Heidi Keye Biederman, 83, of St. Charles, Illinois, passed away peacefully on April 20, 2023, surrounded by her loving family.
She was born on March 29, 1940, in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, to the late Vernon and Elizabeth Keye. A proud Detroiter, Heidi attended Ferndale High School in the early 1950s - along with the Motown group, the Spinners. She was the third generation of her family to graduate from Beloit College, and it is also where she met her husband, William Biederman (84). Heidi and William eventually moved to the Chicagoland area and raised their two children, William (55) and Robert (51) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Heidi was a fierce advocate for justice and equality, especially for women and children. She worked tirelessly to ensure that all students had access to a quality education and was instrumental in passing legislation that improved the lives of countless children. She served as the first Executive Director of the Large Unit District Association (LUDA), where she represented the 56 largest school districts in Illinois. She also worked for the Illinois Association of School Boards. Heidi was an elected Board Member and President of School District 41 from 1976-81. She began her career as a first grade teacher and kept in touch with many of her students throughout her life.
Heidi embraced every moment of retirement where she traveled, followed her artistic passions and worshiped her 4 grandchildren Jake (21), Elizabeth (17), Kate (16) and Abby (13). She was so grateful to finally have daughters through marriage in Kim (51), Amber (50), plus many other “daughters by choice.” She enthusiastically appreciated beauty both in the arts and in nature - especially at her family home in Omena, MI. Heidi showered her family and friends with unconditional love and overwhelming positivity, and touched the lives of everyone she met.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 11:00 AM at the First Congregational Church, 535 Forest Ave., Glen Ellyn, IL. In Heidi’s honor, wearing pastel colors is welcomed! In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honor to the Omena Village Preservation Association, https://omenapreservation.org/contribute/.
Some of you know Heidi’s son Rob, who now works for Google. He and the rest of his family have my greatest sympathies. Heidi was a gem.
* As I mentioned earlier, I tested positive for covid last week while in New York. I’ve been pretty tired since then (a massively delayed flight home didn’t help), but I deliberately slept late this morning and I’m feeling a bit better this afternoon. Just gonna take it easy this weekend, read and listen to music…
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
* Tribune photojournalist Brian Casella: “Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson meets Joakim Noah, who talked up his summer basketball program, while visiting with House Speaker Chris Welch”…
*** UPDATE 1 *** I told you Tuesday that the Vallas campaign had paid Chima Enyia’s Ikoro LLC $500,000 during the quarter. $20K of that was for consulting, and the other $480K had the notation “Disputed - not verified.” Well, the Vallas campaign filed a lawsuit against the company yesterday. Here’s Crain’s…
After Vallas made it to the runoff election, Enyia — a political operative who had been an aide to Gov. Pat Quinn, former executive director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, former executive of Cresco Labs and brother of 2019 mayoral candidate Amara Enyia — convinced Vallas to hire him as a campaign consultant for $20,000 a month for March and April.
Enyia later told Vallas’ campaign manager he would hire workers from Black Men United to place Vallas yard signs in majority-Black communities and remove signs that had been damaged, as well as unauthorized yard signs connecting Vallas to “MAGA,” an abbreviation for the Donald Trump presidential campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” according to the filing. Enyia told the campaign manager Vallas had approved the idea. […]
“During an independent review of the Vallas for Mayor raise and spend, and as we prepared to file our report with the Illinois State Board of Elections, we flagged a pattern of payments to a vendor, which are now in dispute,” the [Vallas campaign] statement said.
Veteran Democratic strategist Tom Bowen said the level of fraudulent campaign spending alleged in Vallas’ lawsuit is unprecedented and underscores how desperate Vallas was to make inroads into the Black community. It also shows how little oversight his campaign had over the $18 million avalanche of contributions that came pouring in from the business community after his first-place finish on Feb. 28, Bowen said.
“If he set $700,000 on fire with a very atypical campaign vendor to try to win votes in the Black community like that, that is possibly the stupidest thing anyone in Chicago politics has ever done,” said Bowen, who served as a senior adviser to lame-duck Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign and as political director for former Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012.
Bowen said he’s sure former Gov. Bruce Rauner and vanquished Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey “also wasted incredible amounts of money on services like that” in their failed attempts to make inroads into the African-American community.
But in a Chicago mayoral race, it’s “unheard of” to spend that much money so unwisely, Bowen said. After running Lightfoot’s 2019 runoff campaign, Bowen said he “understands the stress” of keeping close tabs on campaign spending when contributions come pouring in.
While that may have been fraud, lots of other folks took full advantage of Vallas’ strong belief that he could win over Black voters. His D-2 report is loaded with payments to South and West Side hucksters. This isn’t new for him. Vallas was fully convinced of his singular popularity with Black voters during the 2002 gubernatorial race as well. Nope.
The University of Chicago will become the first school among 17 prominent colleges to settle claims that they conspired for many years to restrict financial aid and overcharged students by billions of dollars in violation of U.S. antitrust law. […]
The plaintiffs have estimated the class size of former and current students at more than 200,000.
The lawsuit accused all of the defendants of having considered prospective students’ financial needs in weighing whether to offer admission, disfavoring students who need aid.
* Gov. Pritzker was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program today. He talked about his involvement in school board races and was asked about how the Republicans are pushing decades-old culture war issues…
Joe, you’ve got it exactly right at the heart of it, and I think this is why voters are rejecting it, at the heart of all of these positions is this fundamental cruelty. Focusing on attacking children who are LGBTQ, or teachers that are LGBTQ, or taking on people who are not white, banning Black history from our schools, making sure that certain texts aren’t available to people. They want to rewrite history. There’s a cruelty to it all. And I think that voters see that and they’re showing up and rejecting it.
Well, we’re already working together. He’s come to Springfield to talk with the legislature and to me about the things that are necessary to lift Chicagoans up. He’s focused on something that I’m focused on too, which is lifting up people who’ve been left out and left behind. We have neighborhoods in Chicago that have been disinvested from. He ran a campaign that focused on that, and he won because, in my opinion, he addressed that. I also want to say that this is a world where people recognize kind of genuineness. You know, authenticity matters. And Brandon Johnson just seems to be, he is who he is. You know, you can see it, you can feel. He’s the son of a preacher. He has kids, you know, family. He lives in Austin, you know, not the easiest neighborhood to live in. There’s public safety issues in that neighborhood. So he kind of represents the challenges and the opportunity for Chicago.
Darren Bailey, the former Republican candidate for governor, talked to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday about a potential run for Congress against Rep. Mike Bost in Illinois’ downstate 12th District.
Bailey was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a fundraiser for Louisiana governor candidate Jeff Landry and was able to buttonhole Trump, according to a person familiar with their meeting.
The University Professionals of Illinois (UPI), the union representing faculty, librarians, and advisors at NEIU, has voted to authorize a strike. A mediator will work with the union and the administration to attempt to reach an agreement according to Nancy Matthews, the president of the UPI chapter at NEIU. UPI has announced that the earliest they will strike is Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
If mediation is unsuccessful the faculty will go on strike. Depending on how long the strike lasts, coursework, final exams, and projects may be disrupted. Professors will make individual policies for class work in the event of a strike. Union spokespeople have stressed that students will get their grades and be able to graduate.
In a press release from UPI-NEIU, issued on April 13th, “the last two days, NEIU faculty and staff who are members of NEIU’s University Professionals of Illinois (NEIU UPI, IFT Local 4100) overwhelmingly voted to strike, with 95% of voting members asserting their willingness to do so if an agreement can’t be reached at the table.”
* Press release…
The State Treasurer’s Office made a record $98.7 million in investment earnings from the state investment portfolio in March, Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced today.
Another $75 million in gross investment earnings was earned for cities, villages, school districts, counties and other units of local government that take part in the highly rated Illinois Funds local government investment pool operated by the State Treasurer’s Office.
These key monthly metrics and more are available at The Vault, the transparency website that allows Illinois residents to see how the State Treasurer’s Office is working for them. The site is at iltreasurervault.com.
“Every dollar my office makes through smart, safe investing is a dollar that does not need to be raised in taxes,” Frerichs said. “The State Treasurer’s Office really is an economic engine, and we invest money in a safe and responsible manner.”
* IDPH…
IDPH has recorded a total of 4,127,625 cases and 36,735 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The department is reporting 5,278 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending April 9, and 9 deaths.
Both IDPH and the Illinois Department on Aging have endorsed action this week by both the FDA and the CDC to simplify their recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations. The two federal agencies approved an optional additional updated bivalent vaccine dose for adults ages 65 years and older and optional additional doses for people who are immunocompromised. The bivalent booster is designed to offer better protection against newer strains of the virus. […]
As of last night, 558 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 65 patients were in the ICU and 22 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 44 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.
However, new research by a team from the University of Tokyo and Nagoya University may have finally brought an end to the debate.
“We believe that the mystery of it being an invertebrate or vertebrate has been solved,” said Tomoyuki Mikami, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Science at the University of Tokyo at the time of the study and currently a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science. “Based on multiple lines of evidence, the vertebrate hypothesis of the Tully monster is untenable. The most important point is that the Tully monster had segmentation in its head region that extended from its body. This characteristic is not known in any vertebrate lineage, suggesting a nonvertebrate affinity.”
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | Latest Bears stadium legislation would add $3 to ticket prices at Arlington Heights site to help pay off Soldier Field debt: Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker of Arlington Heights, who introduced a separate proposal in the House that mirrors the stagnant Senate measure, said he was familiar with Moylan’s bill but hadn’t thoroughly reviewed it. “I read one paragraph about it,” he told the Tribune Thursday afternoon. “I know of no one that Marty’s talked to. I just guess it’s a bunch of new ideas that people should talk about.”
* Sun-Times | Loop security is expected to tighten over weekend after violent teen gathering: For years Chicago teens have used social media to meet up downtown in large crowds. On Saturday, the crowds culminated around 9 p.m., and several videos posted online showed cars being broken into and set on fire. The chaos made national headlines and sparked debate about who was to blame for the violence. An alderman criticized the Chicago Police Department, some observers pointed fingers at parents, and others focused on a lack of youth programs.
* NBC Chicago | Downtown Chicago March Planned To ‘Help Redirect’ Behavior Following Teen Gatherings: “We are not walking against our children,” said Dr. Charlie Dates, senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago and Progressive Baptist Church said in the release. “Our children are brilliant, but we are not absolving them of responsibility for the events that took place last weekend. Instead, we are taking accountability as the church by meeting them where they are and providing alternatives to disruptive behavior.”
* CBS Chicago | Some young people fear fallout of Loop chaos could be more racial profiling: Every teenager out on the streets of the Loop last Saturday night was not there to start trouble. CBS 2’s Terry caught up with a group of supervised youngsters who became swept up in the “takeover” mayhem – and who now fear when, and if, they come back downtown, people will look at them with side eyes because they, in their words, “fit the description.”
* Sun-Times | Bridgeport bank failure cost millions more than feds have said: Where did all the money go?: That figure, records show, turns out to have been far higher than previously has been revealed. Now, for the first time, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says it spent nearly $139.8 million to cover the bank’s losses after regulators closed the bank on Dec. 15, 2017. That’s about $50 million more than previously was disclosed in court documents.
* Crain’s | What to do with a raft of new aldermen: How about a boot camp?: The session is one of several aldermanic boot camps happening during the transition period for freshman aldermen who are taking over a job that is increasingly expected to be legislative in nature rather than a local ward boss who acts as a rubber stamp for powerful mayors.
* NEIU’s Independent | Student Journalist Files Ethics Complaint Against NEIU Administrator: A NEIU student journalist filed an ethics complaint against Manish Kumar, Vice President of Finance and Administration, at NEIU on April 17, 2023. The complainant alleges that he felt pressured by Kumar to provide favorable news coverage of the administration and the university. The student said “he was trying to…influence me into saying good things about him”.
* Crain’s | At this South Side plant, one new house rolls off the assembly line every week : In a factory near Midway Airport, houses are now being built the way cars, refrigerators and other products have long been made for a long time: on an assembly line. A box-shaped module starts as a steel cage at one end of the assembly line inside the Kinexx factory on South Kildare Avenue in Archer Heights.
* Sun-Times | Joffrey Ballet’s ‘Little Mermaid’ unsettles as it entrances: Much more in keeping with the darkness of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale, this nearly 2½-hour adaptation is meditative, intense, unsettling and sometimes even grim. It is also unfailingly entrancing and beautiful.
* Crain’s | NBA players could be a source of capital for weed: Roberts, who was executive director of the National Basketball Players Association for eight years, says she always encouraged players to become investors in companies as a way to prepare financially for life after their playing days were over.
* Chicago Eater | Celebrate Breakfast Queen Ina Pinkney’s 80th Birthday With 60 Chicago Chefs: Ina Pinkney earned the moniker the Breakfast Queen as the chef and owner of Ina’s, which was a West Loop staple from 1991 to 2013 along Randolph Restaurant Row. Since closing her restaurant, Pinkney has continued sharing her love of food, spending five years writing her monthly breakfast column for the Chicago Tribune and publishing Ina’s Kitchen: Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen. The polio survivor also advocates for post-polio syndrome and advises chefs looking to open their own restaurants.
* Sun-Times | Chicago tavern history: Did you know the vote to make us a city happened in a bar?: WBEZ’s Curious City podcast crew stopped in at the iconic Carol’s Pub in Uptown for a night of beer, honky-tonk and Chicago bar history with writer Robert Loerzel — who has reported on the history of Uptown’s nightlife and entertainment scene — and Liz Garibay, founder and executive director of the Chicago Brewseum.
As Twitter began removing legacy verification badges Thursday, impersonators quickly took advantage of the situation by creating parody accounts for public figures, including celebrities and politicians.
After their real accounts lost their blue check marks, impersonator accounts quickly emerged for users such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, the City of New York, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. […]
Programmer Travis Brown tweeted that only 28 legacy verified accounts got new Twitter Blue verification following Thursday’s purge. Brown said his findings are based off data pulled from the company’s API, which offers developers access to the platform’s data.
28?
* Fake “official” accounts are popping up in Illinois and elsewhere…
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago & Illinois’ transportation departments just announced the permanent closure of DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Except, of course, they didn’t really do that.
Fake accounts posing as (previously verified) government accounts did & 100k+ people saw. pic.twitter.com/RjJ64dEpge
— Marc-André Argentino, PhD (@_MAArgentino) April 20, 2023
Mission accomplished. While everyone was distracted by his blue-check removals, Musks's Twitter deleted labels that alerted users that they were reading news from state-run propaganda outlets of authoritarian governments. Potemkin news channels now free to inject disinformation. pic.twitter.com/2gHHXqyc8s
“We are aware of the fake Twitter accounts, and our team is working with Twitter to resolve this matter,” tweeted mayoral spokesperson Ryan Johnson. “Users can verify official City accounts by visiting: chi.gov/social”
The fake Lightfoot account has been removed however the fake CDOT account remains active as of Friday at 12:30pm.
Pope Francis lost his checkmark, as did Donald Trump and Christiano Ronaldo. Meanwhile, LeBron James still had a blue check by his name even though the athlete previously said he wouldn’t pay for a subscription.
“My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” the author Stephen King tweeted.
Musk said he was “paying for a few personally,” including King, James, and Star Trek actor William Shatner. […]
It wasn’t just celebrities who were bewildered. Twitter also scrapped labels describing news organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated after weeks of sparring between them.
These labels that had been added to accounts — including the British Broadcasting Corp., National Public Radio in the US, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as well as accounts affiliated with China state-backed broadcaster CGTN among others — were deleted as of Friday morning.
A fake account subscribed to Twitter Blue claiming to represent the paramilitary group fighting for control of Sudan has falsely claimed its leader has died in the fighting.
After Elon Musk’s Twitter removed legacy blue ticks, the tweet from the fake @RSFSudann account claiming to represent the Rapid Support Forces does have a verified blue tick, but the actual RSF account, @RSFSudan, does not.
The fake tweet wrongly claimed that RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, otherwise known as Hemedti, had died from injuries sustained in combat. […]
While many of the quote tweets and replies were in response to it being fake, many took the tweet’s false information at face value.
Contacted for a response, Twitter’s press department responded with a poop emoji.
* Rich has had some takes as well…
More worried about fake emergency service accounts, frankly. You could see some clowns trying to create havoc during a tornado, for instance.
Yeah, instead of enticing people to pay for add-on services like those and others, he's stripped people of what they've long had. It's just ludicrous. Also, he's totally broken list embeds. Boggles the mind
Dozens of regional LGBTQ community centers are deactivating their Twitter accounts today, decrying recent policy changes despite the rise of hate speech and calling on the app to do more to protect its users.
The announcement came from CenterLink, an international nonprofit network of more than 325 LGBTQ organizations, many of which will also be leaving the platform.
“Twitter has become increasingly unsafe in recent months for LGBTQ and BIPOC people with anti-LGBTQ, anti-trans, anti-Black, and antisemitic tweets on the rise. The removal of this policy was the last straw,” Denise Spivak, CEO of CenterLink, told Mashable. […]
Twitter has seen an exodus of users, verified accounts, and advertisers since Musk’s purchase. While many see the app’s changes as the end to a fun social ecosystem, others are more worried about the implications Musk’s policies have on users with disabilities, LGBTQ users and users of color, the spread of accurate information, and the ability for organizations doing important work to stay connected to communities online.
As hospitals and other health care providers continue to battle rising costs and labor shortages, industry groups were in Springfield this week pushing for legislation they say could help their members weather these challenges, many of which were worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The Illinois Health & Hospital Association, or IHA, supports Senate Bill 1763, which calls for a 20% increase to hospital Medicaid reimbursement rates. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington Heights, and Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, would allow every hospital in the state to collect more money for patients on Medicaid, the state-sponsored insurance plan for low-income and disabled Americans. If the bill passes, it would provide the first Medicaid base rate increase for Illinois hospitals in 28 years, according to the IHA.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, or IPHCA, supports a similar bill, House Bill 2298, which would raise Medicaid reimbursement rates for services at Federally Qualified Health Centers. Services would include medical, dental and behavioral health care. It is estimated to cost about $50 million each for Illinois and the federal government, but the IPHCA says the rate increase would help its members care for an additional 180,000 patients each year, hire 250 more health care providers and expand services.
Both the IHA and the IPHCA say that without additional state support, hospitals and FQHCs could be forced to close units and limit services, which would reduce Illinoisans’ access to health care.
Community health centers in Illinois say they need more money to give patients the care they need.
Proposals in the Capitol would give $100 million to help with that. […]
The centers, also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), provide care to patients without insurance and to others regardless of their ability to pay. […]
“We really do our very best to meet people where they are and make sure that they can get culturally competent, high-quality health care,” Tanya Andricks, the center’s CEO, said.
But with rising costs and a workforce shortage, Andricks and other centers say they need more money from the state to keep doing their jobs. […]
There are 53 centers across the state, and some showed support Wednesday for proposals that would raise the reimbursement rate they receive from Medicaid.
Survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination would be shielded from weaponized defamation lawsuits under a bill sponsored by state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights.
“Speaking out against sexual assault or abuse is a daunting task, and those who bravely share their stories should not have to face legal challenges meant to punish them for choosing to come forward,” Canty said. “When we empower survivors to expose wrongdoing, we can prevent future harm and protect others from sexual misconduct.”
House Bill 2836, also known as the Right to Speak Your Truth Act, prohibits a person accused of sexual misconduct from using a defamation action to silence or retaliate against an accuser, staff, or third party reporting on the matter. The bill mirrors California’s Assembly Bill 933, which passed the State Assembly Thursday morning.
“My contemporaries in California are sending a clear message that the court system can no longer be used as a weapon to silence survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination. Illinois can and should do the same,” Canty said. “We must stand up for these brave individuals and protect them from further harm during their most vulnerable moments.”
llinois State Rep. Mary Beth Canty and her husband remember struggling to balance full-time jobs and picking up two children — who are currently in sixth and third grade — from their half-day kindergarten program in Arlington Heights District 25. […]
She has introduced a bill that would mandate full-day kindergarten for school districts around the state by the 2027-28 school year. The bill, HB 2396, would also require the state to create a task force to examine full-day kindergarten in 2024.
The bill has already passed the house with bipartisan support and is in the Senate’s education committee where it will go up for a hearing on April 25. […]
Emily Warnecke, director of public relations and deputy director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Board Administrators, said her organization supports the idea of full-day kindergarten but believes more work needs to be done first.
“We know that there are districts that want to be able to do this,” said Warnecke, “but they just do not have the space and they would need the money to fund the construction to add those spaces.”
A bill would allow colleges to receive grants to address student hunger if they meet requirements like creating a hunger task force that meets at least three times a year, having a staff member designated to assist students sign up for food stamps, and making programming for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Any Illinois higher education institution is eligible.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Paul Faraci (D-Champaign) and Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana).
According to the nonprofit Swipe Out Hunger, one in three college students nationally faces food insecurity. […]
The bill has passed the Illinois House of Representatives and the Senate Higher Education Committee with bipartisan support. It now heads to the Senate Floor.
* Senate Bill 140 is awaiting assignment to a Senate committee…
Illinois is one of just 12 states that still has a state estate tax, and State Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) is sponsoring legislation to eliminate that tax and keep Illinois competitive with the 38 other states in the nation.
Senate Bill 140 amends the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act to eliminate the state tax for persons dying on or after the effective date of the new law or for transfers made on or after the effective date.
“Many of us were born and raised in Illinois and are proud to call it our home. It is no secret however, that Illinois is a state notorious for its tax burden on its residents, especially when compared to neighboring states. Thirty-eight other states do not have a state estate tax,” Tracy said. “Illinois’ unfriendly business climate is the reason so many large companies are leaving the state or significantly reducing their corporate presence here. We need a business advocacy mindset with initiatives to help Illinois better compete, create jobs, and boost its economy.”
The 50th District Senator says the Illinois estate tax is imposed on a decedent’s estate before distribution to heirs. The amount of the tax is calculated after allowable deductions. The Illinois estate tax rate is graduated and goes up to 16 percent; however, it is only applied on estates worth more than $4 million.
Anti-criminal violence advocates rallied in the state Capitol on Thursday, pushing a slate of bills they say will better serve survivors and victims in Illinois. […]
Advocates like Carter support House Bill 2493 from state Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, which would grant up to 10 days of unpaid leave time for family members dealing with a loss related to criminal violence. The bill passed the House 95-16 last month and was assigned to the Senate Executive Committee earlier this week.
An employee has 60 days after receiving a death notice to use the leave and must prove the death by providing an obituary or death certificate to their employer. It follows-up after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Paid Leave for All Workers Act earlier this year, which provides most workers in the state with up-to 40 hours of paid leave per year to be used for any purpose. […]
While the focus on the rally centered on the victims, Thomas said CSSJ was also working with lawmakers on a bill regarding rehabilitation of the incarcerated. House Bill 3026 from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, would amend the Earned Discretionary Sentence Credit — where incarcerated individuals can reduce their sentence if permitted by the Illinois Department of Corrections — to allow for time served in county jail to be included in the 60-day minimum before a credit can be awarded.
* HB1273 is on Second Reading in the Senate. The Telegraph…
State Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, said she is hopeful all Illinois schools will observe Constitution Day in the near future as her legislation would require of schools.
The legislation signals Harriss’ first bill to move out of committee since taking office in January. Filed by State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, and carried by Harriss in the Senate, the bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration before the governor can sign it into law.
Her bill, House Bill 1273 would require schools to recognize Sept. 17 as a commemorative holiday and recently has passed the Senate Education Committee. […]
“This legislation doesn’t give students a day off, but rather requires school districts to teach students the highest form of law in our country,” Harriss said.
* I. I just. I don’t. What in the actual heck is happening here?…
A lot of people are making fun of this article because of the headline, which is sad because if you don't read the whole article, you'll miss the really, really hilariously stupid stuff. https://t.co/wFWqvuy52C
— Luigi D’Napla is only sort of a fake name (@LuigiDNapla) April 21, 2023
It implies revamping the pension, school, criminal justice and political systems is no harder than telling a line cook to make the cheese "meltier."
— Luigi D’Napla is only sort of a fake name (@LuigiDNapla) April 21, 2023
* The Tribune’s editorial page editor is a very talented theater critic. I loved his recent review of “Fat Ham,” which I saw in New York last week a couple of days before I tested positive for COVID and was then forced to spend the rest of the week holed up in a tiny NYC hotel room…
In playwright James Ijames’ eye-popping “Fat Ham,” a malcontent named Juicy, kinda like Hamlet, is chilling in his North Carolina backyard when his recently deceased dad exits the presumptive fires of hell and pops up out of his patio grill.
His message? Put down your books from that correspondence course at University of Phoenix, you lazy kid, and avenge my prison shanking at the hands of my brother. You know, the guy now married to your wild momma and a pit master about to barbecue some ribs right here, maybe even the ones left over from my recent funeral. […]
At no point does this play feel like anything other than a big-fun Broadway show: it’s a smart, fearless and often wildly entertaining 90 minutes, filled with radical ideas and absurdist spectacle. To his credit, Ijames is willing to blow up even his own assertions. You get musical numbers, tableaux, crazy comedic antics and a suite of outsized performances from the likes of the superb Nikki Crawford, making her Broadway debut, like many in this knockout cast. I’d go so far as to say I can’t recall such a well-acted Broadway show with so many first-timers.
* Anyway, perhaps the Tribune should just switch to ChatGPT, which John Amdor tasked with rewriting the McDonald’s editorial to be about Ernie and the Keebler Elves…
When Ernie, the leader of the Keebler Elves, spoke to the Economic Club of Chicago, he shared an enchanting message that we welcomed wholeheartedly. Chicago, he said, was being done in by rampant crime, an unfriendly business climate, and an overly cautious mindset that made it harder to solve its admittedly hard-to-solve problems. “We are playing defense when we need to be playing offense,” he said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and some other civic leaders unwisely pushed back against the truth-telling elf. But now that the voters have spoken, sending the Lightfoot administration packing, it’s even more obvious that Ernie was right all along.
You know what else makes it obvious? Ernie’s own leadership style, playing offense at the magical Keebler Elves factory when he could more easily play it safe instead.
As practically everyone on the planet knows, the Keebler Elves are renowned for their cookies and crackers. And nothing — really, nothing — is more important to the elves than maintaining the magic of their brand.
So, hat’s off to Ernie for having the courage to innovate within the factory. In a recent announcement that affects millions of people, the Keebler Elves said they are refining their classic recipes.
The new cookies will be even more delicious, with improved texture and flavor. The elves will experiment with new baking techniques to create the perfect crunch, and ingredients previously served separately will be combined in innovative ways, adding a unique taste sensation. The packaging will be more eco-friendly, showcasing the elves’ commitment to the environment.
These changes will be implemented in stores over the coming year, and, in addition, their famous E.L. Fudge cookies will feature even more scrumptious fudge filling, a secret recipe as celebrated as Coca-Cola’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s.
Sounds delightful. But make no mistake: This is a big risk.
The Keebler Elves have tinkered with their recipes before, with mixed results, including some memorable flops. But this is what strong leaders do. They make tough decisions, and they’re willing to experiment with new ways of doing business — as Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will need to do if he plans to solve the problems Ernie cited.
To stay relevant and successful, the Keebler Elves are doing more than tweaking their recipes. Ernie promised to break up outdated and self-limiting ways of thinking and shift from “legacy mindsets” to “new behaviors.”
Relying on magic alone wouldn’t be enough anymore.
Mayor-elect Johnson, it’s your move.
In his inspiring victory speech, Johnson promised “the politics of old” would not interfere with “building a better, stronger, safer Chicago.” He went on to say, “Today we celebrate the revival and the resurrection of the city of Chicago. It is time for Chicago to come alive. Come alive, Chicago.”
The city can keep trying to achieve that goal with the same stale recipes that haven’t been working, or start playing offense, directly attacking crime, the sluggish business climate, and the cover-your-hindquarters mindset.
The stakes in this city are far greater than a single magical factory producing more delectable cookies and crackers.
But one thing we know for sure: Chicago needs “accelerating” far more than the Keebler Elves. So, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, take a page from Ernie’s book and lead Chicago with innovation, courage, and a touch of magic.
For the second time, the village of Bourbonnais’ proposed Non-Home Rule Sales Tax referendum for property tax relief was voted down. […]
The village was asking residents to increase its local sales tax by 1 percentage point, or one cent, going from its current 7.25% sales tax to 8.25% in its three business districts.
Outside of those business districts, the rate would increase from 6.25% to 7.25%.
If residents had approved the referendum, funds collected would have provided property tax rebates to single-family, owner-occupied homeowners on the municipal portion of their tax bill for at least 10 years.
Back when the state income tax for property tax swap idea was all the rage, some folks believed that voters just wouldn’t go for it, despite the obvious benefits. There was so little trust in government, the fear was voters would focus solely on the tax hike and totally reject the premise that they’d ever get a tax cut.
I don’t know if that’s what happened in Bourbonnais, but I’m just sayin’.
Illinois House Republican leaders are calling for a moratorium on expansion and a State audit of Illinois’ billion-dollar health benefits program for undocumented immigrants.
At a Capitol press conference Thursday, Deputy Republican Leaders Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) and Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), along with Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville), highlighted a bombshell State report detailing the massive cost and enrollment expansions of Illinois’ health benefits program for undocumented immigrants.
Hammond, who serves as chief budgeteer for the House Republican Caucus, laid out in detail the dramatic growth in undocumented immigrant participation, which will require nearly a billion dollars in general revenue funds to support the program in Fiscal Year 2024.
“In FY24, Illinois’ program of health benefits for undocumented immigrants is estimated to cost $990 million, which is a $768 million increase (346%) over FY23,” Rep. Hammond said. “Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for any federal Medicaid match, resulting in State GRF being used to pay for the entirety of services provided. These ballooning enrollments and costs are unsustainable and could lead to the loss of funding and services for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens.”
A recent report from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) shows that HFS and its contracted actuarial firm, Milliman, repeatedly underestimated actual enrollees and costs.
FY24 estimates now show growth in healthcare benefits coverage for eligible undocumented immigrants totaling 108,400 over original FY23 estimates, and enrollees totaling 31,500 over original FY23 estimates, a 202% and 94% increase respectively.
“Year after year, we saw the majority party continue to double down on these expansions, which are not eligible for federal matching funds. The Medicaid program in the State of Illinois is our biggest area of spending,” said Deputy House Republican Leader Ryan Spain in discussing House Resolution 220, which he filed to audit and pause new enrollees in the program. “This billion dollar hole, which is just the beginning, requires the General Assembly to exercise fiscal responsibility in both the short-term and long-term to ensure state budget sustainability.”
The additional Medicaid pressure for these expansions is happening at the same time the State is expected to lose $760 million in additional federal funding through the enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Program (FMAP) that was provided to states during the pandemic.
Several important State programs are still drastically underfunded and could greatly benefit from the $990 million in GRF that would go to HFS to continue to provide medical services to undocumented immigrants.
Assistant Republican Leader C.D. Davidsmeyer discussed the process by which these expansions of health benefits to undocumented immigrants were enacted into law and the absolute lack of accountability and transparency for this program.
“During the 2020 pandemic-shortened House session, Democrats slipped health benefits for undocumented immigrant seniors into the FY21 Budget Implementation (BIMP) bill. This new benefit was included in the BIMP at the last minute, without a committee hearing, public input, or debate. We had virtually no time to review the massive BIMP and budget bills that were passed at the end of that special session,” said Rep. Davidsmeyer.
“In 2021, Democrats again slipped expanded health benefits for undocumented immigrants for ages 55-64 into the FY22 BIMP bill. This was again included at the last minute, with no committee hearing and almost no time to debate the bill.
“Last year, Democrats blew up an agreed Medicaid Omnibus bill by yet again adding a last-minute expansion of health benefits for undocumented immigrants for ages 42-54 at the end of session. Zero transparency, zero accountability, zero public input.”
Illinois Democrats recently filed House Bill 1570, which would complete the expansion of health benefits for undocumented immigrants by adding ages 19-41 to the program. HB 1570 has not been debated and no stand-alone vote has been taken on this benefit expansion. Davidsmeyer suggested that if recent history is any guide, the Democrats will again, for the fourth time, add this expansion to the upcoming FY24 BIMP bill or some other massive omnibus bill at the end of the General Assembly’s spring session.
“The sad fact is Illinois has become a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants,” Rep. Davidsmeyer said. “The State of Illinois gives them free healthcare benefits, driver’s licenses, mortgage and renters’ assistance, as well as other taxpayer-funded benefits. All I can say is ‘If you build it, they will come.’”
The administration has said there’s enough money in the budget to pay for at least half of the coming fiscal year’s shortfall.
* From Jordan Abudayyeh…
The Republicans said it’s time we have some adults in the room when it comes to budgeting. To be clear, the only lawmakers with a proven record of balancing the budget and improving state finances are Governor Pritzker and the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly. The Governor just proposed another balanced budget that invests in education, healthcare, and communities. The credit ratings agencies have so much trust in his track record that after his proposal the state received two credit upgrades.
Let’s review some history.
Who balanced the budget four years in a row? Democrats.
Who eliminated the bill backlog that reached $16 billion left by the Republican governor? Democrats.
Who rebuilt the rainy day fund to nearly $2 billion? Democrats.
Who paid additional pension payments? Democrats.
Whose prudent fiscal decisions led to eight credit upgrades? Democrats.
Who invested hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild our human services infrastructure after the Republican budget impasse? Democrats.
Just this week Senate Republicans outlined hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending and did not offer a plan to pay for it. Budget challenges and spending constraints are nothing new to Democrats who have done the hard work to balance the budget year after year. The Governor and the General Assembly will continue on the proven track of working together to ensure state spending does not exceed revenues setting the state up for even more success moving forward.
* Crain’s | Brandon Johnson faces tough choice as the search for the next Chicago police chief moves forward: Johnson won an historic election campaigning on a vision for a new approach to public safety that de-emphasizes hiring more police officers to solve Chicago’s crime issues and instead reorganizing the department to focus on solving violent crime while investing in public programs that tackle the so-called root causes of crime. That approach will face scrutiny when Johnson takes office May 15 as Chicago heads into the summer months, when violent crime typically spikes, giving a new superintendent little runway to form a strategy to combat violence in both the immediate and long term.
* CBS Chicago | Chicago pastors to lead hundreds downtown in response to last weekend’s Loop chaos: Some of the pastors said they feel responsible for what happened over the weekend because the teens in those videos are from their communities. “I was disappointed, hurt by it. because that is not the character of our young people.” Bishop Dr. Horace Smith of Apostolic Faith Church said he felt accountable after watching teens jump on a CTA bus and learning two boys were shot during the Loop take over.
* Jim Dey | Union chapter president’s thefts cost far more than money: Byron Clemons Sr. of Alton should have remembered that. If he had, he wouldn’t be in quite as much legal trouble. He pleaded guilty April 11 to “transportation of stolen money.” That’s fed speak for embezzling more than $202,100 from the AFSCME union chapter in Alton and spending much of it at casinos across the river in Missouri.
* WTVO | Empower Illinois wants to give more kids the chance to go to private school: mpower Illinois has a mission to provide kids from low-income and working-class families the chance to have a quality education by giving them private school scholarships. Anthony Holter, President of Empower Illinois shares how great it is to partner with a school like Kikifers Entrepreneurial Academy to match kids with the best education for them.
* SJ-R | Crime victims call for expanded protections, rights at Capitol rally: While the focus on the rally centered on the victims, Thomas said CSSJ was also working with lawmakers on a bill regarding rehabilitation of the incarcerated. House Bill 3026 from state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, would amend the Earned Discretionary Sentence Credit — where incarcerated individuals can reduce their sentence if permitted by the Illinois Department of Corrections — to allow for time served in county jail to be included in the 60-day minimum before a credit can be awarded
* Sun-Times | City went too far in worker crackdown over COVID vaccines, judge rules: The decision in a case before the Illinois Labor Relations Board applies to city workers represented by trade unions or by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The unions banded together to challenge regulations Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed starting in 2021.
* WAND | Survivors advocate for bereavement expansion, rehabilitation access for returning citizens: Hundreds of survivors of gun violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault rallied at the Illinois Capitol Thursday afternoon to demand stronger public safety reforms. “We cannot leave crime victims behind. We also must make sure that communities have the resources that they need,” said Aswad Thomas, a gun violence survivor and the national director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. “So here in the state of Illinois, we’ve expanded the trauma recovery center model.”
* Chicago Reader | ‘Why you talking to a bum?’: When the very presence of unhoused people on the CTA is considered a public safety concern, who is the public, and what are we keeping them safe from?
* The Marshall Project | The War On Gun Violence Has Failed. And Black Men Are Paying The Price: A Marshall Project analysis found that from 2010 to 2022, the police made more than 38,000 arrests for illegal gun possession. These arrests — almost always a felony — doubled during this timeframe. While illegal possession is the most serious offense in most of the cases we analyzed, the charges often bear misleading names that imply violence, like “aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.”
* My Radio Link | First Lady MK Pritzker Opens Her Door to Illinois’ Cultural Community, Honors Artist Richard Hunt: Illinois First Lady MK Pritzker will host a cocktail reception at the Governor’s Mansion the evening of Monday, April 24, 2023, to welcome Illinois’ cultural leaders attending the “One State Conference and Capital Day” in Springfield. Inside, the First Lady will deliver a proclamation honoring world-renowned sculptor Richard Hunt and will declare April 24, 2023, Richard Hunt Day in Illinois.
* USA Today | North Carolina man in custody in connection with shooting of 6-year-old, parents: Robert Louis Singletary allegedly shot a 6-year-old girl and her parents after their basketball rolled into his yard and the family went to retrieve it, according to local WBTV and WSOC-TV. Singletary turned himself in to police in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday afternoon after a search, the Gaston County Police Department in North Carolina said.
