* As we’ve already discussed, the governor can’t make this trip because of his fractured leg. From a press release…
Senior members of the Pritzker Administration will lead a 5-day trade mission to Japan for the annual U.S. Midwest Japan Association Conference, marking the first international trade mission for the administration.
The mission will take place in Tokyo from September 6 to 11 and will bring together leaders in business and government to highlight the strengths of the Illinois economy and opportunities for investment for foreign companies. The Illinois delegation will be led by Anne Caprara, Chief of Staff to Governor Pritzker; Dan Hynes, Deputy Governor for Budget and Economy; and Erin Guthrie, Acting Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the full delegation consists of over 30 business and economic development leaders from across the state.
“Our state has enjoyed a strong relationship with Japan for decades, and with this first overseas trip, this administration looks forward to building on those deep ties,” said Governor Pritzker. “With a diverse and growing economy, world-class education system, and our status as one of the world’s most vital transportation hubs, Illinois is a smart investment, and this administration will continue to spread that message far and wide.”
Illinois is the largest exporting state in the Midwest and the fifth largest exporting state in the country. Last year alone, bilateral trade between Illinois and Japan exceeded $12 billion. The state is home to the largest number of Japanese company locations in the Midwest, with over 46,000 Illinoisans currently employed by Japanese companies in Illinois. These companies include Koito Manufacturing, Kotobuki Company, the parent company of Beam Suntory and Hinckley and Schmitt, as well as Astellas Pharmaceutical.
Illinois was a founding member of the U.S. Midwest Japan Association and has operated a trade and investment office in Japan for over 30 years.
“Japan is an important economic partner for Illinois. I’m proud to join Governor Pritzker’s trade delegation to showcase great opportunities to attract foreign investment in our state and expand markets for Illinois companies,” said Mark Denzler, president & CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “Manufacturers account for 93 percent of Illinois exports and rely on strong global relationships.”
“Japan is a crucial market for growing product startups,” said Haven Allen, CEO of mHUB. “I’m honored to be a part of this delegation to MWJA and look forward to building relationships to strengthen connectivity and investment between our regions.”
“The relationship between the Midwest Region of the United States and Japan is a critical one,” said Melissa Washington, Vice President of Governmental and External Affairs for ComEd. “Illinois is a great and inclusive place for all businesses across the globe. With ComEd’s highly reliable, and affordable energy infrastructure, we look to continuing to grow trade and business relations both domestic and abroad at this annual conference.”
“It’s an honor to be selected to represent Illinois’ tech community overseas,” said Mark Lawrence, CEO of SpotHero. “The Pritzker administration has been a strong champion for Chicago’s fast-growing technology sector, and I am humbled by the opportunity to share the innovative and important work happening in Chicago and throughout the state on an international stage.”
* I have a number of errands to run that can’t be done after work or on the weekend, so I’m outta here for a bit. How about your predictions for tonight’s big football game?…
The Green Bay Packers have dominated their rivalry with the Chicago Bears since Aaron Rodgers has led the green-and-gold offense, but Chicago went 12-4 last year, qualified for the playoffs and returns the top-ranked defense. Green Bay has a new head coach and new outlook, and the two NFC hopefuls face off in the 2019 NFL Kickoff Game on Thursday night at 8:20 p.m. ET from Soldier Field. Matt LaFleur takes over as head coach in Green Bay, while Matt Nagy enters his second year in Chicago after a successful rookie campaign. The latest Packers vs. Bears odds show Chicago as a three-point favorite, down from the opening line of -4. The over-under, or total points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 46.5 after opening at 46. In the 17-year history of the NFL Kickoff Game, the home team has won 14 times.
* The mayor’s people retracted her statement, but the damage is being done and this quote is gonna be repeatedly recycled for the next 14 months. Austin Berg at the Illinois Policy Institute…
The new mayor is already in a world of trouble. She’s staring down a large city budget gap she can’t close without action from House Speaker Mike Madigan. She’s in heated negotiations with some of the nation’s most extreme labor unions (the Chicago Teachers Union has already set a date for a strike vote.) And her city continues to lose taxpayers to other states.
In the face of this, Lightfoot spoke the truth about the progressive income tax. Voters across Illinois, Democrats and Republicans, should take note.
“We can’t keep taxing the hell out of all of our people who make substantial incomes,” Lightfoot told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board.
“That’s not right, it’s not fair and it’s not going to work.”
Illinois paid an estimated $4.6 million in state and federal money to health insurance organizations to cover people on Medicaid who were dead, according to a federal audit released this week.
The state paid the money to Medicaid managed care organizations — insurers that administer Medicaid benefits for the state — between Oct. 1, 2015 and Sept. 30, 2017, according to a federal audit released Tuesday. Medicaid is a state and federally funded health insurance program for the poor.
Now, the state has been advised to try to get the money back and repay the federal portion of $3.2 million.
Auditors said the error occurred because the state did not enter the Medicaid beneficiaries’ dates of death into its system used to process payments and track eligibility and enrollment information. The state attributed that error to a technical flaw in the system, according to the audit.
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (State agency) pays managed care organizations (MCOs) to provide covered health care services in return for a monthly fixed payment for each enrolled beneficiary (capitation payment). Previous Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviews found that State Medicaid agencies had improperly paid capitation payments on behalf of deceased beneficiaries. We conducted a similar review of the State agency, which administers the Medicaid program. […]
The State agency made payments of approximately $11 billion to Medicaid MCOs during our audit period.
* I’ve seen a lot of harrumphing since yesterday about the federal charges being dropped against former US Rep. Aaron Schock. “Didn’t he essentially commit the same crimes as former US Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.?” many have asked. Why, then, was J3 sent to prison and Schock allowed to walk free?
The answer boils down to how the two investigations/prosecutions were conducted.
Before it was over, the case was assigned to three different judges, and the original prosecution team of Tim Bass and Patrick Hansen was removed from the case by their superiors in Washington, D.C., for prosecutorial misconduct.
In fact, topsiders in D.C. removed all the federal prosecutors from the Central District from the case and replaced them with a new prosecution team from the Northern District in Chicago.
Although the case against Schock collapsed Wednesday, its impending doom was foreshadowed in September. That’s when Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes, chief of the criminal division in the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s office, said a new prosecution team under his supervision would “get to know the case and evaluate it” before making decisions on how to proceed.
It was that promised review of the evidence, two different grand-jury investigations and the indictment that failed to pass muster with the second group of prosecutors.
* This was a hardball prosecution from the beginning. From a Schock legal filing…
[The government] Recruited a staffer to be a confidential informant who covertly recorded Mr. Schock, a sitting Member of Congress, in his District Office and elsewhere; covertly recorded staff members represented by counsel; misrepresented himself as represented by the same attorney representing those staff members; attempted at the government’s direction to steal privileged documents; and covertly stole documents and more than 10,000 emails that were the personal property of Mr. Schock as a Member of Congress
All done without a warrant, mind you.
* More from that same filing about the confidential informant and federal tactics…
The government’s apparent obsession with Mr. Schock’s sexuality and whether or not he “dated” Karla Gonzalez was fueled from the very first conversation with the government’s confidential informant: “C/S [Confidential Source] did not know for sure Schock’s relationship status, but heard gossip that ‘something was going on’ with Shea Ledford. . . . C/S believed Schock’s ex-girlfriend Karla Gonzalez was not a ‘real girlfriend,’ and was a ‘beard.’” As with so many other things, the government’s CI was wrong. But that did not stop the government from trying to prove him right for the next two years.
Indeed, the government asked twelve additional witnesses questions on these topics. We have detailed below where the grand jury transcripts or government reports of interviews make clear that these topics were discussed with ten of those witnesses. But troublingly, it appears based on our own investigation that government reports for two other witnesses omit information regarding these types of inquiries.
They got into some really detailed questioning of witnesses on this topic. Click here to read it all.
The Schock case is complicated by the embarrassing admission, following emphatic denials, of possible obstruction of justice. The Acting U.S. Attorney finally admitted on 11 occasions, his attorney told the grand jury Schock “had failed to appear” before the grand jury (a defendant is not required to appear before a grand jury).
The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former Rep. Aaron Schock leveled an unusual public complaint Tuesday that he was misled by a prosecutor on the case.
Judge Colin Bruce, of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, also ordered the prosecution to conduct a review of all its court filings in the matter for potential inaccuracies.
…Bruce ordered the government to review all court filings in the case to determine whether they contained false or misleading claims. Furthermore, Bruce ordered that acting U.S. attorney Patrick Hansen, as opposed to Bass or anyone else, conduct the review.
It was an unusual step for a federal judge, and it didn’t sit well with Bass or others in the U.S. attorney’s office, according to a motion in an unrelated case filed last week by federal prosecutors. Lisa Hopps, a paralegal in the U.S. attorney’s office, saw Bruce’s order as “an unfounded personal attack” against Bass, according to last week’s filing made in response to a request for a new trial made by Sarah Nixon, who was convicted of international kidnapping in 2016 for taking her child to Canada during a custody dispute with the child’s father. Nixon is asking for a new trial based on improper emails exchanged between Bruce, the judge in her case, and employees in the U.S. attorney’s office.
Upset by Bruce’s criticism of Bass, Hopps told Bass about emails that she’d received from the judge nearly a year earlier during Nixon’s trial, when the judge in emails sent to Hopps critiqued the performance of prosecutors and assessed odds for acquittal. Such emails from judges, who are supposed to refrain from commenting on cases outside courtrooms, are considered improper.
The increasingly odd corruption case filed against former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock took another bizarre turn Thursday when local prosecutors were removed from the case by their superiors in Washington, D.C.
A few months later, the feds decided to drop all the charges against Schock in exchange for some reimbursements. It was the right decision.
* Rep. Dave McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) just called to say he’s decided not to run for reelection, but he will complete his current term in office.
McSweeney said he wants to focus on a statewide bid in 2022, either for US Senate against Tammy Duckworth or for secretary of state if Jesse White retires.
It’s tough to see success in the current political environment, but a statewide GOP win isn’t totally out of the question if President Trump loses next year and the new Democratic president has a rocky start (think 1994 and 2010).
McSweeney said he’s forming a super PAC, likely a 501(c)(4), that he’ll use to buttress a statewide bid. He plans to start campaigning statewide soon, but he has been speaking at various Lincoln Day dinners over the past year.
McSweeney said he has been encouraging Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin to run for his House seat, but McLaughlin has so far made no commitments.
* Rep. McSweeney has fought battle after battle with House Republican Leader Jim Durkin over the years. In retaliation, Durkin has pulled McSweeney’s state staff and McSweeney has called him a corrupt, anti-Trump RINO. A McSweeney exit will undoubtedly lower the tension on the Republican side of the aisle.
Durkin’s spokesperson Eleni Demertzis released a brief statement today: “We wish him well.”
…Adding… Rep. Mark Batinick…
David McSweeney was one of my earliest supporters. While there was friction within our caucus over the last few years, I’ve always appreciated his independent streak and willingness to challenge authority. Rep. McSweeney has been fighting for property tax relief, transparency, and reform at every level of government. We need reformers in Springfield.
Rep. McSweeney will no doubt bring his tenacious approach and reform agenda to a statewide run. I wish him the best.
Catholic protesters rallied at the Illinois Statehouse Wednesday, denouncing lawmakers’ recent expansion of abortion rights and potential votes to further that agenda.
Led by Father Edward Ohm, of the Diocese of Peoria and based in Lincoln, a group of about 30 met to ensure their legislators know they are “not in favor” of laws recently enacted by the General Assembly and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, including the Reproductive Health Act and a package of tax increases. […]
Meanwhile, high taxes in Illinois, Ohm said, are “wrecking havoc on people’s lives.”
“Churches need people to help them when it comes to keeping the doors open on the weekends,” he said. “…The funds are not as plentiful as they used to be because more people are paying taxes and, on top of that, more people are moving out of state.”
“We want to follow what God wants us to do in this life, and some of the things that they’re promoting goes against God’s will in our life,” Ohm said after the service.
But some Democrats say more needs to be done on abortion. Their party controls both the Illinois House and Senate, and they hope to repeal the parental notification law when the legislature returns to Springfield this fall.
Among that group is State Rep. Chris Welch, a Democrat from Hillside and co-sponsor of the parnetal-notification repeal legislation.
“Sometimes, some families communicate better than others,” Welch said. “But I don’t think that’s a business for the legislature to get involved in.”
* We talked a bit about Southern Illinois University’s enrollment drop yesterday. SIUC Chancellor John Dunn wrote about it as well. Here’s an excerpt…
Our official fall 2019 enrollment is 11,695, down 8.75 percent. You may be wondering why a decline might be considered positive, but there are a lot of details underneath the overall total that signal a change in direction.
Let’s start with retention. Our freshman to sophomore retention rate, reflecting the percentage of last year’s first-time freshmen who returned this fall, is 75 percent. Consider that it was 71 percent last year and 67 percent the year before. This is news to celebrate, as retention is as critical to our enrollment as recruitment.
Looking at the freshman class, our average ACT score has risen to 24.30, up from last year’s more than 20-year record of 23.65. We are continuing to attract strong students who will find success at SIU. At the same time, we continue to weigh every applicant’s potential carefully as we know that grades and test scores don’t tell the full story.
The number of transfer students was relatively flat at 1,268, increasing by 7 students – or less than 1 percent. This is the result of outstanding efforts to connect with our community college partners and identify pathways for our transfer students.
And while the number of first-time students has declined fewer than 100 students to 1,037, or 8.47 percent, this follows decreases of 24 and 20 percent the previous two years. New programs in nursing, business analytics and other areas will help close this gap in the future. We are heading in the right direction.
Graduate enrollment is also relatively flat at 2,683, down 26 students or just under 1 percent. Last year it was down 8.29 percent.
International enrollment is down 13.9 percent, which is not unexpected given policy changes both in the United States and abroad. While some of this is out of our control, we are working diligently on international recruitment.
While helping out at the SIU tent at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, I had the opportunity to talk with a visitor: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. He offered some wisdom on the challenges of turning around the state, noting that it’s a lot faster to go downhill than it is to climb back up.
This is true for SIU Carbondale, as well. I note that we had predicted this enrollment decline not only because we had a large graduating class last spring followed by the smaller classes that are still in the pipeline, but also because it will take time to change strategies and perceptions, some of which are tied to the state budget impasse.
Every one of us has a part to play, whether you are in the classroom, maintaining our facilities and beautiful campus, supporting students as they make decisions about classes or campus life, or helping tell our positive story within the larger community. Every single interaction you have with a current or prospective student has the potential to make a difference. Remember my motto: “It’s personal.”
Illinois’ judicial branch will use its first budget increase in six years in part to alleviate costs paid by local governments, court officials said.
This is the first time in almost 30 years the state’s courts were allocated the financial resources by the General Assembly to fully reimburse counties for salaries and probation services, an official said.
* The story is based on a recent column by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Lloyd Karmeier…
Year in and year out, conflict between the executive branch and the General Assembly exacerbated the state’s financial woes and sent the courts scrambling to find new strategies for meeting their obligations under the law. At one point, the state went nearly 800 days without a full budget. For five straight years, the Supreme Court’s appropriation level remained flat as the expenses we were required to meet continued to mount. We were rapidly approaching the breaking point, especially with respect to reimbursement for probation services.
Fortunately, there has been a dramatic change. This year – for the first time – I was able to report to my colleagues at the Conference of Chief Justices that Illinois could not only boast of a functional court, but also of a government that was finally able to provide the judicial branch with a timely and workable budget. For Fiscal Year 2020, our appropriation from the General Revenue Fund was increased to $405,321,200, a figure that is $60.5 million higher than each of the previous five years.
While substantial, this long overdue increase is hardly a windfall. Rather than fund new initiatives, it will be used primarily to catch up on existing financial responsibilities that have continued to rise even as our budget remained stagnant. Most significant will be the change in our level of probation reimbursement, which had fallen far below statutory requirements.
Statute mandates the Supreme Court reimburse counties for probation costs. Instead of being locked in a jail cell, a person on probation is allowed to “contribute to their communities,” keep a job and maintain contact with their family, Kara McCaffrey, assistant director of Administrative Services, said. It is a period of supervision different from parole, which is overseen and paid for by the Department of Corrections.
“Because of shortening the judicial branch of their requested amounts, those shortages were passed on through probation back to the communities simply because the court has very limited options in their budget,” Rich Adkins, assistant director of Probation Services, said.
The Illinois Policy Institute promoted its executive vice president, Matt Paprocki, to president of the nonprofit research organization. John Tillman will remain chairman and CEO of the Institute.
Paprocki will also serve as chairman of the recently formed Illinois Policy PAC. IPPAC gives taxpayers a platform with lawmakers and decision-makers in Springfield, and provides them the same kind of legislative access unions, corporations and other special interests have enjoyed for decades. As a nonpartisan, independent committee, the PAC supports Democrats and Republicans willing to fight for Illinois taxpayers. PAC activity can be viewed at illinoissunshine.org.
Statement from Matt Paprocki:
“The Illinois Policy Institute is the only research organization that helps taxpayers understand how public policy affects their lives and gives them a voice in Springfield. We are a team of economists, policy experts, communicators and leaders. I am proud and honored to work with an amazing team.
“We are thankful to have thousands of donors and hundreds of thousands of Illinois citizens who support our work because they believe in our mission. Our team provides taxpayers with a voice that can compete with the special interests that have long dominated in Springfield.
“I was a staffer in the legislature for seven years before joining the Illinois Policy Institute, and I always admired the Institute’s ability to fight for what’s right – not what’s easy. I will steward what John and the team have built, and will honor the Illinois Policy Institute’s founding vision: To fight for policies that empower people, not government. To do that, we need to build bridges. Our democracy works best when we work together and that will be a principle that drives me forward in all our work in Springfield and around the state.”
Statement from John Tillman:
“This evolution in our leadership structure properly reflects the great work Matt has done to lead our team on the daily fight to advance fiscal responsibility, criminal justice reform and, more broadly, a reform agenda that will put Illinois back on the track to prosperity for all of its citizens. Further, Matt’s role with the Illinois Policy PAC will help the team better advance our agenda with leaders on both sides of the aisle who share our common interest in reforms that put the people of Illinois first instead of special interests.”
I respect Matt and wish him well. He was behind the group’s push to find bipartisan sponsors for their bills this past spring, which was encouraging to see. And it’s also worth noting that Tillman went out of his way to say that the Institute was not formally part of his lawsuit to invalidate billions of dollars in state bonds.
Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts’ designer Wilmette home is worth more than twice as much as previously thought — and that could more than double his property tax bill next year and trigger a tab of at least $60,000 in back taxes and interest.
That bottom line emerged Tuesday as the Cook County assessor’s office completed its reassessment of Ricketts’ property following a Tribune story that revealed the Republican National Committee finance chairman had been paying taxes as if the older, smaller house he’d torn down more than a decade ago was still there.
The Cook County Board of Review has referred to the state’s attorney its investigation of Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts’ property tax appeal on his designer Wilmette home after concluding that Ricketts and his real estate lawyer made “misrepresentations” that lowered tax bills by tens of thousands of dollars.
The tax appeals panel concluded that it “does not have sufficient evidence to establish” that either Ricketts or attorney James FortCamp “knowingly misled” officials. But the board also noted it does not have the authority to compel those involved to testify under oath. […]
Ricketts’ attorney, former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins, wrote a four-page letter to the tax board that described the appeal as “a series of good faith miscommunications.”
“While Mr. Ricketts takes responsibility for the errors, there was no intent to deceive anyone,” the letter read.
* Tribune editorial on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and pensions…
We’re grateful to hear an elected official confront the details of the pension crisis and commit to solving it, regardless of the potential political cost. So far the responses from Springfield have been empty. A lot of: We look forward to hearing what the mayor has to say. …
Where’s the urgency?
True, Lightfoot is thin on details. She told Crain’s Chicago Business that handing out generous cost of living allowances to government retirees is “unsustainable,” and she wants to see “structural changes” to the pension system. But what exactly does she want from the state? How does she propose balancing the 2020 city budget? How much will she raise taxes if Springfield does help her — or, by contrast, refuses to help her — with pension relief, taxing authority and the possibility of a Chicago casino? To be determined.
What we know for certain: Chicago has a pension disaster. Springfield has one, too. Future stability and prosperity are on the line. Lightfoot doesn’t have a plan yet, but says she’s determined to act.
The Illinois Terrorism Task Force today announced significant steps to improving trauma management training at schools in Illinois. Following the recommendations of the School Safety Working Group, more than 7,000 STOP the Bleed kits have been distributed to schools in Illinois ahead of the 2019-2020 school year.
STOP the Bleed is a national campaign intended to train, equip and empower bystanders to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. A STOP the Bleed kit contains a C-A-T tourniquet, QuikClot Bleeding Control Dressing, Emergency Trauma Dressing, MicroShield Mask, Nitrile gloves, Trauma shears, Permanent marker and Instruction card.
“Our top priority will always be preventing violence from occurring, but we must also be prepared for worst case scenarios.,” said Acting IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau. “STOP the Bleed kits and the training that comes along with them can save lives and I applaud the Illinois Terrorism Task Force for implementing this program statewide.”
This summer, the Regional Offices of Education distributed one STOP the Bleed kit to each school in Illinois. Each school district is being asked to train a minimum of five teachers/staff in each building where children attend school. Upon completion of this training, the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, via the Regional Offices of Education, will distribute an additional five kits to the school.
“STOP the Bleed kits provide the tools to help the public save lives, but the knowledge and confidence to save a life comes with proper training,” said Mary Connelly RN, Director of the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT). “With more certified trainers, the mission of helping and protecting our communities can grow.”
The Illinois Terrorism Task Force is calling on those in our medical community, volunteer organizations and police and fire community to join this mission. In order to meet the demand of the more than 5,000 public and private schools in Illinois, more trainers are needed to provide this invaluable hands-on training. IMERT, in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Women’s Health, has pledged to train one thousand school nurses by February 2020. Yet, even more help is needed. The 90-minute STOP the Bleed training was developed by the American College of Surgeons specifically for the public and is offered by trained healthcare and public safety volunteers at no associated cost to the school. To find a training course, or learn more about how your organization can help provide training, visit www.Ready.Illinois.gov.
This semester, 1,037 incoming freshmen are enrolled at SIU [Carbondale]. Total enrollment for fall 2019 is 11,695.
This is a drop of 8.75% from fall 2018 when SIU total enrollment fell under 12,817. On-campus enrollment dropped to less than 10,000 in Spring 2019. […]
SIU reached its peak enrollment in 1991 with almost 25,000 students. Since then enrollment has been on the decline.
Gonna be a hard, long slog to turn that campus around.
* The feds totally botched this from the very beginning…
Former 18th District Congressman Aaron Schock was officially cleared of federal criminal charges alleging he used his campaign funds for private finances. Completing what is known as a deferred prosecution deal, federal prosecutors in Chicago dropped all charges against the former Peoria-based congressman after he completed a probationary period where he stayed out of trouble and paid back nearly $68,000 to his campaign funds that he used for personal expenses. Schock has also worked out a plan with the Internal Revenue Service to pay back taxes.
After he resigned in 2015 amid a federal investigation, Schock was hit with a sweeping criminal indictment in Springfield alleging he used his government and campaign funds to pay for personal luxuries, including private jets, skybox tickets at Soldier Field, and paying for travel to get a haircut.
Schock denied the allegations and his legal team accused the lead prosecutor in Springfield of pursuing the high-profile case to advance his own career.
In a stroke of luck, the case was transferred last year to Chicago because the judge overseeing the matter was accused of having improper contact with the prosecutors’ office in an unrelated case.
In announcing the deferred prosecution deal in March, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago said it had taken a fresh look at the charges and decided it would be a “fair and just” outcome, especially given that Schock has no criminal record and resigned from public office.
That deal reached in March required Schock to repay $67,956 to his campaign committees and also pay outstanding taxes due from the years 2010 through 2015.
He also admitted, on the record, that he sought reimbursement for mileage without documentation that led to reimbursements “that exceeded the number of miles actually driven” and that he took tickets he’d landed at face value, for events like the World Series and the Super Bowl, and resold them for a profit. […]
The agreement and subsequent dismissal of charges marks a rare and stunning victory for Schock. Although he admitted to the above accusations, Schock did not plead guilty to any criminal offenses.
“There’s a difference between mistakes and crimes,” Schock said in March after the agreement was approved.
* From one of the more unusual press releases I’ve received in a while…
In recognition of his decades of service to the people of Illinois and his extraordinary life, Shaw Media has published an editorial calling for a “Jesse White Day” in the state.
An editorial calling for statewide recognition for White, a Chicago native serving a record-setting sixth term of office as Secretary of State, appears in Shaw Media’s six daily newspapers and websites across Northern Illinois today, with the company’s weekly newspapers following suit later this week. The piece has also been shared with the Illinois Press Association’s more than 400 member publications.
“Voters have recognized White’s service and character time and again, handing him landslide victories in six statewide elections. Amazingly, he has received more than 60 percent of the vote in each of his five re-election bids,” the editorial states. “White, a Chicago Democrat, became the first African-American elected Secretary of State in 1998. Now in the first year of his sixth consecutive term, he has held the post longer than anyone in state history. He still works daily for the people of Illinois, leading a state agency that provides more direct public service than any other.
“He has a decades-long track record of serving with honor and competence. In fact, he has accomplished more in terms of public service than most people could hope to accomplish in five lifetimes.”
Sam Fisher, president and CEO of the Illinois Press Association, said his organization supported the call for statewide recognition for White.
“The Illinois Press Association is proud to support the effort by Shaw Media to call for a ‘Jesse White Day,’ ” Fisher said. “We have distributed the editorial call to our member newspapers, encouraging them to publish in an the effort to recognize an outstanding public servant for his years of dedicated service to the state of Illinois.”
I guess term limits wouldn’t be good in this case?
Before he was a public servant, White was a student at Alabama State College in Montgomery in the 1950s, where he experienced racial discrimination in the Jim Crow South. While there, he attended a church where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor, and participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott organized by King and Rosa Parks.
White has said it was King who inspired him to enter public service and help people.
Rather than be turned off by racial injustice, White worked to make America better. He eventually spent 16 years in the Illinois General Assembly, followed by eight as the Cook County Recorder of Deeds before his record-breaking run as head of Illinois’ largest government agency.
There are few politicians with a biography as inspiring as Jesse White, who has taken Illinois from the nadir of Operation Safe Road to truly providing safe roads for citizens.
We are calling on the Illinois House, Senate and Gov. JB Prtizker to declare a statewide “Jesse White Day.” The Honorable Jesse White is truly an Illinois treasure, and the time is right to recognize his remarkable service to our state.
All Illinoisans, and particularly younger ones, should appreciate the value of White’s lifelong service and leadership. The recognition will not only spotlight an exemplary individual, it might inspire others to follow in his footsteps, as King’s leadership inspired White himself.
* The Question: Do you agree with Shaw Media and the Illinois Press Association that Illinois should declare a Jesse White Day? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
The municipal bond market has a message for first-year Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot: go light on one-time maneuvers, avoid fiscal gimmicks, and move the city toward structural balance. […]
“We are looking for a reliance on structurally balanced measures to close the gap,” said Carol Spain, lead analyst for Chicago at S&P Global Ratings, which rates the city’s general obligation debt BBB-plus.
If the city is using one time sources, S&P would look for “the structural gap to be closed within the near term in the next couple years,” she said. “What we are looking for is a credible plan” that doesn’t solely rely on measures requiring state approval that might not come to pass or that are cyclical or volatile in nature.
A major bond rating agency said Tuesday that “any measure that would lower annual contributions into Chicago’s pension systems” would be seen as a negative — potentially jeopardizing the city’s current BBB+ rating. […]
In a three-page report released Tuesday by S&P Global Ratings — titled “How Chicago Closes Its Fiscal 2020 Budget Gap Will Be Pivotal To The Rating” — the agency noted that “outside of a massive property tax increase, [the city] has limited options to raise significant, predictable revenues through a single tax or fee increase without state legislation that would expand the city’s revenue-raising authority.” […]
S&P said it expects that the city “will continue a trend of using surplus tax-increment financing district revenues to plug the budget gap,” but the agency sees that revenue source as “unpredictable and therefore one-time in nature.”
“The city also maintains substantial reserves, which are crucial to the current rating, and we would consider the use of reserves to offset ongoing expenses — rather than for ‘rainy day’ or one-time purposes — negatively,” the agency added. “Given the magnitude of the gap, we expect some use of one-time revenues.”
On the other hand, the New York firm said, “We would view measures that either trim liabilities through benefit reductions or a dedicated revenue stream toward pensions positively.” S&P didn’t get specific, but officials have talked at reviving what now appear to be moribund plans for a Chicago casino that could help pay pension debt or moving to reduce the 3 percent annual compound COLA that about half of the city’s retirees now are scheduled to receive, perhaps by amending the Illinois Constitution.
Not gonna be a constitutional amendment in the coming years.
The ratings agency also warned Lightfoot and the City Council not to look to state lawmakers for immediate solutions, including an amended tax structure for a casino as well as the green light to impose higher taxes on the sale of homes worth more than $500,000. Both proposals are not sure bets — and revenues could take years to materialize, if ever.
“In our view, further state aid is unlikely in the near term given the state’s own financial pressures, and legislators may be hesitant to raise widespread taxes while they are also asking voters to consider an income tax increase,” according to the statement. “We are looking to see whether any plan that hinges on legislative support or carries implementation risk is credible, meaning that it is politically feasible, relies on realistic revenue expectations, and can be executed within a reasonable timeline.”
* Sallet went on a media tour before departing for DC. Tribune…
When Jeffrey Sallet took over as boss of the Chicago FBI in late 2017, one of the biggest political corruption investigations in the city’s history was quietly simmering.
A year later, it boiled over with the FBI’s public raid on the City Hall offices of powerful Ald. Edward Burke, touching off a seemingly never-ending series of bombshell developments, from a sweeping indictment against Burke to the revelation that his longtime colleague, Ald. Daniel Solis, had been secretly wearing a wire.
As Sallet prepares to depart later this month for an executive position at FBI headquarters in Washington, he says there is still a lot more still to be revealed about the ongoing corruption probe. And while he won’t be here to see it, Sallet said he’s proud to have helped send a message to politicians “that it is not business as usual.”
“Our corruption program is extremely busy,” Sallet said in an interview Tuesday from the FBI offices on the West Side. “While there have been plenty of overt actions that have occurred, the city of Chicago should expect more to come.”
Now, on his way out, Sallet said he still loses sleep about violent crime and other mass acts of violence. What doesn’t keep him up at night, he said, is another topic that has roared back into the headlines during his tenure — public corruption.
“I don’t lose sleep about the corruption,” Sallet said in an exit interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. “The people that are corrupt public officials, I assure you, are losing sleep about us. And I think that’s more evident now.” […]
He also said the FBI aims to send the message that “the people of the City of Chicago should demand and expect honest government.”
“Anybody who is getting shaken down by a politician should come in and tell us because it’s unacceptable, and I promise you, we’re going to do something about it,” Sallet said.
“I think people in the City of Chicago are sick of being victimized by politicians,” he said. “Sick of paying to play. Sick of politicians not working for them and them having to work for the politicians.”
During his short time in Chicago, the city has watched Ald. Ed Burke get indicted, Ald. Carrie Austin become ensnared in a federal investigation, former Ald. Danny Solis cooperate with law enforcement and people close to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan could find themselves in trouble with the law.
Sallet said one way to stop all of it is term limits — the longer politicians are in office, the more powerful they become.
Two Illinois Department of Corrections officers accused in lawsuit of civil rights violations against a transgender woman publicly shared memes or other posts that mocked members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community.
A third officer, named in a separate suit brought by another transgender prisoner, posted a Facebook meme disapproving of homosexuality, among other troubling posts.
Each of the correctional officers identified themselves as department of corrections employees on Facebook.
Last month, correctional officer John Mercks went on Facebook and shared a looped video clip writing, along with a crying-laughing emoji, “what it’s like working at a prison.”
The video shows a cut of actor Bruce Willis smiling in response to a person dressed in a short skirt, followed by Willis’ smile vanishing as it becomes clear that the individual wearing the skirt does not conform to traditional gender roles.
Mercks has shared a handful of offensive and explicit memes and other posts mocking the transgender community, women, and claims of sexual assault or physical violence.
The correctional officer shared another meme last month showing a professional wrestler in the process of body slamming another wrestler to the ground with text reading: “I assisted the inmate to the floor! Corrections 101.”
“The coincidence is unreal right now,” Mercks wrote alongside the meme with a crying-laughing emoji.
Mercks is currently named in a lawsuit brought by a transgender woman who said that when she was imprisoned at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center in 2017, Mercks and several other officers beat and sexually assaulted her.
Strawberry Hampton, the woman who brought the suit and was incarcerated under her previous name Deon Hampton, contended she was forcibly removed from her cell, stripped of her clothes, repeatedly punched and kicked and called a homophobic slur.
Three months before the incident alleged in the lawsuit, Mercks shared an offensive and explicit meme on Facebook that displayed an image of Caitlyn Jenner, along with the term “tranny.”
Mercks also shared several anti-semitic, Islamophobic and racist memes. In one, he shared an image of a plow driving through a pile of dead bodies along with a joke about Jews. Another shows several hanged men, described in the image as “Islamic wind chimes.” A third shows singer Celene Dion holding an infant in her hands. “If you hold a black baby to your ear, you can hear the police sirens,” the meme reads. Above the post, Mercks commented “Dear gawd” with a crying-laughing emoji.
Correctional Sgt. Joseph Dudek, also named in Hampton’s lawsuit, is identified as one of the officers Hampton said in the complaint beat and assaulted her. Dudek has publicly shared memes on Facebook that make fun of online support for Muslim refugees and individuals who identify as transgender, and link a man’s lack of interest in guns with his sexuality.
A third correctional employee, Sgt. Gary Hicks, is named in a separate lawsuit brought earlier this year by a transgender prisoner identified only as Tay Tay. Formerly housed at the Shawnee Correctional Center, Tay Tay said in the suit that Hicks called her a homophobic slur and used other inappropriate language in 2018. The woman also said in her suit that she told Hicks she felt unsafe and threatened by her cellmate, but that he did not let her out of her cell or allow her to file a grievance. According to the lawsuit, she was later raped by her cellmate.
On Hick’s public Facebook page, he shared a meme in July that deemed homosexuality a sin, and reposted Islamophobic memes. He also commented on his interest in being part of the fight if civil war or government overthrow unfolds in the United States and shared an image of soldiers standing in front of a military tank draped in the confederate flag.
It’s a free country and they can post whatever they want on their stupid Facebook pages, but this is just disgusting and it sure does seem to boost Strawberry Hampton’s claims.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Illinois Department of Corrections…
IDOC takes these matters very seriously and has zero tolerance for bigotry of any kind. The employees are on leave pending active IDOC investigations into these posts. Based on the result of these investigations, the department will take all appropriate disciplinary action.
IDOC also pointed to these rules…
· Employees shall not engage in conduct that impairs their ability to perform their duties and responsibilities in an impartial manner.
· The Department shall require employees to conduct themselves in a professional manner and, whether on duty or off duty, not engage in conduct that is unbecoming of a State employee or that may reflect unfavorably on or impair operations of the Department.
The Injustice Watch report is troubling, but holds little surprise. IDOC’s deliberately poor treatment of prisoners who are transgender in Illinois led the ACLU to file a class action lawsuit on their behalf. At a recent hearing in federal court in East St. Louis in this case, our clients reiterated the disrespect, mistreatment, and danger they face each day. In short, it is a story of dehumanization of our clients. It is little wonder that some personnel take this cruel ignorance to social media, expressing such disdain for persons in their care and custody. The Governor and the IDOC Director need to address this issue and fix this problem – as quickly as possible.
In a split vote, 3-3, the city council failed to pass an ordinance Tuesday to prohibit the sale of recreational cannabis within city limits. […]
The city’s next steps will be to amend the city’s tax code to permit these sales and start working on zoning regulations to define where within city limits such shops will be allowed.
City Administrator Kevin Head said at least one recreational cannabis seller has contacted the city about setting up shop as an expansion of its current medicinal marijuana store. The nearest medical marijuana dispensaries to Edwardsville are in Sauget, Collinsville and Litchfield. There is also one in Effingham.
“Alcohol and tobacco kill far more than marijuana does and probably everyone in this room knows someone who has done or is using marijuana and we’re all still functioning adults,” Alderman Will Krause, one of the measure’s biggest proponents said last month during a committee meeting.
The Woodstock City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday establishing a 3% tax on the gross sales receipts of recreational marijuana retailers. […]
Council voted, 5-1, in favor of the proposal, with council member Darrin Flynn voting against it.
Flynn, who asked that the item be removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration, said that setting the tax at the cap may discourage new businesses from coming to Woodstock, especially if neighboring municipalities set lower taxes.
“It’s a new industry, and it’s a new business, and we have to show that we are open for business,” Flynn said.
Flynn could turn out to be right. We’ll see. Price may not turn out to be as important as product quality and diversity and the shopping experience.
The government operations committee voted 5-3 Monday to implement a 3% municipal cannabis retailers’ occupation tax starting next year. That would tack onto an existing 2% local sales tax, meaning St. Charles would collect 5% of gross recreational marijuana sales, pending city council approval. […]
Under the current law, the city can implement a local tax of up to 3% beginning Sept. 1, 2020, Finance Director Chris Minick said.
But the Illinois Municipal League has requested a legislative amendment that would move up that date to coincide with the legalization of possession and sales.
They should probably leave the law right where it is. Let these things get started before the taxation kicks in.
Anyone who buys cannabis for recreational purposes in Urbana when it becomes legal Jan. 1 can add another 3 percent tax to the total bill.
On Tuesday, aldermen unanimously approved implementing a Municipal Cannabis Retailer’s Occupation Tax, which could help the city address its pressing structural deficit.
But the Urbana City Council wanted to be clear that Tuesday’s vote was only about a tax and not other issues concerning public consumption, future dispensaries and other local regulations. […]
Mayor Diane Marlin added that a number of issues including zoning of future dispensaries; social consumption, such as in bars or other establishments; and criminal-record expungements and the associated workload and financial implications will “all be addressed in the coming months.”
Naperville City Council members voted late Tuesday night to prohibit sales of recreational marijuana, but also expressed support for a plan to let voters revisit the topic with a future ballot question.
Council members voted 6-3 to ban all types of recreational marijuana businesses and to ask staff members to develop the language of a referendum question, which they can consider putting on a later ballot. […]
3C Compassionate Care Center, a medical marijuana dispensary on Quincy Avenue, will be allowed to continue its medical operation, but is not permitted to sell the drug for recreational use at its Naperville shop or any other site in town.
The business recently was granted one of the first recreational dispensary licenses from the state, but state regulations say businesses must follow all municipal zoning rules and other local laws.
The Du Quoin State Fair may have just ended, but it’s clear that the 2019 event was a major success. The 2019 Grandstand sold nearly 15,800 tickets this year, 26% higher than last year’s total of just over 12,500. Revenue from the grandstand entertainment also increased over 2018. Between the musical acts, racing and monster trucks $356,795 was generated, generating $97,000 more than last year, a 37% increase.
“The Du Quoin State Fair is an economic engine for Southern Illinois, and I’m happy to see that the fair grew dramatically compared to last year,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “MK and I enjoyed spending time at the fairgrounds, and it’s wonderful that so many people came to enjoy the vendors and performers, as well as support a time-honored tradition that uplifts the entire region.”
“These early numbers show not only the success we had this year, but our potential to grow in the future,” said Josh Gross, Du Quoin State Fair Manager. “We’ve already started working on 2019’s lineup and have no doubt it will be bigger and better.”
An official wrap-up of the 2019 Du Quoin State Fair is underway. Attendance numbers for this year’s Du Quoin State Fair are still being calculated and are expected to be released shortly.
I guess that old adage about all publicity being good publicity worked this time.
…Adding… But of course they don’t believe it. From the boycott page which has since been rebranded…
Also this year, [Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst, R-Kankakee] opposed increasing the gas tax to 38 cents per gallon, from 19 cents. It was the first hike in nearly three decades.
She said she was against increasing the tax so much at once. Under the new law, the tax would rise with the inflation rate. She said the state should have had inflationary increases over the years.
“We should have made sure we had infrastructure funded all along,” Parkhurst said.
Elected in 2016, Parkhurst said she was for proposed road improvements near the expanding CSL Behring plant near Bourbonnais. That will likely be made possible because of a $45 billion highway bill that state lawmakers passed earlier this year. Parkhurst voted against that bill because it also included the gas tax hike.
Gotta start somewhere, Representative. If the Motor Fuel Tax had kept up with inflation after it was last increased, it would be 38 cents per gallon today.
Pritzker is hobbling around on crutches after breaking his femur. And he’s spending a lot of time on the phone, including with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who put a lot of political pressure on the governor in her speech about the city’s finances last week.
Of that conversation, the mayor’s office said the two shared a “productive discussion late last week about ways to work together to address the shared challenges and opportunities facing our state and Chicago’s communities,” Lightfoot spokeswoman Anel Ruiz said.
The two “have productive conversations regularly, and they spoke again late last week,” Pritzker spokeswoman Emily Bittner said. “As the Mayor works to build support for her ideas among legislative leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers, the Governor expects that they will continue to have productive conversations.”
* From former acting legislative inspector general Julie Porter back in April…
My term ended Feb. 28, 2019, and this month — as required by law — the new LIG and the commission presented their quarterly reports to the General Assembly. The quarterly reports are hard to read and do not convey much information. But a careful look reveals that near the end of my term, I issued a founded summary report — a report where I found that a legislator engaged in wrongdoing — that was not published. I requested publication, and the commission refused.
Also buried in the numbers is a second founded summary report that I requested to be published; the new LIG chose to close the case.
Accusations flew among state Republicans Tuesday after a suburban lawmaker called for an investigation of Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin’s organization over a “buried” misconduct report.
A representative for Durkin called the comments off-base.
Leader Jim Durkin has had an opportunity to be a statesman and take the bold step of rooting out corruption and wrongdoing in his own caucus. It is easy to be for ethics when the other party is under fire - it is not so easy when it potentially involves your own party. Leader Durkin is being tested and, so far, he is miserably failing that test. I’m willing to stand up against misconduct on both sides of the aisle. […]
In Springfield, there are insiders and then there are real insiders. Legislative leaders, by virtue of their position as leaders, are privy to information that most rank and file members simply do not have. I believe that Leader Jim Durkin is aware of the founded misconduct that Porter is referring to and that it likely involves a Republican House member.
Even if the buried report is about a Democrat, Durkin very likely has access to the information. Two members of Durkin’s leadership team are on the Legislative Ethics Commission, with one serving as the chairman of the commission. It is highly doubtful that Leader Durkin is truly in the dark about this situation.
* Response from House Republican spokesperson Eleni Demertzis…
The House Republicans have addressed each and every allegation of abuse and misconduct swiftly and publicly. We will continue to ensure a safe workplace for all staff and employees. This is just more ramblings from someone who hasn’t even taken the time to show up for caucus in the last 5 years.
McSweeney said Durkin likely is aware of who the legislator is and that “Leader Durkin is being tested and, so far, he is miserably failing that test.”
Demertzis countered that “the [Legislative Ethics Commission] is an independent body that the legislative leaders have no involvement with. That’s why Rep McSweeney’s statements are once again not based in fact,” she said.
…Adding… Grant usually lashes out at Democrats on the Twitter machine…
Nothing is buried Rep McSweeney. House Republicans moved swiftly on issues of unethical behavior. Auditor General Mautino, Sen T Cullerton and former Clerk of the House & Madigan capo Tim Mapes all under investigation yet you are silent where actual bad behavior exists? https://t.co/coNacWo3tj
Rauner’s cabinet is 79 percent white, with only four blacks, two Hispanics, and two Asians among his 38 picks to lead state government agencies.
And reports obtained by WBEZ show his nearly 1,200 appointees to boards, commissions, and task forces in the past three years were 73 percent white, 10 percent black, 6 percent Hispanic, and 3 percent Asian. No race was given for 7 percent of the people Rauner chose. […]
The WBEZ investigation also found men far outnumber women in Rauner’s cabinet and among his board appointments.
When pressed about whether his own administration would be more diverse than Rauner’s, Democratic gubernatorial challenger JB Pritzker said he would do better than the incumbent, by appointing the most diverse state government ever. But asked if he could promise that his high-level appointments would reflect the state’s overall population, Pritzker would only say it would be his “goal” to have a cabinet and boards that mirror the diversity of Illinois.
As Gov. JB Pritzker approaches the nine-month mark in office, he has appointed 225 people to key posts within his administration and to state boards and commissions — a diverse group that’s more than 41 percent female and 44 percent people of color. […]
Illinois is one of the nation’s most diverse states. According to the latest stats available from the U.S. Census Bureau, the people of Illinois were 61.3 percent white, 17.3 percent Hispanic, 14.6 percent black and 5.7 percent Asian. […]
The Daily Line is tracking Pritzker’s appointments, as Rauner’s administration was slow to cooperate with a state law that requires the governor release demographic data about appointees to boards, commissions, and task forces on an annual basis. A WBEZ investigation last year found that Rauner’s appointees were overwhelmingly white and male. […]
Pritzker has mostly met those diversity goals, with 94 females named to director posts for state agencies and to state boards and commissions, and 98 people of color announced since January. Pritzker’s hires in the governor’s office are also a diverse group, though The Daily Line’s analysis does not extend to his direct reports.
He just announced the appointment of a white male today to be the Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Labor.
After telling me on Sunday that he’s “definitely looking at” running for Congress, @SenChapinRose tells me he has decided not to run for IL-15 in 2020. “It is absolutely the wrong time for my family,” he says. He has three kids between grade school and high school. https://t.co/G519CrunJr
Righter says Senator @JasonPlummerUSA is a “young, bright guy” who “has to be drowning in frustration in Springfield right now.” He says @ErikaHarold “would have made a great Attorney General.” Righter says both would be “an outstanding nominee for our party.”
State Rep. Michael Marron (R-Fithian) is “definitely interested” in running to replace @RepShimkus in Congress, per a campaign aide. He is set to make an announcement about his 2020 plans on Tuesday in Danville. https://t.co/qctVEPbiyb
* Marron announced an exploratory committee today…
At the Vermilion County Administration Building in front of family, friends and supporters, State Representative Mike Marron (R-Fithian) announced the creation of an exploratory committee to seek the 15th Congressional seat currently held by John Shimkus. Shimkus has recently announced that he will not be seeking reelection.
“For over 20 years, Congressman John Shimkus has represented parts of Southern Illinois in Congress,” said Marron. “When John decided not to run again, I knew that it would be a huge loss for Southern Illinois, and our country. Anyone trying to replace him will have incredibly large shoes to fill. He has a legacy of rolling up his sleeves and getting to work for Southern Illinois in the good times and fighting the liberal Obama and Pelosi policies in the bad times. I want to continue that legacy that reflects Southern Illinois values.”
Marron highlighted his experience as Vermilion County Board Chairman and State Representative at the press conference. Mike has had success in getting a strong consensus on a partisan county board. During his tenure, he was successful in working through differences the board members had with other board members and with the opposition party.
Mike took this leadership style to Springfield as State Representative, and as a freshman representative, he was able to work within a super-minority caucus to pass legislation that helped the citizens of the 104th Legislative District. Legislation such as helping protect the public health of his constituents by creating the regulatory framework that prevents coal ash pollution like what occurred at the Vermilion Power Station and protecting taxpayers from fronting the bill.
“Now, everyone knows that Springfield politics, especially from the past year, don’t reflect the values of us downstate, rural Illinoisans,” said Marron. “I fought against Springfield Democrats implementing the largest minimum wage increase in this state’s history, the implementation of a massive tax increase being billed as a “fair and progressive” tax, and the most expansive abortion law in the country. Unfortunately, due to Chicago’s influence, all of these things passed despite my opposition.
“A true leader knows when to get to work and when to fight for what’s right. Politicians and political insiders in Washington DC fight when they need to get to work and make compromises when they need to fight. I am here today to announce that I am opening an exploratory committee to run as the Congressman in the 15th District.”
Chairing the exploratory committee is Vermilion County Board Chairman Larry Baughn. Other members of the committee include Pat O’Shaughnessy of Danville, Stan Harper, Champaign County Board Member from St. Joseph and Bill Raben, a farmer from Ridgeway. More members will be invited in the coming weeks.
It’s been more than five years since the Sun-Times disabled its online reader comments, claiming to be developing a new system that would be introduced “in the weeks to come.” Now that may be happening at last.
“I think we’re getting to the point where hopefully soon we can restore comments in sort of a targeted way on the right stories,” editor-in-chief Chris Fusco said on Ben Joravsky’s podcast Saturday. “Comments are a tool that, if we use them wisely, I think they can be back on a targeted basis and help us build more engagement.”
* The Question: Your comment section advice for Chris Fusco?
Mayor Lori Lightfoot today declared “unsustainable” the 3 percent annual compound pension COLA many city workers and retirees have been promised—and hinted she would not object if further conversations occurred about amending the pension clause in the Illinois Constitution to allow change.
(A) few comments about the annual annuity increases, also referred to as the COLA.
First, police and fire do NOT have a compounded 3% COLA–these two funds account for ~51% of Chicago’s pension liabilities. Only municipal employees and laborers have had 3% COLA.
Second, that 3% COLA was only applicable for people hired before Jan 1, 2011….everyone else is now in Tier 2. Tier 2 COLA isn’t compounded, and is designed to basically guarantee retirement income doesn’t keep pace w/inflation. […]
so let’s now turn to the history of the 3%, compounded COLA (remember only applicable to 2 of the 4 funds). It was set in 1998. What did things look like at the time? well both labor and municipal funds were pretty well funded [in 2000 municipal fund was about 95% funded, labor was over 100%] […]
At the time, and until v recently, the city’s contributions were a multiplier of employee contributions. for every $1 municipal employee put in, city put in $1.25. This was already bad because it meant city’s contributions weren’t tied to cost of benefits or unfunded liabilities
To me, the 3% compounded COLA isn’t the root of the problem, it’s that lawmakers chose to enhance benefits while 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 the city’s contributions and have those contributions be totally de-linked from the pension funds’ finances…and not changing for years.
the problem snowballed and snowballed, compounded by the recession.
changing COLA would mean changing benefits for Tier 1 members of 2 systems…there has been several attempts at cutting benefits, each one struck down by the state supreme court.
another thing to add is that Public Act 100-23 created a third benefit tier (Tier 3) for municipal employees and labor. Tier 3 COLA is same as Tier 2. tier 2 and 3 comparison for municipal is here meabf.org/legislature
John Tillman formally files "APPEAL TO THE ILLINOIS FOURTH DISTRICT APPELLATE COURT FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF SANGAMON COUNTY" on the GO lawsuit ruling from judge last week denying petition to move forward with taxpayer action.
Far more important, however, Davis seems unaware of the bedrock principle in American law – that courts have the power and duty to invalidate laws that conflict with the federal constitution or their state’s constitution. It’s not a court’s place to “substitute its judgement” for the legislature’s, he says.
Marbury vs Madison established in 1803 that courts should invalidate laws that violate the constitution. That’s a central tenet of separation of powers. Since then, federal and state courts have invalidated hundreds of statutes and administrative actions as unconstitutional. Illinois and all other states routinely do the same, testing their statutes against their state constitutions. Judge Davis, however, might as well have written, “Politicians decided to do this so it must be permitted.”
Courts assume laws are constitutional and proceed from there. Tillman claimed the Legislature skirted the “specific purposes” requirement, when it clearly did not. This is a taxpayer lawsuit, so he had some serious legal hurdles to overcome and the judge ruled his case did not overcome those hurdles.
Judge Davis ignored, among other things, the most interesting aspect of the case, which warrants a full, reasoned opinion. That’s the relevance of the balanced budget requirement in our state constitution, and it’s especially pertinent to the 2017 bonds. They were used simply to pay down part of Illinois’ huge bill backlog.
That backlog obviously results from budgets that weren’t balanced.
Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.
There are several loopholes here, among them: 1) It doesn’t say “expenditures,” it says “appropriations.” Things can happen after a budget is enacted; 2) There is no clear and specific mandatory requirement for a hard revenue estimate. Should they do that? Yep. But courts have yet to force their hands.
When he introduced his budget in February, Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not say he wanted to start a conversation.
“I promised to fix our budget and I will keep my promise to Alaskans,” he said. “We will fix the budget and we will fix it this year.”
This was the occasion at which temporary budget director Donna Arduin introduced herself to Alaska by frequently talking about “our” fiscal problems and declaring, “The cost to transport a vehicle on a state highway is about 2 cents per mile, where it’s about $4.58 per mile on a ferry.”
“We’re here to solve our problems, not to ask Alaskans to do it for us,” she said, touching on the plan to gut the University of Alaska, K-12 schools and Medicaid, while sending 500 prisoners out of state and getting rid of the ferry system.
The governor made those cuts, in part, to fulfill a campaign promise to pay a full Permanent Fund dividend using the traditional formula, which this year amounts to about $3,000.
“The governor’s approach is tough,” said Matt Shuckerow, his press secretary. “But it’s necessary.”
Others disagree — vehemently — and some economists estimate Dunleavy’s cuts would lead to 4,000 jobs lost in the short term, plunging Alaska into recession.
“This is a dismantling of our state: economically, emotionally, morally,” said Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes, a Republican who represents parts of Southcentral Alaska, including Cordova. “It’s unreal. It’s just stinking unreal.”
The University of Alaska could lay off more than 1,000 and cut dozens of programs, thanks to a dramatic slash in money it gets from the state – a 41% cut from a line-item veto by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
University officials say the $130 million cut could prove disastrous for Alaska’s future, endangering local economies, school employees and rural programs for Alaska Native students. They have pleaded with the Legislature to override the veto but say they have little hope that will happen.
A state program that costs nothing to administer was restored this week to keep Alaska-grown produce in groceries, but the state’s nascent hemp program remains in limbo.
* From a post I did when Governor-elect Bruce Rauner announced he’d hired Arduin…
“She has a complete tin ear with respect to the political ramifications of particular cuts, ” University of California-Berkeley political scientist Bruce Cain told the Los Angeles Times in a story published in 2004.
“Because she’s the best in America,” Rauner said when asked by a reporter how he can justify that [$30,000 per month Arduin contract] expense. “She’s a brilliant lady who’s done financial turnarounds at a number of states. She’s the smartest state government budget person in America that I was able to find and she’s well worth it, because she’s going to save us billions.”
* The Department of Children and Family Services. It would also eliminate services for youth ages 18 to 21.
* Community care for senior citizens.
* Mental health services.
* Addiction treatment.
* Dental Care for adults on Medicaid.
* Support for children on ventilators.
Organizers of the effort to remove Gov. Mike Dunleavy from office announced Thursday that one week after launching, they had gathered more than 18,000 signatures and were more than two-thirds toward completing a first-round signature drive.
The campaign to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy has gathered 36,731 signatures as of Thursday, Aug. 22. […]
The campaign’s website says the petition phase will continue until the campaign collects 71,252 signatures, which is equal to 25% of the voter turnout in the last general election.
The state agency in charge of monitoring campaign finance laws in Alaska says backers of a movement to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy from office can accept unlimited campaign contributions and do not have to immediately disclose the source of that money. The same rules apply to any organization formed to oppose the recall. […]
“You can get (money) from labor organizations, businesses, nonprofits, folks out of state — the only limitation is foreign nationals. But that’s the only limitation,” Lucas said.
Remember when candidate Mike Dunleavy promised every man, woman, and child in Alaska checks in excess of $6,000 if he was elected governor?
Recently, Governor Mike Dunleavy took the road less travelled and issued a video statement, avoiding the press altogether, to announce that he has mostly accepted the Legislature’s budget, complete with a $1,600 PFD.
The University of Illinois Flash Index fell to 105.1, its lowest level so far this year. The dip in August comes after an uptick in July, when the index was at 105.4.
Two of the three components of the Flash Index, individual income and corporate tax receipts, were down from the same month last year after adjusting for inflation and rate changes. The third component, sales tax receipts, increased.
University of Illinois economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the monthly index for the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, said that despite conjecture about a possible recession in the national economy, this decrease in the Flash Index does not signal a recession. Generally, a recession is characterized by the GDP declining for two quarters.
“The Illinois economy appears to be slowing slightly from its recent moderate pace. This, however, is far from an indication of a recession,” Giertz said. “The national and Illinois economies are still growing, albeit at a slower rate. Remember that any Index reading above 100 denotes growth.”
The unemployment rate in Illinois fell slightly to 4.2 percent, tied for the lowest in recent decades. This suggests continued strength, although unemployment is a lagging indicator that tends to increase only after the overall economy slows.
The Flash Index is a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income as estimated from receipts for corporate income, personal income and retail sales taxes. These are adjusted for inflation before growth rates are calculated. The growth rate for each component is then calculated for the 12-month period using data through August 31, 2019. See the full Flash Index archive.
The Epilepsy Foundation of North Central Illinois was supposed to get $500,000 from the state this year, with the DeKalb office’s share being $79,000, Garcia-Martinez said. This year, however, there was no money from the state.
The DeKalb office rent costs $950 a month. Other monthly expenses include $500 a month for transportation, which Garcia-Martinez said is imperative to DeKalb County since many clients face transportation limitations.
Johnson said the office has applied for a community-needs grant through the DeKalb County Community Foundation but has not yet heard back.
Garcia-Martinez said the only difference in the application this year for state funds was a change in the number of clients. She said the DeKalb office serves 81 clients with epilepsy, with more than 400 clients who receive additional support services.
For more than a decade, the Child Advocacy Center of McHenry County collected $13 for every traffic, misdemeanor and felony conviction — a deal negotiated years ago among agency and county leaders, Executive Director Misty Marinier said. The funding has been crucial for the nonprofit’s operations, which include conducting forensic interviews and offering free services for victims of child sexual and physical abuse, among other violent crimes, she said.
However, a recent statewide overhaul of the system set court fees collected by all CACs at $10 per offense, and funding from traffic cases has been eliminated.
The impact on the McHenry County center? A projected loss of at least $120,000 a year, or 40% of its $300,000 budget. […]
A sunset clause was included in House Bill 4594 when it passed about a year ago, forcing lawmakers to revisit the legislation by the end of 2020. When the General Assembly reconvenes in January — six months after the law went into effect — it is expected to review the data that has been collected so far and “adjust the numbers accordingly,” said Andersson, the bill’s chief sponsor. “We didn’t pretend like we knew everything.”
* Meanwhile, from a union press release…
Just days before the new semester UIS Administration announced deep cuts to programs and budgets that support teaching and learning at UIS. Despite receiving a 5% increase over last year’s appropriation from the state, UIS administrators are cutting as much as 10% from their operating budgets.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Colleen Callahan says authority to hire more people has helped ease morale at the agency.
DNR has been working to fill nearly 100 positions this year, and the fiscal year 2020 budget, which began July 1, allows for a full-time-equivalent headcount of 1,250. There have been some retirements and some additions, and as of last week, there were about 1,192 positions filled.
“It means that we can actually begin to do our jobs more effectively and impactfully again,” Callahan said. “Staff would say that for a long period of time, they felt like they were in survival mode. Now, they feel like they survived. And now that we can hire again, it says help is on the way, and it’s a big morale booster, for sure.”
* Relief at Last - By Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier: Fortunately, there has been a dramatic change. This year – for the first time – I was able to report to my colleagues at the Conference of Chief Justices that Illinois could not only boast of a functional court, but also of a government that was finally able to provide the judicial branch with a timely and workable budget. For Fiscal Year 2020, our appropriation from the General Revenue Fund was increased to $405,321,200, a figure that is $60.5 million higher than each of the previous five years.
* Years ago, I read an article about espionage advice given to our World War II moles by the Office of Strategic Services (the predecessor to the CIA). One suggested tactic for American sympathizers was to create large corporate study committees, which would slow down or even halt progress on whatever it was they were studying. Whenever Speaker Madigan brings a large number of his members and staff with him to a meeting in the governor’s office, I remember that article and chuckle.
As voters start to consider whether to replace Illinois’ flat income tax with a progressive-rate model, lawmakers are starting their work to overhaul the state’s property tax system too.
The Property Tax Relief Task Force recently begin its work, setting up seven subcommittees that will tackle thorny topics like school and economic disparities, school funding, and tax-increment financing (TIF) districts. State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, is one of over 80 task force members.
There are actually 88 members of that task force. It has eight (8) co-chairs. And seven subcommittees? Oy.
The first organizational meeting was a cluster of enormous proportions. And members are not exactly getting along very well since then.
* From an August 29 press release…
State Representative Deanne M. Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) today called upon her fellow legislators to study and end systemic conflicts of interest in the Illinois property tax system. These conflicts generate disproportionate outcomes; increase costs; and often benefit politically connected insiders. All but a few Democrats voted no, and rejected her request. Those voting “no” included members who profit from the property tax system; another was recently subject to a federal indictment.
After the vote, Rep. Mazzochi released the following statement:
“Currently this task force has 90 members. It is absurd to suggest we can’t have a subcommittee to target conflicts of interest that both sides of the aisle know exist. Today’s vote demonstrates that members of the majority are insincere about real reform. If this task force wants to achieve meaningful reform, we must address the problem of high-level political insiders who game the system, whether at the state, county or local level. Illinois residents already pay among the highest property taxes in the nation. They don’t need an added corruption tax. The antics on display at the meeting are the exact reason why we do not have property tax relief today. Whose interests are they really looking out for?”
Illinois residents attending the meeting also expressed concerns during public comment about public corruption. James Di Naso of Charleston explained, “The first issue that needs to be addressed is the corruption and conflict of interest at the top of Illinois government. Only then can the property tax issue be honestly dealt within this state.”
Mazzochi’s motion would have charged the task force with specifically looking at existing areas of conflict of interest, and making reform recommendations to improve the integrity of the property tax process. Once Mazzochi’s motion was made and seconded, additional task force members not present for the first 45 minutes of the meeting were added to the roll and allowed to vote. When votes were tallied, Rep. Mazzochi’s motion failed 40-23, with two additional members voting “present.”
Notwithstanding the result of the vote, Mazzochi vowed that she would continue to advocate for added transparency and integrity within the entire property tax system.
DuPage County legislators voting yes in support of Mazzochi’s motion included Grant Wehrli, Amy Grant; Anne Stava-Murray, as well as Mazzochi. Voting no were Suzy Glowiak; Tom Cullerton; Tara Costa Howard; Karina Villa; and Diane Pappas. Deb Conroy, a member of the task force, was absent.
Close to 200 Naperville residents opposed to the possibility of the city eventually allowing the sale of recreational marijuana held a rally downtown Saturday urging city officials to “opt out.”
“Naperville has built its reputation over the years as a family friendly community,” said Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, one of the rally’s organizers. “There is nothing family friendly about marijuana.” […]
“Fear is a drug that Americans are imbibing at a heavy pace,” [Dan Allen] said. “I’ve experienced the benefits of marijuana and there’s been a lot of studies showing the use helps get people off other heavier, more dangerous drugs like opioids.” […]
The rally was held in downtown’s Central Park a few blocks away from the city’s nightclub district. Naperville police often have to add extra patrols on the weekends in an effort to curb misbehavior by bar patrons. In the past, police ran sting operations intended to catch violators urinating in the city’s parking garages as well.
* Over the weekend, I decided to re-read Gay Talese’s 1966 “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” essay for Esquire Magazine which sparked a new journalistic format. I re-read it every few years because it’s so phenomenal. As I was doing so, I came upon this passage…
Then after the last show at The Sands, the Sinatra crowd, which now numbered about twenty—and included Jilly, who had flown in from New York; Jimmy Cannon, Sinatra’s favorite sports columnist; Harold Gibbons, a Teamster official expected to take over if Hoffa goes to jail—all got into a line of cars and headed for another club. It was three o’clock. The night was young.
For some reason, Harold Gibbons’ name stood out to me, so I Googled him.
For a time, Gibbons was widely considered to be the heir apparent to Jimmy Hoffa. But Gibbons’ work and political stances landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents. Nixon’s Chief Counsel, Charles Colson, directed White House Counsel John Dean to initiate tax audits on Gibbons, but Dean did not follow through. Gibbons’ opposition to the Vietnam War led to Hoffa moving to marginalize him. Hoffa supported the war, while Gibbons had been a founder of Labor for Peace, and had visited Hanoi. Another source of friction was Bobby Kennedy, who had hounded Hoffa, and whom Gibbons had befriended. While Gibbons remained head of the Teamsters in St. Louis, he was maneuvered out of posts in which he could influence policy. […]
Gibbons’ papers are in the archives of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville which he was instrumental in founding, because Illinois union members who wished to pursue higher education had to make exhausting commutes to attend university in Carbondale.
*** UPDATE *** From Jeff Manuel at SIUE’s Department of Historical Studies…
Hi Rich,
I just wanted to share a brief comment in response to your post about Harold Gibbons and SIUE. If you (or any readers) are interested in digging deeper into Harold Gibbons, labor historian Robert Bussel wrote an excellent biography of Gibbons and Ernest Calloway a few years ago using the Gibbons papers in the SIUE archive. Calloway’s attempt, which ultimately failed, to unite the labor movement and the civil rights movement in the middle of the last century is a fantastic story that deserves more attention.
After decades of the state putting off things like fixing our roads and bridges, we started to see some very real progress this year.
Huge bipartisan legislative majorities approved a $45 billion infrastructure program.
In the process, however, the state’s motor-fuel tax went from 19 cents a gallon to 38 cents a gallon. My Facebook feed was jammed with exclamation points for days on end. Well, just wait until those angry Illinoisans find out their license plate fees are also going up next year, or they realize there’s a new tax imposed when they trade in their cars.
The idea back in May was to pass all these tax hikes and then go quiet. The governor would then focus attention on announcing new projects and grants, and eventually the furor would all die down.
But that hasn’t quite happened, partly because Chicago’s budget woes have kept taxation in the foreground.
New Mayor Lori Lightfoot clumsily floated a bunch of nonstarter ideas like taxing retirement income to help her bail out the fiscally troubled city. Taxing retirement income at the state level polls about as well as meningitis. Gov. J.B. Pritzker defeated two Democratic primary opponents partly by hammering them for opening the door just a tiny crack to the possibility of such a tax.
But because Chicago’s mayor was interested, it was big news everywhere. My Facebook feed went nuts again, and the governor was forced to publicly shoot it down.
The statement issued by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office last Thursday night had some good advice for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who gave what was billed as a “State of the City” address earlier in the evening.
Lightfoot had outlined the challenges facing the city, including an $838 million budget deficit and her need for Illinois government’s help in changing some state laws to allow her to raise more tax revenues.
The Pritzker administration’s statement read in part: “In the weeks ahead, as Chicago pursues assistance from the legislature, it will be important for the mayor to reach out to leaders and lawmakers across the state and across the aisle to build a coalition for her ideas.”
The rookie mayor has had a habit of surprising Springfield with proposals offered up by unidentified sources to members of the news media, rather than working through established channels. That tendency has grated on some Statehouse nerves, partly because the mayor too often makes proposals that are dead on arrival and which put her natural allies on the defensive.
Some of this is probably due to her being so new. Some of it is likely because she ran for mayor as an outsider. She strongly endorsed Chris Kennedy for governor, ignoring her party’s preference for Pritzker. She then challenged a sitting mayor (Rahm Emanuel) and then when he dropped out, she stayed in the race and overwhelmingly defeated the Democrats’ powerful Cook County party chair (Toni Preckwinkle).
She believes voters gave her a mandate in April, and reporters and pundits of all stripes have mainly backed up her assertion.
Not often mentioned is that, while Lightfoot took 74% in the April runoff, Pritzker won the city with 81% last November. Also, 723,000 Chicagoans voted for the governor compared to the 396,000 who voted for the mayor.
Pritzker’s Chicago percentage and vote totals were both significantly higher than any Democratic gubernatorial nominee going back to 2002, when the party reinvigorated itself statewide after decades in the wilderness.
But, whatever. Everybody just needs to read the room and get along. The mayor should use the winning formula from the spring legislative session. Get the Democratic leaders on board, convince the unions to support it and then work rank and file members to keep the leaders honest while trying to pick up whatever Republican support she can find.
Lightfoot has a strong personal relationship with the House Republican Leader, and that can surely be helpful. She has to focus on three numbers: 60, 30 and 1 (majorities in the House and Senate and the governor’s signature) . Otherwise, it’s all just rhetoric.
”Our fates are intertwined,” Lightfoot said Thursday about the common struggles that towns and cities are facing throughout Illinois. “That is why I intend to continue working with Gov. Pritzker, the legislative leaders, and other state lawmakers, regardless of party or geography.”
It’s a good plan. It’s a plan that could’ve been devised by Michael Bauer, who chaired Lightfoot’s campaign and was her strongest link to the established political world. Michael passed away last night. “Sparkly, effervescent” is how his friend Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, accurately described him in her grief.
As for me, I always sought him out when he came to Springfield and I always left our conversations with a smile on my face. He was a gem of a human being and, according to his friend Dave Lundy, he died while watching the mayor’s speech.
Michael truly wanted his friend to succeed. Heck, we all do. Even all the ultra-conservative Eastern Bloc members lined up to pose for photographs with the mayor when she came to town — and they want to kick the city out of Illinois. The rest of the governor’s statement included phrases like “Illinois succeeds when its cities succeed,” and he pledged to work with everyone involved to make that happen.
Build on that good will, mayor. It won’t last forever.
And whatever you do, stop not-so-subtly threatening to tank the governor’s progressive income tax if you don’t get your way, as you did on Friday when you spoke with the Sun-Times and said something your office had to retract (“We can’t keep taxing the hell out of all of our people who make substantial income. That’s not right. That’s not fair. It’s not gonna work.”).
Pritzker can spend whatever it takes to push his constitutional amendment past the finish line. He’s not the hostage, mayor. You are.
At an all-staff meeting today, News-Gazette Media CEO John Reed announced to employees that an agreement has been signed to sell substantially all of its assets to the family-owned Champaign Multimedia Group LLC, an affiliate company of Community Media Group. The sale is expected to close in early November.
CMG, headquartered in downstate West Frankfort, owns and operates community newspapers with websites in several Midwestern states, including Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, as well as newspapers in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York.
The acquisition of News-Gazette Media will include three radio stations: WDWS, WHMS and WKIO, serving the Champaign-Urbana, Danville and East Central Illinois areas, Reed said. The acquisition will also include weekly newspapers, free distribution shoppers and websites serving Mahomet, Rantoul, Ford County, Piatt County and Vermilion County. […]
As part of the sale process, News-Gazette Media has filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. Additionally, and in accordance with the state and federal regulations under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice Act (WARN), employees were provided with formal notice of a potential layoff planned to occur in the 14-day period beginning on Oct. 31.
However, CMG has indicated that it is developing plans for the rehire of numerous News-Gazette Media employees following the sale to Champaign Multimedia Group.
Shaw Media has agreed to acquire the NewsTribune and the Illinois and Indiana AgriNews weekly publications from Catherine Miller and Miller Group Media, company leaders announced Monday.
The sale is expected to close Sunday. Terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition of the publications adds to Crystal Lake-based Shaw’s network of daily and weekly newspapers and specialty publications, which cover 15 counties across northern Illinois, as well as part of Iowa.
The company’s daily newspaper holdings include LaSalle County’s other five-day-a-week newspaper, The Times of Ottawa, as well as the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, The Herald-News in Joliet, the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb, the Telegraph in Dixon and the Daily Gazette in Sterling.
Illinois GOP Rep. John Shimkus announced Friday on the Mark Reardon Show that he will not run for reelection in 2020.
In his 12th term right now, Shimkus was reelected in 2018 with more than 70% of the vote. He has represented Illinois’ 15th Congressional District since 2013, before that he was represented Illinois’ 19th Congressional District, since 2003.
Sen. Jason Plummer has wanted that seat for a very long time.
…Adding… Keep an eye on retiring Sen. Dale Righter. Yes, he voted for the 2017 income tax hike, but he voted against the tax hikes to fund the capital bill this year. Why would he do that if he wasn’t running again and needed help for his district? Food for thought.
As Illinois candidates begin to circulate petitions next week, now is the time for me to announce that I will not be seeking re-election.
It has been the honor of my lifetime to be asked by the people of Illinois to represent them in our nation’s capitol. Each day I have tried to do this as best as I possibly could, and my success lies squarely at the feet of my incredible staff in Illinois and Washington, DC.
I will leave the political field knowing that I have served honorably and, with the help of many, accomplished a lot for my constituents, our state, and our nation.
Serving in Congress has been a blessing, but it has also been a sacrifice for my wife Karen, and our boys. Now young men, David, Joshua and Daniel continue to make me proud. I regret the times I have been away from the four of them and thank them for their constant love and support.
My family and I thank you for allowing us the honor to serve. Our dedication to our country, our state, our church, and our community will not waiver as we embark on the next chapter of life. God bless you, and God bless America.
Businessman Willie Wilson, who finished fourth in this year’s historically crowded race for Chicago mayor, said Friday he’s planning to run for the U.S. Senate next year.
Wilson, who’s been known for tapping into his personal wealth to help people pay their property taxes, said he’s going to run as an independent in hopes of unseating Illinois’ incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in 2020.
“I’m still a Democrat and when I ran for president I still supported the Democratic Party, but this is the way to go,” Wilson told The Spin.
The 71-year-old Wilson has run for high-profile political offices before without success. He ran for Chicago mayor in 2015 and 2019, and got on the ballot in a handful of states when he ran for president in 2016.
Durbin received 53.5 percent of the vote in 2014.
…Adding… Press release…
Wilson will officially launch his campaign for United States Senator for the people of Illinois. Wilson is committed to making things better for ALL Illinoisans, but in particular minorities who feel lost and forgotten. “I am sick and I am tired of the same ol’ politicians like Senator Dick Durbin taking advantage of minorities, having not been fair and his record reflecting that… the same ol’ guard propping themselves up on the backs of minorities and selling them down the river. I MUST stand up for those who feel they do not matter or do not have a voice… for those who can’t seem to get a fair shake. His record shows he has taken the minority vote for granted and hasn’t put anything back of significance in the 20+ years he’s been a U.S. Senator. He hasn’t done nearly enough for prison reform and economic development in minority communities, but Durbin has supported sanctuary cities. Why hasn’t he given the same attention to the areas of prison reform and economic development as well as to Reparations for those of African American Descendants of Slaves? He has totally been unfair. The time has come that we all have equal access and be treated fairly, once and for all. And that is why I am running for United States Senator – to represent ALL people regardless of race, creed or color,” says a committed Willie Wilson.
* Two of my brothers on Labor Day, 1971 at my family’s rural Iroquois County house…
We weren’t farmers, but my mom grew up on a farm and my parents had five sons and thought they could better keep an eye on all of us if we were living in the country. So, they rented a house a few miles from my maternal grandparents, who were farmers.
Every Labor Day, we’d decorate our bicycles and ride them in the Herscher parade. It was all great fun, from the decorating (my mom did most of the work, as I recall) to the riding. Herscher will host its 99th Labor Day parade on Monday.
From 2002 to 2016, assault rates against men 60 and older are up 60% [according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]; for women, 35%. From 2010 to 2016, the murder rate of men in that age group rose 7.1%. For women, it decreased slightly. […]
According to the state’s Adult Protective Services agency, there were 13,536 reports of abuse against seniors in 2017.
Financial exploitation (8,604) made up the most cases, followed by passive neglect (6,679), emotional abuse (6,476), physical abuse (3,782), willful deprivation (2,268), confinement (1,381), and sexual abuse (765).
Victims generally experience more than one type of abuse, according to the agency. For example, financial exploitation is highly associated with emotional abuse. About 67% of victims were women, as were 51% of abusers.
* At one point in her Sun-Times editorial board interview yesterday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot had this to say about her idea to create a progressive rate on the real estate transfer tax, for which she’ll need Statehouse approval…
Everybody pays the same amount regardless of the value of their home. We think that’s regressive and unfair. What we’d like to see is a progressive ramp that gives relief to homeowners at the lower end of the housing market value and make people upstream pay more of their fair share.
* But Lightfoot was also asked if she thought it was politically tough to get Downstaters on board for pension help for the city at the same time that the Democrats are trying to pass a progressive income tax…
We have to look at the entire eco-system of what’s happening. If we don’t get help from Springfield, we have limited options. And you know that one of those options is property taxes - a huge property tax given the size of the deficit for next year.
So we have to think about the timing of that. Right? We go first. Twice. This year, next year before the voters go to the polls to approve the Fair Tax. So we have to take the long view of what that’s going to mean. And I’m also mindful of the fact that in this state the vast majority of high net worth earners live in the city of Chicago.
We can’t keep taxing the hell out of all of our people who make substantial income. That’s not right. That’s not fair. It’s not gonna work.
What I think she’s trying to say here is that if upper-income folks get hit with two big property tax hikes between now and next November, they’re gonna rebel at the polls against the progressive income tax. OK, but they’re still a minority, including in the city, and Lightfoot herself is trying to impose her own progressive tax.
And that last little bit about the poor put-upon rich people was a big political mistake. You can probably bet a lot of money that this quote is gonna wind up in a TV ad against the Pritzker graduated income tax. And you can also bet that the legislators who voted to put that tax proposal on the ballot are not going to be pleased with the mayor.
A source close to the mayor worked quickly to walk back that statement, reasserting that Lightfoot supports a graduated income tax structure for the state. But is this Lightfoot’s power play? Get in the way of a plan the governor is spending millions on, so the city can get its needed casino and pension help?
The state-city power struggle came into full view during Lightfoot’s address, in which she tied the city’s woes to getting help from Springfield.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot today declared “unsustainable” the 3 percent annual compound pension COLA many city workers and retirees have been promised—and hinted she would not object if further conversations occurred about amending the pension clause in the Illinois Constitution to allow change. […]
Not only labor unions but Gov. J.B. Pritzker oppose doing that, and Lightfoot—who in other settings has said workers should not have their benefits reduced—said today that “I’m not advocating for a constitutional amendment.” […]
But a few minutes later, Lightfoot said that even if such efforts succeed, the current COLA is “unsustainable.” Asked if she’d like the constitution to be amended, Lightfoot replied that, “I’d like to put as many options as possible on the table.”
In response to another question, Lightfoot said she did not mean to imply that other pension efforts short of amending the constitution were useless, but that in today’s economy, “3 percent compounded is a tough climb.”
Pick a lane, please.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Michael Crowley at the mayor’s office…
As the Mayor has repeatedly made clear, she believes that our pension obligations are not optional. This administration is committed to finding ways to shore up the sustainability of our pension funds – including the COLA. We must secure the retirement of our working people by partnering with our allies from the State to identify progressive revenue streams. Mayor Lightfoot remains opposed to a constitutional amendment on pensions.
Republican state Rep. Steven Reick will still be able to drive after he pleaded guilty Friday to DUI in Sangamon County Circuit Court. Democratic state Rep. Kam Buckner’s DUI case has yet to be resolved. Buckner has pleaded not guilty.
Illinois State Police arrested Reick for DUI in Springfield on May 2. He took a breath test that showed his breath-alcohol concentration was 0.146 percent, nearly twice the legal limit. Dashcam video showed the Republican from Woodstock stumbling and admitting that he had too much to drink.
After Friday’s hearing in Springfield, he referred questions to the initial statement he made after he was arrested.
“I made a stupid and regrettable decision last night and accept full responsibility for my actions,” Reick said at the time.
Reick’s attorney, Scott Sabin, said Friday that his client pleaded guilty.
“He’s, I don’t want to say pleased, but ‘relieved’ is a better word, that this matter is put behind him in the court process,” Sabin said. “He’s been placed under court supervision, so long as he abides by the law and stays out of trouble, this won’t appear on his record and be happy to put this behind him.”
The year-long supervision comes with more than $1,600 in fines. Reick was also ordered to complete ten hours of counseling.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is open to the creation of a public-private partnership as part of its plan to sell the Thompson Center in the Loop and relocate the state’s Chicago workforce to new office space.
That’s one takeaway from a request for proposals the state Department of Central Management Services issued Thursday as it seeks to unload the controversial Helmut Jahn-designed state headquarters. The state is seeking a project manager to oversee the sale of the 17-story, 1.2 million-square-foot building, assess the state’s Chicago real estate holdings, and plan for where state workers will move following the sale, among other services.
The document says the state is looking for a buyer that will help relocate the state’s workforce to an alternate site, which “may mean new construction on one or more sites of vacant land (owned or purchased) or renovation of a property in a Chicago neighborhood with adequate public transportation options (owned or purchased).” The Pritzker administration also wants its project manager to help negotiate an ownership stake for the state in the new site or sites, according to the 56-page document.
CMS will use this expertise and assess its current asset(s) to develop and execute a strategy for an alternate delivery of project, including but not limited to Public-Private-Partnership (“P3”) and Design-Build (“DB”) delivery methods. It is the intent of the State to package the sale of JRTC and relocations of its State occupants as one project delivery method. As part of the Offer, Respondents are encouraged to provide unique ideas around project delivery methods and include relevant and past project examples.
But prominent preservationist groups urged the state to include plans for retaining and repurposing the building even in the early steps toward selling it.
“Corporations continue to migrate to Chicago from suburbs and beyond, and we believe the Thompson Center presents itself as a desirable reuse option for corporate offices and many other uses,” said Bonnie McDonald, president of Landmarks Illinois, in a statement released Wednesday. “We urge the Pritzker administration to include our re-envisioning study … to ensure that the Thompson Center may shine as the one-of-a-kind postmodern marvel that it is.”
Landmarks Illinois placed the Thompson Center on its annual list of the Most Endangered Historic Places in the state in May for the third straight year. That built on a “Thompson Center Reimagined” study the group released last year, which included a proposed “new tower, with a footprint of approximately 13,000 square feet, … developed on the southwest corner with hotel uses on the lower floors and residential on the upper floors.”
Landmarks Illinois is requesting that the state at least include that study in its request for proposals to find a consultant to aid the sale, and it was backed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which included the Thompson Center earlier this year in its list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
“Millions of people visit Chicago every year to experience its diverse architectural landscape, a testament to the city’s longstanding commitment to preservation and innovative design,” said Jennifer Sandy, associate field director for the trust. “Now that many modern and postmodern buildings like the Thompson Center are at risk, Chicago can again demonstrate its leadership on a new generation of buildings worthy of preservation and reuse. Breathing new life into the Thompson Center — not throwing it away — is the right thing to do economically, environmentally, and architecturally.”
As long as it’s turned into the coolest water park in the world, I’m good.
* Sun-Times editorial about the decision by Churchill Downs to shutter the Arlington track and not apply for a racino license…
But nobody should be surprised. This is exactly the sort of thing that can happen when the state Legislature moves awfully darn fast on a big bill that has many moving parts. […]
For years, Arlington had sought a racino to shore up the racetrack’s bottom line, so its ownership’s announcement that it is no longer interested in one surprised pretty much everybody, beginning with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. […]
Churchill Downs says the gambling bill’s high taxes on Arlington and massive expansion of new gambling competition mean a new racino at Arlington would be “untenable” financially, rather than a lifeline. CEO Bill Carstanjen blames the requirement that part of casino earnings go to racing purses — something Arlington has, in fact, been clamoring to do for years.
Churchill Downs didn’t work against the bill. It was also at the table the whole time. As the editorial alludes to, it’s been clamoring for a racino ever since the Elgin casino opened 25 years ago so that it could share some of the gaming money with racehorse owners. Without that cut for the horse owners, the whole shebang falls apart and everyone knows it. Tracks don’t just get a racino handed to them without a requirement to use some of the money to build up the horse racing part of the equation.
So, how can the GA be blamed for giving Churchill Downs what it always said it wanted and didn’t appear to oppose?
Governor J.B. Pritzker suffered a hairline fracture to his left leg, his office confirmed on Thursday afternoon. The injury will not require surgery, but doctors orders will keep the state’s top executive from making a trip to Japan.
The island country represents one of the state’s biggest international trade partners. Governors and state leaders from the Midwest travel to Tokyo every other year, and host Japanese officials in alternating years. Pritzker had planned to attend the meetings next month, according to sources familiar with his travel plans. It remains unclear if Illinois will send another representative in his place.
* Maxwell, by the way, walked the state fairgrounds for half an hour with Pritzker earlier this month and his injury was not apparent at all and the governor never mentioned it…
* But watch this video from Tuesday…
Just learned that @GovPritzker was limping on Tuesday because he has a stress fracture in his left femur. Yet, he still stood in the Blue Room for almost an hour to sign the corporate board diversity bill! He is the people’s champ! Praying for a speedy recovery for our Governor! pic.twitter.com/MbOlT8ulmi
* Mark Brown wasn’t impressed with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s speech last night…
“Yes, some of our solutions will be hard. Yes, they may involve putting ourselves at risk. And if it means that I sacrifice myself politically, so be it in pursuit of the right thing,” Lightfoot said.
Chicago could use a politician who says that and means it. So could the whole state of Illinois.
And when she shows she’s willing to make that sacrifice, I would like to be in her corner.
It’s Chicago’s curse that Lightfoot had to give this speech. Decade after decade, Chicago and Springfield politicians raised taxes and fees yet raised spending even more. Mayors, aldermen, governors, legislators — the people who caused the public finance debacles in Chicago and Illinois — weren’t at the microphone Thursday night. Just a newcomer who says the downward spiral stops now.
Sensibly, she said she wouldn’t follow the old playbook of “historically large tax increases,” or “a massive borrowing scheme,” or shortchanging payments into the city’s pension system.
Our immediate takeaway from her address: What’s significant here is a matter of degree — that looming deficit ― and a new mayor who’s willing to speak hard truths and own a big share of this mess. She’s decided she has no choice but to ask all of us to help her clean it up.
So, the Trib is for making the full pension payments now?
The state’s attorney general says two former lawmakers should not receive back pay for frozen cost-of-living increases and forced furlough days because they previously voted to approve the two laws and waited “for so long” to file a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality.
Those laws, a Cook County judge ruled last month, violated an article of the state’s governing document that dictates legislators’ wages cannot be changed during the terms for which they were elected.
Judge Franklin Valderrama’s ruling was a partial win for two former senators — Democrats Michael Noland, from Elgin, and James Clayborne Jr., from Belleville — who sued for lost wages. […]
The two voted “fourteen separate times over the course of nine years” in support of the statutes which their lawsuit claims are unconstitutional, the document states. It adds that Noland filed the case six months after he left office, and Clayborne joined the suit seven months after he announced his retirement from the General Assembly.
* Jamie Munks at the Tribune has written a couple of good stories about the Du Quoin State Fair. Here’s one…
Each year when the parade kicking off Illinois’ second state fair winds down, fairgoers stream by the hundreds to Wanda Rednour’s lawn, which sits in the middle of the state fairgrounds.
The longtime Du Quoin resident opens her home for a lawn party to kick off the fair. If the Du Quoin State Fair, located on a sprawling piece of lush southern Illinois land, is a “park with a party in the middle of it,” as fair manager Josh Gross describes it, then Rednour’s annual bash is the party within the party in the park.
It’s the sort of thing that engenders a more intimate experience than the much larger Illinois State Fair in Springfield about 150 miles north — so much so that some regulars say it reminds them more of a county fair than a state fair.
The Du Quoin State Fair, which the state has owned and operated since 1986, was previously run by private owners. In its heyday, when it was home to the Hambletonian, the “Kentucky Derby of harness racing,” the fair would draw hundreds of thousands of people from all over the region during its annual summer run.
The fairgrounds lost that race in 1980 but soon drew the prestigious World Trotting Derby, which held court in the summer in Du Quoin for decades. It was cut in 2010, when the state Department of Agriculture’s budget was slashed, part of widespread cutbacks aimed at closing a major deficit in the state budget that year. There were some concerns locally at the time that the fair itself would cease to exist because of the state’s budget woes.
Illinois first lady M.K. Pritzker is leading a restoration effort at the governor’s official Downstate residence in Du Quoin, marking what some locals see as more attentiveness to the region than they’ve seen in years.
The Pritzkers are privately funding the work on the state-owned Hayes House and so far have spent nearly $100,000, according to the governor’s office. […]
The home sits on the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds and has served as the Downstate executive residence for Illinois governors and their families since the state bought the sprawling property from a private owner in the lost ts. […]
“It’s important, because that house needed some renovation,” [Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi] said. “Other governors have just came and gone and not done anything to that mansion. At least they’re doing something to it.”
