As part of his continuing plan to carefully unwind the state’s COVID-19 executive orders, Governor Pritzker today updated testing requirements for school and childcare personnel, rescinding the requirement that unvaccinated employees in these sectors test twice weekly. This change goes into effect Friday and is made on the advice of medical experts, based on their careful consideration of the current conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and is in line with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance.
“Vaccination continues to be the most effective tool we have against COVID-19, and I’m proud that millions of Illinoisans have taken advantage of these life-saving vaccines – they have given us the ability to adjust these requirements,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I continue to urge everyone in the state to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters, including getting the recently released bivalent booster shot. Although the current state of the pandemic is very different than it was two years ago, we still need to protect the most vulnerable members of our community as we continue to be responsive to the changing challenges and evolutions of this virus.”
“As our approach to the pandemic continues to evolve, we are easing some COVID-19 restrictions in our schools and daycare centers,” said Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “It remains our continued goal to address the health risks of COVID-19, but current conditions of the pandemic are different from those of the last two years. There are now many tools available for protecting our students, teachers and the general public, including the latest updated bivalent vaccines and effective treatment options for children and adults. It continues to be important to remain home if you have COVID-19 symptoms, per CDC recommendations. Broad access to COVID-19 testing will remain a critical part of our strategy. To ensure ready access to testing, IDPH has offered one million rapid COVID-19 tests to schools for use by students and staff at home.”
The CDC no longer requires routine testing in schools or childcare settings regardless of the vaccination status of the staff member. However, they continue to recommend schools and other congregate educational settings consider instituting testing at times of high risk in the community, such as upon return from breaks or after large indoor events. Illinois schools and childcare centers are urged to consider these suggestions when planning testing and prevention strategies.
Free and accessible testing options are widely available to school staff. IDPH made 1 million free rapid tests available to schools earlier this year. 160 school districts have opted into the SHIELD testing program, performing regular surveillance testing for schools at no cost to the district. Almost 50,000 tests have been performed by SHIELD since the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year.
Vaccines continue to be the strongest protection against COVID-19 for all ages. Students, teachers, and staff are all strongly encouraged to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters to prevent serious illness and even death. Information on finding vaccines and booster shots can be found at www.vaccines.gov.
“We have said all along that we should be following the science. Unlike earlier in the pandemic, we now have vaccines, vaccines to combat the newest variants, treatments and our hospitals are no longer overloaded,” said Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin. “Because of all of this, we agree with the governor’s decision to lift the vaccine or test mandate. The safety of students, and all those who work with them in our schools across the state, has always been our number one concern. We are glad to see so many smiling faces as we begin the 2022-23 school year.”
“Throughout the pandemic, Governor Pritzker has made the tough decisions necessary to keep all Illinoisans healthy and safe,” said Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery. “By extending the emergency proclamation and eliminating the “vaccine or test” mandate, he is continuing to prioritize safety while ensuring our state adapts to changing circumstances and continues down the road to recovery.”
“Educators across Illinois have spent the past two years prioritizing students’ learning and well-being. Their dedication brought students safely back to the classroom,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala. “With the knowledge and insights we have gained about COVID-19 and how to prevent its spread, Illinois can now safely lift the requirement for school personnel to be vaccinated or tested weekly. We are so grateful to reach yet another milestone in pandemic recovery and thank all of our educators, administrators, and other school personnel for the vital role they continue to play in keeping our communities safe.”
Two people were killed and seven injured in a mass shooting in Chicago’s Washington Park on Tuesday night. With at least 43 shell casings recovered at the scene, police said an automatic weapon was likely used in the attack. The public is being urged to help find the shooter.
This week’s incident is the 30th mass shooting to take place in the state of Illinois since Memorial Day of this year, which in total have taken 23 lives and injured 146 people according to the Gun Violence Archive.
“Mass shootings have taken place in Illinois once every four days since Memorial Day — a horrible reality that we must not accept. Legislative support has grown for a ban on weapons of war like the ones likely used in the shooting at Washington Park — assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, which make instances of violence exponentially more deadly,” said Kathleen Sances, President and CEO of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC.
“G-PAC continues to push state leaders to pass these common-sense policies at their earliest opportunity. In order to do so, we must also work to protect and expand the gun safety majorities in the Illinois General Assembly so that this legislation and other violence prevention measures can be passed and signed into law. We are encouraged by the support of state leaders and lawmakers thus far and will continue our direct advocacy to make Illinois a safer state.”
Q: There are claims that the bill prevents police officers from forcibly removing a trespasser from one’s property. … Is that claim true or false?
Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis): Well, I think it’s at least partially true, if not completely true. That relates to a trespasser on property, not inside the residence, but on property. And it says that that person is not subject to arrest unless they are presenting a risk of the safety of an individual or the community. So if an individual is simply on property without authorization or trespass. The police are simply to cite and then leave. […]
Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell: I think that Representative Windhorst is right that part of that legislation says that law enforcement should not arrest for the lowest level offenses. But the next line gives law enforcement the sole authority to make that decision. And it’s also important to note that that piece of legislation was actually taken from recommendations from a group of states attorneys, court system actors and prosecutors in a report that was released in April 2020. So that gives law enforcement the flexibility to actually make that decision themselves.
* This is from the April 2020 Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices Final Report, mentioned by Mitchell, on the trespassing language…
Law enforcement shall issue a citation in lieu of custodial arrest, upon proper identification, for those accused of Class B and C traffic and criminal misdemeanor offenses, or of petty and business offenses, who pose no obvious threat to the community or any person, or who have no obvious medical or mental health issues that pose a risk to their own safety. Those released on citation shall be scheduled into court within 21 days. Subsequent court reminder notification shall be provided via mail, electronically, text or telephone.
(a-1) Law enforcement shall issue a citation in lieu of custodial arrest, upon proper identification, for those accused of traffic and Class B and C criminal misdemeanor offenses, or of petty and business offenses, who pose no obvious threat to the community or any person, or who have no obvious medical or mental health issues that pose a risk to 25 their own safety. Those released on citation shall be scheduled in to court within 21 days.
Mitchell says the statute gives law enforcement officers discretion to interpret what an “obvious threat” is. Somebody camped out on a person’s porch and won’t leave after being ordered to by the police could easily be declared a threat, in other words.
But even Democrats have told me they are looking for ways to tighten up the language in the fall veto session. We’ll see.
Whatever we have to change we will change. I want to again say that we have committed to making sure that this will make Illinois safe and also furthers justice in this state. We’ve got to get it right and it will take some tweaking over time. We’ve already tweaked some, we’ll continue to do that where it’s necessary.
* Anyway, back to the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices Final Report on this topic…
Arrest is an essential and integral function of effective policing. However, the practice is far more intrusive to individual freedom, subjecting a person to potential pretrial detention or unnecessary conditions of pretrial release. Citation in lieu of arrest authorizes law enforcement to release a subject, in appropriate non-violent cases, with a date to appear in court, rather than being subjected to formalized arrest and booking procedures.
The American Bar Association and International Association of Chiefs of Police foster a policy favoring issuance of citations. “It should be the policy of every law enforcement agency to issue citations in lieu of arrest or continued custody to the maximum extent consistent with the effective enforcement of the law.” Nationwide, law enforcement departments utilize some form of citation in lieu of arrest. Approximately 87% of police agencies participate in this form of policing with 80% of these jurisdictions having ten (10) years or more experience using this arrest alternative.
Republican Sen. John Curran and Republican Rep. Dan Ugaste were on that commission, as was a representative of the Illinois Association Chiefs of Police and former US Attorney Rodger Heaton.
* I asked Jordan Abudayyeh at the governor’s office for comment…
Under the SAFE-T Act, law enforcement officers can continue to use their judgement to arrest a person that is a threat to the community.
The statute clearly states, “law enforcement shall issue a citation in lieu of custodial arrest, upon proper identification, for those accused of traffic and Class B and C criminal misdemeanor offenses, or of petty and business offenses, who pose no obvious threat to the community or any person, or who have no obvious medical or mental health issues that pose a risk to their own safety.”
If the law enforcement community needs more clarity regarding their ability to arrest people who are posing a threat to other people or themselves then our administration is happy to work with them and lawmakers to make that even more clear.
* The reason I asked for some clarification is because the trespassing issue has become a hot topic of discussion. Sen. Darren Bailey said this on Dan Proft’s WIND show last week…
The simple offense of trespassing in your house, on your yard, in your business. The law enforcement can only stand there, by this SAFE-T Act and write a warning. That’s all that they can do. They cannot forcefully remove these people. So we’ve got a pretty dire situation on our hands
Law enforcement do have discretion to remove the person from the location of the alleged criminal activity, and then cite and release the person from another location.
Illinois should aim to build up a now $1 billion rainy-day fund by more than $2 billion to manage through future economic crises, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza said in pressing for passage this fall of legislation that would funnel more revenue to the once-barren fund.
States on average hold reserves that would allow them to manage for 35 days. Illinois only this year tipped the scales over the $1 billion mark — reaching $1.039 billion — but that equates to just one week worth of operations, Mendoza said.
A target of $3.25 billion would still fall short of the 35-day mark, but Mendoza — whose office manages state bill, debt, and pension payments — said it would provide sufficient cushion to manage paying obligations during future economic downturns.
“Really, that money needs to be there in case of another economic collapse through no fault of our own,” Mendoza said during an address to the Chicago City Club Wednesday. That level would allow the office to reasonably manage bill payments. “I’m not going to feel comfortable until we are at about 7.5% in reserves.”
Comptroller Susana Mendoza told a crowd at The City Club of Chicago that Illinois has cut its backlog of unpaid bills from $16.7 billion in 2017 to just a fraction of that today. […]
She also bragged about Illinois’ rainy day fund.
“It’s about $1.039 billion as compared to the less than $60,000 that I inherited,” Mendoza said. “[But] even a billion-dollars sound like a lot, but that’s a week’s worth of reserves.”
By comparison, Wisconsin’s rainy day fund is nearly four billion-dollars.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate rose +0.1 percentage point to 4.5 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +4,100 in August, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The July monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +31,200 to +35,000 jobs. The July unemployment rate was unchanged from the preliminary report, remaining at 4.4 percent. The August payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
In August, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment include: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+4,500), Construction (+3,500), and Government (+1,500). The industry sectors that reported the largest monthly payroll declines include: Manufacturing (-3,200), Professional and Business Services (-2,600), and Information (-500). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +0.8 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for August, which was 3.7 percent, up +0.2 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -1.5 percentage points from a year ago when it was at 6.0 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +239,700 jobs, with gains across nearly all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases include: Leisure and Hospitality (+58,600), Professional and Business Services (+51,900), and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+50,800). The Mining sector reported no change in payroll employment over-the-year. In August, total nonfarm payrolls were up +4.1 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +4.0 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was up from the prior month, a +1.1 percent increase to 290,200 and was down -23.0 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was almost unchanged (0.0 percent) over-the-month and up +2.0 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
In Illinois last year, 7% of residents — about 875,000 people — lacked health insurance coverage, according to U.S. Census data released Thursday. […]
Nationally, about 8.6% of people were uninsured last year, according to data from the Census’ American Community Survey. […]
The percentages of Black and Latino people in Illinois without insurance were much higher than the percentage of white people lacking coverage. About 7.9% of Black Illinois residents and 15.8% of Hispanic or Latino people didn’t have insurance in 2021, compared with only 4.3% of white people. […]
In Illinois, the percentage of people uninsured, by income, was highest among those who had household incomes of $25,000 to $49,999. About 10.8% of people in that income group in Illinois were uninsured.
* Related…
* Education advocate Jitu Brown learned the fight for equity in Chicago: Brown started KOCO’s youth development and youth leadership programs. As he worked with the students, schools began to take an interest. They wanted, in particular, Black men to bring their experience and knowledge into the classrooms. So Brown did. And as he did, the inequity in the schools became quite clear. “You’re working with these young people, but you’re noticing that at this school, there’s one computer in the entire class and there’s no air conditioning,” he recalled. “Then I’m also going to schools and other communities and I’m working with student councils. You walk in and the school is bright. The classrooms are small. They got world language. They have counselors. They have teacher aides in every class.”
The elimination of carbon-emitting power plants in Illinois over the next 20 years will leave the Chicago area without enough generating capacity to meet its needs, forcing the region to import electricity from other states for the first time in modern memory.
That’s the conclusion of a new report by PJM Interconnection, the power-grid manager for a multistate region from northern Illinois to the mid-Atlantic. PJM blames the closing of fossil fuel plants—which to date has been driven by poor economics but soon will be mandated by the state’s year-old Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA—for a projected capacity gap that will force the area to look elsewhere for power by 2030 at the latest. PJM further concludes that billions in spending on new and upgraded power transmission lines will be required to bring power to Chicago from Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. […]
“The [Pritzker] administration finds this study incredibly myopic and is confident that as we work to implement the goals of CEJA over the next two decades there will be enough clean energy options for consumers and the grid—it’s exactly why the bill incentivizes the production of clean energy and the market has already moved away from fossil fuel options on its own,” spokeswoman Jordan Abuddayeh says in an email. […]
“Based on the additional clean, renewable energy expected to come online as a result of CEJA and the amount of power nuclear plants in northern Illinois can produce, we project that there will be enough generation at nearly all times of the year to continue to reliably meet our customers’ needs without importing power from other regions,” ComEd spokesman Paul Elsberg says in an email. “While it’s possible there will be times in future years when some generation will need to be imported to meet demand when it’s at its highest, this will depend on many factors—among them, how much solar energy, wind energy and battery storage is added to the power grid, and when.”
* And that’s not all. Earlier this week, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow issued a preminary injunction against the Illinois EPA to stop its enforcement of an annual emissions cap that predated the actual implementation of the rules. The retroactive rule meant that Elwood Energy LLC did not have “fair notice” of “how its 2021 conduct was regulated until IEPA issued its rules in January 2022.” The company was asked to generate more electricity than normal in the fall of last year and that generation had left precious little space under the retroactive cap imposed in January. The company claimed it was losing millions of dollars because it could not operate. The ruling is here.
“By requiring compliance four months in the past,” Grischow wrote, “the rule penalizes Elwood and harms its business, in violation of the Federal and Illinois Due Process Clauses.”
React from the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition…
We’re not surprised that fossil fuel companies would challenge Illinois’ new clean energy direction. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act’s steady path to eliminating pollution from gas and coal plants is gradual, achievable, good for public health, and essential to becoming a leader in the clean energy economy.
These provisions were rigorously reviewed by experts. The preliminary injunction would allow a 1,700-MW methane gas plant to flout CEJA’s emissions limitations because JPower’s Elwood gas plant has claimed it cannot accurately calculate how much nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and other harmful pollutants it emits.
We are confident the provisions will ultimately be upheld by the judicial system and thwart Elwood’s efforts to avoid compliance. We look forward to achieving CEJA’s bold goals of decarbonizing our electric sector and creating good, equitable jobs and economic opportunities in the clean energy sources that will power Illinois in the future.
…Adding… On a related note, here’s a press release…
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved the Dakota Access Pipeline and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline expansion in the Prairie State today.
The approval comes after a court decision vacating the previous approval, because the prior approval did not demonstrate how the expansion benefited Illinoisians and the ICC failed to consider the troubling record of the pipeline operator.
In January 2022, the Illinois 4th District Appellate Court vacated the approval of the pipeline expansion and remanded it back to the ICC. The suit was brought by Save Our Illinois Land (SOIL), the Sierra Club, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), and area landowner William Klingele.
Following are quotes from the litigants:
“This decision shows the ICC’s continued favoritism toward business interests at the expense of Illinois citizens. It endangers us all,” said Deni Mathews, chairperson of Save Our Illinois Land. “Instead of evaluating the full impact of such projects, we are left to grapple with the continued effect of carbon pollution on our air, water, and soil. Carbon emissions increase while our earth’s climate systems are providing clear evidence that we must stop.”
“In signing off yet again on this reckless expansion of the Dakota Access pipeline, the ICC is putting critical water resources at even greater risk,” said Catherine Collentine, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign. “From the beginning, DAPL has threatened clean drinking water and trampled on Indigenous rights. Allowing even more dirty oil to run through it could be disastrous for communities along its route. We will continue to work to shut down this dangerous oil pipeline altogether.”
“This pipeline expansion threatens our health, our climate, and Illinois’ waters,” said J.C. Kibbey, IL clean energy advocate at NRDC. “There are few, if any, benefits to the people of this state, but the massive risks to Illinois are clear. While we bear the risk, big out-of-state fossil fuel companies reap the profits.”
* I heard this morning that ABC7 and WGN had followed the lead of NBC5 and stopped airing the “Scream” ad paid for by the People Who Play By The Rules PAC. I asked the committee if this was true and they confirmed it today. Here’s Dan Proft…
All the network affiliates approved the ad. Then came the push back from the targets the ‘news’ stations serve, Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot, and other enthusiasts of lawlessness and unchecked violence and down came my ad. It began with NBC and, since all these network affiliate executives share a brain, the rest of the stations, with one notable exception, followed. The video of the attack is perfectly fine for use by the ‘news’ stations if it’s in furtherance of their salacious ‘if it bleeds it leads’ coda. But if someone takes the attack in question, same video, and connects the dots to the people who’ve abdicated their responsibilities for providing public safety, well, then down it must come. It’s indicative of the lengths the Chicago Democrat Media Complex will go to protect their own–and I’m not talking about their viewers.
Discuss.
Also, as we’ve discussed before, the video does appear to have been altered.
*** UPDATE *** From the victim’s attorney…
Rich – I represent the victim in the Scream Ad that Dan Proft has been running and I just wanted to note that the victim was never asked or consulted by them regarding the use of that video. Not that she would have agreed to allow it, but at least she should have been given a heads up that it was coming out. She wishes to remain anonymous and heal from this whole ordeal and the Scream ad isn’t helping. All the best. Tom
Thomas More Leinenweber
Leinenweber Baroni & Daffada, LLC
* Darren Bailey was on WMAY yesterday and in a wide-ranging interview with host Jim Leach talked about how school districts are “plagued with a lot of unfunded mandates from state government. He was asked for examples. “CRT and the sex ed. Those are the two of the newest ones,” he replied.
When asked if CRT was actually a state mandate, Bailey claimed it was being taught as a result of a state rule. He was then asked to define Critical Race Theory…
The best definition I have of it is it simply un-American and it actually teaches racism. That’s exactly what we’re pinpointing instead of focusing on teaching our children to read and write and do the things that public education is supposed to do. We are supposed to educate our children, not indoctrinate them. And, and through Gov. Pritzker’s reign for the last three and a half years, our schools have become indoctrination centers and that has gotta stop.
He could not name a single school district when pressed, but did say he would get the host a list.
* Asked if elections in this state are secure, Bailey said “No”…
It’s interesting because the last four years that I observed, two years in the House and two years in the Senate, when we talk about election integrity laws, my Democrat friends on the other side of the aisle, they’ll stand up and laugh and just, you know, it’s all it’s, and, and, and a couple of them have said in the past, there’s, there’s always been cheating, get used to it.
Um, OK. I’m pretty sure that would’ve been news if someone had said that on the House or Senate floor, but maybe I just missed it.
Bailey said that his campaign is targeting 2,000 “high risk precincts,” which, again, seems like a goofy waste of resources, but whatevs.
Q: Senator, one last question for you, because I know we’re out of time. You were quoted by the Center Square this week as saying common sense tells us to repeal everything that JB Pritzker signed into law. That’s why we’re having these problems. So I gotta ask on a couple of specifics, would you wanna roll back the minimum wage the governor signed into law? Do you wanna see that minimum wage lowered in Illinois?
Bailey: We need to have that conversation because it’s, we need to do a study. You know, I was one of the first ones out with Jason Plummer that sat down with the University of Illinois when they started asking for more money because of the impact of minimum wage on ‘em. So, need to make sure that it’s not driving business out. And, [inaudible because his phone kept breaking up] the small business for the next three years.
Q: And would you want to make marijuana illegal again in Illinois? The governor signed recreational marijuana into law. Would you seek to repeal that?
Bailey: I don’t see that changing in Illinois, don’t see the minimum wage changing either. Because all of this stuff requires this, the legislature, uh, you know, wrapping their minds around this and, and presenting that to me.
As always, please pardon all transcription errors.
Renae Eze, press secretary for Abbott, told Fox News Digital that Lightfoot and Pritzker are “absolute hypocrites.”
“So much for Chicago’s ‘Welcoming City Ordinance.’ These Democrat elites are absolute hypocrites, and now their hypocrisy is on full display for the entire nation. Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot have been complaining about a few hundred migrants being bused into self-declared sanctuary city Chicago, then turn around and dump them in the suburbs for Republican mayors to deal with. Instead of complaining about fulfilling their ‘welcoming city’ promises, these Democrat hypocrites should call on President Biden to do his job and secure the border—something the President continues failing to do,” she said.
Texas is literally dumping asylum seekers at Union Station, often in the middle of the night with no real notice. Illinois, Chicago and Cook County then have to scramble to put those folks in hotels or other shelters and provide them with services. The suburban mayors don’t have to “deal with” a single thing, just like they wouldn’t if somebody booked a wedding at a hotel in their towns. And on that point, here’s IDHS Director Grace Hou-Ovnik yesterday…
There have been many questions about how we’ve identified hotel rooms. Well, I would say to anyone who has had the privilege of planning or hosting a large wedding or a conference, you will know that finding of block of rooms for 100 people usually takes over a year. And as the governor said, sometimes we have three hours, sometimes we have 12 hours. So in addition to just plain availability, we want to assure that those regions also have the access to support services. And we’ve also returned to hotels that have previously welcomed Afghans earlier this year. With support from the National Guard we can work ahead more strategically in built up shelter capacity and other types of settings.
* And Mayor Lightfoot conceded yesterday that suburban mayors should be informed and would be…
I also want to make sure that we continue to talk to, as I have, with our suburban mayors and village town presidents, I think we’ve had some productive conversations over the last few days. And we need to make sure that they are in the loop. No one No mayor wants folks coming to other city without advance notice, to be able to ask all the questions, and frankly, be in a position to answer the questions of the residents. That is right. And it’s fair. And we’re going to do our part to make sure that that happens.
I hope they keep that promise because it’s only right, even though local mayors don’t have to do anything unless they want to help. Countryside Mayor Sean McDermott, for example, has really stepped up and is helping coordinate donations for folks in local hotel rooms.
* This is the old game of Own the Libs and is designed to provoke the exact sort of outrage that Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot and others are displaying. They should probably just calm down because this Texas dude is clearly enjoying his time in the limelight. I mean, just check this out. Abbott appears to have coordinated with the local media, but not local officials…
Outside the naval observatory where Texas just dropped off two bus loads of migrants outside the VP’s residence. pic.twitter.com/vmUmduFZrT
* And I’m not sayin’, but just sayin’ this does indeed remind some folks about another “Own the Libs” stunt during a prior era…
To embarrass Northern liberals and humiliate Black people, southern White Citizens Councils started their so-called "Reverse Freedom Rides," giving Black people one-way tickets to northern cities with false promises of jobs, housing, and better lives.https://t.co/xLpTjxG0PDpic.twitter.com/voiPBbwRuN
* Back to Abbott’s point that the governor and the mayor should be putting pressure on the Biden administration. Here’s Mayor Lightfoot again…
I was in Washington DC last week, talking to members of Customs and Border Patrol, national FEMA, ICE and DHS. And we made it very clear, I made it very clear that our expectation is that they were going to have a plan that features communication and collaboration with interior cities. And they must do that, and they must do that soon. I know that they are under enormous pressures. This is not a new challenge at the border, but this is a new challenge for us. And we need federal support, resources, communication and collaboration and that has to come in short order.
What I will also say as I said there, any dollar that goes to the state of Texas, or the state of Arizona, or any other state that is abdicating its responsibility and manufacturing this crisis in our cities, every single one of those dollars needs to be re-committed to cities like Chicago, New York, and Washington DC. We should not, and taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for this kind of callous, inhumane treatment on the part of someone who is racing to the bottom for a political stunt. Those monies need to be reprogrammed and come to us to help support the efforts that we are engaged in to support the migrants who are coming to our cities.
McDonald’s is planning to open a new innovation lab at its West Loop headquarters.
The lab will focus on creating restaurant solutions and technologies, McDonald’s said today in a news release. The roughly 120 employees from the burger giant’s Innovation Center in Romeoville, which opened in 1995, will be given the option to relocate to the city. McDonald’s will exit the Romeoville lease at the end of 2023. […]
In the news release, Mayor Lori Lightfoot lauded the company for “continuing to bet on Chicago.” McDonald’s said it is not receiving financial incentives for the move.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski railed on Chicago and its crime issues this afternoon, in an effort to rally the city and its business leaders to improve the place their companies call home. […]
“There’s a general sense out there that our city is in crisis,” he said. “The truth is, it’s more difficult today for me to convince (a McDonald’s executive) to relocate to Chicago from one of our other offices than it was just a few years ago. It’s more difficult for me to recruit a new employee to McDonald’s to join us in Chicago than it was in the past.” […]
There needs to be better collaboration between the public and private sectors, he said. Improving public safety should be the first priority. Kempczinski said he knows the city is focused on the issue, but business leaders don’t know what the city’s plan is.
“Let us know the plan so we can support it,” he said. “It’s going to take partnership.”
Today marks the day that Indiana’s near-total ban on abortion takes effect. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the new policy into law in early August after the Indiana General Assembly passed the measure during a two-week special session. […]
The new law bans abortion in most instances at zero weeks of life. The only exceptions are in the case of fatal fetal anomalies, if the life or serious health of the mother is at risk and in cases of rape and incest. Victims of rape or incest may have an abortion up to 10 weeks post-fertilization. In those instances, the physician performing the abortion will have to certify in writing that the pregnancy being terminated was the result of rape or incest. […]
Abortion care providers say it’s difficult to predict how many abortions will performed in Indiana under the new law
Last year, 8,414 abortions occurred in Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Health’s annual pregnancy termination report. The report does not include information on how many of those abortions were performed for any of the instances allowed under the new law.
* Planned Parenthood of Illinois press release…
On the day the Indiana abortion ban goes into effect, Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) is proud to announce the expansion of abortion care options at its existing Champaign Health Center, 302 E. Stoughton. PPIL has renovated the health center in order to add in-clinic abortion services for the first time to its options for patients. The Champaign expansion is doubling in-clinic abortion access for Central Illinois and is providing abortion care options in closer proximity to people traveling from Indiana and SW Ohio. PPIL is working with providers from Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Ohio to adequately staff the increase in abortion care.
“We anticipated Indiana residents losing access to abortion care, so we decided to expand our care in Champaign” said Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois. “Indiana’s draconian abortion ban does not stop people from having abortions, it only makes it more difficult for people to access abortion in a safe and timely manner. PPIL is dedicated to serving the patients who face the most barriers to accessing care and to ensuring that all people, regardless of their financial situation, have access to high-quality, confidential reproductive health services.”
The expansion also increases the health center’s footprint by 5,000 square feet, adding additional procedure rooms, waiting rooms, education/consultation rooms, ultrasound rooms, a recovery room, a lab, and a clinician’s office.
Since Roe fell, the Champaign health center has seen abortion patients from 11 states outside of Illinois with the largest number of patients coming from Indiana because of the close proximity to the state. Currently, 11 percent of the abortion patients seen at the Champaign health center are from Indiana. This number is expected to increase now that the Indiana abortion ban is in effect. In addition to abortion care, patients coming from Indiana are also seeking gender-affirming care and other reproductive and family planning services.
By expanding the centrally located Champaign health center to offer in-clinic abortion options, PPIL now offers in-clinic abortions at seven of its 17 health centers, all of which offer medication abortion. The Champaign Health Center continues to offer medication abortion and provides cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, gender-affirming health care, and other essential reproductive health care.
The new Indiana abortion law is forcing doctors to leave the state, including an Indianapolis OB-GYN who says she can’t continue to provide essential care for her patients.
Beginning Thursday September 15th, residents in Indiana cannot get an abortion except for cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother. The procedure is only allowed to be performed in hospitals as well.
Indianapolis OB-GYN Dr. Katie McGugh is a born and raised Hoosier. She’s been practicing obstetrics and gynecology for several years in Indiana. She also perfors abortions. When the Indiana abortion restrictions go into effect Thursday, she is planning to move her practice to Illinois.
According to a survey at the IU School of Medicine, 80% of trainees said they were less likely to stay and practice in Indiana after the near-total abortion ban goes into effect. Many doctors say they don’t feel like they can give patients the healthcare they need without being able to perform abortions legally.
“With the ban on abortion access in Indiana, it has become impossible for me to practice my chosen profession which is OB-GYN. That inherently includes abortion care because we know part of a woman’s reproductive life span includes abortions,” McHugh said.
Abortion providers in Illinois believe this will bring more people into the state for the procedure, putting even more pressure on abortion providers, who are already dealing with higher demand.
“We in Illinois have been anticipating this move by the Indiana legislature and governor for weeks. We have been preparing and we are ready to meet the needs of Indianans,” said Brigid Leahy, with Planned Parenthood of Illinois Action.
Abortion providers are now expecting even more out-of-state patients coming from Indiana.
“I’m sure that adjustments are going to have to be made and it does put additional stress on the capacity of our reproductive healthcare system. We will be continuing to ramp up our capacity,” Leahy said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed two lawsuits in the past two weeks seeking to stop the ban from taking effect.
One argues that the ban violates the Indiana Constitution by infringing on the right to privacy and the guarantee of equal privileges. The other claims the ban conflicts with the state’s religious freedom law that Indiana Republicans passed in 2015 and that sparked a widespread backlash from critics who said it allowed discrimination against gay people.
The question of whether the state constitution protects abortion rights is undecided. A state appeals court ruled in 2004 that privacy is a core value under the state constitution that extends to all residents, including women seeking an abortion. But the Indiana Supreme Court later upheld a law requiring an 18-hour waiting period before a woman could get an abortion, though it didn’t decide whether the state constitution included the right to privacy or abortion.
Indiana University law professor Daniel Conkle said bringing the lawsuits so soon before the ban was set to effect made it hard to get an injunction blocking it, but that it taking effect won’t end the court fight.
Over a hundred people gathered closely together in the lawn of the Monroe County Courthouse to hear a modified version of the Jewish ceremony Havdalah. As one member spoke a Hebrew prayer, another carefully guarded a braided candle against intruding winds.
In Jewish tradition, the ceremony separates the holy day of Shabbat from an average day. It separates rest and work, lightness and darkness, Hoosier Jews for Choice member Sue Swartz explained. On Wednesday night, vigil organizers marked this as a separation between having abortion rights and not having them.
“Through this ritual, we mark the end of an era of full rights and a transition into a darker time,” Swartz said. […]
Jess Marchbank, state programs manager at All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center, noted she was tired and sad as she stepped up to the crowd of demonstrators at the Monroe County Courthouse. In the final few days before the law was to take effect, Marchbank had fielded calls from people seeking to terminate their pregnancy before access was heavily restricted across the state. Marchbank shared some anecdotes about what it was like.
“We know that most people who need abortion are already parents. They may be suddenly struggling to provide enough diapers for their little ones or unable to afford the exorbitant cost of rent, health insurance or child care,” Marchbank said. “They’re also just people who aren’t ready to have a child for a multitude of reasons, and those reasons don’t matter. What matters is honoring their bodily autonomy.”
* “Vote No on Amendment 1,” a ballot initiative committee formed recently by Illinois Policy Institute execs John Tillman and Matt Paprocki, has received its first contribution.
Proponents have raised $13.5 million for their Vote Yes for Workers Rights ballot initiative committee and are have been running TV ads for a while now.
* A bit of coverage…
* What the Proposed Workers’ Rights Amendment Could Mean for Illinois: The so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment would guarantee Illinois workers the constitutional right to collectively bargain for things like wages, hours and working conditions. “By giving unions power, you give workers power,” said Marc Poulos, executive director of the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting. “Unions are one of the single-most democratic institutions in the country.”
* Illinois Chamber of Commerce opposes workers’ rights amendment: Maisch said union leaders don’t want to go in front of state lawmakers, the public or their own workers to explain why right-to-work is good or bad. He feels the state’s top labor organizations want to have indefinite control.
Hours after the White House announced a tentative railway labor agreement had been reached and a potential freight railroad strike averted, Metra and Amtrak said they were restoring canceled trains.
Metra trains Thursday night on the BNSF and Union Pacific North, Northwest and West lines will run as scheduled, the commuter rail agency said. The trains had previously been canceled, as the BNSF and Union Pacific freight railroads that own and operate those lines said they would begin cutting back service in preparation for a potential work stoppage.
Amtrak said it was “working to quickly restore canceled trains and reaching out to impacted customers to accommodate on first available departures.” The passengers train service had previously canceled all long-distance routes beginning Thursday and some local service beginning Thursday night, including routes between Chicago and downstate Illinois, St. Louis and cities in Michigan.
Under federal law, a freight railroad strike or lockout could have begun as soon as Friday, shutting down rail lines across the country and halting shipments of food, fuel and goods. But railroad and union representatives spent 20 hours in negotiations at the Labor Department Wednesday hammering out a tentative agreement that will go to union members for a vote.
The president was personally involved in the talks, calling into negotiations convened by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in Washington around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, and pressing both the carriers and the unions to come to an agreement in phone calls this week. Biden had grown animated in recent days about the lack of scheduling flexibility for workers, expressing a mixture of confusion and anger that management was refusing to budge on that point, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of private conversations with the president.
The political consequences of a rail strike less than two months before the midterm elections would have been monumental for Democrats, with Republican lawmakers blaming the administration for not securing a deal. Three of Biden’s Cabinet secretaries, his top economic adviser and his chief of staff were involved in the talks on an hourly basis, and White House aides drafted contingency plans for protecting the nation’s drinking water and energy systems if a deal had fallen through.
“These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned,” Biden said in a statement announcing the deal. “I thank the unions and rail companies for negotiating in good faith and reaching a tentative agreement that will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy.”
The railroad industry slashed almost 30% of its workforce over the last six years, cutting pay and other costs as they increased profits, stock buybacks and dividends for investors. Profits at billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, (BRKa.N) which owns BNSF, rose 9.2% in the most recent quarter to $1.7 billion.
The number of U.S. railway workers has dropped from over 600,000 in 1970 to about 150,000 in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due technology and cost-cutting. The result is that many industry workers are on call at all hours, waiting to respond at short notice to work for days at a time. […]
The president is not yet out of the woods when it comes to supply-chain labor issues. Some 22,000 union workers at 29 West Coast ports that handle almost 40% of U.S. imports are also in high-stakes labor contract negotiations.
