Darren Bailey: “I will never, ever give up my AR-15 or any other gun — so you need to know that.”
“When someone shows up at my front door and expects me to turn in a gun or even so much as register a serial number, it will not happen.”
“I am the most pro-Second Amendment legislator in Springfield and gubernatorial candidate.”
“This is all about the right leadership doing the right thing and the gun laws, taking guns off the street — that’s not it.”
“The FOID Card system is simply to pilfer money from people’s pockets. It’s not working. The FOID Card’s not working and it needs to go.”
“I’m a lifelong NRA member. I’m a lifelong Illinois State Rifle Association member. I’ve been endorsed by those groups, too. So you have someone here that will certainly get rid of that FOID program.”
A: No, no. I’ve always said when I’m done, I’m done. I do not plan to run for anything again. I only wanted to be a member of Congress and I’ve had the opportunity to represent a phenomenal district with phenomenal constituents for 10 years. I’m not looking at running for anything again. And I am going to help elect Republicans up and down the ticket because that’s what we should do when we’re no longer a part of the competition.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is running for reelection this year, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Leadership Blue Gala that Florida Democrats will hold this Saturday in Tampa.
On the rise— Pritzker’s appearance comes nearly two weeks after the mass shooting in Highland Park thrust him into the national spotlight. Pritzker’s reaction — where he said he was angry and furious about gun violence in the nation — was seen by some as an illustration of the type of passion Democrats need heading into the midterms and 2024.
Here to help— Pritzker’s decision visit to Florida will also be sure to stoke longrunning whispers about a possible presidential bid, especially since he’s spending time in the home state of Gov. Ron DeSantis, himself a potential GOP presidential candidate. “Florida is in dire need of a pro-choice, Democratic governor, and Governor Pritzker is proud to support the Florida Democratic Party in their efforts to flip the state blue,” campaign spokeswoman Natalie Edelstein said in a statement sent to Shia Kapos, author of POLITICO’s Illinois Playbook. […]
Pritzker’s keynote speech will come on the heels of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s splashy decision to air ads bashing DeSantis and urging Floridians to move to his state. In that case, DeSantis has fired back and is now even fundraising off Newsom’s attacks. Expect his campaign team to fashion their own greeting for Pritzker.
* ILGOP…
A normal person following Governor JB Pritzker’s extensive travel schedule in recent months would be racking up the frequent flier miles. Luckily for our trust-fund billionaire governor, Pritzker has private jets to whisk him around the country - and even overseas - as he continues to give a wink and a knowing nod to the idea he may be just what national Democrats need in order to keep the White House in 2024 as Biden stumbles mightily.
After a recent trip to Europe to stump for Green New Deal policies, and political stops in New Hampshire (wink, wink) and Maine, Pritzker is headlining an annual Democratic gala in Florida this week. His spokeswoman said, “Florida is in dire need of a pro-choice, Democratic governor, and Governor Pritzker is proud to support the Florida Democratic Party in their efforts to flip the state blue.”
“Illinoisans don’t care what Florida needs and neither should Governor Pritzker at a time when working families are drowning under historic levels of inflation and high gas prices,” said ILGOP spokesman Joe Hackler. “Illinois has the highest taxes in the nation, highest gas prices in the midwest, an economy lagging far behind our midwest neighbors, and the imminent threat of power outages across almost all of the central and southern parts of the state. If Pritzker wants to run for President, he should start by doing his current job as Governor of Illinois - and doing it better.”
Frankly, I don’t think anyone in their right mind should be going to Florida in July. Yuck.
“Out-of-touch trust-fund billionaire J.B. Pritzker doesn’t have to worry about the cost of gas or groceries, but Illinois families are paying through the nose thanks to Pritzker’s tax increases and record-breaking inflation,” GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey said in a statement. “Instead of coming to Springfield to do his job, Gov. Pritzker is gallivanting with his rich friends in Europe, New Hampshire, DC, Maine and Florida.”
Added Bailey, “Illinois families have a message for J.B.: Repeal the Pritzker gas tax hike. Stop campaigning for president and do your job.”
The Europe reference is a trip the governor took to England last November to promote policies designed to curb climate change.
Bailey wants Pritzker to call lawmakers back into session to deal with inflation and gas prices. Lawmakers are expected to meet around Labor Day to deal with abortion-rights legislation and perhaps new gun-control laws—not gas prices, though.
So, that’s three trips in 9 months.
…Adding… Natalie Edelstein with the Pritzker campaign…
“Florida is in dire need of a pro-choice, Democratic governor, and Governor Pritzker is proud to support the Florida Democratic Party in their efforts to flip the state blue. As a lifelong Democrat, Governor Pritzker is committed to supporting his party in every corner of our country. If the governor can play even a small role in helping Florida Democrats elect a Black woman to the US Senate, flip the governor’s office, and elect pro-choice, pro-science, pro-worker candidates to the legislature––he will gladly do so.”
The governor was apparently invited in April to speak at the event by the state party chair.
In the wake of a July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill. that killed 7 people and injured 46, Illinois’ billionaire Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker declared: “We need to ban assault weapons, not just in the state of Illinois, but nationally.”
He also criticized the National Rifle Association (NRA), the controversial gun lobby, tweeting, “As Governor, on behalf of the people of Highland Park — leave us the hell alone.”
Despite the rhetoric, Pritzker and his powerful administration have done nothing to help pass an assault weapons ban that has been languishing in his state’s legislature since February. Even worse, the Pritzker family’s hotel chain, Hyatt Hotels, has been hosting NRA events for years — including as recently as late May.
The NRA’s relationship with Hyatt creates ethics concerns for Pritzker, said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the good government group Public Citizen. “This is clearly a conflict of interest,” he said. “It’s the same kind of conflict of interest we saw so rampant with Donald Trump.” […]
The [Pritzker] spokesperson added, “The Governor does not have a financial interest in Hyatt and has never had a role in the business, other than one part-time summer job as a teenager.” […]
Despite Pritzker’s spokesperson’s claim that the governor “does not have a financial interest in Hyatt,” he is commonly described as an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune. While the governor’s financial disclosure does not show direct Hyatt holdings, a 2019 investigation by the Chicago Tribune pointed out, “The complex and vast nature of Pritzker’s wealth and a lack of transparency illustrate how difficult it can be to learn when a wealthy politician’s financial interests might butt up against what’s in taxpayers’ best interests.”
* The Lever is a David Sirota project. Sirota published a newsletter for the Bernie Sanders campaign…
Bern Notice received attention Monday for having promoted a Guardian column by Zephyr Teachout, a Sanders surrogate, that accused Joseph R. Biden Jr. of having “a big corruption problem” hours before Mr. Sanders disavowed the column. (That newsletter edition was erased from the internet as of Tuesday morning.)
And Sirota is not happy with the pushback on this latest piece…
Illinois @GovPritzker just deployed his spokesperson to attack @LeverNews for reporting that he & Illinois Dems have refused to pass assault weapons ban legislation stuck in the Dem state legislature.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, on Thursday was calling Democratic colleagues to gauge their support once again. Hirschauer, who helped start a chapter of the gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action before taking office in January 2021, said “it has some momentum behind it now.”
“It’s a pretty simple bill. It bans military style weapons and high-capacity magazines. The general public in Illinois has clearly said that those types of weapons are designed for the battlefield, not for hunting or any reasonable use,” Hirschauer said.“So, we are moving forward with it. I’m working it from the ground up, roll calling, gathering support and just really doing my homework on it.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** And now you know it’s oppo - likely combined with “out of town stupid” - because now they’re claiming the governor and the Democrats are actually “blocking an assault weapons ban”…
Illinois has a Democratic supermajority and a Democratic governor.
It is positively hilarious that reporting a simple story on them blocking an assault weapons ban is considered “oppo.”
*** UPDATE 2 *** I sent the sponsor the link to this post and at first glance thought it was a Republican attack. I pointed out that this was a left-wing group and Rep. Hirschauer said this…
Well, that’s a head scratcher and doesn’t match up with the thoughtful and supportive conversations I have been having daily with members of my caucus and folks in the Democratic Party. My statement stands:
My co-sponsors and I are extremely serious about taking action that will get weapons of war off our streets and I invite my colleagues across the aisle to join me instead of playing tired political games that only serve the NRA agenda.
As part of his continuing plan to carefully unwind the state’s COVID-19 executive orders, Governor Pritzker today updating vaccine and testing requirements in some industries. The updated executive order amends testing requirements for some unvaccinated health care employees and removes mandates for some other industries. Among the provisions that have been lifted in past months, Governor Pritzker has reduced requirements for school exclusion, removed provisions relating to setting up alternative care facilities, returned to non-emergency hospital oversight by removing several provisions and restarted normal jail-to-prison transfers. Other changes included lifting provisions in an effort to ensure governments are resuming normal operations.
The Governor continues to maintain all provisions necessary for the health and safety of the people of Illinois, as well as all provisions in disaster proclamations that enable the state to recoup the maximum available from the federal government.
“Vaccination continues to be the number one tool we have to fight COVID-19, and I’m proud that so many Illinoisans have taken advantage of this life-saving tool,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I continue to urge all Illinoisans to make sure they’re up to date on their COVID-19 vaccine to ensure the most at-risk populations and those unable to be vaccinated are protected from the serious side effects of this disease. As we continue to move toward living with this virus, my administration will relax some requirements while continuing to protect the most vulnerable and ensuring we can get every federal dollar our residents are eligible to receive.”
Currently, Illinois requires at least weekly testing of health care staff who are unvaccinated. Under the updated requirements, long-term care facilities with the most vulnerable residents, including skilled nursing homes, will now test staff who are not up to date with their COVID-19 vaccine weekly if located in an area of moderate community level transmission and twice weekly in areas of substantial or high community level transmission, as recommended by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Unvaccinated staff at hospitals and other healthcare facilities that are certified by CMS will now be required to test weekly only if located in areas of high community level transmission.
Vaccine mandates for higher education employees and students and emergency medical service providers will not be reissued. Vaccination mandates will remain in place in K-12 schools, daycares, state-run 24/7 congregate care facilities, and any health care facilities not covered under the federal CMS vaccine mandate (including independent doctors’ offices, dental offices, urgent care facilities, and outpatient facilities).
“We continue to remind everyone in Illinois that the most important step they can take to protect themselves, their loved ones and friends and colleagues is to remain up-to-date on vaccinations and booster shots,” said Acting IDPH Director Amaal Tokars. “This is especially important for those who are vulnerable to serious outcomes. We urge everyone to take advantage of the current availability of vaccines for the sake of their children, as well as getting up-to-date as a parent, guardian or grandparent.”
“The Illinois hospital community appreciates the Governor’s actions today limiting the COVID-19 testing mandate for healthcare workers to high transmission counties,” said A.J. Wilhelmi, President and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association. “This Order will help hospitals maximize the use of resources for patient care, while simultaneously continuing to operate with reasonable and effective infection controls to remain safe places for patients, visitors and healthcare workers.”
“We are grateful to the Governor for his leadership throughout the pandemic. As we move into this next phase, we are building on the success of our campus leaders, staff, faculty, and students over the past two years in keeping our campuses safe, while keeping students on their path to credentials and degrees, especially our students of color and low-income students who were most impacted,” said Ginger Ostro, Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
“The COVID-19 vaccines protect us from developing severe illness,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala. “The requirement for school personnel to get vaccinated or test weekly ensures that students, families, and educators across Illinois can go to school with confidence in their health and safety.”
“We support Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order because it will ensure that children, teachers, staff and our communities stay safe and healthy,” said Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery. “His leadership ensured that we ended the last school year with a successful vaccination model, which sets us up for the upcoming school year so we can keep our school buildings open and everyone in them healthy.”
“We know the best place for students, and those who teach and care for them, is in the classroom and in school buildings. We are looking forward to the start of this school year,” said Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin.
School and daycare-aged children have much lower rates of vaccination than the general public and have less ability to consistently and safely mask. In addition, outbreaks at schools threaten the ability to continue with in-person learning and the developmental benefits it provides.
To find a COVID-19 vaccination site near you, including for children ages six months to four years, visit https://www.vaccines.gov/.
* As many of you know, I have not attended a game at, nor otherwise set foot in the home stadium of Chicago’s National League baseball club in more than 20 years. But I’ll be there tomorrow for the Mets game.
I just figured it was time to go check out all the changes to the park. I grew up a Cub fan (and absolutely despised the Mets), but left them behind for the White Sox after years of chafing at the whole “lovable losers” schtick. Maybe I’m mellowing with age. Anyway, I’m in town and a buddy had tickets, so what the heck.
The Volcker Alliance, a non-partisan government watchdog, has issued a new report showing Illinois is at risk of facing a “fiscal cliff” once one-time federal relief funds dry up. That means the state will have to either cut programs or raise revenues to maintain spending that has been enabled by the federal funds, once those funds run out. The report shows Illinois has allocated nearly 60% of its $8.1 billion in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. Only California and Pennsylvania have allocated more of their recovery funds.
Illinois has a potential for a fiscal cliff if it uses a portion of the SLFRF appropriations or reserves to pay for recurring spending. Its history of using one-time revenue sources to finance recurring needs led to the state’s D average grade, the second-lowest mark, in budget maneuvers for fiscal 2015–19.
So, the Volcker Alliance is essentially warning the state to not do what it did under Bruce Rauner’s administration, which was supported almost wholeheartedly by the… Illinois Policy Institute.
Also, the Volcker Alliance could not point to any hard evidence that Illinois is using federal assistance for ongoing spending. It just figures it is because Rauner.
But it’s true that Illinois needs to watch its spending and conserve cash and not go on any spending binges now, particularly since revenues are indeed expected to decline in the coming years.
Either remaining federal funds Illinois still holds, or a recently reported windfall in state revenue, should go to pay down the state’s remaining unemployment trust fund debt, a state lawmaker says.
Illinois state government accumulated more than $4 billion in unemployment trust fund debt during the COVID-19 pandemic economic restrictions imposed by the governor. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved using $2.7 billion in federal COVID-19 relief tax funds to pay some of that down. About $1.8 billion remains unpaid.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, is calling for a special session so lawmakers can pay off the debt with either remaining federal funds or a recently reported windfall of more than $1.8 billion in state revenue as reported by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
Thoughts?
…Adding… Press release…
With the latest $100 million deposit into the Budget Stabilization Fund, the state’s “Rainy Day” Fund, Illinois now has more than $850 million in the bank to weather potential economic turbulence. Governor Pritzker and the General Assembly worked together to ensure the state would have a record $1 billion in the account this fiscal year, and today Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza announced the deposit of $100 million of that commitment.
The improved Budget Stabilization Fund, now at $854 million, is one of the many steps towards financial responsibility that has resulted in six recent credit upgrades for the state.
“I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve deposited an additional $100 million into our state’s Rainy Day Fund,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This is just one of the ways that we are building long-term financial sustainability—and we are seeing tangible results in real-time. From tax relief for Illinoisans to our six credit rating upgrades, we are creating an Illinois that is economically prosperous for all. I want to thank Comptroller Mendoza for swiftly depositing this funding early in the fiscal year.”
Illinois’ Budget Stabilization Fund had been decimated by budget impasses and mismanagement. At one point the fund held less than $60,000, an amount that would have sustained state operations for less than thirty seconds. Beginning in FY24, state law requires minimum payments of $45 million dollars a year will be required in each state budget to continue stabilizing the fund.
Credit rating agencies pointed to the Budget Stabilization Fund as a key reason for Illinois’ six ratings increases during Gov. Pritzker’s term. S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings both cited the fund’s improvement in their decision to increase its rating, as well as responsible payments to pension funds and up-to-date bill payments. These upgrades allow the state to borrow money at a lower interest rate, saving taxpayer dollars.
The “Rainy Day” Fund, also known as the Budget Stabilization Fund, protects the state services that Illinoisans rely on every day. It is in place to meet state needs in case of deficits or shortcomings in a budget, provide credit stability, and reduce the need for short-term borrowing. Its increased balance offers Illinoisans protection in times of immediate need while building a stable, long-term financial groundwork for the state.
In addition to the recent $100 million deposit and the extra pension fund payments, the Fiscal Year 2023 budget passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Pritzker is providing financially responsible relief for Illinois working families. On July 1, residents began to receive over $1.8 billion of tax relief, including tax relief for gas, property, groceries, and school supplies. Direct payments to Illinois families are expected this fall, according to the Comptroller’s office. The budget also made unprecedented investments in college affordability, the Illinois State Police and proven violence prevention programs across the state.
RESULTS ARE IN: State Sen. Melinda Bush has won the 10th District Democratic State Central Committeewoman race. In an email to supporters, former state Rep. Lauren Beth Gash said late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots have been counted, and “it appears our campaign will come up just short.” Out of 50,681 ballots cast, Bush received 50.2 percent of the vote to Gash’s 49.8 percent.
Bush had the endorsement and financial backing of Gov. JB Pritzker, so political insiders expect she could be his candidate when the central committee meets in the coming weeks to elect the head of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Also in the running will be the current party leader, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, who has the support of Sen. Dick Durbin.
Sen. Bush has told me on several occasions that she had no interest whatsoever in the party’s top job. I never wrote that because, well, nobody has even so much suggested it. But I checked back in with her today just to make sure and Bush’s response to the story was, um, unprintable. Suffice it to say, she doesn’t want the post and won’t seek it. I’m not sure where that even came from.
Whatever. At this point, I’m kinda doubting there will be much of a fight, if any. If the governor thought he had the votes, you’d think there’d be some sort of an announcement by now.
…Adding… Sen. Bush…
Today, State Senator Melinda Bush released the following statement on her victory in the race for Democratic State Central Committeeperson for the Tenth District:
“I am humbled that Democratic voters of the tenth district have chosen me to represent them on the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee and am thrilled to be given the opportunity to identify, recruit and re-elect great candidates to expand our representation across the district. Working in concert with a great team of talented activists and organizations like Lake County Democratic Women, I know what it takes to position Democrats to win tough races - recruit good candidates, surround them with talented staff, run strategic campaigns and then hold them accountable after they take office. This is an approach that has worked well for us in Lake County and I look forward to partnering with my fellow members of the Democratic State Central Committee to bring it statewide.
“Thank you to everyone who supported my campaign and stood by our side. You forever have my gratitude. I would also like to thank Lauren Beth Gash for her years of dedicated service to the district and our party. Her continued engagement in this work will be welcomed and is needed.”
Senator Bush won the race for Democratic State Central Committeeperson for the Tenth District by 247 votes. She won 60% of the vote in McHenry County, 55% of the vote in Lake County, and 31% of the vote in Cook County.
NEW: by Cook PVI℠, four more districts shifted from R-leaning to D-leaning in redistricting than vice versa (17 to 13). But because Ds hold most seats in both categories, Rs have more pickup opportunities from revamped lines. https://t.co/AffIOzAvbVpic.twitter.com/eo8W90Y0OJ
NEW: after redistricting, the number of hyper-competitive House seats (Cook PVI℠ between D+3 and R+3) has declined from 51 to 45, our lowest count ever. Full report: https://t.co/AffIOzAvbVpic.twitter.com/9GiB63pcoO
NEW: the entire decline in competitive House seats from redistricting is attributable to GOP gerrymanders (esp. TX and GA), whereas swing seats *increased* in Dem-controlled states and held steady in court/commission-drawn states. Full report: https://t.co/AffIOzAvbVpic.twitter.com/TnherK4HS2
