Governor Pritzker along with leading global diversified chemical company LG Chem, and ADM, a global leader in nutrition and biosolutions, today announced that pending regulatory approval, two planned joint ventures for U.S. production of lactic acid and polylactic acid will be located in Decatur. The projects will help meet the growing demand for a wide variety of plant-based products, including eco-friendly bioplastics.
The first joint venture, GreenWise Lactic, would produce up to 150,000 tons of high-purity corn-based lactic acid annually. ADM would be the majority owner of GreenWise, and would contribute fermentation capacity from its Decatur bioproducts facility to the venture. The second venture, LG Chem Illinois Biochem, will build a new facility that will use product from Greenwise Lactic to produce approximately 75,000 tons of polylactic acid (PLA) per year. Decatur serves as ADM’s North American headquarters. The joint ventures are expected to create more than 125 jobs.
“I am thrilled that LG Chem and ADM have chosen Decatur as home for their joint ventures,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Our state’s talented workforce coupled with our mission of sustainability makes Illinois the best place for these lactic and polylactic acid production facilities. To LG Chem and ADM: thank you for your commitment to our state. It is innovative, plant-based solutions like these that will help us tackle the climate crisis head on.”
Lactic acid is used broadly in food, feed and cosmetics in addition to industrials like bioplastics. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable, eco-friendly plastic. Both lactic acid and PLA have seen significant growing global demand as more companies and consumers seek sustainable products.
The joint ventures, which are subject to required regulatory approvals, anticipate beginning operations in late 2025 or early 2026, with construction on the new facility planned for 2023. Both ventures are participating in the State of Illinois’ Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) program, which provides incentives to job creators who plan to make large-scale investments in Illinois.
“Sustainability is one of the enduring global trends that is powering ADM’s strategy and growth,” said ADM CEO Juan R. Luciano. “Our BioSolutions platform is helping us meet that demand by redeploying Carbohydrate Solutions production capacity to fast-growing, higher margin segments including pharmaceuticals and personal care, textiles and paper products. BioSolutions is already growing rapidly, with $136 million in year-over-year revenue growth in the first half of 2022, and with these two new joint ventures, we’re planning to take the next growth step, greatly expanding our ability to meet growing demand for plant-based solutions. We’re pleased to expand our collaboration with LG Chem, and we’re excited at the opportunity to bring this new intended production and all of its economic benefits to Decatur, our North American headquarters.”
“The establishment of this joint venture is a sustainable growth strategy that can directly contribute in solving environmental issues such as climate change and waste plastics,” said LG Chem Chief Executive Officer Hak Cheol. “LG Chem is the first Korean company to build a PLA plant with integrated production capacities ranging from raw materials to the final product. With the establishment of this JV, LG Chem will not only procure production capacities for highly pure lactic acid needed for commercial-scale PLA production, but will also be able to apply biomaterials in the development of various high value-added products. Based on eco-friendly materials, which is an axis for new growth engines, we will respond to the rapidly changing market and customers, while becoming a market leader.”
“Demand for plant-based products is on the rise and it’s no surprise Illinois is attractive to companies looking to expand in this industry,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said. “As the federal government seeks opportunities to invest in greener buildings, it will look to states like Illinois that are leaders in the production of eco-products. Today’s news is a positive step and I appreciate the efforts of state and local leaders to bring even more jobs to Illinois.”
“When I led a congressional delegation to South Korea earlier this year, I met with the CEO of LG Chem, Hak Cheol Shin, and shared how Illinois is uniquely positioned for greater investment as a growing hub for innovation, manufacturing and technology. I’m proud my advocacy helped bring this important investment to Illinois,” said Senator Duckworth. “LG Chem recognizes what I’ve long known: Illinois is a great place to do business. Building on ADM’s 120-year history in Illinois, I’m glad the leaders at ADM and LG Chem made this decision to help our state lead the transition to a clean energy economy and create good-paying jobs right here so we can help build a better, more sustainable future for communities throughout Illinois. I will continue to spread the message across the country and around the world that entrepreneurs and innovative companies should call Illinois home.”
“This new venture will create good-paying jobs and stimulate economic growth in Decatur,” said State Senator Doris Turner (D-Springfield). “This is an excellent opportunity to bring growth to the region and revitalize our communities. Additionally, a shift towards biodegradable, eco-friendly plastics promotes sustainability and provides our communities with a brighter tomorrow.”
“The LG Chem Project is a major victory for Decatur and the environment,” said Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe. “It’s more than 100 new jobs, $400 million invested, and their innovative green technology is synergistic with ADM’s operations. Everybody wins! Today’s announcements would not have been possible without the coordinated efforts of the city, the State of Illinois, ADM and the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County.”
“Innovative companies continue to locate in Illinois because of our world-class infrastructure, skilled workforce and leadership in key industries, like biochemical production,” said DCEO Director Sylvia I. Garcia. “We’re looking forward to LG Chem and ADM’s innovative joint ventures locating in Decatur, which will create jobs, bring significant investment to the region and continue growth in this key sector.”
The Highland Park City Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution urging state and federal bans on assault weapons, high capacity magazines and other actions to curb gun violence, with the move stemming from the July 4 parade massacre where a shooter with an assault rifle killed seven people and wounded 48.
The Highland Park vote came after the Lake County Board, mainly on a party line 16-5 vote on Aug. 9, passed a measure adding to its legislative agenda a call for the state of Illinois and Congress to take action.
The measures from Highland Park and Lake County are advisory — and throws the spotlight on Democrats in Springfield, where they hold a supermajority in the state House and Senate and the governorship.
There is internal debate over whether to bring up legislative proposals before the November election — and expose some Downstate Democrats to a vote they would rather avoid — or wait for the fall veto session, which takes place after the election. The state House needs 71 yes votes to make any bill effective immediately and 60 votes for a 2023 effective date.
* Must’ve overslept…
It’s 2:39 (so, nearly 40 mins late) and the event still hasn’t started but the crowd has grow. By maybe 15 and @JesseSullivanIL has shown up. pic.twitter.com/BBAS2vCdc7
Tea Party Express, the nation’s largest Tea Party political action committee, is pleased to announce its endorsement of Esther Joy King in Illinois’s 17th Congressional District.
Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Sal Russo said, “Esther Joy King is a commonsense leader with the drive and commitment needed to advocate for the Midwestern values of Illinoisans, and we are proud to endorse her campaign.
“Esther is a true servant leader who has dedicated her life to improving the lives of others. She served as an aid worker in Afghanistan fighting for the dignity of oppressed women, and she is a vocal critic on the disastrous way Biden botched the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“After finishing her time helping women in Afghanistan, Esther desired to serve our great country in a new way, and joined the U.S. Army Reserve. Not only is she a JAG Officer, but she also practices law as an attorney and focuses on real estate and economic development. Her law background and real-life experience working with everyday Americans allows her to understand the challenges and struggles Illinoisans face under Biden and Pelosi’s regime.
“Illinoisans have been hit hard with record-high inflation and skyrocketing prices in every area, and with massive tax hikes and reckless spending flooding out of Washington, D.C., the hits will only keep coming unless we elect battle-ready leaders like Esther to reverse the course. Esther knows the thousands of farms in the 17th District are the heart and soul of the local economy, and she’s determined to fight to protect the rights of local family farms so they can thrive and create new jobs.
“The people of Illinois need a Representative like Esther who will put their interests first and get the government off their backs. Tea Party Express applauds Esther’s pledge to stop reckless spending and her commitment to force Congress to live within their means, and we are proud to offer our endorsement to Esther Joy King as the next Congresswoman from Illinois,” Russo concluded.
* I missed this Fox32 interview with Republican US Senate nominee Kathy Salvi while I was on vacation, but then a commenter pointed it out yesterday…
Salvi is a staunchly pro-life activist who says it’s the pro-choice Duckworth who is an “extremist” on abortion.
“The law in Illinois is nine-month elective abortion, taxpayer-funded. This is the law in Illinois that my opponent supports. And she wants to let this law be the law throughout all 50 states. This is extreme, radical,” Salvi said.
But Salvi declined to answer when FOX 32 Chicago asked several times if there are any circumstances — rape, incest or to preserve the life of the mother — in which abortion should be legal.
“I’m going to go on to what the issue is, I think I’ve answered this well enough. And you can press me on and on,” Salvi said.
The Republican running against Senator Tammy Duckworth called Wednesday for cutting off American aid to Ukraine.
“This is another example of the Washington elite just sending our money, spending our money to oblivion,” said Kathy Salvi.
* From US Rep. Mary Miller’s district newsletter…
WE STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP
Every American should be alarmed and outraged by what’s happening in this country. The raid on a former President’s home is unprecedented and has all the markings of a total abuse of power.
The policies of the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats have led us into a recession with open borders, a massive crime wave, food shortages, supply chain issues, a destruction of our youth, and a foreign policy crisis showing extreme weakness on the world stage. In an act to make us all forget, the Department of Justice is now engaging in partisan politics by smearing President Trump, creating lasting and permanent damage to our democracy.
The Biden DOJ officials involved in this attack on the democratic process must be held accountable by Congress under a new majority. If this is what they’re able to do to the former president of the United States, think about what they could do to you.
We have to always remember the swiftness with which the Republicans turned, savagely, on the FBI, on the Justice Department. In a totalitarian state, the leader is the king, and his word is truth. His word is law. Period.
GOP candidate for governor Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) expressed concerns about rising school supply prices, and says Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s policies are “hitting these hardworking families the hardest.”
He notes that while Pritzker talks about helping middle and lower-income people, his policies have disproportionately harmed Illinoisans.
“The cost of school supplies is so high that some people are looking at using buy-now, pay-later plans just to get their kids the supplies they need for the new school,” Bailey said. “These costs are up 40 percent, and many families are struggling to be able to afford the increase. The paltry sales tax holiday Pritzker is touting is not enough to help working families.”
A Will County judge ruled Thursday that Tinley Park Mayor Michael Glotz and a police officer will not be required to comply with State Sen. Michael Hastings’ subpoena request made as part of his divorce proceedings.
Judge Dinah Archambeault dismissed the subpoenas, saying that any potential testimony would not be relevant to Hastings’ divorce case, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
The requests were made in connection with a police report Hastings’ estranged wife reportedly filed with Tinley Park Police on Father’s Day 2021, the Tribune reports.
In a copy of the subpoena issued to Glotz obtained by Patch, the request called for Glotz to disclose any and all communications between him and Hastings’ wife Kathleen, including text messages, social media messages, emails, phone messages, and other digital communications. It also called for Glotz to share any communications discussing the dissemination of the “defamatory statements and documents, receipt of photos, audiotapes, videotapes” pertaining to the couple, and any documentation of money owed to or by either Glotz or Hastings, or money gifted or loaned to Hastings.
— Rich Janor is scheduled to be introduced today as the new Republican nominee for state representative in the 41st District. Janor will join House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and state Sen. John Curran on the steps of Naperville City Hall for the announcement. Janor will replace Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, a Naperville city councilwoman, who dropped out of the House race earlier this month for personal, family reasons. Janor will face Democratic incumbent state Rep. Janet Yang Rohr in November. The 41st District includes parts of Naperville and Warrenville and spans DuPage and Will counties. […]
— Democratic Congressman Sean Casten has been endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO in his bid for the newly drawn IL-06.
— Judge Elizabeth Rochford has been endorsed by the Illinois AFL-CIO in her bid for the Illinois Supreme Court’s Second District seat.
Former Gov. Pat Quinn, who is considering a run for mayor, called on City Hall to release an inspector general’s report on the botched 202 implosion of a power plant smokestack that left Little Village smothered in dust.
Quinn wanted to hand-deliver a letter Monday to Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Corporation Counsel Celia Meza at City Hall, seeking the public release of an investigative report that was completed last year but which Lightfoot’s administration has kept secret. The Chicago City Council and Little Village community activists have made similar demands.
But the former governor got no farther than the lobby, denied permission to go upstairs because he didn’t have an appointment. Someone came to the lobby to get the letter.
The Chicago Board of Ethics voted to fine South Side Ald. Derrick Curtis $1,000 for using his city email account to invite residents to a campaign breakfast for Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The board voted to fine Curtis on Monday. They did not name Curtis, who represents the 18th Ward, but the pattern of facts released in the board’s probable cause statement fit conduct first reported by the Tribune in June.
Chicago’s Lower West Side best known as a backdrop for the 2014 Hollywood blockbuster “Transformers: Age of Extinction.” The state will accept bids this fall for Damen Silos at 2900 S. Damen Ave., along the South Branch of the Chicago River, a 23.4-acre property familiar to drivers on the Stevenson Expressway for its towering old grain silos.
Officials said selling Damen Silos will relieve the state of a financial burden, and a buyer could transform it into a data center, telecom facility, cannabis business or an industrial complex, giving surrounding neighborhoods an economic lift.
“The sale of this surplus property will generate significant economic opportunities in Chicago’s Lower West Side and McKinley Park communities while also saving the State the cost of annual operating expenses,” said Anthony Pascente, acting director of the state’s Central Management Services, in a prepared statement. […]
The state is selling the property in “as-is” condition, and initial bids, which must be a minimum of $3.25 million, are due by Oct. 19. Officials will choose the winning bid by November, according to a marketing flyer from commercial real estate firm JLL.
The state Department of Central Management Services hired Rick Levin & Associates Inc. to sell the property at 2900 S. Damen Ave. in an online auction Nov. 2 through Nov. 7. The site just north of Interstate 55 includes several abandoned silos and was used as a movie set last September, when Transformers crews filmed explosions there.
The property is in an industrial area and sits just west of the former Chicago Sun-Times printing plant, which is being converted into a data center. An industrial use “would certainly seem logical” for the site, though retail is a possibility too, said Rick Levin, president of the Chicago-based auction house. […]
Levin tried to auction the property in 2007 and received interest from barge and transportation companies, Mr. Levin said. But no buyer was willing to pay the state’s minimum bid of $17.3 million.
Seven years and one real estate crash later, the new minimum bid is $3.8 million. The state set the bids by averaging three appraisals of the parcel, Mr. Levin said.
* New City tells how the silo went from “feeding the world” to abandoned relic…
Located off the Damen Avenue exit of I-55, this massive city within a city was built in 1906 just off its namesake rail line. It had an overall capacity of 400,000 bushels of grain, with five shipping and receiving legs that were able to accommodate four separate rails. It also had thirty-five concrete storage bins, a 1,500-horsepower electrical plant, a marine tower and eight vessel loading spouts. All in all, the plant could process 75,000 bushels of grain per hour. […]
This was the case in 1977, as a massive explosion and fire, along with over thirty years of abandonment, turned the Santa Fe grain elevators into a burnt-out relic which could serve as a set for every neo-futuristic end-of-the-world movie from “Mad Max” to “The Matrix.” To the west of the ruins is a stagnant channel where the Chicago River meets the I&M Sanitary and Ship Canal. The grey, murky water, filled with white foam, industrial driftwood, plastic grocery bags and used condoms serves as a moat guarding the east and north end of the ruins. To the south is a rusted, barbed-wire fence adorned by a small sign that reads: “State Property, No Trespassing.”
Beyond the fence is a field of weeds, rusted steel beams and hundreds of blocks of cement the size of small cars. Towering over them are rounded silos climbing over a hundred feet in the air. Next to it is a square, cement building fifteen stories high. Its rotting walls are filled with broken windows and chunks of hanging, rusting rebar, all ringed by a steel ribbon on top which has been completely painted by graffiti artists who somehow got on top of the sheer cement walls.
* The silos are a popular spot for urban explorers…
The 15-story grain silos at 2860 S. Damen Ave. have been useless since a 1977 explosion. They were built in 1906 by the Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and they had capacity for 400,000 bushels of grain.
There are lots of curiosity seekers like Kinsch. Dave “Gone” Brault, then a 23-year-old college student, even lived in the silos earlier this decade. He dubbed it, “post-apocalypse park.”
Kinsch said one of the more popular areas is the basement, “which is comprised of a series of tunnels that you can easily get lost in.”
“There are thousands of square feet of tunnels which stretch under half the 24-acre lot,” Kinsch said. “The maze of tunnels can make for some very creepy yet stunning photographs, also while exploring down there you find some pretty interesting rooms.”
* According to WBEZ the movie brought in money to the state…
The filming of the third Transformers movie brought about $24 million in spending to Illinois. The reviews of Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon aren’t so glowing, but the filming of the movie was a success for Illinois. Transformers was filmed in Chicago last summer and brought in hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the state.
Betsy Steinberg is with the Illinois Film Office. She says a 30 percent tax credit for film productions played a big part in attracting filmmakers.
“Without a serious tax credit, it’s very difficult to get any kind of film industry to town. Currently, over 40 states have some sort of film tax credits or incentives in place,” she said.
Steinberg says the film industry as a whole brought in a record $161 million to the state in 2010. She says more projects are in the works this year, including a Superman movie being filmed around Plano, Illinois.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced that Illinois is joining a nationwide Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force of 50 state attorneys general to investigate and take legal action against the telecommunications companies responsible for bringing a majority of foreign robocalls into the United States. This bipartisan national task force has one goal: to cut down on illegal robocalls.
“Robocalls aren’t just an Illinois problem. They are a nationwide problem. That is why I am proud to join my fellow attorneys general in launching this task force,” Raoul said. “Robocalls cost consumers time and money, as well as violate their privacy. I will continue to protect the rights of Illinois consumers by fighting against this illegal practice.”
The task force has issued 20 civil investigative demands to 20 gateway providers and other entities that are allegedly responsible for a majority of foreign robocall traffic. Gateway providers that bring foreign traffic into the U.S. telephone network have a responsibility to ensure the traffic is legal, but these providers are not taking sufficient action to stop robocall traffic. In many cases, they appear to be intentionally turning a blind eye in return for steady revenue. The task force will focus on the bad actors throughout the telecommunications industry, to help reduce the number of robocalls that Illinois residents receive, which will also benefit the companies that are following the rules.
Raoul is committed to stopping illegal and unwanted calls. According to the National Consumer Law Center and Electronic Privacy Information Center, over 33 million scam robocalls are made to Americans every day. These scam calls include Social Security Administration fraud against seniors, Amazon scams against consumers, and many other scams targeting all consumers, including some of our most vulnerable residents. An estimated $29.8 billion was stolen through scam calls in 2021. Most of this scam robocall traffic originates overseas. The task force is focused on shutting down the providers that profit from this illegal scam traffic and refuse to take steps to otherwise mitigate these scam calls.
Nothing has been able to kill scam robocalls — not federal regulation, not individual state lawsuits, not private software. Each effort has made a dent, but the unwanted calls keep on coming, much to the consternation of Americans on the receiving end.
Now, all 50 state attorneys general, Republicans and Democrats, have come together through a newly formed task force to go after U.S. telecommunications companies that allow robocalls originating overseas to reach their customers.
Stopping nuisance calls from foreign countries has been particularly challenging. The AGs have put telecom companies on notice that they must stop the scam calls before they go through to customers, or face prosecution. Experts say that strategy just might work. […]
“The problem has been that the (Federal Communications Commission) fines someone … one at a time, or one AG shuts down a carrier,” [Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a robocall-blocking software company] said. “Now, it’s 50 going after them and 50 court proceedings and 50 fines. I’m optimistic that this will make some impact. Enforcement really is key.”
You know me by sight: I was an IIS/ IOCI cameraman for over 30 years, under 7 governors, retired in November. (I’m the big guy in back in the poster) We spent a lot of time cooling our heels outside the Gov’s office waiting for the 4 tops to come out of meetings, over the years. This is the band I belong to, playing at the Senior Center at the Illinois Building at the Fair today, 4 PM. All electric ukuleles, playing a broad variety of genres on our third concert for Dept. On Aging. Pop by on your way to the Sale of Champions maybe? 4:00 PM in the exhibit hall. We’d appreciate a plug to get more folks to come see us. Mahalo!
The enclosed poster…
All electric ukuleles? Sounds kinda cool.
* Press release…
Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) representatives, including Secretary Jennifer Ricker, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch the second annual Tech Prairie STEAM Expo at 10 a.m. on Aug. 17 at the Illinois State Fair.
The Expo will provide a forum to highlight K-12 and postsecondary education, business, industry, research, and development related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics in Illinois with a goal of allowing the community space to engage, interact, and explore with exhibitors from across the state.
“STEAM plays a major role in our day-to-day lives and I’m thrilled to debut this year’s Tech Prairie STEAM Expo,” said DoIT Secretary Jennifer Ricker. “At DoIT, we believe exposing STEAM to kids at an early age helps them build a strong foundation to become successful innovators and future leaders. We hope you’ll join us as we kick off this exciting educational opportunity at the fair.”
The Expo will highlight the incredible innovation and emerging career and educational opportunities in STEAM fields throughout the state during the great celebration that is the Illinois State Fair.
WHAT: Tech Prairie STEAM Expo Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Orr Building, Main Stage
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield
* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) Tent will be a destination for fairgoers during the 2022 Illinois State Fair. Free food samples, apple cider slushies, USDA Beagle Brigade, free kids crafts, free caricatures and balloon animals, peddle tractors and the corn sensory-play table celebrates agriculture’s impact on Illinois.
“Over the course of the last year and half our locally grown products have become more important than ever,” said IDOA Director Jerry Costello. “People want to know where their food is coming from and to give them the chance to meet the farmers growing it is even better. We will have farmers from traditional to urban, covering the full scope of Illinois agriculture.”
Activities taking place at the IDOA Tent include:
Artisan Market-Enjoy FREE samples from local food artisans, August 12th-14th! Featuring: Uncle Joe’s BBQ, Rolling Lawns Ice Cream, Ropp Jersey Cheese, A Lil Sumpin’ Special Desserts, Fruit of the Spirit Jams, Glaciers End Shrubs, Golden Hour Bake House Baked Goods, Grand Oak Farm Breads, Hello Water Drinks, JR’s Seasoning, Peter’s Produce Snacks, Spiceocity Seasoning, Umland’s Crunchy Cheese, and Whisk Me Away Baked Goods.
AgVenture Kids Area-Take your children on an AgVenture and learn the importance of Illinois agriculture through play. Featuring: pedal tractors, crafts, piglets, the corn sensory bin and opportunities for FREE balloon animals and caricatures, check the daily schedule for times.
Illinois Specialty Growers Farm Stand- Serving apple cider slushies, watermelon, soft-serve ice cream, sweet corn, and peaches.
Illinois Farm Bureau Stage-Check the daily schedule for the exciting things happening on the Illinois Farm Bureau Stage, including the USDA Beagle Brigade, Hemp-crete demonstrations from the Illinois Hemp Growers Association, the Lego Bee-Hive Build, Farmer Phil, and much more!
HyVee Illinois Product Store-Shop your favorite local products at the HyVee Illinois Product Store! Featuring: Donny B’s Popcorn, Turasky’s Meats, Ropp Jersey Cheese, Riley’s Seasoning,
Prevail Jerky, Froozeballs, Spiceocity Seasonings, Peter’s Produce Snacks, and Whisk Me Away Baked Goods.
The IDOA Tent will be open daily 10am to 8pm and 10am to 6pm the last Sunday of the fair. Check the daily schedule for details.
Events today in Springfield: Democratic Party leaders will elect officers to work with new party Chair Lisa Hernandez.
Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) will host a Farm Bill roundtable with state Sen. Patrick Joyce at the fair at 11:30 a.m.
The Illinois AFL-CIO Vote Yes for Workers Rights group is having a cookout.
Darren Bailey headlines a GOP Unity Event at Mariah’s Steakhouse & Pasta.
And Senate President Don Harmon and the Senate Democratic Caucus will rally at the Illinois Association of Beer Distributors.
Bailey’s unity event is tomorrow. All you’ll get at Mariah’s today is good food.
* And the Willie Nelson show starts at 8 with his special guest Elle King. I haven’t been to the fairgrounds yet, so I haven’t seen the renovations…
The 2022 Illinois State Fair is open in Springfield with over $48 million worth of renovations to the fairgrounds. […]
The project included paving the roadways in front of the cattle barn, swine barn, and the Avenue of Flags as a part of the first phase of renovations.
Costello also announced a multi-million dollar construction project to renovate the fairground’s multi-purpose arena.
“Construction is underway right now, restoring and renovating the multi-purpose arena,” Costello said. “That is an $8.6 million project.” […]
“I would also mention that the second phase of The Coliseum renovations will start in September,” Costello said. “These are just a few of the projects we are working on to attract visitors year-round.”
The Republican nominee for Illinois governor has held multiple events involving the gun store where the alleged Highland Park shooter acquired the semi-automatic rifle he allegedly used during a Fourth of July shooting spree.
Illinois GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey held a January event at Red Dot Arms, a gun store in Villa Park that’s about a 45-minute drive northwest of Highland Park. And in April, the company was involved in a gun raffle to benefit Bailey’s campaign. […]
Bailey’s campaign held a gun raffle campaign fundraiser in late April and posted footage of it online, but later deleted it. Red Dot Arms was listed as a partner for the event on a campaign flyer, along with two other gun stores. […]
One of the guns Bailey auctioned off at the event was an AR-15, which he described as “a beautiful rifle, certainly one that emulates freedom here in our country.”
“The shooter is still at large, so let’s pray for justice to prevail and then let’s move on and let’s celebrate the independence of this nation,” Bailey said immediately after the Highland Park shooting occurred on July 4.
And there was the Facebook comment after the July 4th mass shooting in Highland Park, in which he said, “Let’s move on and celebrate.” To his credit, Bailey pulled back on the comment, issuing a statement: “I apologize if in any way we diminished the pain being felt across our state today.”
As I told subscribers last week, the news media is getting into the unfortunate habit of merely quoting Bailey’s initial apologies. As we know all too well, he has walked back two of those apologies, saying, in the case of Highland Park that the media took his remarks out of context and claimed he explained all this to a Highland Park Democrat. They’re only telling part of the story.
* WGN reporter…
GOP candidate for Illinois governor Darren Bailey is not alone in using social media to share his cultural views - his running mate Stephanie Trussell also posts on Facebook and Twitter. A closer look and reaction tonight WGN News @ 5:30. pic.twitter.com/jBziCR52ic
Trussell has used Facebook posts to mock Planned Parenthood.
“President Obama became the first sitting president ever to address Klanned Parenthood,” she posted. […]
Trussell is sharply critical of politicians that back the “gay agenda.”
“Since Bill Clinton was called the first black president can we call Barack Obama the first gay president?” she tweeted in 2015.
Political analyst Paul Lisnek says answering questions about social media posts is the last thing Bailey and Trussell want to be focused on as they ramp up for the general election.
“Crime is skyrocketing and jobs and families are fleeing under JB Pritzker’s watch. But his campaign and the media are making a big election about old social media posts. Darren Bailey and I are focused on making Illinois safer and more affordable for every Illinoisan,” [Trussell] said in a statement to WGN News.
“I challenge J.B. Pritzker to come down to my farm and spend a day planting, plowing, and harvesting. We’ll see how much energy he has at the end of an 18-hour work day to lob his pathetic attacks.”
I’d just like to see Bailey put the energy into holding a press conference more than once in a blue moon while answering questions on all topics.
Republican Darren Bailey’s campaign says he’s committed to debate Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker on Sept. 22 on NBC 5. Pritzker’s campaign hasn’t confirmed that face-off, though a spokeswoman for the campaign told Playbook that “yes,” Pritzker is planning to debate Bailey.
…Adding… Press release…
Hateful rhetoric has no place in Illinois. That’s why I joined my fellow members of the Illinois Jewish Caucus to condemn Darren Bailey’s anti-semitic, Islamophobic, and homophobic comments that tear down the very Illinoisans he seeks to represent. pic.twitter.com/ko3SfxnFEK
Rudy Giuliani, a Bailey campaign ally, was informed yesterday that he is the target of a criminal investigation seeking answers related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Darren Bailey, a proud supporter of Donald Trump and his allies, has pushed the Big Lie, understated the January 6 insurrection, and questioned the integrity of the FBI and the Department of Justice during their probe into the former president’s misconduct.
Does Darren Bailey stand by Giuliani’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and keep Trump in power, even amid this criminal investigation?
In May, Bailey and Giuliani campaigned together on behalf of Scott Kaspar, a Republican Congressional candidate who, like Bailey, has downplayed the January 6 insurrection and stated that he would not have ratified Joe Biden’s presidency.
“Darren Bailey needs to disavow Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, and their attempts to undermine our democracy,” said JB for Governor Press Secretary Eliza Glezer. “Bailey continues to tie himself to individuals who threaten our free and fair elections. Any candidate who cannot stand up to election deniers and insurrection defenders is unfit for public office.”
* My family was stationed in Germany during the late 70s, early 80s, so I have been barred from donating blood. I’m really happy to see this change…
Thousands of potential blood donors who previously could not donate can now roll up their sleeves thanks to the lifting of a decades-long FDA restriction.
Anyone who traveled to or lived in Europe for more than five months in the 1980s and 90s were automatically disqualified someone from giving blood in the U.S. thanks to Mad Cow Disease. It meant that people who donated blood regularly suddenly had to stop.
Champaign Mayor Deb Feinen, Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Reitz and Visit Champaign CEO Jayne DeLuce were among those people.
“I donated previously and was shocked to learn when I couldn’t anymore that I wasn’t allowed to,” Feinen said.
Recently, the FDA announced they were lifting that restriction, allowing at least 5,000 people in ImpactLife’s region to donate blood when they previously couldn’t. Feinen, Reitz and DeLuce were ecstatic to hear the news they could donate again.
[Rep. Dan Brady], a state representative from Bloomington, has run on a platform emphasizing technological upgrades within the Secretary of State’s Office, and says he will address other areas where financial savings and improved services can go hand-in-hand.
“We have to look at somewhere around $10.5 million that we spend on leasing 96 driver’s services facilities,” he said. “How can we improve upon that?”
Giannoulias has also promised to use his power as secretary of state to find ways to leverage technology to help citizens throughout the state.
“(Voters ask) ‘how can you make sure government works better, easier and quicker for me?’” he said. […]
When asked if he supported Bailey, [Brady] didn’t answer directly.
“Well, Darren Bailey is running for governor on the Republican ticket, and I’m a Republican,” he said.
Democrats, who recently held a contentious inter[sic]-party battle for the new party chair, showed a unified front for the Bud Billiken Parade, known as the largest African-American parade in the United States. […]
The message: Democrats are moving past the divisiveness and coming together for November.
We also caught Alexi Giannoulias, the Democratic secretary of state candidate, greeting Pritzker and his team with hugs on the parade route. Pritzker had endorsed Giannoulias’ primary opponent, Anna Valencia.
Message received: Democrats are united.
* Dan Brady’s thoughts on the new license plate stickers via the Daily Herald…
Brady said he understands that the scaled-back sticker was a temporary solution but reinforced “the original way with the month and year is the best for consumers and for law enforcement. Overall, it’s the most efficient way to proceed with renewal stickers.”
A recent poll by RMG Research in the 8th Congressional District shows Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi leading Republican Chris Dargis 45 percent to 39 percent with 12 percent undecided. The 400 respondents in the poll also favored term limits and disapprove of President Joe Biden’s job performance.
The unspoken, yet very real concern among some Democrats, is that the party is returning to an unhealthy era of one man control, with Pritzker and his subordinates taking the place of Madigan.
“I guess that remains to be seen and we’ll know fairly quickly, ” said Rep. [Will] Davis. “Not only the effort to raise money but then determining how to spend it. If it’s about supporting incumbent Democrats then we’ll know fairly quickly if there’s going to be a resurgence of dictator-style rule.”
[Former Senate President John Cullerton] sees it differently. “There’s an opportunity for someone who can go out and fundraise legally, a chairman, to go out and make it a national effort to raise money for the Democratic Party in Illinois, ” said Cullerton. “We’ve never done that. When Madigan was chair, he only raised money for House Democrats. This would be for the lower-level candidates – the sheriffs and county clerks in the marginal counties downstate. Robin couldn’t do that legally. So of course Elizabeth’s going to raise more than Robin did. Almost by default.”
I’m guessing that Pritzker isn’t gonna want to be governor for 50 years.
Paul Lange believes someone should always have a choice when they walk into a voting booth.
Lange, 67, is recently retired commodities broker who worked in Quincy but lives near Mendon. He has thrown his hat into the ring to run as the Democratic candidate for Illinois’ 15th Congressional District.
It was a district that wasn’t configured to be favorable for Democrats, who had to cede most of downstate Illinois during the redistricting process. Most of the state south of I-80 now votes Republican.
So Lange is looking for a Rocinante, much less a Sancho Panza. He knows his opponent, Republican incumbent Congresswoman Mary Miller, who defeated Rodney Davis in the June 28 GOP primary, is one hell of a windmill in the bright red 15th District.
“I knew because of this district … I knew it’d be unlikely that another person would step up on the Democratic side,” Lange said in an interview with Muddy River News.
* I think the term for this is perennial opportunism…
Bob Fioretti, challenging Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, apparently on board the Darren Bailey governor campaign joining with Jeanne Ives pic.twitter.com/RonFZXBcZX
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Famous Friends” country star Chris Young will perform Wednesday afternoon for Illinois Democrats’ unity gathering at the BOS Center in Springfield.
The BOS Center thing is in the morning. Young will be performing at the Governor’s Day event at the state fairgrounds. Show should start at 1 o’clock or so.
* More…
* Chicago aldermen embrace The Great Resignation: “What Mayor Richard J. Daley did was surround himself with 50 aldermen, and he’s in the circle,” said former nine-term alderman Dick Mell. “And all the arrows and slings would hit the aldermen so he could do the big things he wanted to do as the mayor. Now the aldermen all think they’re these great legislators and they’re spending all this time deciding whether Lake Shore Drive should be DuSable Drive.”
In June 2012, I collaborated with public-radio reporter Sarah Koenig on an episode of “This American Life” to blow the whistle on Journatic’s shady tactics. The fallout was instant: The Chicago Tribune and others suspended Journatic or ended their contracts. But Journatic’s canny chief executive, Brian Timpone, didn’t fold; he went underground — rebranding the company multiple times in the process.
A few years ago, Timpone switched gears after hooking up with conservative pundit Dan Proft through the Illinois Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank that then had financial ties to Bruce Rauner, Illinois’ recent ex-governor. The pair began building a mini media empire that intentionally put a conservative slant on backyard journalism — the Sinclair Broadcast Group of local newspapers. (Timpone and Proft did not respond to requests for comment sent by email.)
That mission is accomplished if you look at the sheer numbers. Metric Media boasts that it publishes “over 5 million news articles every month” and claims to be “the largest producer of local news in the United States.” A 2020 New York Times investigation pegged 1,300 news sites with Timpone’s fingerprints on them — far outnumbering those of Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper chain. But because it’s pink-slime journalism, it’s not all under one banner. Many have been laundered through a web of networks with vague names such as LGIS News Service, the Business Journals and Newsinator.
The People Who Play By The Rules PAC has launched new TV and radio ads, “Summer of Joy – Stop Chicago Violence From Coming To Your Town, Vote NO on JB Pritzker.”
Chicago violence is coming to the suburbs. Pritzker will set free those charged with, among other things: Burglary, Arson, Kidnapping, 2nd Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery, and more. And yet we have Mayor Lori Lightfoot calling it “The Summer Of Joy” in Chicago. It is anything but.
The ads will run statewide and are available on YouTube and the PBR PAC Facebook page.
Chicago Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT:
“It will be the summer of joy in Chicago”
VO:
Thanks to Governor Pritzker, the lawlessness of Chicago will soon be the law statewide.
JIM GLASGOW, Will County State’s Attorney:
“That law goes into effect, our hands will be tied. All their bonds will be extinguished on January 1st”
BOB BERLIN, DuPage County State’s Attorney:
“We’re going to have violent criminals out on the street.”
VO:
That’s why 100 of Illinois’ 102 Illinois State’s Attorneys oppose Pritzker’s mandatory release of violent criminals. Stop Chicago violence from coming to your town. Vote NO on Pritzker.
–
:60 RADIO SPOT Transcript:
Chicago Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT:
“It will be the summer of joy in Chicago”
VO:
Instead, the trio of Pritzker, Lightfoot and Foxx have made this another summer of murder, mayhem and chaos.
Mother of murder victim Servando Hamros:
“My granddaughter called me to say ‘help me, my Daddy’s shot.’ And then they executed him in front of her. And then they shot her.”
VO:
Thanks to Governor Pritzker, the lawlessness of Chicago will soon be the law statewide. Pritzker’s so-called “SAFE-T” Act makes Illinois a safe haven for violent criminals. That’s why 100 of Illinois’ 102 County State’s Attorneys oppose Pritzker’s mandatory release of alleged murders, kidnappers and arsonists.
Prosecutors like Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow:
“It’s going to be literally the end of days.”
And prosecutors like DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin:
“We’re going to have violent criminals out on the street.”
VO:
Stop Chicago violence from coming to your town. Vote NO on Pritzker. Paid for by People Who Play By The Rules PAC
In August of 2021, police say, Brittany Griswold, 35, of Geneseo, was behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle involved in a fatal collision in Rock Island. The head-on crash resulted in the death of Cecilia “Ceci” Nache, 49, of Rock Island.
Griswold was charged with two felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence, reckless homicide and aiding/abetting or possession of a stolen vehicle.
Her bail was set at $50,000, but she was released on her own recognizance. She was freed on a written promise to return, in other words, without posting bond.
Represented by former judge and prosecutor Larry Vandersnick, Griswold did not spend a day in jail. After multiple requests by a reporter for a copy of her jail mugshot, Griswold was fingerprinted and photographed — one year after the crash.
On March 27, 2019, police said, Armand Cannon, 27, of Grand Mound, was behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle involved in a fatal collision in Moline. The crash resulted in the death of Tammy Loos, 51, of Milan.
Cannon was charged with aggravated driving under the influence, aggravated reckless driving, reckless homicide and aiding/abetting or possession of a stolen vehicle.
His bond was set at $250,000. He was assigned a court-appointed attorney.
While Griswold never spent a day in jail, Cannon remained behind bars for the three years it took for his case to go to trial. In May, he was found guilty of all charges. […]
“It seems grossly inequitable that one person walks while the other cannot possibly come up with the cash bail, which the judge must have known, given the defense counsel was appointed,” [Ben Ruddell, director of criminal-justice policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, after being supplied with the basic details]. “How much money you have shouldn’t be a factor.” […]
Blanca Leal, one of three sisters of Ceci Nache, who died in the crash with Griswold, said someone from her family had attended every one of the court hearings. They were disappointed, she said, when they learned Griswold never was processed through the jail, and her high-profile attorney was able to get her released without serving a day.
Bail reform may result in pre-trial release of other defendants who face the same charges, Leal understands, but the inconsistent treatment, based on money, is a bitter pill.
* Gov. Pritzker on Friday when asked about the Trump raid…
Well, I’m shocked and dismayed, honestly, that Republicans across Illinois haven’t stood up for law enforcement, haven’t stood up for law and order. And instead are standing with somebody that clearly, there is something afoot here that may lead to a prosecution. It seems like, you know, Republicans say that they’re anti crime. And yet here they are standing up for somebody who seems to have committed one.
On the other hand, there’s a presumption of innocence that the governor also talks a lot about. But he does have some nuance…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday called on authorities to “quickly and thoroughly” complete their investigation into potential influence peddling involving a police body-camera manufacturer and a state senator who spearheaded a massive criminal justice reform bill approved last year.
The Tribune reported on Monday that state Sen. Elgie Sims, a Chicago Democrat, was approached in the spring by federal authorities looking into whether Axon Enterprise Inc. either directly or through other lobbying entities improperly tried to influence Sims. The criminal justice legislation he championed and was enacted in 2021 included a slew of reforms, including requiring every police officer in the state to wear a body camera by 2025.
“On this matter, I encourage authorities to act quickly and thoroughly and to hold anyone accountable who should be held accountable,” Pritzker said Monday at an unrelated news conference on Chicago’s South Side.
Local Republicans have been fairly quiet so far about the still-unfolding Mar-a-Lago raid. But not the National Republican Senatorial Committee, whose national finance co-chair is Chicago corporado Ron Gidwitz.
In a weekend note to contributors, the fund-raising committee for Republican senators and nominees pushed all sorts of buttons. “Why did the Biden administration’s DOJ raid Mar-a-Lago? This has NEVER happened before, and it’s a DISGRACE,” the fund-raising pitch stated. “Could Biden be using the government power to potentially PUT PRESIDENT TRUMP IN JAIL?”
It continued: “The ONLY way to STOP this potential ABUSE OF POWER is by taking our critical Election Year poll so we can WIN this November and RESTORE TRUMP’S Majority.”
There was no immediate response from Gidwitz to a request for comment.
* Pritzker campaign…
Darren Bailey has spent his entire political career cozying up to Donald Trump, breathlessly repeating his dangerous rhetoric and promising to enact his harmful agenda. As MAGA loyalists at every level of government wage a relentless campaign to delegitimize the Federal Bureau of Investigation following a search of Donald Trump’s Florida home, Bailey must answer for whether or not he believes the FBI should be defunded.
Republicans wasted no time sowing distrust in law enforcement in an attempt to please the former president, and Bailey quickly questioned the department’s motives, demanding the FBI “immediately explain their actions.”
Voters deserve to know: Does Bailey agree with his party’s radical right-wing comments discrediting the FBI?
• Mary Miller’s declaration that “The “Deep State” DOJ hates President Trump because he is an outsider who won in 2016 by attacking the DC Swamp for failing the American people.”
• Marjorie Taylor Greene’s call to “DEFUND THE FBI!”
• Lauren Boebert’s claim that the “Dept of Injustice” Raiding Mar-a-Lago “Is Gestapo Crap”
• Josh Hawley’s demand that “Garland must resign or be impeached. The search warrant must be published. Christoper Wray must be removed. And the FBI reformed top to bottom.”
• Rand Paul’s assertion the FBI may have planted evidence
“Working families deserve better than a MAGA apologist who chooses a twice-impeached disgraced former president over accountability, justice, and democracy itself,” said JB for Governor Press Secretary Eliza Glezer.“Bailey must be honest about his party’s attempt to hinder a federal investigation and come clean about why he is more loyal to Donald Trump than a U.S. institution vital to democracy.”
* DuPage County board chair Republican candidate Greg Hart…
Safety and security from crime is a top concern of voters. That is why I am so honored to earn the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police for DuPage County Board Chairman. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police is the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the state, and represents over 33,000 active duty and retired police officers.
The Illinois FOP endorsement was given because I fully support our police and the rule of law. My opponent, Deb Conroy, chose to stand with criminals and the radical defund the police movement when she voted for the disastrous SAFE-T Act. The Safe-T Act eliminates cash bail, allowing for the release of violent criminals onto our streets.
DuPage County remains a destination location to live, work, and raise a family because of our safe communities. Keeping our communities safe is my number one priority once elected as DuPage County Board Chairman.
Will you join the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police and help keep this momentum going?
…Adding… Rep. Deb Conroy…
While Greg Hart is trying to exaggerate the facts and scare residents I was doing my job and in a meeting with Director Brendan Kelly and John Thompson discussing the white flag law.
* ILGOP…
In case you missed it, Democrats in the Senate just passed a bill to help bring SOCIALISM to America by hiring OVER 80,000 IRS AGENTS to harass Americans!
Make no mistake, if Democrats continue to hold power, things will only get worse. They’re ready to implement MORE tax hikes, more government regulations, and more attacks on our way of life.
We’re fighting back against Democrats’ extreme socialistic policies. We’re working to build a state and a country where citizens can succeed, but we’re up against a wall.
Democrats are raising MILLIONS and MILLIONS to push the socialist agenda. With the election less than 90 days out, we need to keep up!
Rich, can you RUSH a quick donation before our mid-month deadline so that we can DEFEAT SOCIALISM this November?
The US can never be a socialist country. We’re counting on you to help us out.
* From a US Rep. Jan Schakowsky press release…
For far too long, billionaires have enjoyed their mega yachts and trips to space, while hardworking Americans are left struggling to provide for their families. The Inflation Reduction Act will implement a 15% minimum corporate tax so that our richest corporations start to pay their fair share. The bill will also provide funding for the IRS to go after ultra-wealthy tax evaders and will raise at least $124 billion from these tax cheats. Finally, this bill will not raise taxes on any family making $400,000 or less per year, and there will be no new taxes on small businesses. This bill yet again puts people over politics and finally goes after the super rich and corporations.
Kinzinger was a rare republican critic of Trump during his time in the White House. He says the final fracture, his breaking point, came on Election Night 2020 when Trump called for an early end to the vote count while he was ahead.
“We talk about democracy – Republicans love to talk about the Constitution – and yet we’re openly violating it now,” he said.
An analysis last year of Chicago Police Department deployment data appears to raise questions about whether Chicago police officers are consistently on the street at times when most shootings happen in the city. […]
The separate “GPS Analysis by Time of Day and Day of Week” included a 10-year review of shooting data, which examined days of the week. It showed that on weekdays, shooting incidents peak during the 9 p.m. hour. But on weekends, shooting incidents rise until 2 a.m. and then start declining.
The analysis further examined GPS data for three types of patrol responses in the so-called Tier 1 and Tier 2 districts, where most shootings happen — non-tactical district units, tactical district units and the citywide Community Safety Teams, which were launched by Brown as part of his crime-fighting strategy.
The analysis period was between June 2020 and February 2021. In all three categories, the number of officers working in the field, or on the street, appeared out of sync with the number of shootings on the weekends, according to the report.
The city had 167 carjackings last month, up 11% from last July. There were 149 cases in July 2020 and 53 in July 2019.
City records show that Chicago police have made arrests in slightly less than 7% of this year’s hijackings. The arrest rate for 2021 carjackings is 13%. It’s important to note that arrest rates for previous years are typically higher than current periods because police have had more time to identify offenders and secure charges from the state’s attorney’s office.
In 2021, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved charges in 75% of the carjacking cases that Chicago police brought in, according to the prosecutor’s office data.
…ADDING… Media advisory…
ADVISORY: 9:15 a.m. Tomorrow Aug. 16
Sen. Villa, Rep. Stava-Murray, Community Leaders, Advocates Attend Public Court Watching in Support of Ending Money Bond
Pretrial Fairness Act is law and will go into effect January 2023
WHO:
State Sen. Karina Villa, (D-West Chicago)
State Representative Stava- Murray, (D-Downers Grove)
Katrina Baugh, The People’s Lobby
George Gutierrez, formerly incarcerated community member
Pastor Nathan Perrin, Lombard Mennonite Church
Reverend Dwight Stewart, United Methodist Church
WHAT:
Elected officials, community members and activists will attend public bond court hearings followed by a press conference where they will discuss their support of the Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminates money bond in Illinois.
After saying there would be a special session “in the coming months,” it’s unclear if legislative leaders will make that happen.
In July, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling returning the issue of abortion to the states, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said they planned to “convene a special session in the coming months.”
“In the coming weeks, as the ripples of the decision to overturn Roe [v. Wade] are felt throughout the nation, we expect to get an acute sense of our needs and how Illinois can play an even more vital role in standing up for reproductive freedom,” the three said in a join statement July 5.
Weeks later, House Democrats announced closed-door working groups with only Democrats discussing a variety of issues, including gun control, social media and mental health. […]
Separately Friday, Senate President Don Harmon’s office said topics are still being discussed and no additional dates, outside of veto session in November, have been scheduled at this time. […]
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, last month said he doesn’t think a special session will happen.
“And I think anything they put up on the board they will probably find very difficult to find the votes for,” Butler told WMAY.
It will indeed be difficult finding the votes for bills with immediate effective dates because those will require three-fifth super-majorities in both chambers and that might be cutting it too close for some of the stuff they want to work on.
* Gov. Pritzker was asked about a special session on Friday…
Working groups are hard at work in the House of Representatives, working on various aspects of legislation, working with advocates, listening to them. So, we’re cautiously optimistic that they’ll be able to come up with ideas for us to be able to bring forward in a special session, or in veto session, or some of it may even be in the new year. So that’s essentially what we’re looking at right now. We want to make sure that everybody’s brought together so we have the best legislation put forward possible.
* Thanks to a reader for this photo from Sunday’s India Day Parade and Festival in Naperville. Quite the bipartisan gathering to celebrate India’s independence…
Still struggling with high gas prices? Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey is offering a chance at some relief.
Bailey plans to give away a $100 gas card each day of the Illinois State Fair to a name drawn from among the people who sign up for the giveaway at the GOP tent on the fairgrounds. Bailey says the giveaway is designed to ease the pain of what he calls Governor JB Pritzker’s “monstrous” 2019 gas tax hike.
That’s when the state enacted a higher gas tax to help fund road and other infrastructure projects.
* In June, Sen. Bailey said he wanted to eliminate the 2019 gas tax increase. WMBD…
In 2019, the gas tax doubled and now sits at 39 cents per gallon. Bailey said the first step toward relief is cutting out the taxes that he said are exacerbating the problem.
“We should permanently roll back the J.B Pritzker, Avery Bourne gas tax. But if we can’t do this, we should at minimum eliminate the sales tax on motor fuel. Friends here in Illinois, we tax tax,” Bailey said.
Bailey said he wants to get the message out to the public, so they will contact their local lawmakers and urge them to get to Springfield and work on the problem
Beginning July 1 and continuing through the end of the year, the motor fuel tax will remain at 39 cents for gasoline and 46.7 cents for diesel. Had the tax increase not been suspended, it would have increased to 41.1 cents for gas, per the rules put in place by the 2019 doubling of the tax.
The ongoing uproar over Darren Bailey’s 2017 claim that the Holocaust “doesn’t even compare on a shadow” to the lives lost to abortion reminded me of a scene in an old movie called “A Bronx Tale.”
The claim Bailey made on Facebook exploded into view courtesy of a brutal TV ad by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign. The ad begins with an announcer previewing an already-used video clip of Bailey saying he would not allow a woman who was raped or a victim of incest to have an abortion.
“You may have thought you heard everything that Darren Bailey had to say about abortion,” the voice-over person says before the clip is played. “But that’s not all Darren Bailey has said,” the person continues as the newly unearthed clip is shown to viewers.
The closing tagline of “Darren Bailey, too extreme for Illinois” is then flashed on the screen. That’s pretty close to the same language used in Democratic ads that aired during the Republican primary.
There are those who say judging from experience, if Pritzker is using something this over the top in August, then oh my goodness he must have some really strong opposition research in store for voters when the campaign cranks up this fall.
That could very well be, and it doesn’t help matters much right now that Bailey’s billionaire GOP primary benefactor Richard Uihlein has not directly contributed any money to Bailey’s campaign since the primary, so attacking when your opponent can’t fight back has its advantages.
Bailey released a response video to another Pritzker TV ad (calling him out for hypocritically taking millions in federal farm subsidies while opposing other government social programs) that has so far received views in the hundreds, not the millions who would see something on TV.
Either way, this is a true political beat-down. And it didn’t stop there. Bailey at first walked his comments back by saying, “The Holocaust is a human tragedy without parallel. In no way was I attempting to diminish the atrocities of the Holocaust and its stain on history. I meant to emphasize the tragedy of millions of babies being lost.”
Then, the very next day, Bailey told Fox 32’s Dane Placko his words were “taken out of context as they typically are” and blamed reporters.
Then, Bailey was asked by a Fox Valley radio station host if he needed to apologize. Instead of doing so, Bailey laughed and said, “The Jewish community themselves have told me that I’m right,” and he went on to claim “the Jewish rabbis” he’d met with had told him he was “actually right.”
Bailey inexplicably kept the story alive, and Pritzker took full advantage, pounding away at his opponent every chance he got. And since then, the Pritzker campaign has piled on by providing some opposition research to reporters about other Bailey Facebook posts.
The Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition recently issued a press release complaining that “Multiple social media posts by gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey and his wife are Islamophobic, antisemitic, and xenophobic.”
And that brings me back to the movie, which follows a young Italian-American boy as he learns life lessons from those around him, including from some mobsters.
In the scene, a biker gang known for busting up bars unwittingly walks into a mob-owned bar and, after being told they could stay for a couple of beers, begins to cause trouble. The top mob boss tells the bikers to leave. After being rudely rebuffed, he quietly walks to the front door and locks it, then turns around and faces the bikers: “Now youse can’t leave,” he says.
The mob boss’ underlings immediately stream in through the back door brandishing baseball bats, pistols and other implements of destruction and absolutely pummel the bikers, who are then dragged outside and beaten some more, including by bystanders.
And that’s basically how the rest of this campaign is going to go, even when/if Bailey’s coffers are replenished. Pritzker never took his foot off of Bruce Rauner’s political throat four years ago even though he was way ahead in the polls, and he kept whacking Richard Irvin long after Irvin was clearly no longer viable in the recent GOP primary.
It’s just how they roll over there. Toss in the fact that Pritzker helped found a Holocaust museum and abortion rights is an issue that appears to animate him, and you can understand the desire to go all-out on this one.
* Related…
* State Week: Online posts keep Bailey on the defensive
What could add even more to the fund is passage of HB 4118, sponsored by @RepHalpin … HB 4118 would send $200 million into the fund at the end of each fiscal year or whatever is necessary to ensure the rainy day fund is 5% of the state budget. #twillhttps://t.co/3vHdQ2iITJ
Amends the State Budget Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that “general funds” or “State general funds” as used under the Act includes the Pension Stabilization Fund. Amends the State Finance Act. Provides that for fiscal year 2024 and subsequent fiscal years, any transfers into the Budget Stabilization Fund may be transferred to the General Revenue Fund in order for the Comptroller to address outstanding vouchers, and shall not be subject to repayment into the Budget Stabilization Fund if the bill backlog as determined by the Comptroller on June 30 of that fiscal year exceeds $4,000,000,000.
If the amount of the backlog of bills reported by the Comptroller on June 30, 2023 and each June 30 thereafter is an amount less than $3,000,000,000, on the last day of each month of the next fiscal year, or as soon thereafter as possible, the Comptroller shall order transferred and the Treasurer shall transfer from the General Revenue Fund to the Budget Stabilization Fund the lesser of (i) $200,000,000 or (ii) the amount necessary to maintain resources in the Budget Stabilization Fund that is equal to 5% of the total general funds revenues of the prior fiscal year, in equal monthly installments.
This is Reagan’s original rendering. I think she was in high school when she did it. Figured it was relevant for the Pork Patio lol pic.twitter.com/MhzvVQ1pLU
