“The crisis at the border has a terrible human cost and we in Illinois are about to get a close up look. No city or state has the resources to handle this. Pritzker should get his buddy Biden to fix the border. Biden also owes us the resources to vet and take care of these people.”
Democratic losses could imperil existing state and local laws dealing with abortion, gun control and union rights and throw a wrench into a potential second term for Gov. JB Pritzker should he defeat Republican Darren Bailey this fall. […]
In a fundraising pitch to donors earlier this month, the state Republican Party went so far as to say the court elections are “MORE important to fixing our state” than even elections for governor or Congress — a concession, perhaps, that Bailey and the GOP’s congressional prospects in Illinois may be looking iffy this fall and that the court is where all the political marbles are at. […]
Indeed, the same culture wars that have divided the electorate could wind up before a newly constituted state Supreme Court.
On guns, for example, justices might again wade into whether the state firearms owner identification card is constitutional after punting on that question in 2020, sending the matter back to a local court. Legal challenges also have been threatened against a crackdown by Naperville this month on the sale and possession of high-capacity rifles and ammunition like those used in the Highland Park mass shooting on July 4.
And on abortion, a new court ultimately could be confronted with litigation from anti-abortion advocates that seeks to dismantle a landmark state law Pritzker signed in 2019 that requires health insurers cover abortions and that repealed a 1975 law criminalizing abortions. That case is pending in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
Republican candidate for Illinois treasurer Tom Demmer continues to push against his opponent, Mike Frerichs, and vows to stop any possible taxing of retirement income in the state.
Demmer, a Republican state representative from Dixon, faces Frerichs, the incumbent Democrat, in the November election.
Demmer has campaigned against a proposed retirement income tax, which he says his opponent will implement. Frerichs’ campaign says that simply isn’t true.
Demmer spoke Wednesday in Edwardsville alongside Illinois State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Fosterburg, candidate for the Illinois House 112th District Jennifer Korte, and candidate for the Illinois Senate 56th District Erica Harriss.
It was the second news conference Demmer’s held on taxing retirement income.
“Retirement income tax is something that Mike Frerichs during the debate in 2020 said we should have a discussion about,” Demmer said. “Well, if that discussion is going to happen, then we are going to show that a majority of people are against taxing retirement income.”
But Frerichs’ campaign said Demmer’s statements aren’t true.
“Mike Frerichs has never proposed taxing retirement income. He opposes it and will not support it,” his campaign manager, Lauren Young, said in an email to The Center Square. “Anything that contradicts this statement simply is untrue. Anyone who contradicts this statement should be asked, ‘why are you lying?’”
An investigation has revealed that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s investments include companies that earned more than $20 billion in state business since he took office.
In 2019, Pritzker promised to divest his personal fortune of investments in state contractors and to transfer his portfolio into what he calls a “blind trust.”
The nonpartisan watchdog Better Government Association found in some cases, state dollars flowed to companies that were registered to lobby Pritzker, who as governor could influence the outcome of the contracts.
“We found that three of the companies had lobbyists registered to lobby Pritzker directly,” BGA reporter David Jackson said.
* ILGOP…
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Kathy Salvi announced today that she has accepted the invitation to attend the first Senate debate, hosted by WTTW, WBEZ, and the Chicago Sun-Times. Kathy Salvi called for two additional debates with Senator Duckworth, consistent with the three debates held by Duckworth and then Senator Mark Kirk in 2016 as well as in keeping with Illinois’ “long tradition of monumental political debates,” as said in the Salvi campaign’s press release.
“Senator Duckworth should accept Kathy Salvi’s invitation to debate. Illinois families are facing a triple-threat from Washington; record inflation caused by out-of-control government spending, unprecedented pain at the pump from anti-energy policies, and looming tax-hikes at the worst time. The fate of the US Senate could very well hinge on this seat, and Senator Duckworth owes voters the same transparency that she demanded of her 2016 opponent. She must answer for her support of the reckless Biden administration policies that have fueled gas and groceries inflation, handcuffed US energy producers while enriching foreign energy producers, and hired 87,000 IRS agents to harass Illinois taxpayers ,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.
* DeVore tells the Tribune why he busted the campaign caps in the AG’s race…
“I am all in for the fight against Kwame Raoul, JB Pritzker and the overbearing political class that protected power at the expense of hardworking families and businesses in this state,” DeVore said in a statement. “I’m all in for the people of Illinois.”
Under state law, contribution limits are lifted when one candidate for statewide office gives their campaign more than $250,000. Until then, limits range from $6,000 for individuals to $239,900 for political party contributions to statewide candidates.
The move to lift contribution limits in the race is a gamble for DeVore, who prior to the loan had raised just under $122,000, including previous loans he made totaling $28,500, state campaign finance records show. DeVore started July with less than $16,000 in his campaign fund after winning a GOP primary in which he was vastly outspent by one of his two opponents.
Raoul, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, had more than $1.1 million in the bank at the beginning of July.
* Brady press release…
A common-sense, cost-and-time effective solution to a longstanding problem was authorized by the Illinois General Assembly 21 years ago, but two decades later taxpayers are still waiting for that long-promised relief. Illinois Secretary of State candidate Dan Brady, a Bloomington Republican, pledges to make the implementation of that solution one of his top priorities once he’s sworn into office.
“We’ve been waiting far too long for the Electronic Lien and Title system in Illinois, and as Secretary of State I will implement this system as soon as possible,” Brady said. “We need more than just discussion on this system, we need action. Neighboring states with this system are only too happy to snatch away our business for every day we delay its implementation.”
The Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) system in Illinois will make the switch from an expensive, time-consuming, and less-than-secure paper system of tracking vehicle title liens to an electronic system that will be faster, safer, cheaper, and easier to access for both businesses and consumers.
The Illinois General Assembly passed a measure in 2001 that authorized the Secretary of State to develop and implement the ELT system. The deadline to do so has been extended several times, most recently to July 1, 2022. That most recent deadline was also not met.
“The Secretary of State issues millions of paper vehicle titles every year, more than half of which contain a lien holder notation, and they must also process hundreds of thousands of lien release letters each year,” Brady said. “This terribly outmoded paper system means delay, expense, and many opportunities for mistakes and fraud. It’s time we helped our vehicle lenders and buyers by moving Illinois into the 21st century with the ELT, a system we’ve been waiting on for more than two decades.”
“An ELT system will expedite the validity and release of liens and help to ensure against the fraudulent release of liens,” Brady said. “Title holders, lenders, purchasers, dealers, and the State of Illinois will all benefit from this up-to-date system.”
Two local reproductive health organizations focused on providing and supporting abortion care are the recipients of city funding aimed to help the organizations continue their work following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision that reversed the constitutional right to an abortion.
The Chicago Abortion Fund, which helps people pay for abortion services, and Planned Parenthood of Illinois, one of the state’s largest abortion providers, each received $250,000 from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office and the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Lightfoot originally announced that $500,000 in funding was available to reproductive organizations back in May. On Wednesday, the city announced that Planned Parenthood of Illinois and the Chicago Abortion Fund were selected as funding recipients through a “competitive request for proposals process.”
“The City of Chicago is committed to ensuring that no person will lose their rights to reproductive health care,” Lightfoot said in a statement.
* The money may help out of state abortions seekers coming to Illinois. Sun Times…
Though the funding is coming from the city, it also could be used to help those coming from out of state to get the medical procedure. […]
In 2020, there were 9,686 out-of-state individuals who got abortions in Illinois, according to statistics maintained by the Illinois Department of Public Health. In 2019, there were 7,534 people who traveled to Illinois for an abortion.
Brigid Leahy, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said the funding comes as the organization faces the critical challenge of serving people from states that have banned almost all abortions.
About 30% of the patients Planned Parenthood of Illinois clinics are seeing are coming from outside Illinois, with many patients traveling from Wisconsin and Ohio, Leahy said. Some patients are traveling from as far as Florida and Texas.
During the first week after Roe v. Wade was overturned, appointment wait times at Planned Parenthood’s Fairview Heights Health Center went from three or four days to two and a half weeks, said Yamelsie Rodriguez, CEO of Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis region and Southwest Missouri.
“The surge of patients came much faster than any of us could have anticipated,” Rodriguez said.
The clinic is one of only two abortion providers in southern Illinois. They have “seen the biggest impact in wait times because every state below them has cut off abortion access,” said Brigid Leahy, Planned Parenthood’s vice president of public policy.
As patients are forced to wait for appointments, the Fairview Heights Health Center has also seen a 76 percent increase in people getting abortions later in pregnancy, Rodriguez said during the news conference.
If you click on the website for the Memphis Choices Center for Reproductive Health, a message pops up: “Starting August 25th, CHOICES can no longer provide abortion services in Memphis due to a new law banning abortions entirely in Tennessee. A new CHOICES clinic is opening in Carbondale, Illinois in mid-September.”
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, an almost-total ban on abortion is now law in Tennessee. There is no exception for rape or incest. Protecting the mother’s health might not be a good enough reason, either. “While it allows abortion treatments in cases where a woman’s life is in danger, it still requires physicians to defend themselves in court, putting their licenses on the line,” the Knoxville NBC News affiliate reports. As for the health of the mother, the physician will have the burden of proof to show “serious and permanent bodily injury” would occur if the abortion were not performed.
Moreover, the law discriminates against those with mental health issues. ABC News reports, “Under the ban, abortions cannot be authorized based on a ‘claim or diagnosis’ relating to mental health, including claims that the woman would ‘engage in conduct that would result in her death or substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function,’ according to the law.” A woman whose pregnancy might trigger a relapse of schizophrenia, panic attacks or life-threatening depression would be denied abortion care.
That’s the bleak reality now facing women in Tennessee and other states with draconian bans. Memphis Choices President and CEO Jennifer Pepper tells me in a phone interview, “We performed our last abortion Wednesday afternoon” — Aug. 24. The clinic remains open to offer other reproductive care, but if women need an abortion, clinic employees will direct them to websites that provide information about where they can still find access to care and seek financial support for travel, lodging and other expenses that might be necessary.
A state board in Michigan refused on Wednesday to place an abortion rights referendum on the November ballot because of a dispute over word spacing on the petition, an embarrassing blow to abortion rights supporters who had gathered more than 750,000 signatures.
The decision, which came when the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked along party lines, could still be overturned by the courts. But it injected further uncertainty into the fate of abortion in Michigan, a swing state where enforcement of a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban has been temporarily blocked by a judge and where many closely watched races are on this year’s ballot. […]
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats facing re-election races, have made support of abortion rights central to their campaigns.
But unless the Michigan Supreme Court overrules the canvassers, the future of abortion in the state is likely to be determined by a disputed law that was passed in 1931. That measure, which has been blocked by a judge, bans most abortions in Michigan and is unlikely to be repealed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
* Indiana providers may make out-of-state referrals for patients with no legal abortion option, but will not assist with travel plans. Indy Star…
Bracing for a dramatic change in Indiana abortion law, Indiana University Health leaders have spent hours in meetings over the past month, sketching out a response that includes a 24/7 consultation team, arranging for obstetrics residents to undergo abortion training out of state, and offering providers as much clarity as possible on how to handle difficult cases.
In a virtual news conference Thursday, IU Health leaders outlined the many challenges that the new law, scheduled to go into effect Sept. 15, has posed for the largest health care system in the state. Under Senate Bill 1, abortions can now only legally take place in this state in a hospital’s care.
In 2021, only 133 of the 8,414 abortions performed occurred in hospitals, according to the Indiana Department of Health. The vast majority were in outpatient clinics.
The new law only allows abortions when the mother’s life is in danger, when the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest up to 10 weeks post fertilization, or when the fetus has been determined to have a fatal anomaly up to 20 weeks.
After another wild weekend of stunt driving, drifting and street racing, a new bill introduced in Springfield aims to hold drivers accountable by charging them with a felony that carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford told the Sun-Times he introduced the measure earlier this week to send a “strong message” to those involved in the city’s underground car culture, who he said have faced little consequences and “think this is a game.” The Chicago Democrat previously spearheaded a similar law that takes effect at the start of the year. […]
His bill would give officials the ability to charge street racers and drifters with mob action, a Class 4 felony that carries a possible prison sentence of one to three years. Others who engage in violent disturbances, like those captured in a viral video chucking objects and kicking a police cruiser, would face the same charge.
Ford said he was first moved to act last December, when he saw drivers block off the Eisenhower Expressway near the Rush University Medical Center. Video of the incident shows cars doing donuts and kicking up smoke as onlookers record video on their cellphones, a familiar scene for the car sideshows.
“With them shutting down the [Interstate 290] expressway right by Rush hospital, people wouldn’t be able to get there for an emergency,” he said. “And I called the state police and talked to some of the law enforcement community, and they said there’s nothing they can do.”
The ISP said there’s nothing they could do?
* I asked the Illinois State Police about this…
The Illinois State Police responds to all calls it receives of illegal and/or dangerous activity. The most recent example is ISP’s response to mob action at the intersection of Division Street and Elston Avenue on July 3, 2022, in which a mob of about 100 people began to swarm an ISP trooper’s squad vehicle, jumping on the hood, breaking the windshield, kicking the vehicle, and throwing rocks, bricks, and fireworks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_i5XRMxeS4
In the December 2021 referenced by Rep. Ford, ISP made arrests for the expressway shutdown (attachment) and dedicated additional resources to prevent these types of expressway shut downs, such as monitoring by air operations and rapid deployment of patrol. The challenge for all law enforcement with these illegal events is they are often spontaneous events driven by real time social media activity.
ISP enforces the law to its fullest extent. However, there are limitations within the current laws that don’t sufficiently address the specific danger of the conduct being displayed. ISP worked with Rep. Ford on his legislation to address street sideshows within the Illinois Vehicle Code, creating a specific charge for a specific offense to make it easier to hold everyone involved accountable, including those people who are blocking the street to take video or watch. ISP will continue to work with Rep. Ford and other legislators by providing our subject matter expertise to policy development aimed at bringing those who take part in this dangerous action to justice and protecting the public on Illinois expressways.
The ISP arrest press release is here. The bill Ford passed and was signed into law is here.
* Rep. Ford’s new bill adds the “knowing and reckless” activity of drifting and street racing to the mob action criminal statute “if the activity results in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace.” It has no current co-sponsors.
The race is on to unionize cannabis shops at the same time unionization is picking up at places like Starbucks and Amazon.
Teamsters Joint Council 25 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters entered a joint agreement that gives Teamsters Local 777 exclusive jurisdiction for organizing cannabis workers in Illinois. The agreement signals that Teamsters Local 777 will be the only local unit under the Teamsters union to deal with cannabis in the state.
The move, which happened on Aug. 16, is said “to benefit Teamsters across Joint Council 25 as they negotiate strong contracts with cannabis corporations that are increasingly large, multistate firms.”
Teamsters has been organizing around cannabis in Illinois for a little over a year, said Teamsters representative Matt McQuaid. Since that time, they have won more than 10 cannabis elections throughout the state and organized over 500 dispensary workers.
Modern Cannabis dispensary in Chicago unionized in 2021, and many other businesses in the city have done the same. The first cannabis union contract in Chicago was ratified in March 2022.
“We’re trying to make these careers for the long term, not just one that is a turnover establishment,” says Alex Suarez, who works at Modern Cannabis. “I think the upswing in organization in this country right now is astonishing and we need to keep going over that energy.”
Tonya Townsend, who worked at a Green Thumb Industries cannabis facility in Rock Creek, Illinois when they pioneered unionizing in 2018 and 2019, saw some backlash to the movement. They failed to unionize, as the vote missed by a 26-30 margin.
“There was a lot of union busting. They hired the top union avoidance firm in the country,” she says. “We took them on for about a year. It was a lot. It was mental, physical, verbal, daily abuse from these guys – they fought us tooth and nail the whole way. These workers are reaching out to us for help, so that’s unusual. It used to be we were seeking them out and now they’re coming to us. Our phones are ringing constantly with workers who want protection, higher wages, better benefits and accountability from these companies.”
Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), called on federal and state legislators to build on the success of the cannabis industry in creating high quality, better paying jobs for hardworking Americans. A new report released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that unionization was key to ensuring new jobs created in the fast-growing cannabis industry were safer, better paying, and more likely to provide benefits like health care, paid leave, and fair scheduling.
The report also found that Labor Peace Agreements (LPAs) between companies and workers in the industry successfully protected the right of cannabis workers to unionize while supporting greater alignment between companies and workers. This led to increased job quality and pay standards for all workers, particularly those of color, in addition to increased safety for customers and workers. Specifically, unionized cannabis workers can earn up to $8,690 more than their non-union, non-cannabis peers. This model provides a tangible opportunity to repair the harm done to communities of color during the war on drugs. […]
As Congress considers the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act discussion draft introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Ron Wyden (Oregon), the UFCW is urging lawmakers to recognize the importance of strengthening protections and the right to unionize for all workers in the fast-growing cannabis industry which already supports 321,000 American jobs nationwide.
Labor peace agreements (LPAs) have proven successful in protecting workers’ rights to organize in the six states (California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Virginia) with statutes encouraging or requiring LPAs for licensed medical and/or recreational cannabis businesses. LPAs prevent union busting by employers in exchange for workers’ pledge not to strike.
Cannabis sales are up in Illinois as the state received nearly $450 million in tax revenue from $1.5 billion in recreational marijuana sales.
According to Governor JB Pritzker, the amount of taxes collected from recreational marijuana sales went from $297.7 million in fiscal year 2021 to $445.3 million this year, an increase of 50% from the same time last year. Overall, recreational pot sales also went up 50%, going from $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
“Illinois has done more to put justice and equity at the forefront of this industry than any other state in the nation and has worked to ensure that communities hurt by the war on drugs have had the opportunity to participate,” Pritzker said. “The $1.5 billion in sales of adult-use cannabis in Illinois translates into significant tax revenue with a portion of every dollar spent being reinvested in communities that have suffered for decades.”
According to state law, 25% of tax revenue from cannabis sales must support economically distressed communities along with being “disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization.”
* Darren Bailey’s running mate Stephanie Trussell on AM560 today…
One thing that a lot of people are concerned about, voter integrity. We have so many volunteers signed up to be poll watchers in Chicago. They are ready to come up from Downstate to keep an eye on what’s happening. That’s how Virginia won. They had 98% of their precincts covered.
* No taxpayer resources are being used for the event, the Daily Herald reports. Keith Pekau press release…
The Downers Grove Public Library has announced a drag performance planned as part of a “Drag Queen Bingo” event on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the library. The event is targeted to children in grades 7-12.
Keith Pekau, Mayor of Orland Park and GOP nominee for Congress (IL-06), released the following statement in response: “I join parents across the district in denouncing this event, just as I would denounce a library introducing kids to straight sex by holding a burlesque show. To be clear, I have no interest in regulating the private, consensual activities and decisions of adults. This event, however, targets children. It’s inappropriate, and an unacceptable use of taxpayer funds.
“Furthermore, I call on Sean Casten to join me – as a public official and as a father – in denouncing this inappropriate event and unacceptable use of public resources.”
Awake Illinois has issued a call of action and started an email campaign in its drive against a child-friendly drag show scheduled at Downers Grove Public Library.
The parent rights group raised the issue of the appropriateness of a “Drag Queen Bingo” show to be held at the Downers Grove Public Library on Oct. 11. The event is to be hosted by drag queen Aurora Devine.
Awake IL is suggesting concerned community members engage in an email writing campaign and attend the next Downers Grove Library Board Meeting Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
“The last thing I want is for our community children to be exposed to sexually charged content simply because they visited their local library. Lewd adult content doesn’t belong at a public library event for any age group,” an Awake Illinois form letter reads. “As a taxpayer and concerned citizen, I urge the Downers Grove Library to cancel the event and discipline the staff involved in planning and hosting the event. Additionally, I request a response to questions on why this event allowed minors to register, provide their contact information and share their grade level without parental notification.”
The library says registration is full, and that there’s now a waiting list. The library says it’s gotten lots of feedback and questions from the community about the program, but insisted that the performance will be age-appropriate and has been discussed at length with librarians specially trained and educated to work with teens.
The event falls on National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11. Supporters have praised the library for its dedication to diversity and inclusion, while some—including Orland Park mayor and GOP candidate for that congressional district Keith Pekau—have called the event inappropriate and unacceptable use of taxpayer funds.
The gathering also has been condemned by Awake Illinois, a Naperville-based group that has made queerphobic social media posts and encouraged people to protest a recent drag show at a Lake in the Hills bakery.
The group’s government affairs director, former GOP lieutenant governor candidate Kathleen Murphy, handles communications for Pekau’s campaign.
Neither Pekau nor Awake Illinois leaders have responded to interview requests. […]
Library officials are speaking with Downers Grove police about extra security.
The library announced it would host an event on October 11 called Drag Bingo, set to coincide with National Coming Out Day. The event is geared toward seventh to 12th grade students.
“We want to create a safe environment where teens can see difference being celebrated first-hand with a performance that is accessible and age-appropriate,” said Julie Milavec, director of the Downers Grove Public Library.
According to library officials, the event will include a drag queen hosting a bingo game, who will then offer a brief performance where they will lip sync Katy Perry’s song “Rainbow.”
The City of Chicago and nonprofit organizations are mobilizing to provide temporary shelter and other services to dozens of migrants who arrived by bus Wednesday from Texas, according to city officials.
For weeks, there had been rumors that migrants arriving at the Texas border would be sent on charter buses to Chicago, as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star” border security initiative. […]
The mayor’s office released a statement on Wednesday evening, saying about 60 migrants arrived in Chicago.
“Chicago is a welcoming city and as such has collaborated across various departments and agencies to ensure we greeted [the migrants] with dignity and respect,” the statement read.
The migrants, mostly from Venezuela, faced long, treacherous journeys trying to reach the United States. Some migrants said they traveled for nearly 30 days, others almost 40 days, to reach Texas, crossing jungles, deserts and small towns, meeting up with other migrants along the way.
“We crossed the jungle, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and then got here,” said Cesar Rodriguez, 21, adding that he originally wanted to go to New York but was told that they wouldn’t be able to send him there. So when they offered Chicago instead, he immediately accepted. […]
As city officials welcome incoming immigrants, various city agencies are working to provide social services in response to Abbott’s actions.
“We understand that many are fleeing violent, traumatic or otherwise unstable environments,” said a spokesperson from Lightfoot’s office. “We will respond with essential services while these individuals navigate the next steps of their journey, and our community partners have been working diligently to provide a safety net.”
* The Tribune reported 75 migrants were dropped off at Chicago’s Union Station…
”We are tired and hungry, like any other human being,” one said. “Can you help me?” he asked a Tribune reporter.
Many of the migrants waiting carried a clear plastic bag with their documents and small possessions. Few had cell phones and most had a piece of paper where they had written phone numbers of people who might be able to help them.
”We just want a place to sleep tonight,” said Jose Rios, 40, as other Venezuelan men surrounded him. They all met on their journey from Texas to Chicago, they said.
“We are so hungry but have no idea where to go or what to do,” said Rios, who left his three children and wife back in his native country. He said he migrated because the poverty in Venezuela is extreme. ”We just want to work now — have a dignified life,” he said.
Governor Greg Abbott today announced the arrival of the first group of migrants bused to Chicago, Illinois from Texas. The migrants were dropped off at Union Station tonight. In addition to Washington, D.C. and New York City, Chicago will now be a drop-off location for the busing strategy as part of the Governor’s response to President Biden’s open border policies overwhelming border communities in Texas.
“President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans—and Americans—at risk and is overwhelming our communities,” said Governor Abbott. “To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location. Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them.”
In April, Governor Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to charter buses to transport migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, the Governor added New York City as second drop-off location. Since beginning this busing strategy in the spring, thousands of migrants have been transported to these sanctuary cities while providing much-needed relief to Texas’ overwhelmed border communities. With its “Welcoming City Ordinance” making it a sanctuary city, Chicago will not deny city services to individuals based on their immigration status. The city also does not require local police to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Illinois’ Democratic chief executive took the unusual step of releasing a late-night statement pledging asylum seekers and migrants arriving Wednesday evening in Chicago will be treated safely and with respect.
“Illinois welcomes refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants and we are working with federal and city officials to ensure that these individuals are treated with respect and safety as they look to connect with their family and friends,” said Pritzker.
“My great-grandfather came to this country as an immigrant fleeing Ukraine in 1881. Immigrants just like my family seeking freedom and opportunity built this country,” Pritzker said.
“Illinois is and has always been a welcoming state,” he added.
* Twitter coverage…
First Texas bus of migrants has arrived in Chicago.
Biden's inaction at our border puts Texans at risk & is overwhelming our communities.
We'll continue bussing migrants to sanctuary cities like NYC, DC, & now Chicago until the federal gov't does its job & secures the border. pic.twitter.com/RccsdIOXiI
A group of people stand outside Union Station after arriving on a bus with approximately 60 other migrants from Texas Wednesday in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/9Gt0jwxEWt
In 2017, I was the lead sponsor of the Trust Act and we made Illinois a welcoming state for immigrants. In 2021, after I became Speaker of the House, we made the Trust Act stronger. Why? Because immigrants are welcome here, always! Los immigrantes son bienvenidos aqui!!! https://t.co/YrAykpinXm
Officials tell WBEZ most of the migrants come from Cuba, Venezuela & Nicaragua. Upon arrival, they will receive health screenings, emergency housing and resettlement help from city & state agencies and local nonprofits.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and top state lawmakers shifted around roughly $1 billion in federal coronavirus aid to help pay for their campaign to arrest migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, exposing gaps in a law meant to bolster the country’s response to the ongoing pandemic.
Relying on the availability of generous federal relief funds, Texas repeatedly in recent months rerouted state money toward its controversial immigration crackdown — all without leaving a massive hole in its budget. But critics say the money would have been put to better use tending to a public health crisis that has killed more than 86,000 people in the state.
* As I told you the other day, Republican attorney general nominee Tom DeVore busted the contribution caps in the AG’s race with a $250,001 loan from himself. He filed the official Notification of Self-Funding paperwork today. DeVore hasn’t raised much money outside of the loan to himself.
* Darren Bailey’s running mate Stephanie Trussell held a press conference in Chicago yesterday. From WGN TV…
Trussell: JB Pritzker doesn’t care about Garfield Park. JB Pritzker doesn’t care about anyone suffering outside of his billionaire bubble.
Pritzker: That’s ludicrous. Since I came into office, in fact, I’ve been focused on lifting up those who’ve been left out and left behind. Let me be clear, it was Darren Bailey that voted against providing rent assistance or homeowners assistance during the worst parts of the pandemic. Darren Bailey, who voted against all of the assistance for small businesses during the pandemic.
When asked about abortion rights, Trussell said this…
People that are working hard every day to pay the increased gas prices, to pay the increased taxes. 114,000 people fled the great state of Illinois last year. That’s not an issue that most people are concerned about.
A political ad airing on TV and online that is critical of Democrats’ policies is finding different interpretations among Democrats.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot last week criticized a political ad from People Who Play By The Rules PAC airing concerns about the Democrats’ policies on crime and punishment.
Lightfoot said the ad purposely darkened her skin color. […]
State Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, told WIND radio host Dan Proft, who is the president of People Who Play By The Rules PAC, that Lightfoot’s position was offensive to darker skinned people like himself.
“You don’t come out against the color of your skin when it could really make that color be offended,” Ford said. “The color that you had her in is just a little shade darker than me.” […]
Lightfoot doubled down on her comments Monday and said she didn’t understand where Ford was coming from.
“I don’t even know what to say in response to that,” Lightfoot said. “If you’re not offended by that, I don’t know what to say to you.”
So far in August, Vote Yes for Workers Rights, which supports the labor amendment in front of voters this November, received $3.2 million from various labor unions.
Joe Severino, the GOP nominee for Illinois’ 10th district House seat, has used social media in the past to falsely blame the Highland Park shooting on the town’s mayor.
After the massacre, Severino wrote a Facebook comment in a private group blaming Mayor Nancy Rotering (D) for the shooting at the town’s Fourth of July parade that killed seven people and injured dozens.
“Further, people are celebrating Mayor Rotering as a leader when she is indirectly responsible for the shooting,” Severino falsely claimed. “She was running against the shooters father and well aware of this family’s turmoil.”
There is no evidence that Rotering had any prior knowledge or tip that would have given her, or anyone else, prior knowledge of the shooter’s plan.
Severino is set to take on incumbent Rep. Brad Schneider (D) in the general election in November. Schneider’s campaign condemned the comments made in Severino’s Facebook post.
“Joe Severino’s misinformation around the Highland Park shooting is disgusting and has no place in our politics,” said Schneider’s campaign manager Matt Fried. “If he had a shred of decency, he would apologize to Mayor Rotering and the families of the victims whose memories he has sullied by lying about the tragedy and making common cause with conspiracy theorists.”
Pension expert Richard Ennis took a closer look at 24 such funds, including two big ones in Illinois. In a recent issue of the Journal of Portfolio Management, he wrote that they underperformed passive investing indexes by an average 1.4 percentage points, despite reporting a 0.3-point positive margin against benchmarks. Only one of the funds beat indexing over the 10-year period.
“This sharp disconnect raises questions about the usefulness of the funds’ performance reporting, as well as their heavy reliance on expensive active management,” he concluded. “Altogether, the results paint an unflattering portrait of the stewardship of public pension funds in the United States.”
Ennis, 78, is a retired chairman of industry consultant EnnisKnupp (acquired in 2010 by Hewitt Associates, now part of Aon) and a former editor of Financial Analysts Journal. He argues that funds set benchmarks too low and then overpay managers once performance is made to appear better than it is. He estimates that management fees average 1.3% of assets—roughly equaling the fund underperformance he measured.
Among the two dozen funds he surveyed, the $66 billion Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois was the fourth-worst performing, reporting an annualized return (8.3%) that was 3.23 percentage points lower than an indexed return. The gap was a negative 1.24 points, just above the median, for the $24 billion State Employees Retirement System of Illinois. For the State Universities Retirement System, which Ennis examined at Crain’s request, the shortfall was 1.9 points.
TRS in particular came out looking especially bad in Ennis’ analysis. Its active management record “is among the worst of the approximately 50 large funds in my dataset,” Ennis told Crain’s Steven R. Strahler. “The excess return of -3.23% for TRS means that it underperformed passive investment by that margin annually for 10 years.”
So what would Ennis do to hold public pensions more accountable and set them on a path toward healthy funding levels?
“I would bring about the type of reform initiated in the private sector in the wake of the Studebaker debacle,” Ennis said, referring to the epic implosion of Studebaker-Packard, which closed its South Bend, Ind., plant in 1963 and subsequently slashed pensions for roughly 4,000 workers. That collapse ultimately inspired the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, signed into law by President Gerald Ford a decade later. That law, among other things, established minimum funding requirements for corporate pension plans. It also required that liabilities be reported at their market value. “The reform played out over decades and in piecemeal fashion,” Ennis noted, “but these are the two pillars that set apart public and private plan funding: assured funding and liability valuation.”
Illinois’ public employee pension plans could certainly use a lot more of both.
* I asked TRS for a response to the original article. Here’s Dave Urbanek…
The conclusions drawn by Mr. Ennis are limited to the subjective conditions, benchmarks and timeframe he selected to develop his analysis.
Due to TRS’s under-funded status, the System’s primary objective is to protect member assets against large market drawdowns caused by market volatility, such as we have seen this year.
Market returns are asymmetric. As an extreme example, a 50% loss requires 100% gain to break even. With this in mind, TRS believes the most prudent portfolio is a diversified one that seeks to participate in the upside of the market but is also positioned to better protect assets in times of high market volatility.
The analysis Mr. Ennis performed is limited in scope. The 10-year period used within Mr. Ennis’ research ended in 2020 and is predominantly a period of very strong equity returns. More importantly, it includes a period where a select few U.S.-based high-growth technology companies, such as Apple and Google, dominated the returns in passive equity index funds. While TRS holds large positions in passive index funds and such companies, the System is mindful to diversify the volatility risk such exposures can have on the total portfolio.
Even during this high growth investment environment, the overall TRS portfolio maintained a performance ranking in the top 25th percentile among U.S. public pension systems during that 10-year horizon ending in June 2020. In that period, the System ranked in the 22nd percentile of 193 funds with more than $1 billion in assets, and in the 25th percentile of 33 funds with more than $25 billion.
Through June 30, 2022 and during the environment of market volatility, the TRS diversified strategy performed as intended. As significant market volatility, rising inflation, and interest rate increases hit in early calendar year 2022, the TRS portfolio performed very well and ranked in the top 10% of the broad peer universe for the first six months of 2022.
For the fiscal year ended June 20, 2022, TRS’s -1.2% return, net of fees, compares very favorably to the median public plan’s return of -7.1%. Further, the TRS portfolio also maintains its top quartile rankings for annualized 5, 10, and 20-year periods that ended on June 30, 2022.
TRS is managing the assets of our 432,000 members using a diversified approach so that we can pay retirement benefits as required by law. For more than 80 years, TRS has paid all benefits on time and in full.
In fiscal year 2022, TRS paid more than $7 billion in benefits to approximately 128,000 beneficiaries. TRS will continue to position its $63 billion investment portfolio to ensure it is able to fulfill its stated mission to its members and pay all benefits on time and in full.
“The term ‘blind trust’ is being used here as a thin shield to conceal the governor’s pursuit of personal profits,” said Bridget J. Crawford, a professor at Pace University’s law school who reviewed the BGA reporting. “This is not a blind trust in any meaningful sense of the phrase.”
* The Question: What should the governor or the legislature do, if anything, to increase the “blindness” of Pritzker’s blind trust? Some ideas from NCSL are here.
* We have a lot of veterans of government on this blog, so I’m curious what y’all think of this proposal…
Governor Pritzker today announced new measures as part of the ongoing efforts to address staffing shortages in the State of Illinois’ agencies that provide essential health and safety services to Illinois’ most vulnerable residents. The State is working to fill vacancies and hire thousands of frontline staff in the Departments of Human Services, Corrections, and Veteran’s Affairs. Interested individuals may visit work.illinois.gov to apply and search for jobs by agency, title, or county.
“Since COVID-19 upended our State—and world—we have experienced severe labor shortages that disproportionately impact our most vulnerable residents,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “That’s why we are launching a laser-focused recruitment and retention strategy to attract quality professionals in the social services and healthcare fields. No matter the challenges of today’s job market, our administration is mobilizing every available resource to make sure every resident has access to the critical services they need and deserve.”
Like many employers across the nation, including other governmental bodies, the State is facing an increasingly challenging job market. In the two years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government sector in the U.S. has lost over 600,000 workers, which is more than manufacturing, wholesale trade, and construction industries combined. Additionally, the healthcare industry has suffered significant labor shortage issues due to burnout from the pandemic. To address the staffing challenges faced by many of our service agencies, the following immediate actions will be taken:
• On an emergency basis, the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) will develop and implement a State-wide recruiting campaign focused on direct care staff serving in State mental health centers, homes for persons with developmental disabilities, and veterans’ homes, as well as staff supporting the State’s corrections facilities.
• On an emergency basis, CMS will assess, draft, and implement retention measures targeting employees at facilities that are open 24/7, which are unique and may require specialized resources. Given the financial and operational costs resulting from extensive employee turnover and unfilled positions in these vital functions, it is critical the State take as many steps as possible to address retention.
• CMS, working with the Departments of Human Services (DHS), Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), and Corrections (DOC), is directed to leverage all existing State resources and community partnerships available. This includes expanding their recruitment teams and partnering with the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) to amplify available vacancies to those individuals who are experiencing unemployment. Additionally, IDES is directed to send targeted outreach to those receiving unemployment insurance benefits or participating in the State’s Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment program.
• CMS, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and IDES are directed to leverage existing local workforce partners to encourage additional targeted outreach intended to bolster the applicant pool of qualified candidates for State jobs. These agencies are also directed to increase virtual job fairs across State platforms to recruit new workers.
Today’s announcement emphasizes Governor Pritzker’s commitment to increasing the State’s workforce and ensuring employees have sufficient resources to continue to provide the service that Illinois residents expect. Through these efforts, the State is looking to build and retain its workforce with concentration in the following positions: correctional officers, physicians, nurses, mental health technicians, support service workers, social workers, security therapy aids, security officers, and other critical positions that support the health and safety of the State’s residents.
These steps are the latest in a series of initiatives designed to prepare, attract, and retain the necessary talent pool for roles in State government. Continued efforts include:
Marketing and Recruitment for Critical Vacancies
Since taking office, Governor Pritzker’s Administration has worked to implement practices to attract talent to its workforce:
• Revamped Hiring Processes – The State has implemented a new electronic application and hiring processes for all State positions which allows job seekers to search for and apply to jobs online, including using mobile devices. Visit work.illinois.gov to learn more about job opportunities with the State of Illinois.
• Expanded Outreach – The Bureau of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) within CMS administers the State’s workforce diversity programs and coordinates closely with the Governor’s Office of Equity and the African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native American Employment Plan Advisory Councils, made up of community activists from across the State. Over the last two years, CMS has created or participated in more than 69 outreach and recruitment events.
• Increased Recruitment – Since the beginning of 2021, State agencies, including CMS, DVA, DHS, and DOC have participated in 549 job fairs and hiring events. Recruiting teams also met with prospective employees at the 2022 Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the State Fair in DuQuoin. Applicants are encouraged to visit the Governor’s Tent at the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin to learn more about State employment, set up job alerts, and apply for vacancies on the spot.
• Improved Career Counseling Services – CMS counseling staff work with internal and external candidates to evaluate their education and experience as well as employment interests/preferences, salary expectations, and geographical location to determine job titles that are the best fit for their future success. Career counselors also assist applicants with applying to State positions for which they may qualify.
Retention of Existing Staff
State employees make a difference every day in the lives of their fellow residents. Nowhere is that difference more tangible than in residential facilities, where State employees are entrusted with providing safe, healthy, and thriving environments. The benefits of State employment include more than just the satisfaction of purpose-driven work. In addition to generous healthcare benefits, robust paid time off, including paid parental leave, and pension benefits, the State has continued to implement and enhance employee benefits and retention measures:
• Career Mobility - Upward Mobility Program (UMP), the career mobility program administered jointly with the State’s largest labor partner, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), is designed to give State employees an opportunity to advance to more challenging, higher paying positions through targeted career counseling and direct-paid educational and training opportunities.
• Ongoing Professional Development - CMS University, a web-based, continuing education and professional development site to assist all State employees. Through curated sessions and live events, employees can expand their knowledge or brush up on tools to support their work.
• Be Well Illinois, the State’s employee wellness program, launched in January 2021 by CMS to improve the overall health and wellness of the State’s workforce. Be Well Illinois uses a comprehensive approach to wellness and incorporates educational resources and activities designed to improve physical, financial and mental health and raise awareness about the benefits of healthy eating, exercise and cultural topics.
• MyBenefits Plus program, an expanded voluntary benefits program to attract prospective employees and support retirees and active employees of the State. This program includes legal services, pet, auto, home, hospital indemnity, critical illness and accident insurance offerings that complement State-sponsored programs.
• Purchasing Power program allows employees to make major purchases such as computers, appliances, electronics and more when paying with cash or credit is not an option. Participants receive their product up front and pay over 6 or 12 months directly from their paycheck.
• COVID-19 support programs for employees throughout the pandemic including a specialized mobile-enabled micro-website, with information about vaccinations, workplace updates, and resources guides for employees.
*** UPDATE *** From AFSCME Council 31…
Statement of AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch in response to Pritzker Administration’s hiring initiative
“We welcome Governor Pritzker’s initiative to address critical staffing shortages in state agencies where employees care for veterans, treat mental illness, support people with developmental disabilities and safely incarcerate and rehabilitate those convicted of crimes.
“Nearly 7,000 positions in state government were vacant at the start of 2022. Especially hard-hit are 24/7 facilities such as veterans’ homes, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, and centers for people with developmental disabilities. Also of great concern is understaffing in the Department of Children and Family Services, which is charged with protecting children from abuse and neglect. As a result, in all of these settings, employees are burning out, safety is at risk, and overtime costs are rising.
“AFSCME members on the front lines struggle daily to provide essential services despite the challenges of working short-staffed. Earlier this month, Governor Pritzker met with a group of our local union leaders who work in these settings and could describe firsthand the difficulties they and their coworkers face.
“With today’s announcement, the Pritzker Administration is moving forward to reduce the bureaucratic delays in the state hiring process that have been so frustrating to so many, and to redouble its efforts to recruit needed new hires. In the days ahead our union will do everything possible to advance these efforts.
“AFSCME members in state government are helpers, problem solvers, people who are dedicated to serving their community. They earn a family-supporting wage, affordable health care and a pension that provides for dignity in retirement. We urge anyone looking for a good job doing good work in their community to apply.”
Our schools have been hijacked with woke policies and it has to end. Just this week, a few days ago, I announced that we’ve got, we’ve got some major changes with our college systems and especially the U of I. Everywhere I go, I talk to students and parents who are frustrated because they can’t get their children enrolled at the U of I.
And, and just last night by press that, I was asked, well, what’s the answer? Because if we don’t allow all these foreign students to come, you know the U of I might start hurting financially.
We have got to start thinking of government just exactly like we think of it with our businesses. If we can’t afford it, we don’t do it. If it’s not working, we cut it or we change it. And unfortunately, the answer with the University of Illinois as I was asked by press last night, it’s not adding more taxes. It’s making the school more efficient. Money is being wasted, priorities are being wasted.
Our own students because of our own tax money that supports this school aren’t able to go to this school. It’s time for a change. There’s absolutely no reason that the president of the college should be making a million dollars. That is a public service, there is no reason, there is no excuse for that.
The U of I has got to be challenged to become the great school that it’s intended to be. And unfortunately, we’re struggling with, that they should be front and center with many of these advances and with our economy.
Why isn’t the U of I being utilized more by by state government to challenge the system, to come up with a pension solution? There you go, U of I, come up with a pension solution. Let’s hear it. Nobody wants to talk about it instead. Well, anyway, I’ll stop there. But friends, we’ve got work to do.
U of I’s Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler said in a statement their goal is to attract a strong, high quality applicant pool with a diverse blend of students from in-state, across the country and the world. Kaler said the “biggest challenge” when it comes to enrolling in-state students is many say they can’t afford tuition. She said the school has addressed their financial concerns by offering programs like the Illinois Commitment, which offers free tuition for students whose families earn $67,100 a year or less.
The school admitted a record-breaking number of freshmen last fall – just over 8,300. 5,835 of those were from Illinois, and 2,468 were not.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday vowed that “anti-choice” politicians will lose in November, as he stood surrounded by Planned Parenthood leaders who are still awaiting legislative fixes — and funds — to help handle an influx of patients coming to Illinois to seek abortion care services. […]
But the event also highlighted that the pledge Pritzker made on June 24 to call the Illinois General Assembly back into session in Springfield to “further enshrine” reproductive rights remains unfulfilled. Similarly, Pritzker voiced support for an assault weapons ban after the Highland Park massacre. But is likely to find it difficult to drum up enough support in an election year. […]
Those discussions involve legislation to protect medical providers from legal, criminal and civil liability, expand the capacity of providers who can provide abortions and measures to protect and grow clinics, Pritzker said. […]
[Yamelsie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis region and Southwest Missouri] said wait times went from three to four days to two and a half weeks. She said Illinois has seen a 76% increase in abortions after 14 weeks of gestation. […]
“Is this going to be sustainable over time, when we’re thinking $900 to $1,500 just to provide practical support for transportation and accommodation? No,” Rodriguez said. “And we made that very clear to Gov. Pritzker why this is an imperative, and we will continue to work with him to ensure that we have a sustainable platform here.”
* Pritzker acknowledged that in order for any measures to take immediate effect, he’ll need support from the legislature’s Democratic supermajorities. After Jan. 1, only a simple majority would be required…
Transcript…
Legislators are hard at work, now, I think you know, in working groups, in fact working with Planned Parenthood and many other pro-choice organizations to make sure that they can craft the legislation that we need. You heard about the need to protect from legal liability, criminal and civil liability that other states want to bring against people in Illinois, against their own people who come to Illinois. Those are parts of what needs to be addressed by the legislature. Then there’s the expansion of capacity, allowing nurse practitioners to perform procedures to make sure that we’re protecting and growing the existing capacity of the clinics that are here and then attracting other clinics to come to Illinois. Those are all things that are being considered by the working groups in the legislature. […]
Well, I think you know that there are two things that you have to consider one is there is a legislature, the legislature has to do its work and he is hard at work. Second, that as you know when Special Session when things need to be passed with a supermajority. That’s harder than doing it with a simple majority. So there’s some things that can be done could be done with a supermajority, some things that take a simple majority. So again, the legislature is working through all those things.
Pritzker said his executive authority only goes so far.
“There are things that you can’t do as an executive order. There are things that the legislature really does need to do, we need it enshrined into law,” Pritzker said. “So, again, those things are all being worked out. We’re talking with the legislature, working with the attorney general’s office.”
Illinois Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, said the hold up may be that Democrats are gauging public sentiment.
“I think it’s because the Democrats understand that what they want to do is go even farther on abortion, even more extreme than any other state in the country,” McConchie told The Center Square earlier this month. “I think they recognize we already have some of the most extreme abortion laws in the country. Going further might actually alienate voters this fall.”
Welch has tapped nine House Democrats to work with advocates on legislative proposals, but those negotiations are taking place behind closed doors. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, an outspoken proponent of abortion rights who was assigned to lead the group, did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on its progress.
Senate Democrats have not announced a formal negotiating team, but Harmon spokesman John Patterson said, “There are ongoing internal discussions.”
Pritzker spoke to reporters Tuesday after meeting privately with the heads of the Illinois and St. Louis regional chapters of Planned Parenthood, along with Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
The Planned Parenthood leaders all praised Pritzker for his support of abortion access and argued for the importance of the Nov. 8 election in determining the future of reproductive health care in Illinois and across the country.
The state of Illinois, the city of Chicago, and 10 members of the U.S. House delegation have all joined friend-of-the-court briefs in one of the biggest U.S. Supreme Court cases of the coming term. They are backing the state of Colorado in the defense of its public-accommodations law against a challenge by a wedding website designer who cites a religious objection for refusing to do work for same-sex nuptials.
The case is 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, which will be argued sometime in the term that begins Oct. 3, with a decision expected by late June 2023. Website designer Lorie Smith went to court seeking a ruling that Colorado could not enforce its anti-bias law against her graphic design firm because of her religious opposition to same-sex marriage.
It’s among the most hot-button cases in a term that follows the one in which the justices overruled a half-century of abortion rights and made it more difficult for states and cities to regulate guns. […]
The friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Colorado, filed late last week, are among 70 filed on both sides of the case. A separate brief by other members of Congress filed in June supports the website designer, though no members of the Illinois delegation signed that one.
* Attorney General Kwame Raoul signed a brief with 21 states to argue that commercial enterprises should not have religious-based exemptions to anti-discrimination laws that protect individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Chicago Corporation Counsel Celia Meza signed a brief with 54 local governments to argue that city, town, and county anti-discrimination protections “reflect a democratically determined commitment to equality and inclusion in the public sphere.” And 10 US House Democrats, Reps. Sean Casten, Danny K. Davis, Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Marie Newman, Mike Quigley, Bobby Rush, Jan Schakowsky, Lauren Underwood, and Brad Schneider signed a brief with 137 fellow US Representatives supporting Colorado.
* Also, former state employee Mark Janus filed a brief arguing Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws require a form of impermissible government-compelled speech. Janus won a 2018 Supreme Court case which ruled that government employees could not be forced to join a union and could not be required to pay union dues or fees. Crain’s reported that Janus’ brief was written by the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, the same organization that took up the challenge to union fees.
* I’m told that Secretary of State Jesse White tested negative for COVID-19 and is back to working in the office today. His office announced last week that he’d tested positive and was experiencing mild symptoms.
