
In response to decreased use of health care services through Medicaid managed care organizations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, state Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dave Koehler, D-Peoria, and state House Assistant Majority Leader Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, filed legislation today to require companies to return excess profits and reallocate funding to critical health care services.
“While insurance companies and managed care organizations see record-setting profits at the height of a global pandemic, rural communities across the state are experiencing unsustainable strain in their health care systems due to lack of resources,” Koehler said. “The money recouped through this legislation would provide immediate relief for Downstate hospitals that have been devastated by COVID-19.”
Hospitals across the state are facing an unprecedented decline in outpatient procedures and elective surgeries as a result of the pandemic, contributing to severe financial strain on health care facilities that serve Illinois’ most vulnerable populations. Conversely, MCOs in Illinois have benefitted from these declines, as enrollment-based payments have continued despite decreased use of non-emergency health care services.
In response, Koehler and Crespo introduced Senate Bill 4207 and House Bill 5867, respectively, which seeks to reallocate a portion of enrollment-based payments made to Medicaid MCOs throughout the pandemic. From an estimated monthly payment of $1.7 billion, a 20% return would yield $340 million per month that can provide needed relief to hospitals and other health care facilities that have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, recouping these funds can provide relief to health care service providers that may be impacted by state budget deficits.
“While safety net and critical care providers are struggling to remain open and serve their communities, MCO’s are continuing to receive over a billion dollars in state and federal funding each month,” said Crespo. “Residents across Illinois are making significant sacrifices in order to protect themselves and their communities, and we’ve even seen the auto insurance and cable television industries return unused money to consumers. It is unacceptable that MCO’s are profiting off of taxpayer dollars that aren’t being used. Clawing back some of the funding that MCO’s have received throughout the pandemic and reallocating those dollars to health care providers in low-income and rural communities could help hospitals remain open amid ongoing financial instability that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
* This is how Rep. Crespo explained the bill to WTTW…
“We know that hospitals have not been doing services they normally do, elective surgery,” Crespo said. “So costs have gone down. So the plan here is to say, we should take back 20% of (the managed care organizations’) profits and redirect it to other Medicaid expenses the state has.”
Except he’s not talking about clawing back profits, necessarily. But, yeah, if they’re profiting off of a shift in the types of care provided, they should definitely lose that money.
*** UPDATE *** From Samantha Olds Frey, CEO, Illinois Association of Medicaid Health Plans…
The State of Illinois already has an existing mechanism to protect taxpayers and state from overpaying for underutilization and for 2020 requires that approximately 90% of the capitation received is spent on direct medical care.
While we have seen a shift in utilization we have not seen a 20% decrease in total medical costs for the Medicaid program.
It is important to note that MCOs don’t just pay for hospitals but a comprehensive healthcare benefit; such as: pharmaceuticals, long term care, and behavioral health. The proposed legislation would reduce the necessary resources to the Medicaid program and negatively impact providers and actually harm our most vulnerable residents. IAMHP is opposed to cutting a healthcare program for over 2 million people by 20% especially in the middle of a pandemic.
* Press release…
Illinois legislators and renewable energy businesses are calling for urgent action to save the state’s solar and wind energy jobs, and a new economic analysis shows that the proposed Path to 100 Act would not only save current jobs but would create more than 50,000 new jobs and $8.7 billion in increased economic output by 2033.
On December 4th, the Illinois Power Agency announced the close of state renewable energy incentives for residents in central and southern Illinois. With funding expected to disappear in northern Illinois in coming days, Illinois’ renewable energy program will abruptly end before the end of this year. The end of incentives will immediately impact the ability of homeowners and businesses to go solar and will force thousands of layoffs at solar businesses across the state in the coming months.
Senator Bill Cunningham and Representative Will Davis introduced the Path to 100 Act in early 2019 to address Illinois’ looming renewable energy crisis. The Path to 100 Act would improve and expand Illinois’ existing renewable energy program to allow the state to reach 40% renewable energy by 2030.
A new economic impact analysis of the Path to 100 Act found that, by 2033, the legislation would result in:
• 53,298 jobs created or supported during construction
• 3,215 jobs created or supported annually during operations
• $8.27 billion in increased economic output during construction
• $571 million per year in increased economic output during operations
The analysis was conducted by Dr. David Loomis. Loomis is the co-founder of the Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University and the President of Strategic Economic Research and has over 20 years of experience in energy and economic development analysis.
“Fixing Illinois renewable energy program is low-hanging fruit for the General Assembly and should be a top priority – we have a proven way to create jobs, benefit consumers and reduce pollution as well as a backlog of projects that could provide a rapid economic stimulus across the state,” said Representative Will Davis, House Sponsor of the Path to 100 Act. “There is no reason to delay fixing this.”
* This newspaper story is so chock full of misinformation that I had to post it…
Like other COVID restrictions, it all came in the form of executive order, meaning without approval from the General Assembly. […]
“The problem is the executive branch, the governor’s branch, does not make laws,” said John Wagner, administrator of the Monroe County Health Department in the Metro East. “It’s much easier to enforce if the legislators get involved.”
Because the measures aren’t backed by state statute, some law enforcement and prosecutors are leery about bringing cases.
What?
The executive orders derive authority directly from state laws, which, in order to become state laws, had to be approved by the General Assembly. And those laws have been on the books for a lot of years. It’s the main reason why judges have upheld the EOs time and time again. The GA also passed several bills this past May which an appeals court cited in its recent opinion…
Our reading of the Act is bolstered by recent legislation that explicitly refers to the Governor’s authority to issue successive disaster proclamations.
Tom DeVore, a Bond County attorney who represents restaurants that want to remain open, said punitive action, including tickets from Illinois State Police, have “no merit.” DeVore also has worked on the case of Bloomington’s Cadillac Jacks for COVID rule violations.
No context at all in the story about how DeVore has lost every case except for when he was in front of a decidedly odd judge in Clay County. Nobody would seriously interview Jim Oberweis about the best way to be elected to statewide or congressional office. Same applies here.
Also, Cadillac Jacks paid $1500 to avoid losing its liquore license.
* My headlines are automatically posted on Twitter, so this one was specifically designed to freak out those folks. The real story here is that Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr has been elected the new Speaker of the Third House, an organization for lobbyists.
The group held its annual holiday party today via Zoom. Outgoing Speaker Julie Sullivan joked that she had the honor of hosting the lamest Third House party ever. But it did have the smallest bar tab.
Anyway, congrats to Rob, who does a fine job with IRMA. I looked around and couldn’t find a suitable photo to use for a caption contest, so we’ll just have to settle for this story from The Onion that’s going around this week…
GAITHERSBURG, MD—Plotting out a career path that would enable him to one day land his dream job, aspiring lobbyist Christopher Talley told reporters Wednesday that he’d been able to get his foot in the door as a state senator. “Obviously I can’t jump right into my dream gig, but being a state senator and nominally representing the people of this district for a few years will help me work my way up the ladder to something actually worthwhile,” said Talley, who won a state senate seat in November as the first part of his personal 15-year plan to someday pursue the financial interests of agribusiness conglomerates in Washington. “Being in a state senate seat is kind of like having some control over how the government works for business, so this will help me get my feet wet and prove to potential lobbying firm employers that I have what it takes to network with people in the government biz. The money’s not great right now on a public servant salary, but this is just the first step to getting into the House of Representatives, maybe a mid-city mayorship, and finally make it to the lobbyist level. I can’t wait.” Talley also admitted that it did make him nervous to see how many of his state senate colleagues were also competing to be lobbyists someday.
*** UPDATE *** OK, now we got us a caption contest. Here’s Rob Karr at the 1990 holiday party…
Richard Goldberg is being recruited by some members of the Illinois GOP to become party chairman, according to a source close to the selection process. The position opened up over the weekend when Chairman Tim Schneider announced he was stepping down after six years. Goldberg most recently served as a director with the White House National Security Council and before that was chief of staff for former Gov. Bruce Rauner and deputy chief of staff to former Sen. Mark Kirk.
… Goldberg, who’s also an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve with the rank of lieutenant commander, is seen as someone who can work across all areas of the Illinois GOP and stand up to Democrats. Goldberg would bring the star power that comes from working for Trump. He also could help rebuild the Republican presence in Lake County, where Kirk resides. The area has moved left with each election cycle in recent years.
Don Harmon will be so pleased, but give Richard credit for writing a heck of a press release. /s
The Lake County stuff is a jab at the county’s party chairman Mark Shaw, who chairs the Republican County Chairman’s Association and co-chairs the ILGOP in a deal worked out by the Rauner folks a couple of years ago to keep Tim Schneider in power. The same folks who tried to block Shaw back then are still at it. This was sent by one of them…
* Republicans lost majority control of the Lake County Board in 2018 and lost three more seats in 2020
* The Republican Sheriff was defeated in 2018
* The Republican State’s Attorney was defeated in 2020
* The Republican Coroner was defeated in 2020
* State House of Representatives District 61 was lost in 2018 and never regained
* Republicans lost Lake County in the race for Governor in 2018 and for President in both 2016 and 2020
* Republicans lost the majority on the Lake County Forest Preserve Board
* In 2020, Shaw led the Lake County Republican Central Committee Executive Committee in endorsing Jim Oberweis for Congress in the 14th District—someone who already lost a record six races for Congress, US Senate, and Governor. With all of his negative baggage, Oberweis went on to lose the 2020 election by one percent of the vote, while also losing Lake County.
Also…
Lake County Precinct Committee Members filing for election:
2016 Primary Election:
103 Democrat
224 Republican
2020 Primary Election:
198 Democrat
158 Republican
Precinct committeeman recruiting aside, a lot of this cannot be blamed on the party chairman. Lake County has been trending Democratic for years for the same reasons DuPage has changed: Demographics and the GOP’s presidential candidates.
But the Oberweis thing still sticks in a lot of craws of the folks who believe Sen. Sue Rezin would’ve had a much better shot at winning in November. Rezin will be the deputy leader of the Senate Republican Caucus come January.
* Local topics, polite discussion. What could be better? Well, perhaps a donation to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois to help buy some kids Christmas presents and coats and boots. Click here. Thanks.
Statement from the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus House
The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus House held a first of its kind Speaker of the House Candidate’s Forum Saturday, December 5th. Out of the 118 members of the Illinois House, only two candidates availed themselves to our process for Speaker of the 102nd General Assembly. After analysis, we believe our caucus is in a more advantageous position under the leadership of Speaker Madigan to deliver on our priorities. We have a daunting task ahead of us to repair harm done to black communities because of long standing systemic disinvestment, the challenges stemming from COVID-19 and of course the underlying reasons why it is important to pass the Black Caucus’ Policy Agenda: Criminal Justice & Police Reform; Education & Workforce Development; Economic Access; and Access to Health Care.
The members of the House Illinois Legislative Black Caucus have taken a Caucus position in support of Representative Mike Madigan as Speaker for the next General Assembly. We need a Speaker that will provide strong, consistent leadership and support for the challenges ahead.
It’s time to refocus on the work in front of us and be prepared to start the next General Assembly’s business immediately.
This means, of course, that now the opposition cannot reach 60 votes for a different House Speaker.
*** UPDATE *** From the only Black Caucus member who has said he will not vote to reelect Madigan…
State Rep. Maurice West Responds to Black Caucus Statement with 4 words
House Republican legislators held a Zoom press conference on Wednesday to address concerning delays in FOID card and Concealed Carry Licenses (CCLs) processing, and discussed their shared 2nd Amendment focused legislative agenda.
State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) named several constituents by name that have felt the strain and anxiety caused by the delays in processing FOID and CCLs.
“When it comes to our most basic rights, like the right to keep and bear arms, there is no room for error or delay,” Bourne said. “I hear every single day from frustrated constituents who have been waiting months upon months to receive renewals or initial FOID cards and concealed carry licenses. The Pritzker administration is failing to lead on this issue. Illinoisans deserve better.”
State Rep. CD Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville) argued if the state of Illinois cannot operate the FOID program in an efficient manner, the program should be eliminated.
“If the State Police can’t get the FOID program to work within the allotted time, it should be suspended immediately. We are required to follow the law, but they are not!”
State Rep. Mike Marron (R-Fithian) says his office handles dozens of calls from frustrated residents every month. Most of the time, Marron says, answers are hard to come by.
“Over the last year, my office has received hundreds of constituent complaints on the FOID card renewal process,” Marron said. “There has been a steady increase of approval delays leading to many frustrated citizens unable to speak with a live person when checking on their FOID renewal and approval status. This has been a problem for a long time pre-dating the Covid-19 pandemic. The Democrat majority swept $28,000,000 million dollars out of the dedicated fund that is supposed to administer the FOID program. We are sponsoring bills to eliminate the program and end the delays.”
State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) is a former prosecutor, and member of the House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee. Windhorst says FOID delays can be fixed via legislation or full elimination of the requirement.
“Illinois is one of only four states in the Union that require citizens to obtain a FOID card,” Windhorst said. “We should eliminate the FOID card requirement. While that might not be possible given the current makeup of the General Assembly, the legislature should immediately pass reforms to ensure Illinoisans can exercise their 2nd Amendment rights without unnecessary delays in the FOID and concealed carry card process. Let’s get to work in Springfield to address these delays and provide appropriate service to our citizens.”
* From the Gun Violence Prevention Education Center/Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence…
Today, four state legislators held a press conference recommending that Illinois State Police hastily rush forward in approving the backlog of Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Card applications.
GPEC/ICHV rejects any action expediting FOID card applications unless a thorough background check is completed. We know that rushed and reckless, gun-lobby sponsored actions like this are a threat to public safety. As gun violence prevention advocates, we also recognize that the current system does not protect the public from illegal guns. This year in Cook County alone, over 800 people died from gun violence. The State police should be very careful to issue licenses for more guns when Illinois does not have measures in place to protect the public from corrupt gun dealers and illegal gun sales.
If legislators are serious about protecting public safety and keeping firearms out of the hands of bad faith actors, they should support the Block Illegal Ownership (BIO) policy. This policy calls for a full modernization of the FOID card process which includes:
• Requiring background checks for all gun sales, including by private sellers, curbing the flow of guns into the illegal secondary market.
• Requiring applicants for FOID cards to submit fingerprints to spot dishonest applicants.
• Requiring action by Illinois State Police (ISP) to remove guns once a FOID Card is revoked.
Gun violence is a public health crisis and we will not take shortcuts on the safety of our children, families and communities. GPEC/ICHV is working hard to ensure that gun ownership and gun purchases in the state of Illinois are vetted thoroughly and legally. Our one aim is to fight for a future free of gun violence.
* Illinois State Police…
The Firearms Owner’s Identification card was first enacted by the Illinois legislature 52 years ago. Since that time, the Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau has been tasked with the administration of the FOID card, the concealed carry license (CCL), the Firearms Transfer Inquiry Program (FTIP), gun dealer licensing, appeals, background correlations, investigative support, enforcement and customer service for the firearms safety laws of Illinois.
ROOTS OF THE CURRENT BACKLOG CHALLENGE
The demands placed on our state’s firearms safety system have been outgrowing capacity for years:
• The number of FOID card holders has grown from 1.2 million to 2.2 million in a decade.
• CCL holders grew from 90,301 in 2014 to 343,299 in 2020.
• Due to the lengthy budget impasses, the Firearms Services Fund was “swept” in 2015 and 2018 and no plan to maintain or expand staffing was developed during that period. The current administration has not swept the fund and, in 2019, new leadership over ISP FSB initiated a hiring plan and metrics-based strategic plan focused on outcomes and accountability.
Then came 2020.
This year, the ISP FSB was confronted with a massive work increase across all categories:
• FOID card applications increased 167% from 166,649 in 2017 to 445,945 as of November 2020, blowing past the small surge in 2013 when CCL was enacted.
• FTIPS increased 45% from 2019 reaching 506,104 so far in 2020.
• ISP FSB processed an unprecedented 64,000+ FTIPs in March 2020 — the largest number recorded for one month until that record was broken in June with 65,000+ FTIPs.
• ISP FSB has processed more than 67,000 incoming records (correlations*) in 2020.
• More than 400,000 calls came into the FSB Call Center from May to November when a new automated phone system with metrics was activated.
HOW ISP IS CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGE
ISP FSB is facing this unprecedented confluence of demands head on with increased staffing, process mapping and analysis, technology, flexibility and transparency:
• Director authorized hiring of 32 additional firearms eligibility analysts in February and additional hiring of temporary contractors.
• FSB began an active recruiting effort to fill vacant Firearms positions in the FSB and retain employees in these positions hurt by turnover.
• ISP FSB was directed in 2019 to refine application processes using well-known management analytics called Lean Six Sigma or Rapid Results, which has been used successfully across a number of sectors to increase efficiency by removing unnecessary steps and reducing variation. The ISP has used this process to reduce the Forensic backlog by 48%. ISP authorized a state-contracted service specializing in Rapid Results methodology to implement effective and efficient measures to assist in decreasing the backlog.
• ISP FSB modernized its Call Center with a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) system in April 2020, which provides a menu of automated processes, such as status checks, payments and specific applications to replace the antiquated single line system.
• ISP online access was redesigned to allow applications to be submitted from mobile phones and tablets with user ID and password recovery capabilities to improve customer service and responsiveness.
• ISP provided relief to FOID card holders and CCLs by submitting emergency rules addressing renewals during the COVID-19 epidemic through which FOID cards and CCLs remain valid during the renewal process, if a renewal application was properly submitted by the cardholder.
• ISP provided detailed, transparent briefings to the Illinois General Assembly Restore Illinois Commission and other policy makers and stakeholders throughout 2020.
PROGRESS SO FAR
With staffing increases, elimination of internal redundancies, and execution of technology upgrades, some metrics are slowly, but steadily improving. This progress has been achieved by:
• hiring 21 Firearms Eligibility Analysts hired since March 2020, with 11 additional planned to start in January 2021.
• dedicating 19 temporary contractual employees to ISP FSB.
• temporarily assigning 7 sworn personnel to ISP FSB.
• implementing 7 of 14 major Lean Six Sigma changes to the process.
• the adoption of recommendations in FOID processing resulted in a 33% improvement in productivity in individual background processing.
• the implementation of the Call Center VoIP system implementation in April 2020, nearly 100,000 calls have been handled through the system’s self-service capabilities.
• cleared approximately 67,000 correlations* in CY20.
• holding down processing times averaging well below the 72-hour waiting period, even with a 45 percent increase in FTIP transactions from CY19 to CY20.
• processing 216,805 FOID applications this year.
• processing 50,557 CCLs this year.
• FSB staff working approximately 17,000 hours of overtime.
• processing more new applications were than received in October and November. This is the first time this has happened in CY20. More than 24,000 applications processed in November alone.
THE CHALLENGE AHEAD
Average time for processing a FOID application is 121 days and the average time for a CCL is 145 days. These outcomes are unacceptable to the ISP. Staffing, internal modifications and technology alone will not resolve this issue. The Lean Six Sigma/Rapid Results analysis and firearms services review produced many recommendations requiring statutory authority from the General Assembly to overcome the numerous redundancies in the overlapping FOID process, the CCL process, the FTIP process and the records correlation process that double or triple the workload of ISP FSB personnel without improving public safety outcomes. With over 10,000 FOID revocations and with over 4,700 FTIP denials in 2020, enforcement also remains a serious concern. The conclusions presented to the Restore Illinois Commission in October showed the varied firearms safety processes that have evolved inconsistently over sixty years must be integrated into a modern firearms safety structure that efficiently screens applicants and prioritizes safety. This cannot be accomplished without the support of the General Assembly.
“Aurora showed to everyone that Illinois should be using less of our resources on an antiquated, outdated, inefficient, ineffective renewal process from the 1960s and more on enforcement against real threats to public safety,” said ISP Director Brendan Kelly. “Our people believe in building a system that makes it hard for the bad guys and simple and safe for the good guys. The Illinois State Police will keep pushing hard, but frankly we will need authority from the legislature to untangle, streamline and integrate the aging patchwork of FOID, concealed carry, firearms transactions, and records checks if we are going to fulfill this mission.”
*Each day hundreds of criminal history and mental health records are processed by FSB personnel and compared against current FOID cardholders. The timely correlation of these records ensures that FOID cards of prohibited individuals are revoked.
PUA or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, is a federal program approved in the Cares Act that allows states to provide relief to workers who don’t meet unemployment qualification. [Hairstylist Brittany Welch] says she understood hairstylists like her should get roughly $198 a week through the program. Her payments were nearly double that. Welch says she tried to reach out to the state for clarification.
“I have it documented and screenshotted 783 times I was either disconnected or hung up on,” says Welch. […]
Welch says now the state has caught up to the error. She received a letter telling her to pay back $4,883. She says that’s roughly all the funds she was given.
“So they’re asking me to pay back something. I don’t have an overpayment at all, that’s all I got,” says Welch.
What a freaking mess.
But, the problem is, the state is mandated by federal law to collect any over-payments. The rules set up allowed claimants to declare what they earned, but then the state must follow up and verify. If there’s a difference, the state is responsible for clawing that money back. Some folks may have lied, but some folks may have just filled out the form wrong during a very trying time. In some cases, like perhaps the one above, the state made the error.
Big business gets away with stuff like this all the time. Small business owners who made an honest mistake ought to get a break, but that’s up to Congress. The state has no choice here.
Democratic Senator Steve Stadelman says these types of PUA issues are plaguing every state, which is why Congress must act.
“The federal law requires state’s to recoup that money, the only way that changes is if congress passes a new law or rules.” […]
Republican Representative Andrew Chesney says his side of the aisle has repeatedly called on speaker Mike Madigan to reconvene so lawmakers can push for solutions on these issues.
“Of course that hasn’t happened and we haven’t been in Springfield more than 25 days in a year which is unacceptable. The first people to be at work should be the General Assembly and we should be the last.”
They could reconvene today and it wouldn’t make any difference. This is a federal issue.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 8,256 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 179 additional deaths.
- Adams County: 1 female 100+
- Bond County: 1 female 60s
- Boone County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Bureau County: 1 male 70s
- Champaign County: 1 male 70s
- Christian County: 1 female 40s
- Cook County: 1 female 40s, 3 males 40s, 3 males 50s, 5 females 60s, 7 males 60s, 5 females 70s, 9 males 70s, 11 females 80s, 11 males 80s, 7 females 90s, 2 males 90s, 1 female 100+
- Crawford County: 1 male 80s
- DeKalb County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 70s, 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s
- Edgar County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
- Effingham County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 females 90
- Fulton County: 1 male 80s
- Greene County: 1 male 70s
- Grundy County: 1 female 80s
- Hamilton County: 1 male 80s
- Henderson County: 1 female 90s
- Jackson County: 1 female 90s
- Jefferson County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 80s
- Johnson County: 1 male 40s
- Kane County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 male 80s
- Knox County: 1 female 80s
- Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- LaSalle County: 1 female 80s
- Lee County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Livingston County: 1 female 90s
- Logan County: 1 female 60s, 2 females 90s
- Macoupin County: 3 females 60s, 1 female 80s
- Madison County: 1 female 40s, 2 females 60s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Marion County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 90s
- Massac County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s
- McDonough County: 1 female 70s
- McHenry County: 1 female 70s
- McLean County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s
- Morgan County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 90s
- Moultrie County: 1 female 80s
- Peoria County: 1 female 40s, 2 males 70s
- Rock Island County: 2 females 70s
- Sangamon County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 3 females 90s
- Shelby County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- St. Clair County: 3 females 70s, 1 female 90s
- Stephenson County: 1 male 80s
- Tazewell County: 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+, 1 male 100+
- Vermilion County: 1 male 90s
- Washington County: 1 male 80s
- Will County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 2 females 60s, 1 male 60s, 2 males 70s, 1 male 80s
- Williamson County: 1 female 60s
- Winnebago County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 812,430 cases, including 13,666 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 92,737 specimens for a total 11,367,345. As of last night, 5,284 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,176 patients were in the ICU and 647 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 2 – December 8, 2020 is 9.6%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 2 – December 8, 2020 is 11.4%.
*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. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
…Adding… Keep wearing that mask, keep washing your hands and keep on keeping on with the distance thing and maybe the state will get out of this mess…
Illinois' 7-day average case positivity rate has been falling since abt 11/13, but there is still time to see a post-Thanksgiving surge. Also stil 3x higher than in July. Trend is good, but not out of the woods yet. pic.twitter.com/rwCxAKo5kg
* There’s been a lot of “whataboutism” surrounding House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s brief mentions in the Mike McClain/ComEd emails released before Thanksgiving. I asked Durkin’s spokesperson, Eleni Demertzis, if she’d like to get her side completely on the record. Here you go…
Rich,
With the slew of misinformation and “spin” being pushed by the very Chairman of the Special Investigating Committee into Speaker Madigan and potential “conduct unbecoming of a legislator,” I felt that it was important to clarify what the SIC is supposed to be investigating and what it is not.
The SIC was formed because the Petition described a decade-long bribery scheme by a major utility. The target of that bribery scheme was Speaker Michael Madigan. ComEd not only admitted to this scheme, but it also paid $200 million for its conduct. Since the filing of the Petition, the SIC has heard from one witness: David Glockner, the Executive Vice President of Compliance and Audit at Exelon Corporation and all of its operating companies. Mr. Glockner testified under oath at the September 29, 2020 Special Investigating Committee in Springfield, Illinois, that Speaker Madigan was the object of the bribery scheme.
This testimony and the admissions in the DPA are direct evidence that a sophisticated company paid millions of dollars to bribe Speaker Madigan. These are not unproven charges. These are not rumors. These are not random emails. They are testimonial admissions that the bribery scheme existed. In any other governing body in America, this would be an earth-shattering revelation. Not in Illinois.
But even in Illinois, this direct and powerful evidence is more than sufficient for the SIC to recommend the formation of a disciplinary committee. If some members of the SIC believe, incredibly, that further investigation is necessary, they should get about it. Subpoena witnesses. This is not a cocktail party to which people should be invited. This is an investigative committee investigating the most serious of circumstances against one of the State’s most powerful politicians. If Speaker Madigan wants to testify that Commonwealth Edison poured millions of dollars down the drain when they were trying to bribe him, the Committee should hear his explanation and see how it stands up to cross-examination. If he is not willing to do so, that speaks volumes.
That is what this investigation is about.
Unfortunately, it is necessary to address what this SIC is not about. Instead of doing the work of the SIC, some people have sought to distract the public and the press from the extraordinary evidence against the Speaker. They say, “There is nothing wrong with job recommendations and all this is about job recommendations.” Yes and no. There is nothing wrong about job recommendations. Most people, including legislators, have made job recommendations. The investigations by the United States Department of Justice and the SIC have nothing to do with legitimate job recommendations. This scheme is not about Commonwealth Edison’s not hiring; it paid millions to people close to Speaker Madigan who did no work. This was not about jobs; it was about buying influence. To paint this as an investigation into job recommendations is to paint a zebra white and try to sell it as a horse.
As Leader Durkin said at his press conference last week: “The purpose of the federal investigation and also the special investigative committee is not about job recommendations,” Durkin said Wednesday. “It is about a nine-year bribery scandal between Commonwealth Edison and Mike Madigan, pure and simple. And that’s what we’re trying to get at.”
Then they want to distract from whose conduct is under investigation. Chairman Welch’s request for documents including a roster of names that have nothing to do with the DPA, search warrants or indictments is a blatant attempt to distract people from the subject of this inquiry. There is one person whose influence ComEd admitted it schemed to buy: Speaker Madigan. There is one person whose associates and friends were paid millions of dollars for no work: Speaker Madigan. There is one person who is at the center of this corrupt scheme: Speaker Madigan.
In a low moment, one member of the SIC attempted to execute this scheme to distract the Committee from the work at hand and to throw mud at the Petitioner for daring to challenge Speaker Madigan’s conduct. She failed miserably.
Rep. Hernandez – “And so the agreement to hire Leader Durkin’s recommended candidate, Tom Walsh, even if done in part to curry favor with Durkin, was not this was not done in return for getting Leader Durkin’s support for a stream of benefits that Durkin would bestow upon ComEd or Exelon, including supporting FEJA, right?”
David Glockner - “So I’m not aware that that particular hire was with an effort to curry favor with a with Leader Durkin. I think, really, the rest of your question was really a characterization, which I prefer not to respond to.”
This inquiry was beneath the dignity of the SIC and the witness appropriately refused to dignify it.
To further put this issue to bed: After a years-long, ongoing federal investigation that has led to many high-profile indictments AND ComEd admitting to bribing Speaker Madigan and/or his associates AND ComEd paying the largest fine in Illinois history – All of the lobbyists suspected of wrongdoing have, at this point, either been charged by the federal government or let go by ComEd.
That is not the case for any Republican lobbyist in either Chamber:
• ComEd and Exelon have engaged in significant remedial measures to enhance their compliance program, including taking steps to ensure that employees and vendors ComEd identified as responsible for the conduct at issue are no longer employed by or have a relationship with ComEd.
• ComEd Deferred Prosecution Agreement Page 9 https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/press-release/file/1295241/download
The final strategy being employed to distract from the true work of the SIC is to read random emails completely out of context. The context of the pertinent inquiry is the DPA, the plea of guilty by a co-conspirator, the indictment of other co-conspirators, the hours of testimony of Glockner. That context sets forth a complex, long-standing and damning scheme to bribe the Speaker. The concept that this SIC should explore random emails unrelated to the conduct before the SIC is an insult to the intelligence of the people of the State of Illinois at whom these attempts to distract are aimed.
One example of the danger of doing so is an email in which Defendant McClain describes Tom Walsh’s son as being “Durkin’s political guy” when at the time of that email, both his sons were in high school and certainly not Leader Durkin’s “political guy.” Furthermore, Leader Durkin was unaware of what is referenced as his “agent” making any sort of request on his behalf. More to the point, Leader Durkin was not aware of a complex years-long bribery scheme to influence the Speaker. He would not have believed such a scheme could have been true. But it is.
The only way to find out the truth is to have the individuals on our list, Speaker Madigan included, testify under oath in front of the Special Investigating Committee – so the Committee can conclude its work.
Thanks,
Eleni Demertzis
By the way, if Speaker Madigan would like to submit something, I’d be more than happy to publish it in full, as I did here.
She cares so deeply for every single constituent she works for. I’m in awe of how she goes the extra-mile for constituents, even turning every-day problems to legislation to get at the root of the issue. She’s got my nomination!
Runner-up goes to Tina Tyson-Dunne from Rep. Deb Conroy’s office, who, according to one nominator, has even helped staff COVID testing sites.
* The 2020 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best House Republican Legislative Assistant/District Office Manager goes to Rachel Tabor…
Having professional and friendly district staff is a key factor for successful constituent outreach and completing all the work faced by legislators each session. Rachel knocks it out of the park each time for Rep. Tim Butler even during this past shutdown. Her work ethic and reliability in helping constituents during this pandemic shows why legislative staffers always deserve credit for their hard work and sacrifices that help keep state government going.
Shelly Grigoroff at Rep. David Welter’s office earns a very close and well-deserved runner-up.
Really, though, everyone who does these often thankless jobs deserves a huge thank you from all of us.
* On to today’s categories…
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - Senate Democrats
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - Senate Republicans
I know it’s not always possible, but try your best to nominate in both categories if you can. Also, this isn’t a poll or a floor vote. Explanations are mandatory.
The food permits of several Henry County restaurants have been suspended, the Henry County Health Department confirmed Tuesday. The suspensions were handed down after several area restaurant and bar owners defied the governor’s most recent mitigation measures and continued to serve patrons indoors. […]
As of Tuesday, the Broken Chimney remained closed, but at noontime, Cerno’s Bar and Grill continued to serve food without a food permit, even as the attorney for the restaurant’s owners, Thomas DeVore, appeared in Henry County Court at a preliminary hearing.
On Monday, a complaint for a preliminary injunction was filed against the restaurant owners and a motion for a restraining order barring the restaurant from opening. The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
On Tuesday afternoon, the bar and grill owners announced the restaurant’s closing on their Facebook page.
“Today our lawyer went to court for us and battled for our doors to stay open, unfortunately the judge did not rule in our favor. That ruling unfortunately means a temporarily full shut down. The health department is working to decipher the rules on reestablishing our food license,” the post read.
A lawsuit filed by a Thayer bar against the Sangamon County Department of Public Health on November 25th was thrown out Wednesday afternoon. Represented by Attorney Thomas DeVore, Brewzrz Pub claimed that the Public Health Department violated Illinois law by suspending its food license on November 19, 2020 as a result of the bar’s failure to comply with Sangamon County’s Covid-19 mitigation restrictions prohibiting indoor dining and bar service.
Seven restaurants in St. Clair County have faced recent aggressive actions from the local health department and more actions are coming soon. It’s a new approach to shutting down indoor dining.
Restaurants defying indoor dining orders did not think Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order was enforceable. Then the St. Clair County Health Department started stripping businesses of their food licenses.
Why on Earth would they think the order was unenforceable? You guessed it…
“You have a very small segment of county health departments, and it’s 6 or 7 out of the 102 at this point, St. Clair County being one of them, that’s saying, ‘Well, we’re not closing or making your business off limits to the public, we’re just gonna suspend your food license,’” said attorney Tom DeVore. […]
“The suggestion is they can still use their bar or restaurant to teach typewriter maintenance I guess, but you’re not closed and off limits to the public to where we have to follow the law,” he said. “‘We’re just telling you, you don’t have a food license.’ It’s a big work around.”
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District removed the food permit of Apple Dumplin’, 2014 N. High Cross Road, for continuing to serve indoors, but the restaurant continued to operate without the permit, according to health district Administrator Julie Pryde. […]
Earlier Wednesday, Flanigan contended it’s not illegal to serve indoors, and that he believes Gov. J.B. Pritzker would have had to turn to the state Legislature to pass a law banning indoor restaurant and bar service beyond 30 days of the original order back in March.
He said the health district told him last Thursday that his food permit would be removed, but he passed his health inspection without issues Nov. 24.
“To me, it doesn’t matter,” he said about his food permit being removed. “Even if they did, they did it wrongly.”
Selling snake oil to people to ease their headaches is one thing. Marketing it as a cure for desperate people with terminal cancer is quite another. The ARDC, the Supreme Court, the IBA or somebody needs to step in here. Now.
Wednesday, Dec 9, 2020 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Clean energy is an essential part of Illinois’ economic recovery. It protects public health and creates good-paying jobs, while ensuring that the people most in need of good jobs and clean air are at the front of the line. It will save Illinoisans money.
We can make our recovery an equitable, sustainable one, and position Illinois as a national leader on clean energy. We can stop our energy systems from sickening and excluding people of color. We can bring good-paying clean energy jobs to Illinois while preserving a livable planet.
As COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of 32 residents at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home, State Senators Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) and Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) continue to push for answers about the tragic and ongoing outbreak.
Cullerton and Schimpf, who serve as Chairperson and Minority Spokesperson of the Illinois Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, recently convened a hearing of the committee to learn more about the outbreak. Unfortunately, the hearing left them left with many unanswered questions about the state’s handling of the situation.
Yesterday, December 8th, they made an official request with Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) Director Linda Chapa LaVia for detailed documentation regarding the outbreak and how officials and employees responded.
“Immediate transparency and answers about what’s happening at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home must be provided before more lives are lost,” Cullerton said. “We hope the clear-cut requests for information outlined in the letter will give the public and General Assembly a better understanding of what went wrong and how we can prevent something like this from happening again.”
“We owe it to the veterans and their families to find out how this tragedy was allowed to happen. Unfortunately, the previous hearing left us all with more questions than answers,” said Sen. Schimpf. “We need to find out more about who was making decisions, and at what levels, to determine where the breakdowns occurred that led to this terrible outcome.”
During the recent committee hearing, the senators note that Director Chapa LaVia committed to absolute transparency as it pertains to the outbreak. Cullerton and Schimpf are grateful for that commitment and look forward to the administration’s cooperation in providing the requested information.
• Information pertaining to the responsibilities of overseeing the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA), and the Veterans’ Home at LaSalle. More specifically, who is the deputy governor responsible for being the point person on issues concerning IDPH, IDVA, and the veterans’ homes?
• Any and all communications concerning the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home to and/or from the following: Governor Pritzker, Lt. Governor Stratton, Chief of Staff to the Governor Anne Caprara, Chief of Staff to the Lt. Governor Charles Watkins, Deputy Governor Sol Flores, First Assistant Deputy Governor Lizzy Whitehorn, Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell, First Assistant Deputy Governor Bria Scudder, Director of IDPH Dr. Ezike, Chief of Staff for IDPH Justin Dewitt, Director of IDVA Linda Chapa LaVia, Chief of Staff for IDVA Tony Kolbeck.
• IDPH and Veteran Integrated Services Network (VISN) site reports for all Veterans’ Homes in Illinois for comparison between the dates of April 1, 2020 through November 30, 2020 to ensure the implementation of proper protocol at all of Illinois’ Veteran Homes.
• Any written protocols distributed to employees of LaSalle Veterans’ Home concerning COVID-19 and the dates on which those protocols were acknowledged and implemented by employees:
o Policies, procedures, guidelines, rules or protocols for COVID-19 that apply to the veterans’ home, including:
• Date and time of implementation;
• To whom the policies applied; and
• The individuals responsible for carrying out and implementing the policies.
• The dates and times employees of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home were trained in proper COVID-19 mitigation protocols.
• Any and all shift change logs of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home concerning COVID-19 positive cases, isolation orders, and employee recommendations for the handling of COVID-positive residents.
• Number of applicants and awards (if any) for Region 2 Pandemic Health Navigator Grants, including the amount remaining of the $8.8 million available for Region 2.
• Any and all documents, written and electronic, mentioning COVID-19 addressed to and/or from the Illinois Veterans’ Home at LaSalle dated from October 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020.
When asked Monday if he would support Madigan, [Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa] replied: “I will evaluate all candidates to see what their plan is for our state and if those are in line with the values of the Illinois Valley and our working class sensibilities.” […]
In a September interview with the Shaw Media Local News Network editorial board, Yednock said he wanted to wait to see how the investigation goes before he calls for any resignation.
“I’m not going to call for anybody’s removal unless they are convicted,” Yednock said. “I will do that to a friend or political foe. I think due process still has to be the law of the land.”
In a bid to keep his job, Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan appeared over the weekend before members of the Democratic Black Caucus.
He’s expected to win the group’s endorsement, and state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, said she intends to follow that lead.
“I’m going to support the position of the caucus,” Ammons said.
She said it will be “no surprise” if the caucus endorses the beleaguered Madigan’s tenuous bid for re-election to another term as speaker because of the assistance Madigan has given to the group’s policy priorities.
Ammons also said she will be pleased to support Madigan because “he’s helped (my) district” on university- and hospital-funding issues.
Arguing that it’s time for a “new generation of leaders,” City Clerk Anna Valencia said Tuesday she’s forming an exploratory committee to run to succeed retiring Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
“What I bring to the table is energy and excitement. People are ready for a new candidate who shares their lived experiences like women and young people. Working class families, such as the one that I grew up in. That will excite people and give some momentum,” said Valencia, who will turn 36 next month.
“We’re gonna have our very first female vice-president. Voters are looking for that. Some fresh faces in the Democratic party. I can bring that to the ticket along with my downstate roots. Being the first Latina to run for secretary of state and the first woman that could possibly sit there.”
To underscore the need for fresh blood, Valencia added her name to the growing list of politicians demanding that state House Speaker Michael Madigan be replaced as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party in the wake of the Commonwealth Edison bribery scandal.
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough and former Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias have also expressed an interest. Chicago Ald. Walter Burnett has said he’ll run if he has White’s blessing.
The longest-serving leader of any state legislative body in American history may not hold that post much longer. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan faces rebellion by his own Democratic majority for his entanglement in a federal bribery probe of utility giant Commonwealth Edison. Madigan hasn’t been charged and denies wrongdoing, but rank-and-file lawmakers are taking the once-unthinkable stance that he should lose his speakership. He should. This old-time powerbroker has become a distraction to a state that already has enough problems.
The federal government has indicted four former ComEd officials, including lobbyist Michael McClain, an ex-legislator and longtime Madigan confidante. Prosecutors allege the officials conspired to put Madigan associates and interns on ComEd’s payroll and to put a Madigan-chosen candidate on ComEd’s board of directors to curry favor with Madigan on legislation regarding rate increases and other utility issues. The four pleaded not guilty last week. ComEd itself has entered a deferred-prosecution agreement, admitting “wrongful conduct,” paying a $200 million fine and promising to cooperate with the government.
Madigan’s involvement in the case has led to defections by, to date, 19 Democratic lawmakers who say they won’t support his bid to retain his speakership next month. Unless some of them relent — which would be political suicide after publicly vowing to take that stand — Madigan won’t have the required 60 votes to keep his post. […]
Contrary to Republican mythology, Illinois’ worst-in-the nation pension debt and resulting chronic budget crisis is a mess created by both parties over decades. But Madigan has been in a key role for most of it — and now he seeks to maintain that role under the shadow of scandal. House Democrats must not allow that. It’s time to return this hammer to the toolbox.
A pair of Republicans say they’ve got a remedy: Create a pathway for voters to initiate the recall of their elected official, midterm. […]
To recall statewide constitutional officers, the auditor general, speaker or senate president, Barickman and Batinick propose requiring signatures from 12% of the voters who cast votes for governor in the prior election in order to initiate the recall process; the question would have to clear 60% in order for an official to be ousted via recall.
It’s unlikely it’ll ever get near that point.
Lawmakers are notoriously reticent to approve measures that could imperil their own political futures.
Bonnie Blue, one of the first participants in the Moderna vaccine trial at the University of Illinois Chicago, spoke about her experience Tuesday, saying she took a “huge risk” in doing the trial.
Blue, who joined Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in his daily coronavirus update, is a 68-year-old former Senior Case Manager in the HIV program at Provident Hospital of Cook County with asthma who said her “body is fragile.”
She chose to take part in the trial despite objections from loved ones due to being so at-risk.
“For a person that has been on life support so many times, for me to take part in this trial was a huge risk, a risk my family and friends weren’t happy I was taking, but I’m here,” she said.
Blue has asthma, and noted she was on life support 13 times over her life.
She added that it was important for those on life support to have friends and relatives with them to “hold their hand,” but with COVID that is not possible.
Originally, Blue said she would “wait a year or two” before trying it before becoming a trial participant, and noted that because of her medical history it could have been a “huge risk” and her family did not like it.
“My body is fragile, that’s what I’ve been told by the doctors, but I do what I have to do,” she said. “Please do what you have to do to stay safe. When the vaccines become available, please take it.”
Although the state of Illinois is having its own independent team review the data, Pritzker said the vaccine appears to be effective in 95 percent of the people who receive it, and in 94 percent of people over age 65.
“Illinois will only distribute a vaccine that is deemed safe, and we are one of many states that have established additional review panels, including Indiana, California, New York, West Virginia and Michigan,” Pritzker said. “Our Illinois team is already poring over the analysis released by the FDA on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this morning.”
An FDA review committee is scheduled to meet Thursday to decide whether to grant the companies Emergency Use Authorization to release the vaccine. If that happens, Pritzker said, the first shipment could arrive in Illinois next week.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said her agency is working with organizations across the state to make the virus as accessible as possible once the state has enough doses to immunize anyone who wants it. That includes plans in the works for drive-thru vaccination clinics, she said.
As state and local officials prepare for the vaccine’s arrival, Illinois continues to see some positive trends in its fight against the pandemic compared with the past month, when cases, hospitalizations and deaths were rising rapidly, though officials still are bracing for a possible post-Thanksgiving spike.
Front-line health care workers and nursing home residents are scheduled to be offered the vaccine first, followed by others at higher risk of COVID-19-related medical complications. For now, it’s likely that only people 18 and older will be offered vaccine because the vaccine hasn’t been tested on children yet, Ezike said.
“Without vaccination, this pandemic will extend longer than it needs to,” she said. “Let’s fight back and let’s do what it takes to get us to the end sooner.”
She added it will take months to roll out the vaccine to priority groups and even longer for the general public because of limited supplies in the U.S. “I ask that people be patient. We can only allocate the vaccine that we’re actually given, so we’re prioritizing those at greatest risk of exposure and severe illness. We are hoping for everyone to get this vaccine in the coming year.”
The state’s seven-day average infection rate now stands at 9.9%, the first time it has dipped below 10% since Nov. 6.
Nov. 6 was also the first day the state started including the results of “rapid-result” antigen tests in the state’s daily case counts, which caused a noticeable spike in the infection rate.
The seven-day average infection rate, also referred to as a case positivity rate, is the percentage of new cases each day among the number of test results. It is a metric health officials use to determine when to enact or lift mitigation restrictions on businesses and gatherings.
In the suburbs Tuesday, many counties saw the seven-day average infection rates shrink or stay the same. Will County reported an infection rate below 14% for the first time since Nov. 5. The only county that didn’t see a decrease in the infection rate was Kane County, which climbed from Monday’s rate of 13.9% to 14.3% Tuesday.
The National Restaurant Association warns 10,000 American restaurants could close in three weeks unless Congress passes a relief package. That’s on top of 110,000 restaurants that have already closed this year.
* Meanwhile, from the free Daily Line email…
The Chicago Restaurants Association and Fulton Market Association plan to co-host a press conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday at City Wintery at 1200 W. Randolph St. to call on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. JB Pritzker to restore indoor dining in Chicago to 20 percent occupancy by Jan. 15. They are also calling on Ald. Tom Tunney (44) to be fined the maximum penalty of $10,500 for serving indoor diners at his restaurant. “Chicago restaurant violators must be punished to the full extent of the law, in order to avoid unfair government scapegoating of restaurants as “virus super-spreaders,” according to a press release released by the groups Tuesday.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** Good point…
Lightfoot on Fulton Market group: "I never appreciate hearing that 'someone is demanding a meeting with the mayor' through the very first time through the media." If you're serious, you contact her. She'll find out the particulars of that.
* I was in college in Munich on this day in 1980 when my roommate burst into our dorm room and woke me up to tell me that John Lennon had been murdered. All classes had been canceled.
Everyone was just in shock. How could something like this happen to a person like him?
There was no Internet back then and the only television was in the dorm’s lobby, so we mainly relied on Armed Forces Radio for updates.
It’s all such a blur now. But I remember, after hearing the news for myself on the radio, going to the main campus building (it was a University of Maryland campus on an Army base) and huddling with crying friends. I eventually wound up back in my room, and we put this song on the record player and sat in silence as we listened to it over and over again…
The Illinois Board of Higher Education today released public university enrollment data indicating enrollment numbers holding steady despite nationwide declines in new and returning students due to COVID-19. Overall enrollment in the state was up by 0.2 percent or 417 students compared to fall of 2019 with 182,586 students currently enrolled in public universities. A nationwide snapshot of fall enrollment shows higher education down by 1.8 percent compared to 2019, per the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
“I am extremely proud of the resiliency of our students, our institutions, their leadership and faculty who all worked hard to make this Fall reopening as successful as possible. There was talk over the summer that college enrollments could be down 25 percent across the nation, and Illinois has proven that its students continue to stay the course,” IBHE Chair John Atkinson said. “Enrollment in our public universities remained largely steady which is, a reflection of both Governor Pritzker’s continued commitment to higher education funding and the planning and preparation of the IBHE Reopening Committee working with our public, private and community college leaders to reopen safely to students”
Undergraduate enrollment by headcount was down slightly, with a decrease of 1,345 students (1 percent) for a total of 129,512 students. Graduate enrollment was up 1,762, or 3.4 percent over last fall. Nationally, undergraduate enrollment at public universities was down nearly 2 percent, while graduate enrollment was up 3.6 percent.
* Illinois Public University Enrollments from Fall of 2020-2021 to Fall of 2019-2020…
The enrollment of Black students was also steady, with a total 20,829 student overall, up 0.6 percent from last year. Notable increases occurred in the number of new freshmen (3.2 percent) and in graduate/professional enrollments (5.2 percent). Nationally, public universities saw a decline of 4.0 percent in Black undergraduate enrollment. In Illinois, Black undergraduate enrollment was down only 0.8 percent.
The enrollment of public university Latinx students continued to rise to 27,868 students, an increase of 6.1 percent, or 1,594 students, over academic year 2019-2020. Growth was notable in both undergraduate enrollment (4.5 percent) and in graduate/professional enrollment (14.6 percent). Nationally, public university Latinx undergraduate enrollment was down 1.8 percent.
“This is the first year we have looked at our early enrollment data through an equity lens. Illinois public universities beat national trends, increasing enrollment for Black and Latinx students. We were very deliberate about investing in supports for our most vulnerable students,” said IBHE Director Ginger Ostro. “With $30 million in federal funds provided for institutions through Governor JB Pritzker’s Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, private funding to provide emergency grants to students, creating a drive-up WiFi hotspot map, and launching a public education campaign, “Stay the Course,” everything we did since March was focused on keeping students on track to their degree.”
* Maybe after doing this, Congress can find time to cut a deal on a stimulus bill. Greg Hinz…
A project seen as crucial to keeping voracious Asian carp out of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes is teed up for a vote in the U.S. House today.
Under a deal crafted by U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Geneva, construction of a barrier separation system at the Brandon Road locks on the Des Plaines River just south of Joliet would be funded 80 percent by the federal government, up from the normal 50 percent.
That would cut Illinois’ share of the roughly $500 million project to $100 million, with other states likely to pick up some of the share. Former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration had balked at the state’s fiscal hit, which had risen with estimated construction costs to as much as $250 million, but green leaders including the Environmental Law & Policy Center’s Howard Learner say they believe Rauner successor, J.B. Pritzker, will go along with the new funding plan trimming the state’s cost. […]
The same bill also authorizes the corps to study beach “resiliency” issues for the Chicago shoreline, which is under pressure from rising lake levels.
In fish, the fin bone is connected to the tail bone and so on. But for a researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale studying an aggressive invader, it’s all about the ear bone.
That tiny bone in the ear of the grass carp is exposing an important clue to controlling their numbers in the Great Lakes. The findings are contained in a paper by SIU Professor of Zoology Gregory Whitledge, recently published in Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Whitledge and others used the telltale chemistry contained in the growth rings from the bone to identify key breeding grounds for the fish. The information contained in the otoliths, or so-called “ear stones,” could help wildlife managers better target population control efforts aimed at a fish that crowds out native animals.
Now, about the Golden Horseshoe Awards. Since there was basically no session this year, I’m not sure that many of our categories are even relevant (best restaurant, bars, waitstaff, legislators, lobbyists, etc.). So, what would you like to do? Which categories do you think would be most appropriate? And, remember, these awards are for achievement. We don’t waste our time on negativity. No snark allowed.
My own thoughts are that we give the best agency director award to Dr. Ezike and give a huge shoutout to all the staff who have kept everything together during these crazy times and call it a day.
IMHO - the boots on the ground and blog specific categories should remain this year. Best Government Staff/Official, Best Senate AA/District Office, Best House AA/District Office, Best Liaison - these are non-political in 2020 and the folks that would be considered for these categories have worked their tails off helping constituents and keeping this state afloat.
For the blog itself, Best Commenter and Best Use of Social Media should be considered since CapFax and Twitter have helped most of us keep our wits about us throughout the pandemic.
I’ll be using that comment as a basis for this year’s categories, but I may add or subtract as we go along, particularly since we have some time constraints.
* Today’s 2020 Golden Horseshoe Awards categories…
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - House Democrats
Best legislative assistant/district office manager - House Republicans
I know it’s not possible for everyone, but please try your best to nominate in both categories. And remember to explain your answer or your vote will not count. This is not a simple poll.
Also, while you’re contemplating your responses, please click here and donate to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. We’ve already surpassed last year’s level, so let’s keep it going. Your donation will buy winter coats and boots and Christmas presents for foster kids.
* Deaths and hospitalizations are lagging indicators, so the new cases and positivity rates are somewhat encouraging. But sometimes trends don’t last long…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 7,910 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 145 additional deaths.
- Boone County: 1 male 80s
- Christian County: 1 female 70s
- Clay County: 1 male 50s
- Clinton County: 1 male 60s
- Coles County: 1 female 80s
- Cook County: 2 males 30s, 2 females 60s, 3 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 4 males 70s, 7 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 3 females 90s, 7 males 90s, 2 females 100+
- DeKalb County: 1 female 90s
- DuPage County: 1 female 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- Effingham County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s
- Franklin County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s
- Fulton County: 1 male 70s
- Grundy County: 1 female 70s
- Hamilton County: 1 female 70s
- Hardin County: 1 female 90s
- Iroquois County: 2 females 70s, 1 male 70s
- Jackson County: 2 males 70s
- Jasper County: 1 female 90s
- Kankakee County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s
- Kendall County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 80s
- Knox County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s
- LaSalle County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 3 males 90s
- Lawrence County: 1 female 90s
- Lee County: 1 female 80s
- Livingston County: 1 male 80s, 2 females 90s
- Logan County: 1 female 90s
- Macon County: 1 male 90s
- Macoupin County: 1 female 90s
- Madison County: 2 males 50s, 2 females 70s, 1 female 80s, 2 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s
- Marion County: 2 females 80s, 2 males 80s
- Mason County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s
- McHenry County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 female 80s
- McLean County: 1 male 90s
- Mercer County: 1 female 80s
- Monroe County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Morgan County: 1 male 30s, 1 male 90s
- Moultrie County: 1 female 80s
- Peoria County: 1 female 90s
- Perry County: 1 male 90s
- Pike County: 1 male 50s
- Richland County: 1 female 90s
- Rock Island County: 1 male 50s, 2 males 60s, 3 males 80s, 1 female 90s
- Sangamon County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s
- Shelby County: 1 male 70s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s
- Tazewell County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 90s
- Warren County: 1 male 70s
- Washington County: 1 male 80s
- Whiteside County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s
- Will County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 1 male 60s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 80s
- Williamson County: 2 males 70s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 90s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 804,174 cases, including 13,487 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 95,825 specimens for a total 11,274,608. As of last night, 5,199 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,071 patients were in the ICU and 626 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from December 1 – December 6, 2020 is 9.9%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from December 1 – December 6, 2020 is 11.8%.
*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. Information for a death previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Pfizer has told the Trump administration it cannot provide substantial additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine until late June or July because other countries have rushed to buy up most of its supply, according to multiple individuals familiar with the situation.
That means the U.S. government may not be able to ramp up as rapidly as it had expected from the 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that it purchased earlier this year, raising questions about whether it can keep to its aggressive schedule to vaccinate most Americans by late spring or early summer.
Trump administration officials denied there would be availability issues in the second quarter, citing other vaccines in the pipeline — most immediately, Moderna’s, also expected to be approved in coming weeks. Both vaccines are two-dose regimens, so the 100 million doses purchased of each would cover 50 million people each. […]
But several officials knowledgeable about the contracts said that supplies from other companies may be insufficient to fill the gap.
Last summer, Pfizer officials had urged Operation Warp Speed to purchase 200 million doses, or enough of the two-shot regimen for 100 million people, according to people knowledgeable about the issue who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the situation. But the Warp Speed officials declined, opting instead for 100 million doses, they said. The New York Times first reported that federal officials passed on the opportunity when Pfizer offered to sell more doses.
When the St. Clair County Health Department shut down Reifschneider’s Grill & Grape in Freeburg last week for violating a statewide ban on indoor dining, its other location less than 20 miles away in Monroe County remained open.
The reason? The two counties — one controlled by Democrats and the other by Republicans — have different approaches to enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.
In a crackdown last week, Democratic-led St. Clair County yanked liquor and food licenses for seven bars and restaurants that still welcomed customers indoors. Monroe County, under GOP control, relies solely on education. It has not closed or suspended any businesses. […]
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has put the onus on local officials to carry out his executive orders. But just as COVID-19 is politically polarizing at the national level, questions about enforcement are enmeshed in local politics.
In the past week, Indiana has the nation’s second highest per capita COVID-19 spread, after Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That trend appears to show the state’s outlook is getting worse, even as cases and hospitalization rates hit all-time highs recently.
The CDC reported Indiana had 48,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the past week, or 103.1 per 100,000. Rhode Island, reported 8,100 new cases, or 110.6 per 100,000.
Indiana reported 124 new virus deaths Tuesday
Indiana has about half the population of Illinois and just as many or even more deaths. Whew.
New guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is offering new hope to families with loved ones in long-term care.
IDPH announced an essential caregiver position in these facilities for the first time after months of deliberation.
Family members can go through testing protocols and enter facilities to take care of their loved ones as long as there isn’t an ongoing outbreak.
In a guidance document, IDPH specifies the essential caregivers “must be screened, tested, and provided PPE in accordance with the health care personnel guidance in the facility’s COVID-19 plan.”
The governor had a different level of ire for a Chicago alderman and a Republican state Representative who separately violated COVID-19 safety protocols.
State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, said the indoor party he hosted Thursday in Douglas County was a Christmas get together to “celebrate victories and freedom.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Halbrook should have known better.
“Shame on him for having people in a room, packed together, not wearing a mask,” Pritzker said. “[Halbrook] knows better, he should know better, if he doesn’t, maybe he shouldn’t be in the General Assembly.”
Photos posted on social media show attendees close together and not wearing masks. Halbrook said nobody was forced to go.
“I didn’t make any of those recommendations,” Halbrook told WMAY. “Everybody knows what it is, it’s hammered into them 24/7, 365, and so anybody and everybody knows what those recommendations are. The big issue is most those people there are not big fans of government control in their lives, they’re not big fans of the governor.”
In Chicago, Alderman Tom Tunney apologized for his “error in judgement” in recently serving people inside his Ann Sather restaurant.
“I’ll tell you what the difference is, by the way, the alderman admitted that he shouldn’t have done it,” Pritzker said.
Tunney admitted to serving patrons inside after a Chicago blog posted about it.
“OK, but Brad Halbrook, he’s been caught,” Pritzker said. “You think he’s admitting it? No. You think he’s taking responsibility? He has 100 people in a space, he knows so much better than that.”
Halbrook said people have a constitutional right to peaceably assemble.
“It’s really shameful that they report that I was caught having a holiday party,” Halbrook said. “It was out there for all the world to see and anybody could come and go as they wished or chose.”
Ives was interviewed on a talk radio program and said, “I didn’t know that you know anybody cared what I was doing to begin with.” She also repeated Halbrook’s comment about how nobody was forced to show up, and called the legislators who did show up “freedom fighters.”
Q: Speaker Madigan was quoted over the weekend saying something about helping you get an income tax increase in light of the failure of the graduated tax proposal. What is he talking about?
A: Well, what I can say is that I’m focused on the cuts that need to be made in state government, making sure that we’re paring back as best we can, making efficiencies in state government, looking to Republican and Democratic leaders as I already have and asking them for their best ideas about what it is that we need to cut in state government. So that’s what I’ve been focused on. And I will say that I have not yet heard back from the leaders about what their best proposals are for what cuts need to be made. And so I’m awaiting their responses.
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE 1 *** Letter from Leader Durkin to Gov. Pritzker…
After the rejection of the progressive tax amendment by voters, the four legislative leaders and yourself spoke on November 12th to discuss the myriad of issues relating to the unbalanced budget passed by the General Assembly in May that you eventually signed into law.
For much of that call, you and I discussed options for reductions in spending. To further our discussion, I asked for a list of spending reductions your agencies proposed in response to your September 2019 order to reduce spending by 6.5 percent. As of today, I have not received that document, and I am now asking again for the list of spending reductions by agency.
Even though Veto Session was canceled against our wishes, I hope you will once again call us together to discuss your proposals for balancing the state’s budget as January fast approaches. Speaker Madigan has stated he will work with you on another tax increase, but I hope that you will respect the will of the voters and instead look to live within our means.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Senate President Don Harmon’s spokesman John Patterson…
Republicans made it clear deep budget cuts were a better alternative to a Fair Tax. The voters have spoken. We now look forward to our colleagues across the aisle offering up the Republican cuts for public review.
* From the most never-wrong expert on everything COVID…
Now @GovPritzker has some explaining to do. According to this new “science and data,” Resturants and Bars, YOUTH travel sports, group classes at gyms should be open! We’ll discuss @MorningAnswer
The Illinois Department of Public Health released information on the rates of COVID-19 exposure throughout the state and where exposure is most prominent.
The Governor has pointed out, in the past, restaurants, bars and schools top the list, but now we’re seeing different results.
* The governor was asked about the decrease for bars and restaurants yesterday and he said the numbers have dropped because they’ve been closed for indoor service. Not all have closed, obviously, but the mitigations are clearly working.
“I think in the wake of what we’ve seen in the murder of George Floyd and the concerns in the city that relates to the consent decree, people want to make sure there’s police accountability, so our top priority is working with the attorney general on police licensing,” [Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx] said.
The head of FOP Lodge 7 said with murders skyrocketing this year, Foxx should focus her attention there. He called the licensing effort retaliation for the union’s support of her opponent Pat O’Brien.
“Since she wants to pick that fight, along with some other people in this state, and she wants to join that chorus, bring it on,” said FOP President John Catanzara, Jr. “You know, we’ve been very clear that licensing is not acceptable in any way, shape or form.”
The FOP claims there has been more accountability, but vowed to work against any lawmaker that supports policing licensing.
“They want blood. They don’t want fairness. They want blood and they’re not going to get it,” Catanzara vowed.
The state’s attorney can only act on murderers after the cops catch them. Just sayin…
A federal judge told Chicago’s main police union on Monday that it needs to ensure its member officers are wearing face masks and maintaining safe social distances while on the job, in keeping with public health guidelines around COVID-19.
The pointed reminder from U.S. District Court Judge Robert Dow Jr., who is overseeing sweeping mandated department reforms, came after the Fraternal Order of Police filed a motion alleging the city was violating its own health guidelines. Officers have been put at risk when the Chicago Police Department conducted training sessions that included up to 50 people, the union alleged. […]
“(T)he Court reiterates the importance of the moving party continuing to monitor and insist upon compliance with the guidelines by its own membership, which is a concern given the number of photographs and videos that the Court and the Independent Monitor (overseeing the reforms) have seen during the pandemic showing CPD patrol officers out of compliance with masking and social distancing requirements,” Dow wrote. […]
“Litigants who invoke equity ‘must come with clean hands,’” the judge wrote, referencing language from a noted case, “and during this pandemic, with masked faces as well.”
* The governor was asked about the latest numbers yesterday…
Illinois is entering what could be “the most crucial month of this entire pandemic,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday, a period bookended by Thanksgiving and a string of December holidays traditionally marked by gatherings that carry the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
Though the state has recently seen a slight decrease in the hospitalization rate for COVID-19 patients, it’s still 14% higher than the spring peak during the initial surge of the pandemic.
“It’s likely too early for us to have yet seen the bulk of Thanksgiving-related hospitalizations. We’re now in our 11th day since Thanksgiving and we are four days out from Hanukkah and 18 days from Christmas, 19 days from Kwanzaa, 24 from New Year’s Eve,” Pritzker said Monday. “These next four weeks may be the most crucial month of this entire pandemic. We quite literally have very limited leeway in our hospital systems to manage another surge.”
The current [national] rise in hospitalizations began in late September, and for weeks now hospitals have faced unprecedented demand for medical care. The number of hospitalized patients has increased nearly every day: Since November 1, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has doubled; since October 1, it has tripled.
* Keep the discussion confined to Illinois politics and be decent to each other. Thanks. Also, you might want to click here and contribute to Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. Your donation will buy Christmas gifts for foster kids and make sure they have coats and boots for the winter.
The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs today announced that Acting Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn will serve as the interim Administrator of the LaSalle Veterans’ Home as a search begins for a permanent replacement. Vaughn is assuming responsibilities from former Home Administrator Angela Mehlbrech, who was terminated by the Department. Additionally, the Director of Nursing at the home has been placed on administrative leave pending the ongoing investigation.
These personnel changes follow the announcement of an independent investigation into the outbreak at the home led by the Acting Inspector General of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The response to the outbreak has also included site visits by the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, with IDVA fully adopting all recommendations in both reports in the LaSalle Home as well as all state veterans’ homes.
Acting Assistant Director Vaughn is a 24-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps where he reached the rank of Master Sergeant and served as Administrative Chief and Personnel Chief, among other roles. Upon his retirement from active duty in 2005, he joined the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs where he has served for the past 15 years. Currently, he oversees the IDVA’s team of Veteran Service Officers who provide direct support to veterans across the state.
“IDVA mourns the tragedy of the veteran heroes lost to COVID-19 at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home. We will ensure that CDC and IDPH protocols are followed and full accountability occurs for any lapses in protocols,” said Acting Assistant Director Anthony Vaughn. “All measures will be taken to ensure the health and well-being of the residents we serve and we will continue to support their families and loved ones during this heartbreaking period.”
“I am fully committed to ensuring complete transparency and accountability at all of our veterans’ homes and our department will fully cooperate with the independent investigation as it moves forward,” said IDVA Director Linda Chapa LaVia. “It is our moral obligation to do everything in our power to take care of our veteran heroes. I have full confidence that Acting Assistant Director Vaughn is the right person to take command of the home’s operations during the search for a new home administrator. His background in administration in the United States Marine Corps will serve our residents and their families well during this process.”
While a Marine, Vaughn served at all levels of command including an infantry rifle company, infantry battalion, helicopter squadron, air control squadron, vehicle maintenance battalion, and a tour at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. His assignments also included a deployment to Beirut, Lebanon in support of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force and mobilization of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. He supported the Battalion from Camp Pendleton, CA during their deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004 – 2005. Vaughn is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, Marine Corps Commendation Medal with 2 gold stars and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with 3 gold stars.
The new COVID-19 surge is hitting Illinois’ most vulnerable residents harder than ever, with a record 480 deaths recorded in the past week among people living in long-term care facilities.
A Tribune analysis found the surge in deaths was particularly steep outside the greater Chicago area, underscoring the challenges of keeping the virus out of nursing homes and assisted living facilities when infections are spreading in the surrounding communities.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered a deep sigh Friday when asked what more could be done to tamp down the surge in long-term care deaths.
“This is frankly the same challenge that exists in all the other populations, and even more so, when we’re at the highest levels of the pandemic,” he told reporters.
A striking, informative study was just released from South Korea, examining a transmission chain in a restaurant. It is perhaps one of the finest examples of shoe-leather epidemiology I’ve seen since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’s worth a deeper dive.
If you just want the results: one person (Case B) infected two other people (case A and C) from a distance away of 6.5 meters (~21 feet) and 4.8m (~15 feet). Case B and case A overlapped for just five minutes at quite a distance away. These people were well beyond the current 6 feet / 2 meter guidelines of CDC and much further than the current 3 feet / one meter distance advocated by the WHO. And they still transmitted the virus.
That’s the quick and dirty of it. But there’s a lot more detail here, and like many stories, it is best told through a picture:
At a time when many Joliet-area restaurants and bars are not following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s rules outlawing indoor dining amid the coronavirus pandemic, Aurelio’s Pizza has announced it is joining that group.
If Aurelio’s kept obeying Pritzker, Joliet’s long-time pizzeria at 3101 West Jefferson St. will be an empty building at this time next year, the restaurant management predicted.
* Down under…
If you’re wondering what life is like in Australia… pretty much back to normal. Thanks to decisive action, lockdowns, mandatory international quarantine, and stringent contact tracing, the current number of active cases in the whole country (pop. 25 million)?
A nationwide shortage of substitute teachers was a chronic problem long before the arrival of the pandemic. But now, a dearth of available subs across the Chicago area has reached a crisis level at many school districts, where the roster of educators available to step in when teachers are absent has dwindled precipitously at a time of unprecedented need for their services.
The current rise in hospitalizations began in late September, and for weeks now hospitals have faced unprecedented demand for medical care. The number of hospitalized patients has increased nearly every day: Since November 1, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has doubled; since October 1, it has tripled. […]
It is clearest in a single simple statistic, recently observed by Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. For weeks, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 had been about 3.5 percent of the number of cases reported a week earlier. But, he noticed, that relationship has broken down. A smaller and smaller proportion of cases is appearing in hospitalization totals.
“This is a real thing. It’s not an artifact. It’s not data problems,” Jha told us.
Why would this number change? As hospitals run out of beds, they could be forced to alter the standards for what kinds of patients are admitted with COVID-19. The average American admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 today is probably more acutely ill than someone admitted with COVID-19 in the late summer. This isn’t because doctors or nurses are acting out of cruelty or malice, but simply because they are running out of hospital beds and must tighten the criteria on who can be admitted.
GALESBURG — At Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing, Gov. JB Pritzker gave one local hospital worker a pleasant surprise.
Terri McCrery, infection preventionist at OSF Healthcare’s St. Mary Medical Center was recognized as one of five Healthcare Heroes by the governor at his daily COVID press briefing. The recognition came for her work alongside her husband and Lisa Kelly, who co-own Monmouth-based MC Sports and More, and a generous donation they made to OSF employees.
McCrery’s husband Troy had the idea to make shirts and donate them to raise the spirit of those working in the hospitals. This was when Heart Hunters, the locally founded movement encouraging people to put colorful hearts in their windows to cheer on healthcare workers, was near the peak of its popularity.
[Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia] met with the governor in early November with plans to propose policy recommendations that include partial reopening. […]
Toia—already a high-energy, nonstop worker—is constantly working the phones. Boehm estimates he’s called Toia hundreds of times since the pandemic began. Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, owner of the Ann Sather restaurant chain and a former chairman of the association, says Toia is talking to leaders as often as possible, too, even amid tensions.
“The mayor and the governor—this is pretty unusual—they’re talking to the restaurant association every week,” Tunney says. […]
Toia’s focus is on negotiating with Pritzker, whose orders take precedence over city rules.
Proposing policy recommendations, talking with the governor on a weekly basis, negotiating with the governor. Hmm.
“Lobby” and “lobbying” means any communication with an official of the executive or legislative branch of State government as defined in subsection (c) for the ultimate purpose of influencing any executive, legislative, or administrative action.
Yet, Toia is not registered. I’ve been asking the Restaurant Association why he hasn’t registered for weeks, and the answer has been that he isn’t required to do so, even though he has registered with the city.
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) acknowledged Monday he “made a mistake” by allowing some of his regular customers to dine inside his Ann Sather Restaurants in defiance of state and city orders banning indoor dining. […]
On Monday, Tunney openly acknowledged having defied the governor’s order.
“We have, on occasion, sat regular diners in the back of the restaurant. I acknowledge that. It’s not OK. I made a mistake, and I’m owning up to it. I should have not sat regular customers in my restaurant whatsoever,” said Tunney, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handpicked chairman of the City Council’s Zoning Committee.
“I have a lot of repeat customers over the years. On a sporadic basis, I have let regular customers — very few and far between — in my store. I made an error.”
The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed to health care workers in Illinois and Chicago between Dec. 20 and Dec. 26 if federal officials grant an emergency use authorization, as expected, to pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.
Illinois expects to get 109,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, including 23,000 doses reserved for Chicago, in the first shipment, Pritzker said. However, that depends on federal officials voting to authorize its distribution on Thursday.
But that will only be enough for a fraction of the 654,598 health care workers in Chicago and Illinois, Pritzker said. The first doctors and nurses to be vaccinated will be in the 50 Illinois counties with the highest death rates per capita, officials said.
That includes DuPage, Kane, Will and Lake counties as well as suburban Cook County, officials said.
OK, let’s pause it right there.
First, keep in mind here that this round of vaccines is going to doctors and nurses, not the general public. But the administration is using a general public metric - county death rates - and not a frontline metric, like, perhaps, hospitals with the highest patient loads.
Several of those counties feed their patients into regional medical centers in places like Springfield, Quincy and Peoria. But the three counties with those hubs are not on the list.
Again, perhaps if the metric was “counties where people actually die in the hospital,” it would make more sense. But why should Tazewell County get aid for its workers when COVID-19 patients are being sent to Peoria? If you Google “Tazewell County Hospitals Illinois,” the list is almost purely Peoria facilities. Same for Christian, Shelby, Morgan, etc. and their medical hub in Springfield.
Again, we’re supposed to be helping frontline medical workers with these vaccines. The metric isn’t based on those medical workers. So, a whole bunch of hard-working nurses and doctors are being left out of this round.
* I asked the governor’s office for a response…
Decisions about how best to distribute limited doses of the vaccine are of course wrenching, but using deaths as the determinant was important because death is the ultimate worst outcome that we hope to prevent. Next week, health care workers in places with lower death ratios will begin to receive vaccines. And in the meantime, local health departments should prioritize distribution of the vaccine to facilities where residents of the hardest-hit counties receive their care. Healthcare workers are a part of their community and the healthcare workers who live in communities with the highest rates of death will get the first doses. The state expects regular shipments that will roll out to all healthcare workers soon after the first round.
* Weekend case and death numbers always tend to low…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 8,691 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 90 additional deaths.
- Champaign County: 1 female 90s
- Cook County: 1 female 30s, 2 males 40s, 4 females 50s, 5 males 50s, 3 females 60s, 3 males 60s, 10 females 70s, 8 males 70s, 7 females 80s, 13 males 80s, 2 females 90s, 5 males 90s
- DuPage County: 1 male 60s
- Fayette County: 1 male 90s
- Ford County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s
- Kane County: 1 female 20s, 1 male 50s
- Lake County: 1 female youth, 1 male 80s
- Madison County: 1 male 60s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 90s
- Marion County: 1 female 70s
- Mason County: 1 female 60s
- Massac County: 1 male 80s
- McHenry County: 1 female 70s
- McLean County: 1 female 80s
- Mercer County: 1 male 70s
- Peoria County: 1 female 70s
- St. Clair County: 1 male 50s
- Tazewell County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s
- Warren County: 1 female 50s
- Will County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s
- Woodford County: 1 female 100+
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 796,264 cases, including 13,343 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 77,569 specimens for a total 11,178,783. As of last night, 5,190 in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 1,123 patients were in the ICU and 648 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from November 30 – December 6, 2020 is 10.3%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from November 30 – December 6, 2020 is 11.9%.
*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. Information for deaths previously reported has changed, therefore, today’s numbers have been adjusted. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
Q: Another big decision that Democrats in the majority of Illinois have to make regards Speaker of the House Mike Madigan. He’s now embroiled in the controversial ComEd bribery scandal and the subject of an investigation in the legislature. He is losing support among some Democrats. Where do you stand?
A: Well, it’s certainly going to be a difficult question for all of us. We’re looking forward to getting together as a caucus, I don’t know if it’s going to be in person or virtually, to talk through these issues and try to make a decision. It’s an important conversation that we need to be having going into next year especially with the difficult time we’re going to be facing both on the budget, some of the reform agenda that’s coming up, ethics reform, property tax relief. We have a very full plate that we need to get started addressing as soon as possible.
Q: Should he still be the Speaker?
A: You know, I think that’s the question that we’re going to be talking to each other over the next couple of weeks. You know, I think we have a very diverse caucus, with a lot of different viewpoints, and I think we need to have that conversation collectively as a Democratic family, and try to come to a solution that way.
Q: Will you vote for him as Speaker and if not him, who?
A: Well, again, it really depends on what candidates are out there. And you know I generally tend to not litigate our internal caucus matters publicly. And so I think it’s a conversation that we need to have amongst ourselves and then come out and and having made that decision internally. I know there’s a proposal from Republican leader Durkin that the Democrats should vote for him as Speaker, and that’s certainly just not an option. But we need to talk about it within our own party with our own caucus to come to what that answer is going to be.
This is not the sort of decision that should be kept behind closed doors.
Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) released the following statement following Mike Madigan’s pitch for Speaker including an income tax increase on Illinoisans:
“Fresh off the indictment of his confidant and gatekeeper Mike McClain, Michael Madigan is selling his candidacy for Speaker with the promise of another tax increase. It was just over one month ago when Illinois taxpayers resoundingly rejected the graduated tax and sent a message that everyone heard but the Democratic Party. It is time for Governor Pritzker and Illinois Democrats to take a hint from the November election: don’t go back to the taxpayers and job creators to solve the self-inflicted troubles facing our state.”
Fair enough. Complex issue. Requires nuance. And much more discussion. More important, the people the decision affects deserve more. So we’ll continue give them that.
Appreciate the feedback of those truly in the struggle.
As thousands of Illinois residents and businesses struggle to abide by current state COVID-control regulations, a downstate Christmas party held Thursday night reveals the battle that Gov. JB Pritzker and health officials now face: some people in the state aren’t following government rules, including a pair of well-known state representatives.
Illinois State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-102nd) held a supporter Christmas party Thursday that featured Illinois State Rep. Darren Bailey (R-109th) who was just elected to a state senate seat, the 55th district. The party’s location was Yoder’s Kitchen, a popular banquet hall south of Champaign.
The seemingly happy function featured dozens of full tables with no one apparently abiding by current protocols that prohibit crowds and require masks.
As the photos on Bailey’s campaign Facebook show, there were more than 100 people, no masks and no social distancing. Masks are not even seen on the tables and the elected officials are pictured in very close proximity to other people.
The event’s featured speaker was former state representative Jeanne Ives, who recently lost her race for a U.S. congressional seat.
Todd Ricketts isn’t ruling out a run for governor, according to a source close to the Cubs co-owner.
The revelation follows Tim Schneider’s announcement over the weekend that he is stepping down as state party chairman, prompting chatter that Ricketts, who is also chairman of the Republican National Committee’s finance committee, may be a possible — though unlikely — replacement.
“Todd thinks Tim did a great job as state chair. As Todd is continuing as RNC Finance chairman, he will not be a candidate for state chair,” the source said, which leaves Ricketts’ options open for a statewide run.
Todd, the youngest, has at times felt overlooked. Shortly after the Rickettses bought the team, Todd e-mailed his father and older brother Pete complaining that Tom seemed to be getting all the credit. Deadspin published the missive: “My kids live in the same neighborhood and go to the same school as Tom’s kids, and I don’t want them to have to constantly [be] explaining that there are equal owners when they are told that their uncle owns the Cubs. The reason I am so sensitive to this is that even today I feel as though my input and ideas are disregarded among our family, just as they were when we were kids.” As if to underscore his relative anonymity, a year later, Todd starred in an episode of “Undercover Boss,” growing a beard and taking odd jobs at Wrigley Field. No employees recognized him.
Todd Ricketts became deeply involved in Republican politics by working alongside his dad, who had staked out a position as a big conservative donor. (One of Todd Ricketts’s friends told me that Todd wanted to talk politics so much that it became difficult to spend time with him.) In 2013, Todd became the C.E.O. of one of the nation’s wealthiest political-action committees, Ending Spending, which his father founded and whose mission is to take on what it deems wasteful government funding. He and his father were, in many ways, a smaller version of the Koch brothers, whom Joe once reportedly called “great heroes.”
In 2013, Ricketts made a political decision that suggested the kind of compromises he was willing to make. That year, the pac Ending Spending spent four hundred thousand dollars on ads for the Virginia gubernatorial campaign of Ken Cuccinelli, who would ultimately lose to Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat. Cucinnelli, who is now the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, spoke to Ricketts’s belief in limited government—especially his opposition to the Affordable Care Act—but he also adamantly opposed same-sex marriage and said homosexuality was “against nature and harmful to society.” For Ricketts, whose sister is gay and active in L.G.B.T. advocacy—and whose uncle was gay and died of aids—Cuccinelli seemed like an odd political bedfellow. Moreover, that same year, Ricketts personally lobbied four key Republican state legislators to vote to legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. “Todd is not a ‘single-issue’ voter,” Danny Diaz, Ricketts’s spokesperson, told me in an e-mail. “Todd obviously does not agree with Cuccinelli’s position on same-sex marriage.” One friend of Ricketts’s calls him “a principled pragmatist.”
Scott Walker, the former Wisconsin governor, is close to Ricketts. They bonded at an event at the American Enterprise Institute shortly after Walker signed Act 10 in Wisconsin, which reduced collective-bargaining rights for most state and municipal workers, including all teachers. Ricketts told Walker he admired what he was doing in Wisconsin—and so, when Walker faced a recall, Ricketts and his parents came to Walker’s aid. Ricketts held a fund-raiser, serving Wisconsin beer and bratwurst at his home in a suburb north of Chicago. “We get wonky, geeky, about policy,” Walker told me.
[…]
Despite his father’s experience, Todd Ricketts can be surprisingly unfiltered. In comments on his Facebook page, Todd referred to covid-19 as the “the kung flu”—weeks before Trump used the demeaning phrase at a rally in Tulsa. In a post of a video in which New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to call the city if they witnessed large gatherings of people, Ricketts commented, “All snitches will be given priority when applying for jobs as security guards at the concentration camps that will be opening later this year.” […]
“The challenge in our conversations,” [talk show host Maze Jackson] told me, “is how do you address the systemic racism. Sometimes Todd would say, ‘How come you guys can’t just . . .?’ and I’d explain we haven’t had the opportunities.” […]
I asked Ricketts’s spokesman how Trump inspired Ricketts, and in return I received a twenty-page document titled “Trump Administration Accomplishments.” It’s clear from the list that Ricketts believes Trump has delivered for conservatives, including his crackdown on immigration and his emphasis on law and order. (Nearly three pages of bullet points argue that Trump has led a “comprehensive and aggressive” campaign against the coronavirus.) Additionally, as Walker mentioned, Ricketts sees in Biden’s candidacy a looming socialist threat. Ricketts’s spokesman cites endorsements by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders as evidence of this, along with Biden’s belief that the government can serve to protect the public’s well-being, including his call for eliminating carbon emissions by 2050, for expanding Social Security, and for lowering the eligibility age for Medicare to sixty. “Todd believes that President Trump represents an agenda that advances freedom for all Americans and expands opportunity for people at every level of the socioeconomic ladder,” Ricketts’s spokesman told me.
Illinois House Democratic Caucus Chair Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, told me last week that her decision to oppose Speaker Michael Madigan’s reelection was a process she’s been struggling with since the summer.
Willis became the 19th House Democrat to declare opposition to Madigan, putting him six votes shy of the 60 he needs to win.
“Over the last couple of weeks, it’s been getting more and more troubling,” she said. It boiled down to “an ethical decision, a moral decision.”
Willis’ father had heart surgery the previous weekend and, while sitting with her mother, she remembered what her mom had told her when she first ran for the House in 2012: “Don’t ever let your morals or standards decline.”
“And I was looking at my mom and I thought, ‘I want her to continue to be proud of me.’ And this is what I had to do.”
When I initially received Willis’ email announcing her decision, I checked the return address to make sure it wasn’t a hoax. Willis said several people asked her whether the email was legit. She was the first member of House Democratic leadership, after all, to publicly break with Madigan. This was no small deal. It felt to me and to others that this one was different.
Willis said she didn’t know if her decision would allow other House Dems to come forward. “I think everybody has to come to their own decisions their own way,” she said. “Maybe it’ll give them strength to be able to do that, but it’s not intended to push people to do something they’re not ready to do.”
She said she didn’t have anyone in mind to be the next House speaker but wants to support someone who is “willing to be a collaborative leader, so that it’s not just all controlled by one person. I think we need to see a change in leadership style.”
Asked if she was interested in the top job herself, Willis would only say, “That’s not the purpose of what the statement was. It was more to really free myself up.”
I told Willis I had just been talking on the phone with a union lobbyist who said there was no way that Madigan will ever give up. He’s just going to wait for everyone to flip back, the labor guy said with supreme confidence. There will be no surrender.
“I honestly don’t think they’re gonna flip back,” Willis said about the 18 House Democrats who preceded her in vowing to vote against Madigan.
“When I made the decision to do a written statement, it was knowing that there was no point of return, there was no going back by doing a written statement. That forced my hand. And I think the other members that did the same thing, if they were to ever turn back they could never run for office … that would be a career-ending move.”
None of them took the decision lightly, Willis said. “I think they all realize that it’s a point of no return.”
As you might imagine, the paranoia level among House Democrats is pretty high these days. So, it wasn’t too surprising that moments after Willis issued her statement, members were asking whether this might be some sort of Madigan plot to place one of his own leaders behind enemy lines. Willis flatly denied anything of the sort.
“If you had been on the conversation I had with him earlier this morning, you’d know that he did not put me up to it,” Willis said with a laugh.
Willis wouldn’t talk too many specifics but said she called Madigan as a courtesy.
“He did not want me to release the statement, and I told him I had no choice. I have made the decision to do it, and I wanted to do it. He really felt strongly that I should not release a statement and I said, ‘Well, the only way I won’t release the statement is if you withdraw from running for speaker,’ and he assured me that he was going to continue to be a candidate. There were a few other things that got said in between, but that’s the gist of it.”
Madigan didn’t lose his temper and was “very reserved,” she said.
“It was the most difficult call I’ve ever made in my life. But after the call was done, I felt like a ton of bricks was off of my shoulders.”
