Today Governor JB Pritzker signed the historic Unemployment Insurance (UI) Agreement, finalizing a bipartisan plan to pay down $1.36 billion in UI loan debt remaining from the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement will save taxpayers an estimated $20 million in interest costs that would be due next September and preserves hundreds of millions of dollars in future federal tax credits for Illinois employers, without decreasing benefits for employees.
“Today, I signed historic, bipartisan legislation to eliminate pandemic-induced UI Trust Fund debt, replenish the fund for the future, protect benefits for working families, and further fuel Illinois’ strong economic trajectory,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We are delivering an investment of $1.8 billion—$1.36 billion of which will pay off the remaining balance of federal advances and $450 million of which will serve as an interest-free loan to the Unemployment Trust Fund. This bipartisan agreement eliminates the final portion of the $4.5 billion debt forced upon our state during the pandemic. It will save Illinois businesses hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade, and it will save taxpayers $20 million in interest costs that would otherwise have been due next September.”
The bill, negotiated by representatives from business, labor, bipartisan members of the General Assembly, and the state, will contribute more than $1.8 billion in state funds to the unemployment insurance trust fund, which includes the payment of the remaining $1.3 billion federal loan balance borrowed under Title XII of the Social Security Act. The remaining $450 million will be placed into the trust fund from state funds as an interest-free loan. As the loan is repaid over the next ten years, funds will be deposited directly into the state’s Rainy-Day Fund, also known as the Budget Stabilization Fund.
“This agreement makes history and makes financial sense,” said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. “It is a collaborative effort by stakeholders and members of both sides of the aisle to save taxpayers’ money while protecting the rights of workers. Illinois continues to make fiscally responsible decisions that strengthen our economy and puts families first.”
“With this measure, we continue our work of rebuilding Illinois’ fiscal house and laying the foundation for a stronger future,” said House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Chicag0). “This was a difficult process, but is an example of how good policy gets made. I want to thank those who pulled up a seat at the negotiating table and made a true effort to find common ground and reach a solution.”
“In my time as leader of the Senate, what I’m most proud of is the work we’ve done to restore fiscal stability to the state after years of mismanagement,” said Senate President Don Harmon (D- Oak Park). “This agreement is yet another step forward. I applaud everyone involved for coming to the table and working together to find practical solutions and keep our state moving forward.”
“We thank Gov. JB Pritzker for swiftly signing this historic agreement into law. While the problems facing Illinois’ unemployment system were not unique in the wake of the pandemic, how we went about solving these challenges was. Through careful and deliberate negotiations via the tried and true ‘agreed bill’ process, we have chartered a path forward that will resolve this debt, save businesses more than $900 million in taxes they would otherwise have paid, and secure benefits for laid off workers,” said Rob Karr, President and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. “We extend our gratitude to our partners in organized labor, Governor Pritzker and his team led by Deputy Governor Andy Manar, as well as the bi-partisan legislative negotiators including Senators Bill Cunningham, Linda Holmes, Sue Rezin, and Win Stoller, and Representatives Marcus Evans, Jay Hoffman, Mike Marron, and Dan Ugaste. We also appreciate the hard work of Illinois Department of Employment Security Director Kristin Richards and her staff for their valuable assistance through the agreed bill process, as well as their vital services every day.”
“Every day, more Illinoisans are finding quality employment opportunities, but it’s still vital that we work together to ensure that if workers fall on tough times there’s a strong safety net for them,” said Pat Devaney, Illinois AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer. “We have a historic opportunity to protect the benefits of workers while also repaying a debt and continuing to keep Illinois on the right financial path. I’m thankful to Governor Pritzker for his continued commitment to the success of working families in Illinois.”
“As we approach another month of low unemployment claims and continue our pattern of responsible bill-paying and financial prudence, we find ourselves in a position to once again make an investment in Illinois’s future,” said State Senator Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago). “Thanks to the collective work of so many on both sides of the aisle, our budgets are balanced and we have the opportunity to fully pay down our debt in a timely manner, saving real taxpayer dollars.”
“This signing, and the agreement it ratifies, is just the latest building block in our efforts to improve the financial status of our state,” said State Senator Linda Holmes (D-Aurora). “It’s why we’ve received these credit upgrades and why Illinois continues to grow to a bright financial future.”
“I’m proud of the long hours negotiators on both sides have put into creating this agreement,” said State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris). “It’s good to know we’re working together to pay off debt and even better to know that the funds previously allocated to paying down that debt will now go to shoring up the state’s Rainy Day Fund.”
“The UI system helps the people who I care about in my community and are struggling daily to make ends meet,” said State Representative Marcus Evans (D-Chicago). “Together, we did what we were obligated to do for those in need by creating a safety net for these challenging times. Thank you, Governor Pritzker, for prioritizing fiscal responsibility today, thus; creating the opportunity to help the people I care about and serve tomorrow.”
“This bipartisan measure represents real action to support working families and underscores the significant value of putting aside differences to work together,” said Assistant Majority Leader Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea). “This plan protects benefits, saves employers money, improves our state’s financial outlook and provides long-term security for workers across Illinois. I am appreciative of those who negotiated on behalf of labor and business, and am optimistic that we can continue to work together in good faith to prioritize working families.”
“A deal was reached by the bi-partisan Unemployment Insurance working group that will reduce taxes on job creators protecting all our Illinois workers by maintaining benefits and avoiding unnecessary taxes,” State Representative Mike Marron (R-Fithian) said. “This successful negotiation brought all levels of government, business, and labor to the table to achieve a good deal for the people of Illinois. I am always willing to work across the aisle to collaborate in good faith on the real issues facing our constituents and I would like to thank everyone involved in this process for their candor and leadership.”
“Under the leadership of Governor Pritzker, this historic bipartisan agreement will fund a vital state resource benefiting both employers and workers,” said IDES Director Kristin Richards. “IDES is proud to have taken part in the agreed bill process that has led to SB1698, and thanks the four legislative caucuses for their support.”
This is the third significant contribution to the outstanding loan balance, which increased significantly after the fund was forced to borrow $4.5 billion in federal funds to provide relief to workers unemployed due to COVID-19. In March of 2022, Governor Pritzker signed legislation which provided an historic $2.7 billion contribution to assist the state’s unemployment trust fund via one-time federal ARPA dollars; in September of 2022, another $450 million payment was made toward the loan balance from the fund itself due to months-long historically low unemployment claims.
Governor Pritzker has also previously invested over $1 billion in the state’s Rainy-Day Fund during his first term. The fund had previously dipped as low as $60,000. Major investments in the Fund are a key reason for Illinois’s six recent credit upgrades. S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings both cited the fund’s improvement in their decision to increase its rating, as well as responsible payments to pension funds and up-to-date bill payments.
Hospitals are more full than they’ve been throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. But as respiratory virus season surges across the US, it’s much more than Covid that’s filling beds this year.
More than 80% of hospital beds are in use nationwide, jumping 8 percentage points in the past two weeks.
Hospitals have been required to report capacity information since mid-2020 as part of a federal effort to track the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hospitals have been more than 70% full for the vast majority of that time. But they’ve been 80% full at only one other point: in January, during the height of the Omicron surge in the US.
The broader respiratory virus season is in full swing across the US. All but six states are experiencing “high” or “very high” respiratory virus as seasonal flu activity remains “high and continues to increase,” according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On that same day in January, just 260 intensive care beds were available. Today, that number is 403.
…Adding… By the way, the governor’s executive orders that the IPI and pointy wires constantly complain about allow IDFPR to approve out of state and inactive healthcare professionals to work in Illinois at a time when hospitals are still bleeding workers.
Illinois’s debt to its employee retirement funds rose as the pensions were hammered by investment losses, erasing some of the bull-market gains that briefly chipped away at the state’s obligations.
The unfunded pension liability across Illinois’s five retirement systems rose 7.5% to $139.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June, based on the market value of their assets, according to a report from the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on Thursday.
At the end of FY 2021, the aggregate unfunded liability based on the actuarial value of assets was approximately $139.9 billion. A year later, it stood at $139.0 billion as of FY 2022. The combined unfunded liability dropped by $848.4 million during FY 2022, a 0.6% decrease, compared to FY 2021.
As shown in Chart 4, the primary contributor to this decrease was due to positive actuarial investment returns. Although all five systems reported negative rates of return on market value investments, through statutorily- required asset smoothing, actuarial values of investment returns resulted in overall gains for each retirement system. This actuarial gain is equivalent to approximately $787 million in investment returns for FY 2022. Other factors in the overall decrease in aggregate actuarial unfunded liability included a $511 million actuarial gain from changes in actuarial assumptions, a $232 million gain in changes in demographics and other factors, and a $256.3 million gain from the effect of the buyout provisions pursuant to P.A. 100 -0587.
SERS experienced an actuarial gain of $877 million in FY 2022 due to actuarial assumption changes tied to their statutorily-mandated experience study for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. The following assumptions were modified as a result of the experience study: salary increase assumptions, mortality assumptions, and other demographic factors, including normal retirement rates, early retirement rates, and turnover rates, among other factors. SERS reported a $176.0 million actuarial gain from the buyout programs. The system also reported an actuarial gain of $304 million due to favorable demographic factors.
* And state payments are scheduled to go down again next fiscal year…
FY 2024 estimated State contributions were certified by the Boards of trustees of the five systems. FY 2023 State contributions to the five systems were $10.98 billion. The FY 2024 State contributions are estimated to be $10.94 billion, a decrease of $39.6 million or 0.04% over FY 2023.
* Also, if you look at the report, the state pension payment is at 49.4 percent of payroll in this fiscal year. It’s projected to be 48.4 percent in ten years and then go up to 51.5 percent, where it will essentially remain until 2045.
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after being unanimously re-elected as the Senate’s second-highest ranking Democrat, the Senate Democratic Whip, for the 118th Congress by his Senate Democratic colleagues this morning. Durbin has served in the number two role in the caucus since 2005. Durbin will also continue in his role as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I am honored to continue to serve the Senate Democratic Caucus as Whip and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The midterm elections showed that Americans support the vision Senate Democrats, along with President Biden and Vice President Harris, have for the nation. And we will continue our work for the American people.”
Only five other Illinoisans have served as leaders for their parties in the Senate. Shelby Moore Cullom served as Republican Conference Chairman from 1911-1913; J. Hamilton Lewis became the first Democratic Whip of the Senate in 1913, and was again elected Whip in 1931; Scott W. Lucas served as Democratic Whip from 1947 to 1949 and Majority Leader from 1949 to 1951; Everett McKinley Dirksen was elected Republican Whip in 1957 and Minority Leader in 1959, a position he held for ten years; and Alan Dixon served as Chief Deputy Whip from November 1988-January 1993, the chamber’s third-ranking Democrat.
* Hmm…
Outgoing Rep. Rodney Davis was the only Illinois Republican to vote yes on protecting same-sex marriage.
I joined MSNBC to discuss my efforts urging Elon Musk to address possible manipulation of information by the Chinese Communist Party. "We are asking Mr. Musk… what are we going to do to prevent this from happening going forward?" Full interview: https://t.co/w1RhSdNZ4i
Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) joined roughly 50 Democratic lawmakers from 31 states at the White House this week to discuss top issues for the 2023 legislative session.
Biden administration policy experts organized discussion panels to allow lawmakers to collaborate and better align on strategies to protect the rights of all Americans. On Wednesday, Rep. Cassidy was the only legislator to participate in all three sessions which included gender equity and economic justice, reproductive freedom, and LGBTQI+ issues.
“I am thankful to have this opportunity to meet with my peers from across the country as we begin the very serious task of protecting and preserving rights that many conservative lawmakers are working to take away,” said Rep. Cassidy. “During these strategy sessions, I was able to relay the work of our Reproductive Health Working Group and what Illinois is considering to address the devastating impact of the Dobbs decision.”
”Our working group and staff continue to work tirelessly to ensure we can protect and expand reproductive health care. We recognize the importance of the task ahead and this meeting at the White House allowed for an opportunity to collaborate with other policymakers and get a better understanding of the national landscape.
“We are at the precipice of what we have set out to accomplish since the Supreme Court overturned Roe and it’s imperative we leave no stone unturned. After my visit to the White House, I am even more motivated and energized to make sure that Illinois remains a safe haven for reproductive freedom.”
In addition to the panels on Wednesday, Rep. Cassidy will also participate in discussions on Thursday.
* News…
The Illinois Supreme Court announced today the creation of the Supreme Court Committee on Domestic Violence. The Committee is tasked with reviewing and making recommendations on matters affecting domestic violence, human trafficking, and the court system. https://t.co/oKBXOjhhRf
* They’ve been asking that I post this, so here you go…
* I occasionally get emails from companies asking me to include links to old stories, but this is the very first time I’ve received a corporate request to add a link to a post about a federal criminal investigation of a major corporation…
Should I add it?
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Patch | U.S. House Passes Respect For Marriage Bill: How Illinois Reps Voted: On Thursday, 39 Republicans joined all Democrats in favor of the bill a week after Republicans also voted on the bill during last week’s Senate vote. Illinois Republicans Rodney Davis (Taylorville) was among the Republicans who voted in favor of the bill on Thursday while Darin LaHood (R-Peoria), Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro), and Mary Miller (R-Oakland) voted against the measure.
* Sun-Times | Nearly 2,000 granted U.S. citizenship in largest Chicago ceremony ever: ‘I consider this my home’: When Svjetlana Kiponjic left Bosnia nine years ago, she was looking for a better life. She got a green card, worked a cleaning job, then met the love of her life. They married six years ago and had a child, David, now 2. On Wednesday, she clutched a bouquet of flag-themed balloons minutes before she was granted U.S. citizenship in the largest naturalization ceremony ever held in Chicago.
* WSIL | What is in the proposed bill to ban assault weapons in Illinois?: The proposed legislation, HB 5855 or the “Protect Illinois Communities Act,” would not only ban the future sale of assault weapons, but also high capacity-magazines. It would also raise the minimum age to purchase or own a weapon.
* KPVI | Gun bill vote could come sooner; property tax board wants more space; first social equity dispensary opens: State Rep. Bob Morgan expects to get his proposed bill banning future sales of certain types of semi-automatic firearms and magazines passed when lawmakers return for the lame-duck session starting Jan. 4. Morgan told WMAY his goal is to pass the measure, which also restricts anyone younger than 21 from getting a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card unless they are enlisted in the military or National Guard, by Jan. 10. Gun rights groups have promised lawsuits if the measure passes.
* Sun-Times | Police don’t need unfettered right to surveil First Amendment-protected gatherings with drones: Privacy on the ground is receding more quickly than a drone speeding through the air. The Legislature should step in to protect Illinoisans. Most recently, we’re told an effort is underway in Illinois to weaken an almost decade-old law that governs how police may use drones, which are aerial vehicles that can fly without a human pilot aboard. The proposal being pushed by law enforcement would expand the ability of police to use drones in a variety of settings, including mass gatherings that could include protests, rallies and other types of First Amendment-protected activity.
* Crain’s | NLRB: Weed shop violated labor law by refusing to bargain with unionized Chicago workers:Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) violated labor law by refusing to bargain with unionized workers at its Chicago location, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday. A three-member panel said that the company, GHG Management LLC, which oversees Windy City Cannabis and Curaleaf Weed Street, must recognize and bargain with workers within 21 days of receiving the notice from the NLRB, Law360 first reported.
* Daily Herald | Funerals are changing. One McHenry funeral home wants liquor license to adapt to those changes: “With the growing shift to cremation as (the) method of disposition, we have more and more families wanting to have a celebration of life, … a short service not necessarily religious but mainly a gathering with some beer and wine and appetizers,” [Robert Justen, owner of Justen Funeral Home] wrote on his liquor license application.
* IL Lottery paid $2.2B to winners last fiscal year. Where does the remaining money go?: Illinois Lottery officials say it’s a “common misconception” the lottery was created with the intention of fully funding education in the state. That said, 25% of Illinois Lottery proceeds went to fund education and other specialty causes in fiscal year 2022, officials report.
* Sun-Times | School of the Art Institute rescinds Ye’s honorary degree: “The School of the Art Institute of Chicago condemns and repudiates Kanye West’s (now known as Ye) anti-Black, antisemitic, racist, and dangerous statements, particularly those directed at Black and Jewish communities. Ye’s actions do not align with SAIC’s mission and values, and we’ve rescinded his honorary degree,” SAIC officials said in a statement.
* Florida Politics | Author of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Indicted for Money Laundering: The indictment alleges that between Dec. 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021, Harding committed two acts of wire fraud through a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration (SBA) and by obtaining COVID-19-related small business loans through false and fraudulent pretenses.
* The Conversation | Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s pending promotion sheds new light on his overlooked fight for equal rights after the Civil War: Tucked away in an amendment to the FY2023 U.S. defense authorization bill is a rare instance of congressional bipartisanship and a tribute to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. If approved, the measure would posthumously promote Grant to the rank of General of the Armies of the U.S., making him only the third person – along with John J. Pershing and George Washington – to be awarded the nation’s highest military honor
* Washington Post | She founded Moms Demand Action for gun reform. 140 of its volunteers won office.:Shannon Watts spent midterm election night glued to her phone, tweeting as Nabeela Syed won in Illinois. And Erin Maye Quade in Minnesota. Then Jennifer Boylan in Rhode Island. In total, up to 140 candidates who were volunteers with the organization she founded, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and its newly formed arm, Demand A Seat, were elected to office. In Rhode Island alone, seven of the eight Moms Demand Action volunteers running won. Sixteen won in Illinois. Seats were flipped in previously Republican-held districts.
State Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital early Thursday morning.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Senate Democrats relayed information from Bennett’s wife, Stacy, confirming that he is receiving medical attention for an undisclosed problem, but his condition was not available.
First responders were called to the couple’s Champaign home just before 3 a.m.
Hoping for nothing but the best for both Senator and Mrs. Bennett.
You’ll know more when I do.
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker…
In response to the hospitalization of state Sen. Scott Bennett (D-Champaign), Governor JB Pritzker released the following statement:
“Scott Bennett is genuine, kind and dedicated to serving his constituents. MK and I are keeping Scott, Stacy and his entire family and community in our prayers.”
* Excerpted polling memo from pollster Global Strategy Group on behalf of gun law reform organization Everytown…
A majority [of Illinois registered voters polled] support the passage of an assault weapons ban (58%), with nearly half (46%) strongly supporting the ban. Establishing an anti-gun trafficking unit (80%), increasing resources for red-flag laws (74%), and increasing the minimum age to obtain a FOID card to 21 (66%) all enjoy widespread support in the state.
A majority of voters (58%) support an assault weapons ban, most of which with high intensity - nearly half (46%) of voters stating they strongly support a ban in the state. Support spans across communities with 60% of Hispanic voters, 64% of Black voters, and 56% of white voters supporting an assault weapons ban in Illinois. Even a majority (58%) of independents support it. The ban has strong support among voters in the Chicago media market, but still enjoys net-positive support in the southern part of the state (55%) and near- even support (47%) among those in the far northwest and central regions.
There is broad support for measures to prevent gun violence in Illinois. Illinois voters strongly support policies aimed at restricting who may access weapons – two-thirds of voters (66%) support increasing the minimum age to obtain a FOID card from 18 to 21 years old, with the majority (55%) strongly supporting the policy. This includes 59% of independents. Measures to increase resources for red-flag law implementation enjoy even higher levels of support with three-quarters (74%) of voters backing the policy.
The vast majority (80%) of voters also support establishing an anti-gun-trafficking unit to stem the flow of illegal guns, with broad support across racial lines with 78% of white voters, 86% of Black voters, and 86% Hispanic voters supporting the measure.
A majority of voters (52%) believe gun laws in the state of Illinois should be stronger, including nearly three-quarters (72%) of Black voters and 56% of Hispanic voters. Conversely, there are few who think gun laws should be weaker – indicating that legislative action on gun violence prevention thus far has been well-received. Fewer than one-in-five (18%) believe gun laws should be weaker in the state. Support for stronger gun laws statewide is buoyed by especially high support in Chicagoland - 64% of Chicago residents and 61% of voters in the rest of Cook County want stronger gun laws.
Global Strategy Group conducted a survey of 1,010 registered voters in Illinois between October 20th and October 27th, 2022, including an oversample of 210 additional Black and Hispanic voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.6% for this survey. Interviews were conducted over the phone and with text to web invitation. Care has been taken to ensure the geographic and demographic divisions of the populations of likely voters are properly represented.
Over 300 people gathered Sunday on the North Side to push for better city infrastructure that protects bicyclists and pedestrians after drivers hit and killed toddlers Raphael “Rafi” Cardenas and Elizabeth “Lily” Grace Shambrook this month.
Families, elected officials and bike safety advocates gathered for the “Walk and Roll for Safe Streets” event organized by Better Streets Chicago and Chicago Family Biking. The group held moments of silence to honor Rafi and Lily, chalked messages on the streets to alert drivers to pedestrians and bicyclists, and marched from the Lincoln Square intersection in where Rafi was killed June 2, to the Uptown corner where Lily was killed Thursday.
This past June, [Peter Paquette] marched alongside hundreds of Chicagoans demanding safer streets following a spate of pedestrian deaths, including two toddlers killed by drivers in the same month. Later that day, Paquette joined Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, state representatives and Chicago aldermen for an early vote rally at O’Donovan’s, a nearby bar on Irving Park Road.
He never made it home.
Leaving the gathering at O’Donovan’s, Paquette and his wife were crossing Irving Park Road when a driver struck him in the middle of a marked crosswalk. He was thrown into the air, and though bystanders jumped in to help, he was pronounced dead a half hour after the accident, recalled Alderman Matt Martin, who represents the 47th Ward.
Local politicians and residents had flagged the four-lane state road, which bisects a residential neighborhood with three schools, two older adult living facilities and an L train station, as a hazard for pedestrians. In fact, Martin had pushed for safety improvements such as pedestrian refuge islands and curb extensions near the area where Paquette was struck.
Of the 30 sites with the most crashes in Chicago, all but one included a state road, according to Islam’s analysis. One state road, Stony Island, runs down the South Side of Chicago and counts two of its intersections, at 79th and 95th, among sites with the most crashes in the city. That danger isn’t surprising to Courtney Cobbs, co-founder of Better Streets Chicago.
“This has been known for decades,” Cobbs said. “And there has been no movement to change that, unfortunately.”
Her transit advocacy peers argue the Illinois Department of Transportation is not only slow to respond to pedestrian deaths but also is a huge barrier to any type of traffic safety improvements.
“A lot of these roadways are controlled by the state, and they have traditionally been much more backward-looking, honestly, in terms of the types of roadway improvement designs they’re willing to consider,” said Jim Merrell, managing director of advocacy for the Active Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit pedestrian and public transportation advocacy group.
Even when pedestrian safety advocates have the support of local aldermen or the Chicago Department of Transportation, IDOT often is reluctant to approve of changes such as physical barriers between car traffic and pedestrians or bicyclists that could protect more vulnerable roadway users, he said. The current state law requires IDOT to give full consideration to bicycle and pedestrian ways in urban areas during a project’s planning phase; however, the IDOT secretary can make an exception for resurfacing projects or what might be deemed as safety issues, excessive cost or absence of need.
“We talk to IDOT all the time and have engaged with the secretary, with the local districts, with the General Assembly and the governor’s office, and it’s clear we have a really big structural issue with the state Department of Transportation and just how it’s set up,” Merrell said. “It’s not set up to build streets for the 21st century.”
Again, emphasis added.
* This, as always, is an issue of leadership, which appears to be sorely lacking at IDOT and CDOT…
In Illinois, a major sticking point is that IDOT and the Chicago Department of Transportation fail to coordinate with each other, said Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner, a Democrat who represents a district on the South Side of Chicago.
“What I usually hear is that CDOT says, ‘We can’t do anything because IDOT won’t, this is an IDOT space.’ And then they just leave it there,” Buckner said. “But if you ask IDOT, often they’ll say, ‘We’re happy to work together to figure it out if they ask us.’ The advocates are talking to both sides, but both sides aren’t talking to each other.”
Buckner is working on legislation for the upcoming legislative session that would lower speed limits in cities. Another bill would give municipal transportation agencies the ability to implement traffic calming and pedestrian safety work on state roads within a jurisdiction that has a population of more than 2 million people, he said. Buckner stressed that any new law would not only require buy-in from IDOT, but the city as well.
If the governor and the mayor made this issue a priority, there might not be a need for legislation.
* The 2022 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Best Illinois State Representative - Democrat goes to Rep. Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside)…
His bipartisanship, consensus building, common sense, attention to detail, and collegiality are rare in the Capitol. His experience and institutional knowledge will be missed more than others. Hate to see you go, Z.
Same.
* The 2022 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Best Illinois State Representative - Republican goes to Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City)…
One of the best human beings you will ever meet. Conservative but reasonable. Works his district like a pro. Plow horse mentality. Did I mention he is just an incredible and decent man?
As subscribers know, Rep. Bennett is hoping for an appointment to the Senate, so he could eventually wind up with an exacta one day.
Congratulations to both!
* Today’s categories…
Best Illinois State Senator - Democrat
Best Illinois State Senator - Republican
Please vote in both categories and make sure to explain your votes or they won’t count. Thanks.
* And, after you vote, please click here and help raise money to buy presents for foster kids. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois does a great job with these kids, but it costs money to buy them presents every year and we’re a big part of that. Actually, we’re a bigger part of that than at any time except when I threw a 50th birthday party and helped raise a bunch of dough for LSSI…
Thanks to House Speaker @RepChrisWelch's generous $2,500 contribution, and to many other contributors large and small, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois has now raised $34,523 to give presents to foster kids https://t.co/7iN15PU5wH
Two candidates in the upcoming mayoral election for Decatur are facing a pair of objections that could result in them being left off the ballot in April.
The petitions of Abeer Motan and Mary Williams are being challenged by two people from Decatur who said they were invalid for several reasons. Chief among them is that the petitions supposedly have signatures from unregistered voters.
City Clerk Kim Althoff said that each petition requires 85 signatures to be valid. Motan and Williams submitted 95 and 87 signatures, respectively, but the objectors claim that there are enough signatures from nonregistered voters to push Motan and Williams under the required 85.
Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe’s petitions, containing about 150 signatures, were not challenged. If Motan and Williams’ petitions are rejected, it would leave Wolfe running unopposed.
Three candidates who filed to run for the Macomb city council are having their nominating petitions challenged.
In one case, at large city council member Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards filed a challenge to the paperwork submitted by A.J. Bauser. Brown-Edwards said it contains invalid signatures, the notary sections are blank, and the sheets are not numbered as required.
Bauser filed to run against Brown-Edwards.
The other candidate planning to run against Brown-Edwards, Don Wynn, had his petitions challenged by former McDonough County Voice Editor Michelle Langhout.
And in the third ward, new county board member Dana Walker is challenging the petitions submitted by Byron Oden-Shabazz.
In both of those cases, the complainants said the sheets are not numbered and stapled together as required.
Naperville mayoral candidate Tiffany Stephens could be kept off the April 4 election ballot if an allegation that she does not meet the residency requirement is found to be valid.
Arian Ahmadpour, finance chair of the Will County Young Democrats, filed a challenge to Stephens’ nominating petitions this week as well as those submitted by Naperville City Council candidate Derek McDaniel.
In addition, Naperville council candidate Nag Jaiswal’s petitions are being challenged by Naperville resident Elizabeth Zega.
Naperville Electoral Board hearings for all three objections will start at 9 a.m. Monday in the Naperville Municipal Center council chambers.
A challenger running for the Crystal Lake City Council filed objections Monday to three other candidate petitions, including Mayor Haig Haleblian’s, arguing that they had several omissions and errors. […]
“When I first heard, I was confused: What did I do wrong?” Haleblian said. “But lo and behold, I left a critical piece of paper out of my packet. He [Kountz] got me. I’m going to have to work a little bit harder and different than I thought [to win the election] but that’s OK.”
Haleblian omitted a statement of candidacy and a receipt for filing a statement of economic interests, Kountz said. He also argued that Hopkins cited an “ambiguous office,” writing City Council as opposed to council member or mayor, on his signature petition, and said Brady wrote the primary date, rather than the regular election date, on her statement of candidacy.
Haleblian said in the likely event the objection is sustained, he will run as a write-in candidate for the mayoral election and “teach people how to spell my name.”
Outside legal counsel retained by the Town of Normal in recent weeks said three petitions of candidacy filed for nonexistent or appointed offices within the municipality cannot legally be certified for the 2023 election.
Normal officials retained Chicago-based Michael Kasper of Kasper and Nottage to review petitions filed by residents Robert Shoraga, Charles Sila and Amy Conklin.
Shoraga and Sila filed petitions of candidacy Nov. 28 for the currently nonexistent offices of town supervisor and town collector and Conklin filed to run for clerk, a position that has historically been appointed.
Town spokesperson Cathy Oloffson said Nov. 29 the town had turned over the petitions for a review of their “legal conformity,” saying once that review was complete, the town would “take appropriate action under the state Election Code.”
In letters mailed to each of the three candidates late last week, Kasper wrote that none of the three petitions conform with legal requirements, meaning “the Town cannot certify your name to the County Clerk for inclusion on the 2023 municipal ballot for election to an office that is not an elective office under the Town Code, and your name will not appear on the ballot.”
Normal City Councilmember Stan Nord has issued the following statement after Normal’s Deputy Clerk Jodi Pomis told the council Nord acted unprofessionally and with the intent to intimidate during Monday’s council meeting.
Nord shared the following statement with WMBD.
Normal has told residents that they cannot have district representation nor can they have the elected representatives that are spelled out in state law for “each,” “every”, and “all” incorporated towns. I apologize to anyone who misinterpreted my group email. It is long past due for the incorporated town of Normal to comply with state laws and act as an incorporated town.
Pomis has filed a grievance against Nord for the email she said was unethical.
Tuesday, five other council members and the mayor continued to condemn Nord’s email and are now looking into what, if anything can be done about the incident.
Newly elected Champaign County Board members held their organizational meeting Monday night. The meeting opened with Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons swearing in the assembled board members, which include six new Democrats replacing four Democrats and two Republicans.
After losing two seats in the November election, Republicans have just six of their own on the 22-member county board. That’s the smallest Republican minority since Democrats gained majority status in 2000.
Former Champaign County Board member Jennifer Putman was part of both the minority and the majority on the board.
The 74-year-old Putman attended Monday’s organizational meeting and addressed the county board, with advice for the minority party, based on her own experience serving on the board in the 1980s, when Republicans outnumbered Democrats 21-6.
“So, what do you do when you’re in the minority?” said Putman. “You make common cause, you build relationships and you serve the people of Champaign County. And that’s what we did.”
It’s early — really early — but Urbana City Council member James Quisenberry is letting it be known that he’s interested in running for mayor in 2025.
Two-term Mayor Diane Marlin said she probably won’t run again.
“At this point, I do not plan to run for mayor,” she said. “I also think it’s crazy that people are starting this early. But that’s just my opinion.”
Quisenberry, a former Champaign County Board member who is now the Ward 7 alderman in Urbana, doesn’t disagree.
“It is a long way away, politically,” he said. “It feels like a long time away. But I’m interested in it. I’m planning like that is what I’m going to do. I’m going to reach out to other people and talk to them.”
With Ald. Sophia King (4th) challenging Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the mayoral election next year, up to seven candidates — including King’s longtime aide — are trying to fill her seat at City Council.
Appointed by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to replace former Ald. Will Burns in 2016, King won a special election in 2017. She won again in 2019 against challenger Ebony Lucas, getting 66 percent of the vote. She announced her bid for mayor in August.
The 4th Ward — which includes Kenwood, Oakland and parts of Bronzeville — is one of the city’s more progressive communities. It is home to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who served as alderperson for 19 years before her election to the board in 2010.
The election is Feb. 28. If no one candidate receives at least 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will go to a runoff April 4.
A push to place a referendum on the April 4 general election ballot to change Waukegan’s form of government — to one run by a city manager rather than a mayor — is accelerating, pending action by the City Council and an independent petition drive.
A pair of council committees discussed four potential referendums for the April 4 election prior to Monday’s council meeting. Three are related to a managerial form of government, and the fourth would make elections for city officials nonpartisan.
Only three referendums can be placed on a general election ballot for a municipality, either by a petition circulated by voters or legislative action, according to Illinois law.
The City Council plans to vote whether to place any, or potentially three referendums on the April 4 ballot at 7 p.m. Dec. 19 at City Hall in Waukegan to determine the future of the city’s government and how its voters choose their elected officials.
* Press release…
Chicago Conservative activist Patrick Gibbons was assaulted yesterday while boarding Pace Bus #223 at approximately 5pm at the Rosemont Blueline station. During the assault, the perpetrator used a sharp object to slice Gibbons’ hand. Gibbons stated that the suspect “was acting strangely and appeared to be under the influence of narcotics.”
The suspect also attempted to choke Gibbons on the bus before a good samaritan was able to get between Gibbons and the suspect. Rosemont PD responded. The police report is #202200019334. Gibbons is offering a $5,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of his attacker and is voicing his belief that the community needs additional police patrols and greater security on the CTA and Pace Platforms to deal with the increased number of violent assaults on Chicago-area mass transit in the past year.
Gibbons has also filed as an Aldermanic candidate in the 31st Ward (Belmont-Cragin).
One of the great Houdini achievements of the gay rights campaign has been to take an issue all about sexual behavior and turn it into a discussion about everything but sexual behavior.
The premise, which was not at all new at the time, was to push back on gay rights by injecting the “Yuck Factor” into the debate. Most people, it was believed, saw the physical act of gay sex as yucky. And activists could use that mental image as a wedge between the majority and formalizing civil rights.
Seventy-one percent of Americans say they support legal same-sex marriage, which exceeds the previous high of 70% recorded in 2021 by one percentage point. […]
When Gallup first polled about same-sex marriage in 1996, barely a quarter of the public (27%) supported legalizing such unions. It would take another 15 years, until 2011, for support to reach the majority level. Then in 2015, just one month before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, public support for legalizing gay marriage cracked the 60% level, and last year it reached the 70% mark for the first time. […]
Rising national support for legal same-sex marriage reflects steady increases among most subgroups of the population, even those who have traditionally been the most resistant to gay marriage. Adults aged 65 and older, for example, became mostly supportive in 2016 — as did Protestants in 2017 and Republicans in 2021.
Americans who report that they attend church weekly remain the primary demographic holdout against gay marriage, with 40% in favor and 58% opposed.
Ives calls for Wheaton principal to be fired over ’sex tree’ for middle schoolers
Jeanne Ives is calling for the firing of Edison Middle School Principal Rachel Bednar.
The call for Bednar’s termination comes after a “Gay Pride” Christmas tree was spotted on school grounds.
Ives, a former state representative who is now CEO of Breakthrough Ideas, also referenced the school’s poor academic performance in her call to dismiss Bednar.
“If you let this stand, you are just as morally depraved as the principal,” Ives told the Community Unity School District 200 board and Superintendent Jeff Schuler in an email. “Bednar should be fired for destroying the innocence of young children, promoting racist programs, and failing to educate kids.”
Imagine the sort of mind that sees a rainbow-colored Gay Pride tree as a “sex tree.”
It turns out, most normal people aren’t all that interested in what consenting adults do. And they also want their kids to not judge people lest they be judged. And they really don’t like people who cannot separate private, personal matters from overall public issues. That’s the very real “Yuck Factor” in most Americans’ lives these days.
* Poll results are here. Cor Strategies conducted a post-election poll from Nov. 15-18. It’s a Republican outfit, so the object was to find out what went wrong for the GOP and where it could improve. One big point is that Republicans are not viewed as the “governing party” and that has to change…
It doesn’t help that the last time voters gave our party the opportunity to govern, Bruce Rauner and his administration spent four years trying desperately to convince voters our party had no idea what we were doing.
By contrast, Governor Pritzker has focused on getting state government running smoothly, and it’s worked. A 47% to 47% split in the right direction vs wrong track question may not seem great until you look at the trendline and realize this is the best IL has been viewed by voters in this category (by far) over the past decade.
The Republican strategy of screaming “the sky is falling” and “all is lost” is clearly not working. The voters in this state aren’t hyper-partisans or idealogues. They just want things to get done—they’re not interested in the drama and hyperbole. I can’t remember the last time Republicans proposed any sort of productive plan, policy, or initiative that would make people’s lives better in this state, other than simply saying no to bad ideas.
As a result, in Illinois, Republicans are decidedly not viewed as governing material. Voters trust Democrats to govern 49% to 34%. The numbers are worse with moderates, who trust Democrats over Republicans 56% to 21%. Among minorities, the numbers are even worse: African Americans (71% to 15%), Hispanics (56% to 17%), and Asians (51% to 6%).
Throughout the Illinois suburbs and beyond, there are conservative and Republican mayors earning high praise in their communities for leading, as clients in one village put it, by putting “people over politics.” Their communities are thriving and people are moving there to live, work, and raise their families. These are governing Republicans. That’s the model of a winning Republican candidate.
Where Republicans failed (including us) was in making crime THE issue instead of a gateway issue to voters’ real concerns. Crime was never THE issue: it was the 4th most important issue among even conservatives, let alone moderates and independents. But it could’ve served as an excellent emotional issue to gain attention to then paint Democrats as extreme, position Republicans as the more mainstream governing party, and address voters’ economic concerns. We didn’t do that.
By contrast, Illinois Democrats did it right: they used their emotional issue, abortion, to get voters’ attention and then flowed right into their most persuasive issue, painting Republicans as too extreme and a threat to democracy.
When asked which party is most extreme, nearly as many Illinois voters said Democrats were extreme (42%) as Republicans (43%). All saying Democrats are more extreme: Hispanics (42% to 39%), Whites (44% to 40%), independents (44% to 35%), and even suburban voters (42% to 41%).
That’s right—even after millions of dollars were spent painting Republicans as extremists while Republicans barely (if at all) fought back, voters are still nearly as likely to believe that Democrats are just as bad.
Independents tell this story best. When asked which party they trusted more to govern, they couldn’t choose between Republicans and Democrats (tied at 29%)—instead, they chose neither (37%). They overwhelmingly believe Illinois is on the wrong track (56% compared to 30% right direction).
Instead of constantly playing defense, it’s time to go on offense. Illinois Democrats hold extreme positions on many hot-button issues, yet Republicans seem to enjoy the Rocky strategy of getting pummeled round after round—without the Hollywood happy ending. And with the Democrats’ elected ranks moving further and further leftward, and their politicians feeling emboldened by record majorities in Springfield, Chicago, and many suburban counties, Republicans are sure to have excellent opportunities to paint our opposition as extreme, which by definition, makes us mainstream. We must capitalize on these opportunities.
This is essentially the same argument put forward by longtime hardcore Republican commenter “Lucky Pierre,” although LP is also a major proponent of the “sky is falling” argument.
Today, Lightfoot for Chicago released “Movie Night Delivery,” the third and final installment of its digital ad campaign with “Oscar” and “Felix,” the two Chicago “experts” who discuss Mayor Lightfoot’s track record for the city.
“Movie Night Delivery” features the two men talking about the Mayor’s progressive accomplishments over her time in office, including:
Felix: Progress. Chicago needs someone to be a truly progressive mayor. [Oscar grabs remote and pauses movie] Hey, what did you do that for?
Oscar: Mayor Lightfoot has literally raised minimum wage to $15, made Chicago a safe haven for abortion, and has made record investments in affordable housing.
Felix: I don’t know. Sounds pretty suspect.
Oscar: [Turns to Mayor Lightfoot] Mayor! Can you?
Mayor Lightfoot: You’re right. Chicago did need someone to clean up the mess and pass a progressive agenda.
Oscar: [to Felix, handing him Lightfoot’s agenda] It’s all in here, dude. Lightfoot delivers.
Mayor Lightfoot: [to Oscar] Does he read?
Oscar: About as much as he cleans!
The ads kinda sneak up on you when you’re watching TV. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just, you’re watching what looks like a normal ad, and then, boom, there’s the mayor.
Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said he may no longer be part of a multi-county lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the SAFE-T Act.
Hanley told the Rockford Register Star Tuesday he is considering withdrawing his name from the suit after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a series of amendments to the SAFE-T Act.
“It would be irresponsible of me,” he said, “not to monitor or to continue to think about the advisability of continuing litigation.”
Hanley also said he regrets if any of his comments leading up to the Nov. 8 elections contributed to the “hysteria” over the elimination of the cash bail system on Jan. 1, 2023.
* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker aims to get assault weapon ban proposal ‘done in the first half of the year’: “I favor the legislation that he’s put forward,” Pritzker said of Morgan’s bill, while the governor added the caveat that “the legislative process can be a grinding one that requires a lengthier look at each piece” of a proposal. Lawmakers could take up the plan as early as next month during the lame-duck session, when legislators return to Springfield for their final session days before the newly elected General Assembly is seated Jan. 11.
* Dispatch Argus | What two Illinois GOP lawmakers’ post-election resignations mean: In Butler’s case, one replacement will serve the final days of his current term and another will serve the entirety of the new two-year term that begins Jan. 11. That latter choice will largely be left up to Sangamon County Republican Party chair Diane Barghouti Hardwick, who has more than 90% of the weighted vote needed to appoint.
* WGLT | Union pickets over ‘crisis’ staffing shortage at Pontiac prison: Officers at the Pontiac Correctional Center staged a picket Wednesday to call attention to what they say is a dire lack of security at the maximum-security prison. A corrections sergeant was stabbed in the neck last month by an inmate at Pontiac. A second officer also was injured in the attack.
* Brian Costin and Joe Sosnowski | New legislation would end the Illinois corporate welfare civil war: Under this legislation, Illinois lawmakers and businesses would both refocus their energies on the state’s economic, education, law enforcement and infrastructure policies to put the state’s economy to work for everyone, not just the privileged few. Anti-poaching legislation will make Illinois’ economy as competitive as any state in the country, all year round.
* Crain’s | Who has final say over election rules? Illinois files a brief with Supreme Court.: Illinois is taking the lead among a coalition of blue states arguing against the theory, which arises out of a North Carolina redistricting dispute in the case of Moore v. Harper. Earlier this year, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the redrawn congressional district map approved by the state’s Republican-led state legislature, citing it as gerrymandered and, therefore, unconstitutional.
* Crain’s | Key city, state pension funds say they have no crypto exposure: Representatives of key retirement funds that cover teachers in Chicago, the suburbs and downstate say the financial collapse of the FTX exchange and other setbacks do not directly impact them because they did not invest in such assets. City of Chicago officials report the same for its four retirement systems.
* ABC 20 | Memorial Health seeing increase in flu: The hospitals collectively have seen 104 patients hospitalized with influenza, compared to four at this time last year. “This year’s strains of influenza are proving to be highly contagious,” said Raj Govindaiah, MD, Memorial Health senior vice president and chief physician executive. “We don’t like to see this kind of increase this early in the flu season. We strongly encourage people to be proactive about protecting themselves and others from contracting the flu right now. People who are young, elderly and immunocompromised are especially at risk for dangerous complications.”
* Chicago Reporter | Culture Is Key In Treating Mental Health Concerns: Due to higher rates of deaths, unemployment, college dropout, homelessness, and access to quality health care, the community is more prone to developing symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Systemic barriers to mental health support have worsened for the community — at a time when getting timely help has never been more critical.
* Tribune | Chicago attracting a healthy amount of investment, but all neighborhoods aren’t equal: Together, public and mission-driven investors poured $9 billion into Chicago neighborhoods over the decade, compared with nearly $200 billion spent by private investors on the city’s single-family homes and in the nonresidential sector. But if public and mission-driven investors can show new business and homes can thrive, it may convince private investors to set aside more funds for deprived areas.
* WSIL | New 730 area code coming to southern Illinois: The new 730 area code will “overlay” the existing 618 area code to “address the depletion of prefixes available for assignment within the region.” The first prefix in the new area code will not be introduced until after July 7, 2023.
* Crain’s | Carol Ross Barney wins one of architecture’s top prizes: The American Institute of Architects has given its Gold Medal award to Carol Ross Barney. One of the industry’s top prizes, the award puts Barney, 73, in the company of past winners including Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava. In fact, Mies van der Rohe was the last winner from Chicago, in 1960.
* Crain’s | The biggest brand fails of 2022: This past year saw plenty of mistakes from brands—Ad Age even keeps track of such flubs in a weekly Marketing Winners and Losers column—but some fails were worse than others. As consumers increasingly pay attention and become more willing to cry foul on social media, marketers are constantly under the microscope of public opinion. Below, we track some of the biggest bungles of the year.
* Time Out | Check out the inaugural lineup for The Salt Shed’s new indoor venue: The venue’s initial lineup kicks off on February 17 with a performance from Scandi-pop artist Tove Lo and “Mine” singer Slayyyter. Other notable shows this season include a performance from punk icon Iggy Pop (March 10), the first Bikini Kill appearance in Chicago since the group reunited in 2019 (April 22) and the Flaming Lips celebrating the 20th anniversary of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (May 5). More concerts are expected to be announced in the coming months.
* A little too cloudy where I was, so I didn’t get a chance to see this…
This is the moment Mars peeked out from behind our moon after being hidden for an hour. This shot was captured using my largest telescope and a special high-speed camera. Seeing another planet rising on the horizon of our moon was such a surreal experience. pic.twitter.com/8IctbVXuUM
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement after being diagnosed with COVID-19 today:
“At the guidance of the Attending Physician, I will be working in isolation through the end of this week after being diagnosed with COVID-19 today to keep my family, colleagues and staff as safe as possible. My symptoms remain mild and I am thankful that I’m fully vaccinated and double boosted, as I—and families of the more than one million Americans we’ve lost to this pandemic—know it could be much worse. I cannot encourage my fellow Americans more strongly to get vaccinated and continue getting your boosters as advised by medical professionals across the country and around the globe.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker says cannabis delivery, which is currently illegal in Illinois but offered in other states, is an idea worth considering. […]
Delivery services are legal in states such as Michigan, Florida, California, Maryland, Nevada and others. Uber Eats recently began delivery in Toronto.
Full Pritzker quote when asked about the topic today during the governor’s visit to Ivy Hall Dispensary…
I think we’ve got to look into, you know, there are other locations across the country where this has become, you know, legally allowed and it’s something that I think we should just examine, what the impact has been there. But I don’t want, first blush and without the data in front of me, I think that as long as it is regulated, as long as we make sure that the person who’s ordering it, gets it and that they’re legally allowed to, then it would seem to me like the same as somebody coming into a store.
17 Republicans vote against a bill that would “reauthorize a program for early detection, diagnosis, and treatment regarding deaf and hard-of-hearing newborns, infants, and young children, and for other purposes." pic.twitter.com/yS7QPON3Ac
Aaron Judge just singed a $360M contract to return to the New York Yankees. That's only 7% less than NY markets saw in political ad spending this cycle.
In total, MLB free agents have signed on for $1.9B so far, equal to the ad expenditure of 2022's top 8 races. pic.twitter.com/hiQS4opRdO
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) management has been accused by a candidate for president of one of the CTA workers’ unions of unfairly and illegally attempting to thwart his campaign.
Erek Slater said management has repeatedly ordered him to leave CTA property when he’s attempted to meet with workers to campaign or discuss issues. […]
Slater said CTA management opposed his campaign because of his promises to confront the transit agency on issues including service delays and worker safety.
The CTA declined to comment on Slater’s claims.
* Press release…
Today, Illinois Mentor workers represented by SEIU Healthcare Illinois delivered petitions to five company locations. The petition addresses grievances including poverty wages, scheduling difficulties, understaffing, insufficient benefits, and a lack of dignity and respect.
SEIU Healthcare Illinois is currently at the bargaining table with Illinois Mentor, working to secure the first contract for workers.
Illinois Mentor, which recently acquired Sevita, has programs throughout the state, including host homes, supported living and in-home support. Despite worker shortages and skyrocketing inflation, Illinois Mentor management is refusing to put forward the full rate increase they received from the State that could go directly to their staff that directly support individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Instead, the company only passed on a partial amount of the money, even though its parent companies paid out a total of $475 million shareholder dividends the last three years.
Illinois Mentor locations where petitions were delivered include Carbondale, Swansea, Springfield, Tinley Park and Rockford.
“It’s not right that Illinois Mentor workers, even those who get full-time schedules, are living in poverty. Our families are suffering while the company rakes in millions in profits,” says Savannah McCoy, an Illinois Mentor worker from Springfield and an SEIU Healthcare member. “Illinois Mentor receives money from the state to boost our wages but doesn’t give us the full amount we’re entitled to. It’s time for the company to invest in those of us who serve on the frontlines.”
“Our Illinois Mentor workplaces have such high turnover due to the low wages, unaffordable health benefits and restrictive schedules, resulting in hardship for both workers and our clients,” says Rayniesha Gines, a worker with Illinois Mentor from Swansea and an SEIU Healthcare member. “Illinois Mentor is losing experienced Direct Support Professionals, which makes our jobs more difficult and creates unnecessary disruption for the individuals we support.”
“Benefits at Illinois Mentor are almost non-existent. Our health insurance premiums are so expensive that only 15% of workers sign up,” says Octavia Wheeler, a worker with Illinois Mentor from Alton and an SEIU Healthcare member. We’re working hard at the bargaining table, demanding that Illinois Mentor respect us, protect us, staff us and pay us, but today we took our message beyond the bargaining table and we’re ready to continue this fight until our voices are heard.”
* Durbin press release…
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) announced a new requirement today to have extensive protective netting in place at all Professional Development League (PDL) ballparks. The fan safety initiative was adopted at the 2022 Winter Meetings after being unanimously approved by the MLB PDL Executive Board.
In June 2019, after repeated incidents of MLB fans being hit by foul balls, Durbin and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) wrote to MLB Commissioner Manfred urging him to have all 30 MLB teams extend protective netting to the right and left field corners at all ballparks. In December 2019, MLB announced that all 30 teams would extend protective netting during the next season. Durbin has continuously met with baseball safety advocates to discuss fan safety at MLB and Minor League Baseball games. […]
The requirements—which resulted from a comprehensive review of all 120 PDL ballparks that began several months ago—include the following:
• PDL Clubs are required to install netting from foul pole to foul pole unless the configuration of the ballpark makes such coverage unnecessary.
• The height requirement for the netting from behind home plate to the end of each dugout will be standardized across the PDL system.
• PDL Clubs are to work with their respective facilities to complete installation as soon as practicable but in no event later than 2025 Opening Day.
• Teams will be subject to discipline for non-compliance, including significant fines.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Sun-Times | Single-family lending drives neighborhood disparities, new report finds: The report released Wednesday by the Urban Institute — a Washington, D.C.-based think tank — examined the types of investments in Chicago from 2010 to 2020. Brett Theodos, a researcher at the institute, said analysts spent about a year looking at the different types of capital flowing into the city and seeing how it compared with investments in other U.S. cities.
* Crain’s | Who has final say over election rules? Illinois files a brief with Supreme Court.: The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today in a major election-law case involving the “independent legislature theory,” which, if embraced by the justices, would keep state courts from oversight of federal election practices such as congressional remaps or laws on ballot access.
* NBC Chicago | Illinois Lawmakers Seek to Ban Assault Weapons with HB 5855. Here’s What It Does: Currently, seven states have laws on the books that ban assault weapons in at least some capacity, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. Rep. Bob Morgan, who was an eyewitness to the tragic shooting at the Fourth of July parade in suburban Highland Park earlier this year, is the chief sponsor of the bill.
* WGN | Gov. Pritzker celebrates state’s first ‘social equity licensee’ dispensary in Illinois: Located at 1720 N Damen Ave., the business is named Ivy Hall and bills itself as a “sensory dispensary” on its website. Two more locations are in the works for Crystal Lake and Montgomery. During the event the governor noted all 192 of the state’s social equity licenses have been conditionally approved and he expects many of the related businesses to open in the coming months.
* NBC Chicago | Juul Settles Thousands of Lawsuits for Undisclosed Amount Amid Teen Vaping Concerns: Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 5,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs over the e-cigarette company’s marketing practices that have been blamed for the teenage vaping crisis. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. The settlement resolves cases related to personal injury, consumer class action, government entity and Native American tribes’ claims.
* Crain’s | Absurd political hijinks abound in another Chicago election season: Electoral hijinks are nothing new in Chicago politics, and just as the ballot for next year’s election is coming together, a trio of feuds has emerged to remind us that time is a flat circle. In the mayor’s race, a simmering feud between candidate Ja’Mal Green and Willie Wilson adviser Ricky Hendon was reignited. In late 2018, Green and Hendon had a war of words after Hendon challenged Green’s petition for the 2019 election. Green eventually dropped out of the race, blaming the fight, while Wilson finished fourth.
* NPR | Annual art contest will help interpret Illinois students’ perception of home: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Illinois State Board of Education come together each year to sponsor this themed student art contest. Christina Shutt is the executive director of the museum. She said the theme “Home is” pairs with the museum’s new exhibit “Here I Have Lived: Home in Illinois.”
* Sun-Times | From casino plans to building preservation, 2022 was a busy year in Chicago architecture: The year 2022 was a busy one on the Chicago architecture beat. The city grappled with trying to figure out the fate of a likely Bears-less Soldier Field, while the CTA took steps to secure funding for the planned $3.6 billion Red Line extension. And a lot of things happened in between. Here are some of the highlights:
* Medilite | Whoops! These Pollsters Told Fox News Viewers Republicans Would Win Every Tossup Senate Race: Democrats already secured control of the Senate in November’s midterm elections after they defended every seat they already held and also picked up a seat in Pennsylvania. The Georgia campaign was the only outstanding race left, as neither candidate notched a majority of votes last month, which necessitated Tuesday’s runoff per Georgia state law.
* Tribune | Editorial: Republicans, make Illinois safer. Support the proposed state assault weapons ban.: When a bullet from an assault rifle strikes someone’s body, the destruction usually is far worse than the damage a bullet from a handgun does. An AR-15 bullet wields so much speed and energy — three times more than a round from a handgun — that it damages tissue several inches on either side of the path it cuts. The bullet’s exit wound is gaping, at times the size of an orange.
* ABC | Trump hosts event featuring QAnon, ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theorist at Mar-a-Lago: A prominent adherent of the QAnon and “Pizzagate” conspiracy theories posed for photos with former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort Tuesday night after speaking at an event hosted at the club, according to photos and videos posted to social media.
* Herald and Review | Two Decatur mayoral candidates face petition challenges: Mayoral candidates Abeer Motan and Mary Williams had their petitions challenged by Phil Romano, chief operating officer of the construction company. Another challenge to Motan’s petitions was filed by Decatur resident Jacob Hamm. The objections will be heard before a three-member panel on Monday, Dec. 12.
* Daily Journal | End of vehicle sticker? Kankakee targets January vote: The Kankakee administration is expressing optimism the $35 vehicle sticker tax will be eliminated, which means there will be no need to acquire the windshield decal this summer. Alderman Mike O’Brien, D-2, who is chairman of the city’s council Budget Committee, said the matter will be up for discussion at Monday’s Budget Committee meeting.
* NBC Chicago | Cubs’ Pat Hughes Elected to Hall of Fame, Earns Ford C. Frick Award: Longtime Cubs radio play-by-play man Pat Hughes is headed to Cooperstown.Hughes was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday as the 2023 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award — which honors excellence in baseball broadcasting.
* Crain’s | Nutella ice cream? This deal might make it so.: Italian confectionary giant Ferrero Group is buying Blue Bunny ice cream maker Wells Enterprises, marking a merger of sweets companies that could add some flavor to the ice cream aisle. Ferrero Group is a major player in the global chocolate market, making such brands as Nutella, Kinder and Ferrero Rocher. Does this deal mean consumers should expect Nutella ice cream?
* Patch | How To See Moon Cover Mars In ‘Lunar Occultation’ In Illinois: A “lunar occultation” — a rare astronomical event in which the moon passes in front of a planet and obliterates it from view — will occur for about an hour on Wednesday evening. You’ll be able to see it with the naked eye, weather permitting in Illinois.
Abdon Pallasch is the Comptroller’s secret superweapon. Yes, she’s great — but Abdon is brilliant at communicating that greatness.
He’s also quite persistent. lol
Jordan Abudayyeh is deserving of a special mention here. Nobody works harder. Nobody.
* The 2022 Golden Horseshoe Award for Best Campaign Spokesperson goes to Natalie Edelstein…
Natalie Edelstein hit the ground running in a state that doesn’t like nobody who nobody sent. She had to gain the trust of the reporters and the political class, and then deliver the earned media stories necessary to properly contextualize the Governor’s first term while cutting Richard Irvin (R-Ken Griffin) to the quick. After burying Mr. Irvin in the primary, she guided a communications strategy that kept JB’s positives at the forefront and executed a detailed “drip, drip” of Darren Bailey’s negatives at all the right moments in all the right ways. The margin speaks for itself, and earned communications was as much a part of it as great ads and a well-oiled operation.
I, too, wondered if an out-of-stater could thrive here. She surprised me.
Congratulations to all!
* On to today’s categories…
Best Illinois State Representative - Democrat
Best Illinois State Representative - Republican
As always, do your best to nominate in both categories and make sure to explain your nominations or they won’t count. Thanks.
* And after you vote,please click here to help buy presents for foster kids who are in Lutheran Social Services of Illinois’ programs. Senate President Don Harmon and his spouse both deserve a shout-out for their generous contributions today. Thanks! We’re now above $29,000. That’s a new, inflation-adjusted online record and is far, far more than we ever raised during those City Club events. Every little bit helps, and presents average about $25 each, so let’s keep this going, please.
* SIU’s women’s basketball team is playing Tennessee State today at the Banterra Center. This morning’s game is being played in front of thousands of elementary school students…
Good morning from Banterra Center, where the SIU women will tip off with Tennessee State at 11 a.m. in front of about 3,000 or so elementary school kids who get the day off from classes to see a Division I game. Salukis (2-5) coming off a 115-57 rout of Chicago State Thurs. nite.
What a cool thing to do. Plus, it may be the first time that many of these kids have been on the campus. Not a bad recruiting idea. Also, a pal texted me this earlier…
I love the idea of universities being active parts of the regional community.
* Illinois’ 2020 fertility rate dropped 19.2 percent from the 2001-2010 annual average, Pew reports…
In the coming years, the degree to which the fertility rate reshapes state budgets will hinge on multiple issues affecting the total population. Several states’ total populations were already declining prior to the pandemic, and a third of states lost residents last year.
If there’s an X-factor in determining states’ future demographics, it’s migration. States can overcome reduced fertility levels by attracting residents from other states or abroad to boost their overall populations and add to their tax base. For instance, last year, deaths exceeded births in half of states, but migration easily offset the losses in states such as South Carolina and Tennessee. States are also contending with additional costs from increasing populations of older adults as well as Baby Boomers exiting the workforce. Although birth rates started falling around the beginning of the Great Recession, changes in the population of children since then pale in comparison to the rapidly growing number of Americans in their 60s and 70s. The aging of the population could further limit revenue growth and add to fiscal uncertainty, as discussed in a previous report commissioned by Pew. […]
Future trends in fertility are difficult for states to project. Oregon, for example, in 2020 estimated its deaths wouldn’t exceed births until after 2025, but now reports that the inversion already occurred as a result of the pandemic. There’s also much uncertainty around how, over the long term, low fertility rates will influence labor force productivity, women in the workforce, and other issues. […]
Today, most states find themselves in a relatively healthy fiscal position, with many enjoying robust budget surpluses. Fewer births in recent years have contributed appreciable cost savings. If low fertility persists, however, states will need to look more for other ways to grow their tax bases or they could face challenges over the long term.
March of Dimes, a national nonprofit that advocates for and educates on infant health, released its 2022 report card earlier this month. Missouri and Illinois both received “D” grades in that report over preterm birth rates.
According to the March of Dimes, Missouri received a “D-” score with an 11.3% preterm birth rate and an infant mortality rate of 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. Illinois received a “D+” score with a 10.7% preterm birth rate and an infant mortality rate of 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Both individual report cards for Missouri and Illinois suggest the states should consider stronger policy measures regarding Medicaid expansion, midwifery, prenatal quality collaborative and maternal mortality review committees.
Nationally, March of Dimes reports that the U.S. preterm birth rate increased to 10.5% in 2021, a significant 4% increase in just one year and the highest recorded rate since 2007. The country’s overall grade was a “D+” over the crisis. Nine states received an “F” grade on their individual report cards.
Dr. Gyamfi-Bannerman has spent years researching the problem at the University of California, San Diego. She said COVID did impact the way women access care – and there is also a big racial disparity here in Illinois.
A total of 14.9 percent of all babies born to Black women last year were pre-term – a rate significantly higher than other groups. The disparity widened in 2021. […]
So how do we fix it? [Kelly Hubbard, a Springfield-based policy analyst for the March of Dimes] says policy-wise, Illinois is actually doing everything it should be.
“But it comes down to making sure that we have hospitals and labor and delivery units available to all; that we aren’t prohibiting certain communities from getting the quality care that everyone deserves,” she said.
In another interesting finding, more moms had C-sections in 2021. It jumped nearly a full percentage point nationwide – meaning nearly one third of all babies were born via C-section.
In four years, the number of students graduating from high schools across the country will begin a sudden and precipitous decline, due to a rolling demographic aftershock of the Great Recession. Traumatized by uncertainty and unemployment, people decided to stop having kids during that period. But even as we climbed out of the recession, the birth rate kept dropping, and we are now starting to see the consequences on campuses everywhere. Classes will shrink, year after year, for most of the next two decades. People in the higher education industry call it “the enrollment cliff.”
Among the small number of elite colleges and research universities — think the Princetons and the Penn States — the cliff will be no big deal. These institutions have their pick of applicants and can easily keep classes full.
For everyone else, the consequences could be dire. In some places, the crisis has already begun. College enrollment began slowly receding after the millennial enrollment wave peaked in 2010, particularly in regions that were already experiencing below-average birth rates while simultaneously losing population to out-migration. Starved of students and the tuition revenue they bring, small private colleges in New England have begun to blink off the map. Regional public universities like Ship are enduring painful layoffs and consolidation. […]
The future looks very different in some parts of the country than in others, and will also vary among national four-year universities, regional universities like Ship, and community colleges. [Nathan Grawe, an economist at Carleton College] projects that, despite the overall demographic decline, demand for national four-year universities on the West Coast will increase by more than 7.5 percent between now and the mid-2030s. But in states like New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Louisiana, it will decline by 15 percent or more.
* More…
* Today Show | Racial disparities in fertility care have persisted for years. Here’s why:The only reason she was able to cover the cost, she said, is that she lives in Illinois, one of few states that requires insurance companies to cover fertility treatments. She also received a grant from the Cade Foundation to cover additional costs. Townsend has since started her own advocacy organization, The Broken Brown Egg, which provides grants to people in similar situations.
* Fox Illinois | US among most dangerous high-income countries for childbirth, report says: Policy experts at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said the crisis disproportionately affects people of color, which accounted for nearly 60% of those deaths, along with undocumented and incarcerated women, people experiencing intimate partner violence and those in the LGBTQ+ community.
* Courthouse News | Researchers sound alarm on Illinois child care crisis: The studies, released in May and October, paint a grim picture of the current state of Illinois’ child care sector, finding parents face dwindling options and soaring prices for early child care services in the state while many workers in the industry live in poverty. It’s a trend, the studies conclude, that will not change without significant state intervention.
By all major political indicators, 2022 should have delivered the type of shellacking that the president’s party typically endures in midterm elections: Over 70% of voters believed the country was on the wrong track, 76% rated the economy negatively, and President Biden’s approval rating of 43% has historically resulted in a loss of about 40 House seats. Yet, despite these strong headwinds, Democrats and President Biden bucked history by holding the Senate and only narrowly losing the House of Representatives. So how did they do it?
Democrats made this election a choice rather than a referendum on President Biden. Midterm elections are typically a referendum on the president, but Democrats outperformed the negative political environment by managing to make this one a choice instead. A choice not only on the economy and inflation, but also on issues like abortion and the state of our democracy, and on the quality of Republican candidates, many of whom expressed extreme views that alienated voters. Instead of a referendum on President Biden, Democrats managed to make the midterms a referendum on extreme GOP candidates like Oz, Masters, Walker, and others across the country.
In past midterm elections, even those voters who only somewhat disapproved of the president have heavily favored the opposition party in their vote for Congress. This was the case in both 2018 and 2014, when those who somewhat disapproved of Trump and Obama voted against each president’s party by more than 20 points. However, 2022 represented a dramatic reversal of this trend, with those who somewhat disapproved of President Biden favoring Democratic congressional candidates by a 25-point margin. Despite these voters’ dissatisfaction with Biden, they still strongly preferred his party in their vote for Congress.
* I excerpted some analysis highlights, which is supported by their polling data…
Democrats won by winning over Independents, not by turning out their base.
Democrats were able to make this election a choice due to abortion and threats to democracy being as important to voters as inflation and the economy.
Abortion and threats to democracy resonated most strongly with different age groups, making them a potent combo for Democrats.
Democrats performed well among seniors thanks to these voters focus on threats to democracy and Social Security.
Late deciders did not heavily break towards Republicans. In midterms, those who don’t decide whom to vote for until late in the campaign typically break heavily against the president’s party. But this year, Republicans won those who decided whom to vote for in the last week by only 3 points, which was not nearly a big enough margin to create a red wave.
Voters, and especially Independents, expressed a clear desire for more bipartisanship. A key factor in Democrats’ ability to win over Independents was that these voters wanted more bipartisanship and felt Democratic candidates were more likely to deliver it.
The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act allowed Democrats to cut into the GOP advantage on the economy and reduce frustration over a lack of legislative accomplishments.
Democrats overperformed because voters disliked Republican candidates more, not because voters liked Democrats more than we thought.
Fixing up abandoned homes can help reduce the gun violence plaguing U.S. cities, including Chicago, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The authors found that areas with full remediation, which includes installing functioning doors and windows and clearing away trash and weeds, showed significant reductions in gun assaults (down 13%), weapons violations (down 8.4%) and shootings (down 7%). […]
In long-disinvested neighborhoods where abandoned houses are numerous, “the neighbors know that nobody cares about this place and all your illicit things can go down in there,” said Kanoya Ali, housing coordinator for Chicago CRED, the gun violence-reduction program co-founded by former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
“In today’s lingo, they’re called trap houses,” Ali said. “You hide your guns in there. You do drugs in there, prostitution. Runaways think they can survive in an abandoned house.”
The number of domestic violence cases continues to rise annually in Rockford.
A group at Court Street United Methodist Church, 215 N Court St., is responding to the mayor’s public call to action, trying to let people know that there are resources out there if they are in need of help. […]
The solution is something that Rockford leaders are focusing on right now. Nearly 40% of the city’s violent crime comes from domestic violence. Counselors said that the number should actually be higher, considering that survivors will endure six to eight incidents of abuse on average before seeking help.
Rockford leaders partner with several area organizations on programs to reduce crime across the area and make the forest city a better place to live.
The city of Rockford shared a list of programs it’s launched that are geared towards reducing violent crime. I spoke with leaders behind those initiatives to find out how they plan to make Rockford a better place to live.
“It’s for individuals who’ve been released from parole or probation and are deemed as high risk by evidence of a risk that needs assessment,” said Mirlana Dokken, the chairman’s office criminal justice initiative director.
Between October 2021 and October 2022, violent crimes in Rockford dropped 4% - the number of shots fired calls fell 11%. Dokken credits that reduction to programs like Project Safe Neighborhood.
The Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service is reviving a program to help divert young people with misdemeanors away from violence.
The Peoria Peacekeepers Network is a restorative justice program bringing together young offenders with victims, family and community stakeholders to develop a plan to change their path.
“It’s important because, most of the time, they just get a slap on the wrist and this starts a file, it starts a caseload of things they actually have occurred or been involved in,” said Marcellus Sommerville, CEO of the Friendship House. “Usually, when they turn 18 they have a long list, a laundry list of minor offenses but it gets all reviewed and calculated. It’s in the judge’s hands, whereas this program is going to help erase some of those wrongs.”
Somerville says the program is a volunteer program, which means the youth participating have to admit fault. After the admission, they can be referred to the program by the Peoria Police Department or Peoria Public Schools. There is a limited number of offenses that apply for the program, like theft, property damage, disorderly conduct and drug possession.
“We could take on more in terms of higher level offenses,” said Sommerville. “But we’re currently in the state where we want to have minor offenses.”
After the referral, Sommerville says the victim and offender, as well as family and community representatives, are brought together at a meeting called the “peace circle.”
“It’s more like peer pressure, positive peer pressure on the person that’s offended,” said Sommerville. “Helping them better understand mentally what occurred during that process and how can we support both parties and help them come through the situation.”
A needs assessment report produced by researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale has been completed and will assist city leaders as they determine how to direct resources to areas in the city most impacted by gun violence and employ evidence-based solutions.
The report provided an analysis of the nature of gun violence in Carbondale and offers recommendations for prevention and intervention initiatives.
Key findings include rising police calls, gun violence being concentrated in small areas and that a significant amount of gun-related incidents in Carbondale stem from a small number of repeat offenders involved in ongoing mutual conflicts.
“The findings didn’t catch us completely by surprise but did give us the data to create immediate and long-term strategies while also reinforcing strategies already in place,” Carbondale City Manager Gary Williams said.
By 2026, when federal COVID-relief funds that keep transit running at near-normal levels is set to expire, the operating agencies will be short $730 million a year, roughly 20% of total operating costs, the RTA says.
“If no action is taken, the (operating) agencies and their boards will be faced with difficult choices to cut service, raise fares, or both,” the report continues. “Actions to dramatically cut operating costs could include instituting major layoffs, route or line eliminations, service cuts, station closures, cancellation of capital improvement projects, and other drastic measures that will further damage our transit system and cause massive disruptions to the region’s economy, workforce, and communities.”
Rather than do that, the region should look to increased aid, possibly from the federal government but more likely from sources the state would have to approve. Among them: higher taxes on sales, motor fuels or both; extending the existing RTA sales tax to cover more services; a 5% boost in tolls on the Illinois Tollway; and, more long term, a congestion tax or tax on miles driven.
Such proposals likely will face stiff resistance, even from an Illinois General Assembly in which Democrats have a supermajority of seats in both the House and Senate. Past efforts to impose and expand the current RTA sales tax took years of hard politicking by advocates, and were enacted only with strong support from downtown Chicago businesses whose employees now work from home far more than they did prior to the pandemic.
The RTA’s service boards received a $3.5 billion federal pandemic lifeline that has plugged budget gaps since 2020. Relief will help balance budgets through 2025 with $1.4 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES Act; $500 million from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act known as CRRSAA; and more than $1.5 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The projected $730 million budget gap that results in 2026 if service levels are held steady is projected under 10-year financial planning estimates reviewed by agency officials who worked with Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
* WGEM | Illinois saw fourth lowest midterm turnout in past 40 years: e Illinois State Board of Elections certified the 2022 Midterm Election results Monday. State officials said 4.1 million ballots were cast, even though Illinois has 8.1 million registered voters. ISBE noted that it was the fourth lowest turnout for a midterm election in the last 40 years.
* Tribune | Nearly 4 in 10 ballots were cast in Illinois before Election Day: Nearly 4 in 10 Illinois voters cast their Nov. 8 general election ballots before Election Day last month, reflecting an increasing trend toward voting by mail and early voting, the Illinois State Board of Elections said.
* Triibe | Voting by mail is becoming increasingly popular in Chicago: “The feedback that we’ve gotten indicates that people prefer voting by mail because there’s a paper ballot, they’ve got all the time to research the candidates and offices, and there’s a tracking process that comes with it,” Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE) Director of Public Information Max Bever told The TRiiBE. “And even if their vote-by-mail ballots are rejected for some reason, they can still vote in person.”
* Shaw Local | Will County Board Republicans elect board leader when Democrat leaves meeting: The board is now evenly split 11-11 between the parties. But County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat, has a tie-breaking vote. That small advantage was not available to Democrats when Board Member Denise Winfrey, D-Joliet, left before the leadership vote. Republicans were able to make Ogalla the board chair in a 11-10 vote.
* Daily Herald | Holiday displays — including the Satanic Temple’s — return to Illinois Capitol: On Tuesday “Minister Adam” of the Satanic Temple of Illinois, who declined to share his last name for security purposes, was joined by about 15 Temple members to dedicate this year’s display. It consists of a crocheted snake sitting on a book and a pile of apples crocheted by Temple members. “Every year, we do a holiday display and a show of unity and religious pluralism within the state Capitol rotunda,” Adam said. “And this year, we wanted to focus on the book bans that people have been trying to do all over the country.”
* Rep. Maura Hirschauer | Illinois lawmakers have a moral obligation to pass gun safety bill: Before I was a state representative, I was a volunteer and community leader with Moms Demand Action. My work with that organization informs my daily commitment to making sure that no parent drops their children off at school and fears they might not see them alive again, and that no person looks for active shooters in the grocery aisle, church pew or parade route.
* Crain’s | How liberal is Illinois’ Legislature? A conservative PAC grades lawmakers.: CPAC’s Center for Legislative Accountability, working with the American Conservative Union Foundation, released its annual list of how members of the 50 state legislatures voted on issues for 2021. And while Illinois is not going to be mixed up with Alabama anytime soon, the list suggests Illinois isn’t as blue as you’d think.
* Crain’s | Here’s the ballot order for the mayoral race: Community activist and entrepreneur Ja’Mal Green will be the first name Chicago voters see on the ballot in the crowded race for mayor—if he survives a petition challenge that could knock him off entirely. The Chicago Board of Elections held a lottery Tuesday to determine the coveted top position. All candidates who filed their nominating petitions before 9 a.m. on the first day of filing were eligible.
* ABC 7 | CTA bus schedule disruptions are more common on South Side routes, data shows: The CTA blames the service disruptions on a staffing shortage and absenteeism. The CTA has roughly 1,000 vacancies across various frontline positions, but the majority of open positions are bus operators. The agency said that routes that come out of garages with higher rates of unplanned absenteeism are seeing the most service disruptions. Bus operator unplanned absenteeism system-wide is 14.5%, according to CTA data.
* Chicago Block Club | Fake DoorDash Accounts Are Scamming Local Eateries And Customers: For weeks, customers would come to the Chatham bakery at 328 E. 75th St. with a receipt from the online food delivery platform, saying they’d paid for orders, owner Stephanie Hart said. Her employees would serve the desserts, not thinking anything of a receipt from a “legit company” such as DoorDash, she said.
