* Background, including the memo, is here if you need it. From Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea…
Executive Board Members:
While the Illinois AFL-CIO remains neutral in the decision of the Democratic Party of Illinois to select a new chair, we would like to bring your attention to the attached memo from the law firm PerkinsCoie regarding the contribution of soft money to an elected federal office holder serving simultaneously as a political party chair.
After reading the memo and receiving questions for our affiliates , we asked IL AFL-CIO General Counsel, Joel D’Alba to review the memo and offer his legal opinion on how Illinois labor unions would be affected when making contributions under such a scenario. His response follows:
Dear Tim,
You have asked me to review the legal issues that have been raised in a legal memorandum prepared by a law firm that has an excellent, national reputation in advising political candidates and officials. The memorandum deals with the issues that would arise if a federal office holder becomes the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. The related legal consequences under the federal election laws include control by a federal office holder over political funds that are solicited, received, directed, transferred and spent outside the limits and restrictions established by the Federal Election Commission.
The main point of the memorandum is that federal law, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, was enacted to bar the use of “soft” money as a means of influencing federal office holders, and the chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois has significant responsibility over the use of such funds. The chair as a federal officer holder according to this memorandum could expose the DPI and possibly its labor donors and labor recipients of solicitations for funds to federal scrutiny by the Federal Election Commission.
Accordingly, it would be prudent for the State Federation and its affiliates to be quite cautious about making such contributions to a political organization that is governed by a federal office holder.
Regards and be safe,
Joel D’Alba
Joel A. D’Alba
Asher, Gittler & D’Alba, Ltd.
Organized labor is the lifeblood of the state party.
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Kelly’s spokesperson…
Nancy Pelosi asked Robin Kelly to raise 1 million dollars, Robin Kelly raised 3 million. No one can sincerely challenge her ability to raise money for Democrats.
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Press release…
State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and State Representative David Welter (R-Morris) announced legislation today that would finally implement key recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s Performance Audit of the Quincy Veterans Home Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Both lawmakers said the implementation of the recommendations could have saved lives during the deadly LaSalle Veterans’ Home COVID-19 outbreak.
In March 2019, the Illinois Auditor General released its report outlining a series of recommendations for the Illinois Departments of Public Health (IDPH) and Veteran Affairs (IDVA) to strengthen internal policies and procedures. Those recommendations included:
• Ensuring a timely response for on-site assistance
• Improving communications between IDPH and IDVA personnel, and
• Implementing CDC recommendations following a confirmed outbreak.
During the legislative hearings into the LaSalle Veterans’ Home COVID-19 outbreak, an IDPH official confirmed IDPH still has no policy governing when the agency will make on-site visits. This lack of a clear policy persists even though IDPH has had nearly two years since the Auditor General’s report recommended that IDPH institute such a policy. As an IDPH official noted at a previous hearing, the failure to go on-site in a timely fashion negatively impacted the state’s response to the COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
“As with IDVA, IDPH must be held accountable, too. It’s the Pritzker Administration’s responsibility to ensure the safety of our veterans, but key recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s report were ignored, which led to fatal errors by the administration in their response to the deadly COVID outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home,” stated Sen. Rezin. “The Pritzker Administration had nine months to implement these recommendations before the pandemic began, yet they failed to do so with devastating consequences. They have had another three months to implement these recommendation since this tragic outbreak, yet again they still have not done so.”
In response to this failure, Sen. Rezin has filed Senate Bill 2251, which would implement the core recommendations from the Auditor General’s report. Senate Bill 2251 would do the following:
• Redefine the definition of an outbreak to include two or more individuals at a Veterans Home who have contracted an infectious disease within 48 hours of the first diagnosis;
• Require the home administrator or administrative staff to notify IDVA and IDPH as soon as an outbreak has occurred;
• Require IDVA and IDPH to conduct an on-site visit within one business day of being notified of an outbreak; and
• Require IDVA to post the findings of the on-site inspection on their website.
Had IDPH developed a policy, as recommended by the Auditor General, state public health officers would not have waited nearly two weeks to respond to the 2020 LaSalle Veterans’ Home outbreak. Sen. Rezin and Rep. Welter said the failure by IDPH to conduct such a visit led to a delay in discovering significant deficiencies and lapses in protocols, including failure to follow CDC guidelines, and the lack of effective supplies to safeguard against COVID spread, including improper hand sanitizer and face masks. By ignoring the Auditor General’s findings, the Pritzker Administration mismanaged the COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home.
“Safeguards must be put in place to ensure that our nation’s heroes are fully protected in any future public health crisis,” said Rep. Welter. “The fact is the tragedy at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home that claimed the lives of 36 veterans in the state’s care could have been prevented had the Administration acted beforehand to implement the recommendations from the Illinois Auditor General’s report on the Quincy Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, and had they not waited 12-days to conduct an on-site visit at LaSalle. By introducing this legislation today, we are putting the full weight of our efforts behind making the reforms we know Illinois needs to put the health and safety of our veterans first.”
In part because of this delayed response, 208 cases occurred with 36 deaths, making this the deadliest outbreak at a state-run facility in Illinois history.
The protocol of notifying the local public health department and leaving it up to those folks to contact the state has got to be changed. If we’ve learned anything from this pandemic, it’s that local public health departments are spotty at best.
* Press release…
Following the recent announcement of its effort to aid in restoring the American people’s confidence in the integrity of their free and fair elections, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) today released additional secretaries of state and state legislators who are serving on its Commission on Election Integrity. The RSLC is convening these leading policymakers in order to share and discuss voter-centric current laws and future reforms that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
“Restoring the public’s trust in our democracy may be a national debate right now, but the Constitution makes clear that improvements to our election laws need to be enacted by state leaders,” said RSLC President Dee Duncan. “We have assembled a group of strong leaders who offer a variety of perspectives on the best policies to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, and we look forward to continuing to serve as a hub of communication for them as they guide their colleagues across the country on how to tailor critical reforms to their respective states. While state Democrats defer to the radical federal legislative changes being pushed by liberals in Washington that will do irreparable damage to our elections, state Republicans are leading on this issue and are focused on producing commonsense results for the American people.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin is on the commission. It’s priority list is here.
* CBS 2…
With warmer weather just around the corner, boaters are counting on the state to finally do something about skyrocketing trailer fees.
Lawmakers are doubling down on efforts to reverse a 555 percent increase in license plate registration fees for some small trailers. […]
Borkowski saw our stories in early 2020 about annual license plate fees for small trailers jumping from $18 to $118 due to language in the state’s massive infrastructure bill.
We were assured at that time that lawmakers were working to reverse the hike.
“Our understanding was it was a drafting error, and it was never intended to be,” said state Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore).
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* Press release…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 1,143 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 20 additional deaths.
- Cook County: 1 female 60s, 2 males 70s, 6 males 80s, 1 male 90s
- Douglas County: 1 male 70s
- Henry County: 1 female 80s
- Iroquois County: 1 male 90s
- Lake County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90s
- Sangamon County: 1 female 60s
- St. Clair County: 1 female 60s
- Union County: 1 male 60s
- Will County: 1 female 80s
- Winnebago County: 1 female 70s
Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 1,187,839 cases, including 20,536 deaths, in 102 counties in Illinois. The age of cases ranges from younger than one to older than 100 years. Within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 42,234 specimens for a total of 18,178,487. As of last night, 1,288 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 308 patients were in the ICU and 148 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from February 22–28, 2021 is 2.4%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 22–28, 2021 is 2.7%.
A total of doses of 2,740,105 vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 443,700 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 3,183,805. A total of 2,756,831 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 319,393 for long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 77,876 doses. Yesterday, 50,897 doses were administered in Illinois.
*All data are provisional and will change. In order to rapidly report COVID-19 information to the public, data are being reported in real-time. Information is constantly being entered into an electronic system and the number of cases and deaths can change as additional information is gathered. For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.
* Finally…
The University of Illinois System received emergency use authorization (EUA) today from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for covidSHIELD, its innovative saliva-based COVID-19 test that was used on the U of I campuses to hold the virus in check by utilizing widespread testing with rapid results.
Under FDA guidelines, the EUA allows the U of I System to broadly expand its covidSHIELD testing beyond its universities. […]
The $20 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding released by Pritzker will provide a million tests across the state’s 12 public universities and 48 community colleges, under an agreement between the Illinois Department of Public Health and the U of I System. […]
The million tests will be allocated based on a formula developed by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Each university has determined how it will handle COVID-19 testing for the spring semester, as was the case during the fall, but SHIELD Illinois provides a proven option.
* Vox interviews Hilda Bastian, who has been consistently prescient on the pandemic for the past year…
I don’t think there’s been a pandemic quite like this because they were either that the thing went through and did its worst and left horrific death in its wake, or the smaller ones in more contained areas that are recent.
But this thing on this scale, while there’s this level of antibody-based treatments out there, and vaccines of different efficacy, and all of this stuff that could play in the favor of variants, this situation has never existed before.
I don’t think that the past tells us where this is going. [But] I believe the people who are saying that we appear to be on a course to eventually get to the point where we get vaccinated against this each year. The path to global eradication — through very high levels of vaccination with a high level of other suppression efforts — seems narrow. That could change, though, and I hope it does.
* WBEZ…
With millions of residents in Chicago to vaccinate, the city has prioritized restaurant workers in the so-called group 1c — which Chicago officials estimate won’t start getting vaccinated until March 29.
Subscribe to The COVID Report
Meanwhile, indoor dining is accelerating. Restaurants can now seat 40% of their total capacity or up to 50 people, whichever is fewer.
Officials say they may soon allow 50% capacity if COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline. As of Wednesday, the rolling 7-day average test positivity in Chicago was 3%.
Restaurant workers who talked to WBEZ said they agree some of the groups ahead of them — which include health care workers, the elderly, and frontline workers like teachers and grocery store workers — should be a priority.
But, they’re frustrated that indoor dining keeps getting expanded, increasing their risk to COVID-19 before they can be vaccinated.
Palmer pointed out that her husband, who works in a brewery, which is considered a manufacturing job, got his first dose — even though he only comes face-to-face with his masked coworkers. She doesn’t think it’s right for most restaurants to open up before workers have a chance to protect themselves.
“I’m angry at both the city and the bigger restaurant corporations because it seems like they are the ones pushing to be open, even without vaccines, and the city is allowing that,” she said. “I’m in the service industry, not the servant industry.”
* Tribune live blog headlines…
Outside Lincoln Elementary, doughnuts and face masks
Despite the CPS reopening, majority of parents are keeping kids home
1,143 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 20 additional deaths reported
‘Dehumanization’ of Chicago’s restaurant workers leaves them with a tough choice: COVID-19 risk or unemployment?
As some CPS families return to classrooms, others participate in ‘sick-out’ protest
Next on some parents’ wish list: a full-time return to in-person classes
Back to school, but not quite back to normal: ‘I pray that this works out so next fall, we will have a familiar first day of school’
Mayor: No one thought schools would be closed this long ‘but fate had another plan’
Restaurants say delivery has been both a blessing and a curse during the pandemic. What happens as eateries reopen?
Coronavirus testing in US has seen a sharp decline. Here are a few reasons why.
Lightfoot, CPS chief Jackson to visit North Side school, discuss reopening
CPS opens its schools Monday to the most students since last March. Is the system ready?
* Sun-Times live blog headlines…
Johnson & Johnson’s one-and-done vaccine arriving in Chicago this week, mayor says
It’s another back-to-school Monday for CPS
Near West Side’s profit lure outlasts the pandemic’s lull
Illinois’ daily caseload has surpassed 2,000 only three times in the last 15 days. Because of this, the state’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped to the lowest its been since June. On Sunday, that figure, which experts use to gauge the spread of the virus across the state, was 2.4%.
Pandemic makes obvious another great health threat to African Americans: obesity
Tensions over vaccine equity pit rural against urban America
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* Memo to DPI central committee members…
* Perkins Coie attorney Brian G. Svoboda…
You have asked under what circumstances a federal officeholder or candidate may serve as Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois (“the DPI”). The DPI maintains a federal account that raises and spends funds within the limits, restrictions and reporting requirements of federal campaign finance law. It also maintains a nonfederal account that raises and spends funds outside these same limits, restrictions and reporting requirements in connection with nonfederal elections. Federal law prohibits a federal officeholder or candidate from directly or indirectly establishing, financing, maintaining or controlling an entity that raises and spends funds outside of federal limits and restrictions in connection with nonfederal elections.
For an individual who is now a federal officeholder or candidate to serve as Chair of the DPI, one of the following events would need to occur:
1. The individual would need to resign from federal office and cease to be a federal candidate;
2. The DPI would need to cease raising and spending funds outside federal limits and restrictions; or
3. The DPI would need to curtail the Chair’s duties and powers so that he or she does not “establish, finance, maintain or control” the DPI for purposes of federal campaign finance law. While possible in theory, such action is impractical in fact. It would essentially turn the Chair into a purely honorary role, without power to direct large portions of the DPI’s activities. Because even such a restricted role would almost certainly result in a complaint to, and potentially an investigation by, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”), we would advise against this approach without an FEC advisory opinion approving the specific arrangement.
The full memo is here.
The vast majority of money raised by DPI is under non-federal rules.
I’ll be asking for responses.
…Adding… My favorite comment so far is from somebody who said he was more interested in what Speaker Pelosi’s attorneys say. Um, Perkins Coie works for the DCCC. That firm represents basically everybody in national Democratic politics, including Sen. Durbin.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Response…
“A suggestion Congresswoman Robin Kelly is ineligible to be the Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois is false and offensive. Federal and state elected officials follow all applicable election laws. Congresswoman Robin Kelly can be and would be the best person to lead the Democratic Party of Illinois as its next chair.”
“Illinois Democrats watched Georgia Democrats execute a winning strategy in November - led by their Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, Congresswoman Nikema Williams. Georgia Democrats were energized, mobilized and followed the law to big wins. Illinois Democrats can too. But it starts with new ethical and transparent leadership for a new day for Illinois Democrats — that’s with Robin Kelly as our next Chair.”
Pointing to someone else who might also be in violation is not a solid defense, but OK.
*** UPDATE 2 *** US Rep. Kelly has released a letter from attorney Michael C. Dorf. Most important part…
In its most basic interpretation, Section 300.62 would prevent you from raising or spending soft money in state and local elections. In addition, the DPI would be prohibited from spending soft money to the extent that you directly or indirectly “controlled” DPI. […]
I believe that policies and procedures can be constructed to permit you to serve as Chair within the provisions of federal law. These will include the delegation by you to others of certain spending authority as well as the erection of firewalls for designated activities to ensure that you are not directly or indirectly controlling decision making in those activities. Your ability to raise funds for use in state and local elections will be limited, but your ability to ascend the “bully pulpit” to advocate for Democratic policies, principles, and candidates on behalf of DPI should not be impinged.
So, a party chair who can’t raise or spend money. Pure figurehead.
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Teacher shortage persists
Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Capitol News Illinois on the teacher shortage…
Education researchers in Illinois say the reasons for the teacher shortage are numerous and complex, but it boils down to the fact that there are more veteran teachers around the state retiring or leaving the profession than there are new teachers coming out of university schools of education.
James Anderson, dean of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Education, said in an interview that for a variety of reasons, including the cost of a college education and the salaries teachers earn after graduating, teaching has become a less attractive career than many other professions.
“You graduate from high school, you come to college to become a teacher, you borrow a significant amount of money along the way, then you go into the profession with a very low salary,” he said. “And then you try to pay off your student debt and perform your job as a teacher. And that’s a very difficult invitation to accept.”
The minimum wage for a teacher in Illinois is $34,576 for the 2021-2022 school year and is scheduled to increase under state law to $40,000 by the 2023-2024 school year.
An analysis of the survey results showed a strong correlation between the severity of the shortage and the average teacher salary in a given district. As teacher salaries increase, superintendents report less of a problem with teacher shortages.
In other words, treat your people well and make sure they can earn a decent living.
The full survey is here.
…Adding… Press release…
Golden Apple, an Illinois nonprofit committed to preparing, supporting, and mentoring aspiring teachers, is working to resolve this crisis. Golden Apple prepares future teachers to serve in schools and communities in need, resulting in not only adding more teachers to our classrooms, but also increasing diversity within the profession. Over half of Golden Apple’s Scholars are teachers of color, compared to only 15% of Illinois teachers statewide.
Golden Apple President Alan Mather released the following statement re the report:
“Today’s report is sadly no surprise to those of us who work every day to support and prepare future teachers to serve in schools- and districts-of-need. Over the past few years, there’s been a series of taking two steps forward and then one step back; the shortage continues despite programs like our Scholars and Accelerators that are boosting the number of teachers, especially teachers of color, entering Illinois classrooms. We have willing partners in State government who recognize the teacher shortage cliff we face, but Illinois can’t go it alone; the federal government needs to join in this critically important fight for our children’s futures.”
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* Press release…
The February University of Illinois Flash Index rose to 96.6 from its 96.3 level in January. Last year’s February 2020 reading of 105.7 was the last reading above the 100-dividing line that indicates growth before the COVID-19 crisis caused the index to plummet to 92.8.
“Although the Flash Index does not predict the future, most signs suggest that both Illinois and the nation are on the verge of a strong economic expansion,” said University of Illinois economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the monthly index for the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA). “The shutdowns and the threat of the virus suppressed demand. The return to near-normal anticipated in the next few months with the availability of various vaccines and the likelihood of additional federal stimulus spending are expected to unleash some of that pent-up demand.”
Like last month, the indicators for Illinois were mixed, with unemployment increasing while tax revenues remained strong. All three components of the index (corporate, individual income and sales tax receipts) exceeded the levels of the same month in 2020 after adjusting for inflation even though last year’s numbers were not impacted by the health emergency.
The Flash Index is normally a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income as estimated from receipts for corporate income, individual 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 February 28, 2021. Ad hoc adjustments have been made to deal with the timing of the tax receipts resulting from state and Federal changes in payment dates beginning in March.
* Graph…
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DoIT does it again
Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Center Square…
Personal information of nearly 9,000 Illinois families was sent by the state to the wrong mailing address in November and December last year. The state says they’re working to ensure the error doesn’t happen again.
The Illinois Department of Central Management Services said Friday that a change of address registry from the USPS was matched with an out-of-date client file by a state employee.
“The resulting file was loaded into IES, the State’s eligibility system, and incorrectly changed the address for 8,848 [Health and Family Services] and [Illinois Department of Human Services] households,” according to a news release. “As a result of the error, in late November and December 2020, notices were mailed to 8,848 households at incorrect addresses. Notices were sent to the right customer name at the wrong customer address.”
Those notices may have included names, case numbers, names of dependents, birth dates and even confidential medical information.
“Of the 8,848 notices that were mailed, one notice included a complete Social Security number, and five notices included a complete bank account number,” the agency said. “To date, the Departments are unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of personal information as a result of the incident.”
I checked with the state and was told “The data matching error occurred during a National Change of Address process executed by a DoIT employee.
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Chicago GOP censures Kinzinger
Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Lynn Sweet…
Several Illinois county GOP organizations and the Chicago Republican Party have censured Kinzinger in the wake of his impeachment vote. The Chicago GOP party vote on Feb. 23 was among 34 ward committeemen; the organization has 16 of those 50 ward spots unfilled.
What’s noteworthy is that the Illinois Republican Party is not pursuing a Kinzinger censure.
According to the GOP party spokesman, the view of the new state GOP party chair, Don Tracy, is that the state party “will not be censuring Congressman Kinzinger. His goal is to unite the party and stop the circular firing squad.”
* Rick Pearson…
“Darkness has replaced light. Conspiracy has replaced truth. Division has replaced unity and worst of all, courage is fading and fear is rising,” Kinzinger said in a new video on behalf of his anti-Trump PAC.
“Rather than dispel the fear, most of our leaders stoke it. Gone are the days of inspiration. Now they amplify fear for their own selfish gain. Yet what’s good for them is bad for the nation,” said Kinzinger, who turned 43 on Saturday. “Division is widening. Anger is growing. Fear creates more fear, and it leads to the conflict that will tear America apart. Enough is enough.”
Kinzinger’s vote to impeach Trump and subsequent actions to take on Trump supporters have earned him a sanction of disapproval from the Illinois GOP and censure motions by county GOP organizations within his 16th Congressional District. He also now has an announced 2022 primary opponent, Catalina Lauf of Woodstock, who finished third in an unsuccessful bid last year for the GOP nomination in the 14th Congressional District.
Of Lauf, Kinzinger said that anyone declaring their candidacy against him now, so early in the campaign cycle and before new congressional district boundaries are drawn reflecting the 2020 federal census, are “making it clear that they have no interest in representing the people they live with. They’re more interested in representing the interests of a man.”
The video is here.
* Press release received yesterday…
Earlier this week, at a Zoom meeting of the Chicago Republican Party Central Committee, a resolution to censure Illinois Congressional Rep. Adam Kinzinger was presented, discussed and voted upon. The resolution passed and is presented below.
RESOLUTION OF THE CHICAGO REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE
WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump was impeached by the United States House of Representatives without justification as there was not a proper investigation of the causes of the January 6, 2021 riot at the United States Capitol; and, Whereas President Trump was denied basic due process rights at the hasty and hyper-partisan impeachment proceedings conducted in the House of Representatives; and,
WHEREAS, subsequent and ongoing investigations of the riot have established that many of the unlawful activities were premeditated having been planned in advance of January 6, 2021 and therefore were not incited by President Trump’s speech delivered on that date; and,
WHEREAS, the resulting impeachment trial in the United States Senate was unconstitutional as the Senate lacked proper jurisdiction over a former President; and,
WHEREAS President Donald J. Trump was nonetheless acquitted by the Senate despite the unethical conduct of the House Managers throughout the trial; and,
WHEREAS, United States Representative Adam Kinzinger from the 16th Congressional District of Illinois has repeatedly engaged in conduct injurious to Republican Party harmony and unity in terms of his wholly unwarranted criticisms and defamatory attacks upon President Trump throughout the impeachment hearings and the trial before the United States Senate;
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE CHICAGO REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE:
RESOLVED, that Congressman Adam Kinzinger shall be and hereby is censured by this Committee; and
FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chair is directed to transmit this Resolution to Representative Kinzinger and publicize the Resolution by means of an official press release to Illinois media outlets.
I certify that the above resolution was approved by affirmative vote of the Ward Committeepersons of the Chicago Republican Central Committee of the City of Chicago on February 23, 2021.
Stephen F. Boulton
Chair of the Committee
…Adding… The Chicago GOP is inconsequential in local races, but it has an important place in statewide bids…
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Today’s hero
Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WCIA…
One veteran is celebrating after donating his 50th gallon of blood.
Don Schaefer has been donating pints since he was on tour in Germany back in the 1950s.
As of today, he’s donated blood 402 times. The Red Cross in Charleston honored Schaefer with his very own plaque and banner, but Schaefer says the most rewarding thing is knowing his blood could be saving a person’s life.
* Mr. Schaefer has actually upped his game this century. Flashback to 2009…
Donald Schaefer’s family gathered around him Sunday afternoon to celebrate a special milestone.
This milestone was not a birthday, anniversary or retirement; it was the Charleston resident’s 200th donation of blood to the American Red Cross. […]
[American Red Cross District Recruiting Manager Garry Allison] said a unit of blood is equivalent to a pint, so Schaefer has given the equivalent of 25 gallons of blood over the years to the Red Cross. He said each unit is divided into red blood cells, platelets and plasma, so Schaefer’s 200 donations could have helped save the lives of up to 600 people.
The average donor gives blood once a year, although they can give blood every 56 days, Allison said.
“It is people like (Schaefer) that make what I do each and every day worthwhile,” Allison said.
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* Background is here if you need it. Pearson…
The contest for Illinois Democratic Party chairman is down to two candidates after state Sen. Cristina Castro dropped her bid Sunday and her supporters sided with U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly over Ald. Michelle Harris. […]
Despite Sunday’s shift, Harris still holds the early lead over Kelly in securing the votes needed to replace Madigan, who resigned the post last week.
With Gov. J.B. Pritzker in her corner, the veteran 8th Ward alderman so far has public support from party leaders who represent about 44% of the weighted vote, while Kelly of Matteson has nearly 19%, including the 5% Castro had collected.
It’s not just a race between these two candidates. It’s also a race to 50 percent plus one weighted vote…
* The Kelly folks were demanding a vote this coming Saturday, but the acting DPI chair, a Harris supporter, is calling a meeting instead for this Wednesday night. Just saying, but you usually call the vote when you have the votes rounded up…
The Sun-Times has learned the vote will be held during a virtual meeting of the state central committee members at 6 p.m. Chicago time on Wednesday.
According to a notice sent to members on Sunday night by party executive director Mary Morrissey, “the meeting will also be livestreamed so that Democrats across the state can be present for the meeting.”
* Not a bad question…
Kelly, you will recall, demanded a probe last week of some transfers Madigan did with the party’s federal money before his resignation took effect.
…Adding… Back when Mike Madigan and Gary LaPaille took the state party away from Vince Demuzio, Vince sent out a lot of press releases announcing endorsements of his candidacy by people who didn’t have a vote on the state central committee. Kelly has been doing much the same thing the past week…
Today, Congressman Sean Casten, Congressman Mike Quigley, Congressman Brad Schneider, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Congressman Bill Foster announced their endorsement of Congresswoman Robin Kelly for Chair of the Illinois Democratic Party.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch gave his standard reply to a question about redistricting reform last week when queried at the Chicago Economic Club, saying different people have different opinions about what a “fair map” actually is.
But then the new House speaker leaned a bit harder into the concept of protecting minority rights when redrawing the new legislative district maps than I’ve heard him do in the past.
“I think a fair map is a map that reflects the diversity of our state,” Welch said. “Diversity is the strength of Illinois. Look at the Democratic Caucus, for instance. Diversity is the strength of our caucus. If you look at a map and it doesn’t reflect the diversity of the state, I don’t know how anyone can call that a fair map.”
While former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s folks often talked about that very issue, the media tended to ignore their argument because it was emanating from the widely proclaimed Gerrymanderer in Chief. Illinois now has its first ever Black House speaker with Welch, and that likely will mean much more focus on this particular topic.
The House Black Caucus did quite well with the 2011 remap, considering Black population loss in the previous decade, and undoubtedly it will do whatever it can to hold onto its position during the coming map-drawing process, whatever that process entails. The chamber’s Latinx Caucus made some gains a decade ago, but it and the Asian American/Pacific Islander/Native American demographic still have a long ways to go before they reach any sort of parity with their U.S. Census numbers.
As a whole, the Illinois House is somewhat more diverse than the state. The House is 69.5% white, while the state is 76.8% white. The House is 18.6% Black, which is more than the state’s 14.6% Black population. But the House is just 8.5% Latino, including last week’s addition of new Rep. Angie Guerrero Cuellar, which is less than half of Illinois’ 18.5%. And though 6.6% of Illinois is AAPI/Native American, just 3.4% of House members are in that demographic.
And since Welch mentioned the diversity of his party’s caucus, it’s now 50.7% white, while the 2016 demographic Census estimates of House districts his Democrats represent shows 48% of those residents are white. That’s pretty close.
However, 30.1% of the House Democratic Caucus is Black, even though Black residents make up just 20% of the population in districts represented by House Democrats, according to Census estimates.
Compare that to the 13.7% of the House Democratic Caucus that is Latino — much less than the actual Latino population of 23% in House districts represented by Democrats. And while 5.5% of the House Democratic Caucus is AAPI/Native American, that demographic comprises 9% of the population in House Democrat districts.
To be fair, making nearly a quarter of House Democratic seats into Latino-led districts and almost one in ten AAPI/Native American-led districts probably will not be possible because of population concentration or the lack thereof. But whatever the final number, Speaker Welch has quite a delicate balancing act ahead of him.
While we’re on the topic of reform, Welch also said last week that the required economic interest disclosure statement for legislators and others in government is “a worthless piece of document.”
Responding to a question about ethics reforms he supports, the new House speaker said the legislature’s Commission on Ethics Reform was a “good start,” though the group has barely got started. He also said Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposals were a “good start,” adding, “We need to take a look at many of those things and go from there.”
That’s when he mentioned the Statement of Economic Interest. “You know, it confuses us,” he said of those who have to file the statement every year, disclosing some forms of outside income. “So imagine what it does to the layperson.”
Some legislators have claimed to have been confused about what they should disclose after stories were written about income they didn’t disclose. While some of that was just excuse-making, there are some legitimate gripes about the vagueness of the law. On the other hand, the public might wonder why the recently retired Senate Republican leader didn’t legally have to disclose an interest in a video gaming company.
Welch also said the General Assembly should take a look at other things like legislators working as lobbyists and revolving-door prohibitions. We’ll see if he pulls any of this off.
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* Sun-Times…
The Biden White House said Sunday that John Lausch will continue as the U.S. Attorney based in Chicago, confirming the Chicago Sun-Times report last week that he won’t be forced to resign.
President Joe Biden’s team wanted all top federal prosecutors to resign as of Sunday, with only two exceptions. Lausch became the third, with the Biden White House reversal.
“In very limited exceptions, including the Northern District of Illinois, the administration has opted not to seek new candidates for U.S. Attorney positions at this time,” said a White House official Sunday who did not want to named.
* Tribune…
Lausch’s office is investigating Commonwealth Edison’s alleged bribery scheme to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to then-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s loyalists in exchange for his help with state legislation. Madigan has not been charged with wrongdoing, but the scandal helped topple him from power.
The White House statement Sunday was the first official comment by the Biden administration on the situation. The White House did not elaborate on the reason for the change of heart and stopped short of confirming that Lausch would stay on until a new U.S. attorney is installed.
*** UPDATE *** Seems pleased…
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* From the Guardian…
An internal document seen by the Guardian shows that at least 14% of Uline’s corporate workforce has tested positive for Covid-19 since last April, compared to 8.7% of the population in Kenosha county, where the company’s corporate office is located.
Nearly 19% of the company’s Illinois workplace has tested positive, 23% of its California-based workforce, and nearly 27% of its workforce in Texas.
One complaint filed to federal worker safety regulators, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which was received in July 2020, described workplace hazards including: social distancing guidance not being enforced; lax mask-wearing inside the office; symptomatic employees being allowed to continue to work without face coverings; and employees being forced to return to work in close contact with others even when they could feasibly work from home. […]
Workers at Uline’s corporate offices are also made to follow strict rules on attire, including, for women, making sure their suit jacket is closed when walking through the building, and wearing pantyhose with skirts from November to April.
Priorities.
* And I see Mr. Uihlein is continuing his fabulous winning ways…
Richard Uihlein has nearly single-handedly financed an Illinois-based political action committee with a $24.5m donation in the 2020 election cycle. The group, called Restoration Pac, spent nearly $19m attacking Democratic candidates in the last election cycle – in eight races. Seven of the eight Democrats the group attacked, including Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff, and Raphael Warnock, won their races.
The committee’s 2020 won-loss record is here.
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Open thread
Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sigh…
When I lived in Chicago, some of the coldest beer in town was sold out of the South Shore Golf Course parking lot.
Anyway, keep it local and keep it polite. Thanks.
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* Significant move…
* Press release…
Ald. Michelle Harris Announces More State Central Committee Member Endorsements for Party Chair
“I’m honored to announce the endorsement of additional colleagues in my campaign for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois,” Ald. Michelle Harris said.
The following State Central Committee (SCC) members have endorsed Ald. Michelle Harris for Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois:
Hon. Bobby Rush, CD-1
Hon. Michael J. Madigan, CD-03
Hon. John Cullerton, CD-5
Hon. Cynthia Santos, CD-5
Hon. Danny Davis, CD-7
Hon. Karen Yarbrough, CD-7
Hon. Michael Cudzik, CD-8
Hon. Jerry Costello, CD-12
Hon. Kathy West, CD-12
Hon. Jayne Mazzotti, CD-13
Hon. Brandon Phelps, CD-15
Hon. Vivian Robinson, CD-15
Hon. Tom Walsh, CD-16
Hon. Don Johnston, CD-17
“I am grateful for the confidence of these members of the SCC in my ability to lead the Democratic Party of Illinois and will continue to prioritize the input and seek the support of all SCC members throughout this process,” Ald. Michelle Harris continued. “We were elected to represent the interests of the people within the party and only together can we do that to move the party forward. The Democratic Party of Illinois is one that must include Democrats from across the state and if elected, I am committed to collaborating with every SCC member to ensure the party is one that every Democrat can call home.”
* Weighted votes…
[This is an updated list.]
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