Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge President Chris Southwood and Illinois FOP Labor Council Executive Director Shawn Roselieb issued the following joint statement today about the negotiations regarding the proposed consolidation of downstate Illinois police and fire pension systems:
“After extensive talks with legislative leaders and Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Office, state lawmakers have indicated they will amend legislation to consolidate police pension funds, and the amendments will address our major concerns with the initial legislation. We agree in principle with these proposed amendments but want to make sure they make it into the final language of the bill.
“The revised legislation would give active and retired municipal police officers a majority on the board that will control the consolidated investments. The revised bill would allow pension funds to provide the best rate of investment return for police officers. The amended legislation would also make badly needed corrections to the unfair and flawed tiered system of pension benefits.
“We are also happy that the proposed amendments keep the local pension boards in place to efficiently administer benefits.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Member Update…
The Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois, along with other police groups and stakeholders, has been meeting throughout this week with legislative leaders and members of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s staff to discuss the proposed consolidation of downstate Illinois police and fire pension systems. We expressed our opposition to the initial legislation and its potential impact on police officers’ retirement security. Thanks in large part to our members calls and letters to the editor, we have been successful in convincing legislators to amend the bill (originally agreed to by the AFFI) to address several major concerns. We have agreed in principle with these proposed amendments and will ensure they make it into the final language of the bill.
The revised legislation gives active and retired municipal police officers a majority on the board that controls the consolidated investments. The bill includes provisions that keep police pension monies in a separate fund WHICH CANNOT BE ACCESSED, SWEPT, or USED AS COLLATERAL by the state. It also provides that this new board is limited to investment decisions, NOT decisions about benefits. The revised bill also removes outdated and damaging restrictions on pension investments so that police officer funds can be invested more appropriately under the guidance of the new police majority board.
The amended legislation also makes crucially needed corrections to the unfair and flawed tiered system of pension benefits. Finally, the proposed amendments ensure that the local pension boards remain in place to administer benefits and that their decisions will not be subject to interference by third parties
We are cautiously reviewing proposed language to protect our members’ interests as much as possible.
We will update members regarding ongoing developments as they occur.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor’s office has distributed a fact sheet on the compromise legislation. Click here to read it.
…Adding… Governor’s office…
Governor Pritzker is determined to address the decades of failure that have created Illinois’ pension challenges, and consolidating 650 downstate and suburban police and fire pensions will be an important step forward in alleviating the growing burden of local property taxes and produce significantly better returns for first responders. The administration is pleased that support continues to grow and appreciates the backing from police organizations, who have joined with firefighters and municipal representatives in supporting this commonsense reform.
When Lightfoot called for pension reforms during the interview, I noted that she herself has stopped short of putting a constitutional amendment on the table. Instead of restating her opposition to the idea, she turned attention to Pritzker.
“The governor has been very clear that he does not favor a constitutional amendment,” Lightfoot said. […]
“So, we have to re-engage [on pension reform]. And whatever it takes to reignite that conversation, I’m all for.”
This sounded like Lightfoot would even consider a change to the constitution, I noted.
“I’m very clear that the governor is opposed to a constitutional amendment. I think that makes it very difficult if not impossible,” she said.
Yeah, it’s all the governor’s fault. Right, mayor. We had a governor for four years who supported a constitutional amendment on pensions, but he couldn’t get it done because he blamed Speaker Madigan.
Also, by the way, there’s this thing called a veto session coming up in a few days and the mayor will need the governor and pro-labor House and Senate Democrats to fully engage to help her city’s agenda. Is this really the way to do that?
…Adding… Governor’s office…
The governor has been very clear that we must protect the pensions promised to retirees while working to overcome the decades of failure that have put our pension systems at the forefront of Illinois’ fiscal challenges. In his first ten months in office, the governor has already introduced and implemented realistic and effective measures to reduce state and municipal pension liabilities, including expanding the voluntary pension buyout program, proposing legislation to consolidate the 650 police and firefighter pension funds and solve the Tier 2 pension underfunding, dedicating fair tax proceeds to bend the pension curve, and examining the viability of asset transfers to reduce unfunded liabilities.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the governor’s comms director…
The mayor has conveyed to the governor that she opposes a pension amendment.
Mayor Lightfoot does this a lot. She’ll hint that she wants a constitutional amendment when she’s talking to somebody like Greising, but she’ll tell others that she’s opposed.
Pick a lane, mayor.
*** UPDATE 12 *** Mayor Lightfoot’s office…
As the Mayor has said many times before, she firmly believes pensions are a promise and remains opposed to any constitutional amendment. The Mayor fully supports the Governor’s position on this issue and appreciates his work to lead efforts toward statewide pension reform, which she has made clear must include Chicago. The Mayor’s description of the political landscape on this issue should not be misconstrued as anything to the contrary.
Except her view of the political landscape is also wrong. Even if the governor favored a constitutional amendment with every bone in his body, it wouldn’t pass the General Assembly. The previous governor proved that. What she did here is use a gullible pundit to shift blame.
* Steve Daniels asks how credible Exelon’s threat is to close four of its six nuclear power plants if it doesn’t get a ratepayer bailout…
The four plants operated by Illinois’ largest power generator together have the capacity to generate nearly 8,900 megawatts, enough to serve 7.8 million customers. It’s fair to say those four facilities produce the majority of electrons keeping lights on in the Chicago area. Mothballing them sounds like a nightmare scenario, right?
But the company can’t just close plants without alternatives in place. Exelon would have to submit a plan to PJM Interconnection, the grid operator overseeing a multistate region that includes northern Illinois, to ensure replacement power is available. If not, Exelon would need to keep one or more plants open on year-to-year contracts negotiated by PJM until reliability was ensured. […]
The cost to Exelon of retiring plants that otherwise would operate for another 25 years or more could be substantial. In Illinois, thanks to the 1997 state law that deregulated power generation, ratepayers bear no responsibility for financing the eventual radioactive decommissioning and restoration of those sites. The funds Exelon has set aside to handle that multibillion-dollar job for two of those facilities, the Byron and Braidwood stations, are woefully low. Judging by what Exelon told investors in 2016—the last time it came close to shuttering plants in Illinois—it could be on the hook to furnish more than $1 billion to assure federal regulators there will be enough money for the job.
In addition, reactors at one of the four plants—Dresden in Morris—already are scheduled to close in 2029 and 2031, respectively, when their federal licenses expire. Dresden currently is obligated to run until at least June 2021. Subsidizing the plant with ratepayer cash would appear to buy workers and the Grundy County community that benefits economically from the nuke no more than about eight years.
(The) House should just make clear that anyone appointed with Arroyo’s votes will be subject of an immediate disciplinary proceeding with the intent to expel them as quickly as possible. No individual with the community’s best interest at heart would accept such a tainted appointment. No currently serving GA members should want the individual they forced to resign to have a say in choosing his successor.
* The Question: Should the House expel whoever is appointed to former Rep. Luis Arroyo’s seat as long as Arroyo is part of the process? Please make sure to explain your vote. Thanks.
*** UPDATE *** From House Republican Leader Jim Durkin…
Only in Illinois is there such political corruption that an indicted politician can pick his own replacement. I call on the Democrat Party to fix this insult to our state, and work with us to bring ethics reforms to Illinois. Any appointment made with Arroyo’s participation is improper and should not be recognized by the House of Representatives.
Proposed legislation in both the Illinois House and Senate would make daylight saving time the year-round standard in Illinois.
Both proposals would eliminate the twice-a-year time changes between daylight saving time and standard time. Sponsors of both bills said they hope to see the measures taken up during next week’s veto session in Springfield.
In the House, state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, filed House Bill 3837 earlier this year. His proposal would eliminate the time change in Illinois. He said the need for daylight saving time changes have become outdated and obsolete. […]
A similar bill introduced in the Illinois Senate also calls for the elimination of the time changes. State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, is a sponsor of Senate Bill 533. On social media this week, Manar said he has received a lot of support for the bill.
Manar introduced his proposal on May 3rd. He has four co-sponsors, three of whom are Republicans. It unanimously cleared a Senate committee on May 23rd. Skillicorn introduced his bill four days later, on May 7th. He has no co-sponsors and it hasn’t moved.
If a school resource officer wants to question a student about a criminal act, they first have to notify the student’s parents. That’s according to a new law implemented at the beginning of this school year.
But State Representative Stephanie Kifowit (D-Oswego), says at least one district has already created a workaround.
“The resource officer’s dog, a K-9 unit, was walking through the parking lot and alerted on a student’s car. The student got questioned with the resource officer present. They looked at the car, there was nothing there,” Kifowit says. “And the parent was never notified of this questioning until the student came home upset.”
The district claimed it followed the law because the assistant principal was the one asking the questions, as the police officer stood nearby. Kifowit , who sponsored the original bill, calls that a “loophole.”
“Because it’s still an intimidating figure,” she says. “Whether the resource officer is doing the questioning or not, the fact that you have two adults in a room — one a resource officer, one an administrator — and a child, without the parent knowing, I think is fundamentally wrong.”
Despite pressure from activists around the state, Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday the General Assembly will wait until next year to pass a comprehensive clean energy bill.
The Herald-News asked Pritzker about the Clean Energy Jobs Act while he was in Plainfield to talk about new infrastructure projects. With only a few days left during the fall session in Springfield, Pritzker said the legislature would take up the bill during the next session in January.
The bill aims to put Illinois on the path to 100% renewable energy by 2050 through investing in clean energy industries and heavily reducing gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles on the road.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of work, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “But I felt like because there’s so much work, there’s so many hearings required for us to get where we need to be … it’s going to take us a little while in the new session.”
* From an email sent to Democratic committeepersons this afternoon…
November 8, 2019
Honorable Democratic Committeeman representing the voters of the Illinois House of Representatives - 3rd District (“3rd District”), Article IV, Section 2(d) of the 1970 Illinois Constitution and Section 25-6(a) of the Illinois Election Code state that a vacancy in the office of state representative shall be filled by appointment within 30 days after the occurrence of the vacancy. Also, Article III, Section 4(j) of the By- Laws of the Cook County Democratic Party provides that the Chair of such committee is the committeeman with the greatest number of weighted votes in the 3rd District.
As the democratic committeeman with the greatest number of weighted votes in the 3rd District and the recognized Chair of the 3rd Representative District Committee, I am calling a meeting of the democratic committeeman for the purpose of filing the vacancy created by my retirement from the Illinois House of Representatives.
The meeting of the 3rd Representative District Committee will be held on Friday, November 15 at 5 PM at the Alliance of Polish Clubs, located at 5835 W. Diversey in Chicago, Illinois.
Please know that I placed a legal notice in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, The Chicago Tribune Company’s Spanish language newspaper, HOY, and in digital format via Block Club Chicago’s website informing the community at large of this meeting and inviting any and all potential candidates to submit their credentials for consideration by the committeeman authorized to choose my replacement. At the end of the candidate presentation process we will retire to executive session for discussion and then take a vote to decide who shall be my replacement.
The results of the voting process will then be reduced to writing and it is intended that the appropriate documents will then be filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Illinois Secretary of State on the next business day which will be Monday, November 18, 2019.
Luis A. Arroyo,
Chair of the 3rd Representative District Committee Cook County Committeeman, 36th Ward
…Adding… More…
Former/indicted Rep. Luis Arroyo will take the lead in choosing his IL House replacement. Writes to Cook County Democratic Party Chair Toni Preckwinkle: "Please be advised that I am the democratic committeeman with the highest weighted vote total within the 3rd district." pic.twitter.com/mUd9LOkLW3
Ahead of veto sesssion, Civic Fed out with report reiterating longstanding support for police/fire pen fund consolidation BUT on proposed Tier 2 fix too "little information has been made available about long-term cost of proposed solution or the urgency of implementing changes."
The Tier 2 fix is what convinced the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois to sign on to the plan. So, any changes to that could imperil the whole thing.
As indicated by the discussion above, determining when or if Tier 2 benefits will violate IRS rules is not simple. The analysis must consider the pension multiplier as well as the growth in the pensionable salary cap. Supporters of Senate Bill 616 have not as yet shown whether the proposed changes are needed to satisfy legal requirements and, if they are needed, whether they must be implemented immediately.
To the extent that growth in the pensionable salary cap is an issue, it remains to be seen whether Senate Bill 616 solves the problem. The legislation proposes that the salary cap grow by 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is less. This is clearly a faster rate than the current formula of the lesser of 3% of one-half of the inflation rate, but it does not match the national average wage index used to calculate growth in the Social Security wage base. The difference might be accounted for by the proposed change in the calculation of final average salary, which lowers the required multiplier under IRS rules.
Up to now, neither the Governor’s task force nor supporters of Senate Bill 616 have publicly provided actuarial reviews showing the cost of the Tier 2 changes for the affected police and fire funds. In the task force report, the cost is estimated at $70 million to $95 million over five years, or $14 million to $19 million per year, but there is no supporting documentation for the estimate.
The task force also noted that these estimated costs are minor compared to increases in investment returns projected to be earned by the consolidated funds compared with the 649 existing police and fire funds. The task force estimated that the consolidated funds could generate an additional $820 million to $2.5 billion in investment returns over five years, or $164 million to $500 million per year.
However, it should be noted that these increased returns are not guaranteed. Any increase in actual returns will be partly due to the consolidated funds’ ability to invest in riskier investments. State law restricts the securities that the existing police and fire funds are allowed to hold. In addition, because the assumed rate of return is used as the discount rate for pension liabilities, an increase in the expected return rate by the consolidated funds would also reduce statutorily required annual pension contributions. Senate Bill 616 requires that contribution changes due to changes in actuarial assumptions be phased in over three years.
Since Tier 2 applies to nearly all pension funds across the State, there could be a move to simply apply the same changes to all funds statewide, also without first determining whether the changes are the minimum necessary so as not to impose additional fiscal hardship on already struggling governments.
In recent years, the State has frequently rushed to enact pension changes without actuarial evaluation and public disclosure of their financial impact. The latest example involved pension buyouts, which were budgeted to reduce General Funds contributions by more than $400 million in FY2019 but ended up saving about $13 million that year. The original savings estimate was based largely on a different buyout plan; the enacted plan surfaced in the last days of the spring 2018 legislative session and was not vetted by pension actuaries before being approved by lawmakers.
The Civic Federation urges the Governor’s Office and sponsors of Senate Bill 616 to demonstrate the need for the specific Tier 2 enhancements in the legislation. In addition, they must ensure that the financial impact of any proposed Tier 2 changes is fully evaluated by pension actuaries and publicly disclosed before any action is taken by the General Assembly.
I’m hearing there could be an announcement this afternoon about the consolidation bill. Stay tuned.
People talk about the exodus from Illinois and they’ve blamed it on a lot of things, because we’ve lost population. Oh, by the way, Illinois lost population in 94 out of the last 95 years, so it’s not like it’s a new thing that we have a slight out-trickle of people leaving the state.
Data show that net out-migration in Illinois is not a new phenomenon –it has been occurring since at least the 1920s as part of a national trend that has seen a movement of population from the Northeast and the Midwest to the West and South.
The state saw declines in its overall population in just 15 of the last 95 years for which the federal government has released estimates, which contradicts part of the governor’s claim on its face.
His office said he was only referencing domestic migration — the number of people moving to and from Illinois within the United States — and estimates compiled by migration experts suggest he’s on more solid ground there.
But domestic migration is just one metric of population change, something Pritzker’s muddled remark about the state’s decline obscures. We rate his claim Half True.
In reaction to this alarming news, Alliance for the Great Lakes President & CEO Joel Brammeier released the following statement:
“This discovery is yet another sign that we are teetering on the edge of a nightmare scenario. The time for delay is over. We need Governor Pritzker to show leadership and take swift action to sign the letter of agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers that would allow them to move forward with fortifying Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, a critical choke-point for invasive Asian Carp about 50 miles downstream of Chicago. It’s our best chance to stop these aggressive fish from creeping closer to the Great Lakes and crashing our regional economy.”
The administration takes the threat Asian Carp poses seriously and is working with surrounding states to ensure plans to prevent the invasive species are cost effective for every state involved.
I was also told that the new infrastructure program includes $2.5 million for pre-construction, engineering, and design work for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project.
OK, but the price tag is $778 million, up from an earlier estimate of $275 million.
“I would like to discuss how we can lower the cost of this plan and still effectively address the threat of Asian carp,” Pritzker said. “I will not sign a Project Partnership Agreement without a cost control strategy and additional cost sharing among the states.”
* The Tribune has a new story up about ComEd and Exelon lobbyists and their connections to Speaker Madigan and others. It’s pretty similar to the WBEZ story from earlier this week. But this paragraph has its most succinct explanation yet for what the feds appear to be after…
As part of the investigation, authorities are scrutinizing certain ComEd executives and have zeroed in on payments through the company’s vast network of consultants to some individuals who seemed to have done little actual work, the source said. The payments were aimed at currying favor with certain lawmakers while circumventing lobbying disclosure rules, the source added.
That last bit about “currying favor” with lawmakers is new. Click here for a previous version.
The practice of embedding clout-heavy contractors and hires on the company’s payroll offers a way to gain legislative favors outside of public scrutiny. It’s a small investment with potential to pay huge gains if the utility runs the legislative table in Springfield, as it has in years past.
Both outlets are basically saying the same thing here.
ComEd ended its Springfield lobbying contract with Elgin-based Stratagem Consulting Group on Oct. 3, WBEZ has learned. The firm is co-owned by 36th Ward Ald. Gilbert Villegas, Jr., who is Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s floor leader, trusted with guiding major legislative initiatives through the City Council. […]
Villegas said he profited from its deal with ComEd and all of the firm’s clients.
But on Friday, he also told WBEZ that he did not do any work for ComEd personally under that deal. Villegas was not a registered lobbyist for the company in Springfield. Stratagem’s lobbyists for ComEd were Villegas’ business partner, Elgin City Council member Baldemar Lopez, and another man.
Until last week, Villegas was the most prominent member of disgraced former Rep. Luis Arroyo’s political organization.
Let’s make this clear: I do not know if Ald. Villegas is under federal suspicion, nor do I know if his firm’s ComEd contract is being looked at. But he shared profits from ComEd even though he didn’t register as a ComEd lobbyist and was super-close to then-Rep. Arroyo. That’s all I’m saying. Period.
SIU refers black students to Student Rights and Responsibilities twice as often as white students for drug-related offenses, mostly for the reported odor of cannabis.
The Daily Egyptian filed a Freedom of Information Act request for data on how many students were referred to SRR for drug-related offenses from 2017-2019. The information showed more than twice as many black students were referred than white students.
In 2017, 86 black students were referred to SRR compared to 43 white students. In 2018, the numbers were 77 black students to 29 white students. As of Oct. 20, 2019, the numbers were 40 black students to 22 white students. […]
When students are referred to SRR, they have to appear in a hearing and are then found responsible or not responsible, and given a status or educational sanction based on the results.
These sanctions range from a written assignment to expulsion from the university.
Daniel Vega, vice president of student affairs of the Undergraduate Student Government, said it is highly unfair and discriminatory that black students are being reprimanded for this behavior compared to the small percentage of white students who are being reprimanded.
Keep in mind that just 13.4 percent of SIUC students are black. And every study I’ve ever seen shows that white people and black people consume cannabis at about the same rate. And if you read the whole story, it sure looks like white folks are tattling on black students.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Good on the students. The administration, however, should take this more seriously…
Students at the University of Illinois Springfield held an anti-racism rally Thursday evening after an image of university employees surfaced online that students said is racist.
The image was of two university employees in Halloween costumes. One employee was dressed in a Border Patrol costume, while the other was dressed as a caricature of a Mexican man. […]
“Any behavior on the part of a member of our university community that makes others feel unsafe or unwelcome at UIS is concerning to me,” said UIS Chancellor Susan Koch in a statement.
She also said the matter is being reviewed, and the school diversity’s training will be expanded.
Diversity training is a good thing, but I seriously doubt it would’ve stopped this behavior…
I mean, Luis Arroyo had to take ethics training when he was in the House.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally complained to the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services about the agency’s practices about a year before the death of 5-year-old AJ Freund of Crystal Lake.
In a May 24, 2018, letter to Carole Ruzicks, the senior director of operations for DCFS’ northern region, Kenneally cited three cases in which DCFS workers were uncooperative or remiss in their handling of investigations. From cases where workers refused to show up to hearings because they “would be washing their hair” to a separate instance involving an infant’s heroin overdose, Kenneally’s frustrations with the agency seemed to have come to a head.
Problems at the McHenry County office of the Department of Children and Family Services “have gotten worse over the last several months, not better” even after the death of 4-year-old AJ Freund, according to the McHenry County state’s attorney.
In a letter obtained by The Daily Line Thursday afternoon, McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally wrote that the DCFS office in Woodstock, the town where Freund’s body was found buried in April after his parents allegedly beat him to death, has not improved in the wake of Freund’s death.
Kenneally is leading the proscecution of JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr., who have been charged with murder.
“The root of the problems…remain the same — a lack of accountability for inadequate performance,” Kenneally wrote in an Oct. 22 letter addressed to lawmakers. “To illustrate this point consider the fact that six months later, DCFS has yet to determine, one way or the other, whether any corrective or disciplinary action is warranted for its response to the December, 2018 complaint involving AJ Freund.” […]
“We have an agency that’s more hung up on process than its mission,” [Rep. Steve Reick. R-Woodstock] told The Daily Line on Thursday. “We have an agency that is more interested or more concerned about making sure that check marks are put into boxes on forms, which may lead to one conclusion or another, but as long as it leads to the conclusion that they did what they were supposed to according to own procedures and protocols, what happens to the kid really doesn’t matter.”
Illinois’ child welfare agency is investigating why two teenagers in its custody were handcuffed and shackled at their feet while being driven from one youth shelter to another living arrangement, authorities confirmed Thursday.
The youths, 15 and 17, were driven in separate trips on Oct. 1 by a private contractor, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Both were restrained for about 30 miles as they were moved from a shelter in Chicago to a new placement in Palatine.
“The use of restraints in this case was totally unacceptable and against department policy,” spokesman Jassen Strokosch said in a statement. “DCFS is investigating the incident and putting additional policies and procedures in place immediately to ensure youth are never restrained during transport unless it is clinically necessary.” […]
“This is not a penal system,” [Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert] said. “The foster care system is different from a penal system. It’s not intended to punish children. Handcuffs and shackles are for adult criminals from whom the public needs to be protected.” […]
State law prohibits minors from being “subjected to mechanical restraints” in any facility licensed by DCFS.
* This is a good idea, and not just because of Heidner. These are regulated entities and they ought to seek approval from the Gaming Board before they sell out…
The Illinois Gaming Board on Thursday moved to block video gambling operators from selling their companies without state approval in what regulators billed as an “emergency” step they hope will stop any business under investigation from turning a profit before facing disciplinary action.
The unanimous vote followed a Tribune story last month that revealed one of the state’s largest video gambling operators, Rick Heidner, is in business with a convicted illegal sports bookmaker as well as a banker accused by the FBI of involving organized crime figures in a failed Rosemont casino deal. […]
Currently, video gambling operators are permitted to sell their businesses and report the transaction to the Gaming Board as much as three weeks later, legal counsel Dan Gerber told board members. Under the new rule, such sales have to be approved by the Gaming Board before going forward.
Gerber told board members that the “after-the-fact disclosures” undermine the integrity of state oversight.
The video gaming terminal magnate linked to the investigation of State Sen. Marty Sandoval’s (D-Chicago) has long operated as a landlord for suburban House members. […]
Heidner owns the property at 15 W. Weathersfield Way in Schaumburg, where State Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg) has set up her district office since being sworn into the House in 2010.
Mussman’s predecessor, State Rep. Paul Froehlich (D-Schaumburg), also used that space as his district office after he was appointed to the House as a Republican in 2003, and continued using the space after defecting to the Democratic party in 2007. […]
Mussman told The Daily Line last week that she did know know Heidner, and said he “was not influential in my choice” of district office. Asked whether the recent revelations surrounding Heidner made her rethink renting her district office from Heidner Property Management, Mussman said she would “need to think about that at renewal time.”
While some of those tweaks already have some Democratic support, others will be complete non-starters for the majority party.
State Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago), for example, said on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight Wednesday that statements of economic interest lawmakers currently file do not show much, and predicted lawmakers would work across the aisle to address a ban on lawmaker-lobbyists.
“We have a statement of economic interests out there that barely makes sense, it’s hard to follow, doesn’t cover what it’s supposed to cover,” Williams said. “Why are legislators also acting as lobbyists? I think that’s something we’ll see bipartisan support on.”
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36) said last week that he hoped to convene 36th Ward Democrats to appoint him as committeeperson so that he could take the lead in filling the legislative vacancy. The alderman said at the time that he believed Arroyo would step down from the political post. The two officials have been close allies since 2015.
But the committeeperson appointment would need to be verified by the executive committee, whose members have since said that they do not plan to meet until next April. Under state law, the legislative vacancy must be filled by Dec. 1.
Villegas reversed course on Thursday, saying he wants no part in the process to select Arroyo’s successor in the state house. Villegas, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s floor leader, added that he will work with whomever is chosen, and he will continue gathering signatures to run for committeeperson in March.
Friday, Nov 8, 2019 - Posted by Advertising Department
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Local 881 UFCW, SEIU Local 1, Local 399 IUOE, and Teamsters Joint Council 25 will help grow this new industry, advocate for its success, and support the thousands of workers across all racial lines and backgrounds throughout our state who will help staff and service legal cannabis. No matter the background or where we they come from, all workers deserve a better future for their families, and that starts with joining in union.
The law awards up to five points, out of a possible 250, for applicants entering into a “labor peace agreement” with a labor organization recognized under the National Labor Relations act.
If you plan to apply for a license, are a current operator or investor, or are generally interested in learning more, boost your application by partnering with us today.
Before his offices were raided by the FBI last spring, lobbyist and Chicago public affairs impresario Jay Doherty was paid more than $3.1 million by Commonwealth Edison — vastly more than he had previously disclosed, federal records show.
Doherty is among dozens of clout-heavy contractors the utility employed to build a dominant political influencing machine, powered by ratepayer dollars from its more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois. […]
Up until now, it’s been difficult to know which outside people and firms ComEd hires because the private sector company is not subject to open-records laws that apply to taxpayer-funded agencies.
But a WBEZ analysis of federal regulatory filings found dozens of companies and individuals who’ve been on ComEd’s payroll and are connected to political A-listers like House Speaker Michael Madigan and indicted Chicago Ald. Ed Burke.
Highlights include a big ComEd contract to Power Washing Pros., which is run by a longtime ally of Sen. Martin Sandoval. Industrial Fence is another ComEd contractor. Sandoval and former Rep. Luis Arroyo both publicly scolded the Tollway after the company was passed over for a contract. The Statehouse lobbying firm co-owned by Ald. Gil Villegas, Mayor Lightfoot’s city council floor leader who wants to replace Arroyo as 36th Ward Democratic Committeeman, represents Primera Engineers, another ComEd contractor. And, of course, Ald. Ed Burke’s former law firm represented ComEd in property tax matters. Again, go read the whole thing.
With its roots deepening in the Chicago economy, Google on Thursday officially opened its second office in the city’s Fulton Market area and announced a partnership with City Hall to bring digital skills to neighborhood-based businesses.
The company hosted Gov. J.B. Pritzker for its celebration. A leading funder of tech companies before getting elected, Pritzker offered a unique endorsement of the tech giant. “I’d like heretofore to be known as Gov. Google,” he said.
* We already discussed Tuesday’s ruling by the 7th Circuit Appellate Court ruling on Janus v. AFSCME regarding Janus’ attempt to recover fair share fees he’d paid over the years. The court also ruled the same day on a similar case filed against the IEA…
Stacey Mooney is a public-school teacher in Eureka (Illinois) Community School District #140. She is not a member of respondent Illinois Education Association (“IEA”), the union that serves as the exclusive representative of her employee unit in collective bargaining with the school district. From the time she started as a public employee until June 2018, the District deducted from her paycheck and sent to the union a fair-share fee that contributed to the costs incurred by the union in its labor-management activities. Both the Illinois Public Relations Act, 5 ILCS § 315/6, and existing Supreme Court precedent, Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Educ., 431 U.S. 209 (1977), authorized this fee arrangement.
That state of affairs came to an end when, in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018), the Supreme Court overruled Abood and announced that compulsory fair-share fee arrangements violate the First Amendment rights of persons who would prefer not to associate with the union that represents their employee unit. 138 S. Ct. at 2460. Following Janus, state employers in Illinois immediately ceased deducting fair-share fees from the paychecks of nonmembers of public sector unions.
Mooney filed suit in the Central District of Illinois on behalf of herself and a putative class of similarly situated persons, seeking restitution pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for the fees that had been deducted from her pay prior to Janus. The district court entered judgment for IEA on April 23, 2019, dismissing Mooney’s claims with prejudice. In so doing, it joined the consensus across the country concluding that unions that collected fair-share fees prior to Janus, in accordance with state law and Abood, are entitled to assert a good-faith defense to section 1983 liability.
We heard oral argument on Mooney’s case on September 20, 2019, in conjunction with Janus v. AFSCME, No. 19-1553. We now affirm the judgment of the district court, largely for the reasons set forth in our opinion of today’s date in Janus v. AFSCME, No. 19-1553.
* From the IEA…
The IEA is gratified that the Seventh Circuit has joined the unanimous view of more than 15 courts that have considered this issue, and in doing so have sided with educators in Illinois. These legal attacks are without merit and are solely focused on taking away the freedoms of working people to have a collective voice in the workplace. The court got it right. We will continue to fight to protect the rights of our union
* Related…
* Appeals court says Janus not entitled to recover fair share fees: “The three-judge panel ruled, just as the district court before them, that the union acted in good faith under the law and court precedent that existed at the time to represent every member and to collect only those fair share fees from individuals who chose not to join the union,” said AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall. Lindall said that since last year’s Supreme Court decision, there have been 20 cases filed by people trying to recoup fair share fees from public unions. Unions have prevailed in every one of them, he said.
* Non-Union Workers Can’t Get Fair-Share Fee Refund After Janus: AFSCME had a legal right to charge fair-share fees collected from nonmembers until Janus, the court said. “Mr. Janus has received all that he is entitled to: declaratory and injunctive relief, and a future free of any association with a public union,” it said.
I got into town just after sunset. The lights were on at a place called the Brick House Grill, and if you were out on South Main Street on a Friday night in February, chances are, that’s where you were going. So I went in, too.
I took a seat at the bar. A man two stools over from me struck up a conversation. I told him I was a journalist from Chicago and asked him to tell me about this town. “You know how this town is called Anna?” he started. “That’s for ‘Ain’t No N*****s Allowed.’” He laughed, shook his head, and took a sip of his beer.
The man was white. I am white. Everyone else in that restaurant in Anna was white.
Later that night, I realized what shook me most about our conversation: He didn’t pause before he said what he said. He didn’t look around the room to see whether anyone could hear us. He didn’t lower his voice. He just said it.
Anyone who has ever spent much time in southern Illinois knows about A-N-N-A.
Hartline grew up in Cobden, the town just north of Anna. He’s been Anna’s mayor for nearly 20 years, and he served in its police department for 15 years before that. He said he can’t think of a single incident in Anna that had race at its center that had taken place in his years of public service.
But these incidents happened. In March 2013, four young white men attacked a black 16-year-old in a parking lot behind a furniture store on Main Street. According to police reports, one of the suspects allegedly tried to sodomize the victim with either a tire iron or an ax handle. Although one of the young men told police they attacked the victim because he was black, the police did not charge the four men with a hate crime.
In 2017, in the aftermath of the white-supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a white Anna resident named Tabitha Tripp said at a Union County board meeting that she was concerned about hate incidents in the county, and she asked the county commissioners to consider a resolution, identical to one that had recently passed the Illinois House, condemning hate groups.
The proposal was never brought up for a vote, in part because commissioners said they didn’t believe it was their job to address such concerns. “The more you talk about it, it just creates that issue more,” Max Miller, Union County’s board chairman, told me. “I just didn’t think it was worth talking about.”
Some sundown towns in the Midwest have begun to confront their legacies. In March 2015, the city council of Goshen, Indiana, voted 6–0 to pass “A Resolution Acknowledging the Racially Exclusionary Past of Goshen, Indiana, as a ‘Sundown Town.’” In late 2016, the mayor of La Crosse, Wisconsin, formally apologized for the city’s history of racial exclusion and signed a proclamation to work toward racial equality. “We’ve got issues and are not shirking away from those issues,” Mayor Tim Kabat, who is white, told the La Crosse Tribune. “We recognize this is a problem and need to do something about it.”
The Union County Board of Commissioners is all white. So is the Anna city council, the Anna Police Department, and every teacher at Anna-Jonesboro High School, the public high school serving Anna. “I wish we had more diversity on our staff,” said Brett Detering, the school’s principal.
The only House member in that pic who voted for the gas tax increase is Rep. Didech. Reps. Mason and Edly-Allen both voted “No” and Rep. Mayfield didn’t vote.
By the way, no reporters showed up for that Lake County event.
* Tina Sfondeles asked Gov. Pritzker today about his ethics proposals in the coming week and during the spring session…
“We ought to begin with some bills around transparency, making sure that we know what lobbyists are getting paid, making sure we know who lobbyists are representing, that there’s a common database perhaps so that people could look up all the contributions that are related to a specific company and lobbyists and legislators.”
Asked if an outright ban on state lawmakers being lobbyists in any capacity should be part of that package, Pritzker said he’s “absolutely committed to the idea that we have to look into [it].”
“You see that Rep. Arroyo was a lobbyist for other levels of government. I think that is challenging and problematic,” Pritzker said. “Once again I’m not sure we’ll be able to do the proper amount of investigation and hearings in the three legislative days that are left here this year. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t aim at getting the best and most comprehensive ethics reform package through that we can.” […]
[Sen. Don Harmon] said “…It’s long been a source of angst when other elected officials are lobbying the General Assembly, and I would presume that members of other bodies would feel the same way. A more clear standard of what is and isn’t lobbying is probably a good place to start that conversation.”
“I want to keep our children as safe as possible,” said Wenthe. “I don’t want to increase the number of people in our community already using marijuana. I’ve overheard grown adults right here in our community say that if they do sell it here in Effingham, they may have to try it once to see what it is like.”
Heaven forbid that people might try a legal product to see for themselves what it’s all about.
Trustee Jim Taglia, who voted no for the previous marijuana ordinance, was happy the village board will take another look at the issue.
“I do have concerns about the permitted use on North Avenue and our most vulnerable areas, especially perimeter streets,” Taglia said. “I’m glad we’re going to take a look at it.”
And by “perimeter streets” I’m assuming he’s not talking about the border with River Forest. Just sayin.
In a non-descript building on the outskirts of downstate Dwight, production is ramping up for a revolutionary day in Illinois. Cultivators are trimming, prodding, and pampering cannabis plants, in preparation for marijuana legalization, January 1.
“We are cranking as hard as we can crank,” said Jeremy Unruh, director of regulatory affairs for Pharmacann, which operates the Dwight facility. “The state has given us authority to begin producing adult use products, now it’s just a matter of ramping up production to make sure that we come as close as we can to meeting the demand that we’ll see after January.”
It’s a process which is repeating itself at growing facilities statewide. In Pharmacann’s case, that includes an expansion of the Dwight facility which was built for the state’s medical marijuana program.
“We’re doubling the capacity here in the Dwight cultivation center,” Unruh said, “so we can put out about twice as much product as we currently put out in the medical scheme.”
[Medical cannabis consultant Kalee Hooghkirk of Full Spektrum Services] showed us product lists from several dispensaries. Typical was a drop from dozens of product options to just three, and price increases included a jump from $50 to $60 for a gram of cannabis concentrate.
“We’ve been promised for the past four years that prices would go down and availability would go up, and unfortunately, we’re seeing the exact opposite,” Hooghkirk said. […]
The Cannabis Association of Illinois, a trade group, explains it this way – over the past year, it’s become easier to qualify for medicinal marijuana, and the list of accepted medical conditions has grown. It’s raised the pool of marijuana patients from roughly 20,000 to more than 80,000.
With state approval needed to grow more supply, the industry is struggling to meet demand – and that doesn’t even include the rush of new customers expected when recreational use begins.
When she was campaigning, Lightfoot said the [revenues from a new graduated real estate transfer tax] would go to programs aimed at reducing homelessness in the city. And now 13 Democratic lawmakers – including 10 from Chicago – have signed a letter saying they will not vote for Lightfoot’s proposal unless at least 60% of the revenue the tax generates is “statutorily dedicated” to combatting homelessness.
Lightfoot has balked at that proposal, saying last week: “That’s never going to happen.”
Lightfoot argues that given the budget deficit the city faces it would not be responsible to commit to spending “in perpetuity” 60% of the revenue the new tax would bring in on reducing homelessness, given that there are other worthy causes that also deserve extra funding.
I’ve been encouraging lawmakers to work with the mayor. As you know there are some lawmakers who are concerned where the dollars from the real estate transfer tax would go. I want them to work their differences out so that we can get something done. […]
I’m looking for direction from the mayor. We want to make sure we do what’s best for the city as well as the entire state of Illinois. My responsibility extends beyond the border of the city of Chicago. So, I’m relying on the mayor to come back with a plan that will allow us to get the votes that are necessary. But there are Chicago legislators who have real concerns. I think they’re reflecting concerns that are coming from aldermen. And so I’d like them all to get on the same page. And I think that’s something the mayor’s working to do.
I’ve been working with the mayor’s team, our team has, to try and craft something that will work and with which we can garner Downstate votes and collar county votes for something that’s good for Chicago. And the mayor, I know, is committed to getting that done. She’s been making calls and I’m hopeful that we’re going to be able to garner enough votes for that next week.
Since 2004, more than 2,000 newspapers have closed in the United States, and many local news outlets are struggling to build a digital business. But one remarkable success story is the Albany Daily News, a website that clocked nearly 10 million pageviews in August, roughly five times that of the 160-year-old Albany Times Union newspaper, according to analytics service SimilarWeb.
The most popular news site in Albany has a simple secret to success: Fake just about everything and rake in the advertising dollars.
The Albany Daily News is an empty husk of a website filled with old content that for months was showered with questionable traffic as part of a digital ad fraud scheme, according to new research from Social Puncher, an ad fraud prevention consultancy. […]
The sites, whose ultimate beneficiary is unknown, provide yet another example of how the digital ad industry is being ravaged by dubious schemes and outright fraudsters who steal money from brands by causing ads show up on sites and apps with fake or manipulated audiences, among other techniques. The fake local sites also illustrate a painful irony that while authentic local news outlets in the US and Canada struggle with business challenges, there’s apparently plenty of money or influence to be gained by masquerading as one.
Google is more than just an advertiser on these sites. Its ad platforms are helping them earn money. The Edmonton and Albany sites make the majority of their ad inventory available via Google’s ad network, meaning the tech giant facilitates the programmatic sale of ads on the sites and takes a cut of revenue when ads are displayed. Along with Google, the sites also list their inventory with AppNexus, another large ad network.
A Google spokesperson said the Edmonton and Albany sites were not violating any of its policies and that they appeared to be receiving some of their traffic by placing ads on other websites via networks such as Taboola and Outbrain. AppNexus declined to comment specifically on the sites.
Brands only receive a report at the end of the month/quarter/year with a list of domains where their ads were displayed. If domain names have the typical pattern of old local media, then it is impossible to understand that this is fake, and therefore it is impossible to avoid such schemes.
So, advertisers are being ripped off, actual news sites which produce real content are missing out on revenue, but the fraudsters and companies like Google rake in the dough.
State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) was appointed Chair of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee today.
“I look forward to working with Gov. Pritzker and IDOT officials to move forward with our historic Rebuild Illinois plan and other public safety issues to ensure the future of our critical infrastructure across the state,” Hunter said.
Hunter’s leadership will place a renewed focus on improving fairness in the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Illinois Tollway’s procurement processes. In 2016, she passed legislation creating the Fair Practices In Contracting Task Force, which is charged with making recommendations for removing barriers to minority-owned business participation in state procurement.
“This issue still lacks the appropriate attention from state leaders. Racial disparities in the awarding of state contracts are widening. When African-American businesses are shut out of opportunities, our communities are shut out of economic development and our families are shut out of jobs,” Hunter said. “It’s time to get serious about eliminating racial bias in the bidding process and systemic barriers to equity in state contracting.”
Hunter’s other immediate priorities as Chair of the Transportation Committee include:
Seeking ways to make public transportation more accessible and affordable, particularly in underserved communities.
Reviving the Disadvantaged Business Revolving Loan Program to provide capital necessary for properly certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises – small, minority and female-owned businesses - to finance IDOT project-specific work, acquire valuable work experience and establish or rebuild credit lines.
Conducting a study to evaluate the usage of controversial red-light cameras throughout the state.
Increasing the number of minority-, veteran- and woman-owned businesses engaged in state and local government contracting.
Ensuring transparent and efficient implementation of IDOT’s Multi-Year Plan.
Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) had been chairman until he stepped aside after his Statehouse office was raided by the feds. But the position was never filled. The committee is meeting this coming Tuesday. The only posted bill so far is this red light cam study…
Provides that 30 days after the effective date of the bill, the Department of Transportation shall conduct a study evaluating automated traffic law enforcement systems in this State. Provides that on or before December 31, 2019, the Department shall file a report with the General Assembly with the results from the study, including input from local law enforcement, and any recommendations the Department deems necessary
* Perhaps not coincidentally, I received this from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety earlier today…
Red light cameras are proven safety devices that reduce dangerous red light running, crashes, injuries and deaths. One IIHS study of 79 large US cities found that red light camera programs in those cities saved nearly 1,300 lives through 2014. In the same study, our researchers concluded that the fatal red-light-running crash rate was 30% higher in cities that deactivated cameras than it would have been if the cameras remained on. A summary of research on the topic is available here: https://go.iihs.org/RL-Cameras
· House Bill 3954 that will revise statement of economic interests to include more details similar to the information required for judicial statement of economic interest forms. This forces full disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and provides greater transparency for members of the General Assembly.
· HJRCA 36 will require a special election to fill General Assembly vacancies through the same laws governing our party primaries. This will prevent political powerbrokers from picking their preferred candidates for the vacancies.
· House Resolution 588 will allow a Chief Co-Sponsor of any bill with five co-sponsors from each party to call it for an up or down vote in a substantive committee.
· House Bill 3947 would ban members of the General Assembly, their spouses, and immediate live-in family members from performing paid lobbying work with local government units. Currently, members of the Illinois General Assembly - state representatives and state senators - are prohibited from lobbying the State of Illinois, but are not prohibited from lobbying local government units, such as a counties or municipalities.
· House Bill 3955 will create mandatory and publicly available documentation of General Assembly communications with any state agency regarding contracts.
* The Question: Do you have any additions, subtractions, amendments, etc. to this list? Explain.
Profits [at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago] fell 89 percent from 2015 to 2018, from $16.7 million to $1.8 million, according to documents filed with Cook County, Ill. Trump’s hotel struggled even as other Chicago hotels held steady or thrived.
“Performance of [the Trump hotel] is clearly disassociated from that of its competitive set,” the company’s lawyers said in a letter to the county seeking to lower the hotel’s taxes.
The lawyers said the problem was a reaction to Trump’s politics. They even quoted a line from a 2018 Washington Post article, in which one small-time investor described the effect of Trump’s candidacy on his buildings thusly: “Then the Embarrassment came.”
Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, which prides itself on indulgent luxury, is trying to keep up by cutting costs. In a presentation to investors, obtained by The Post, the company described leaving jobs open, cutting back on gifts for high rollers and children, and buying cheaper housekeeping supplies.
* More…
Food and Bev is a good indicator of whether people are holding events at the hotel, like biz meetings, convention, weddings, bar mitzvahs etc.
What I mean is — if one of the parents or close friends of a couple getting married doesn't like Trump brand, then Trump Chicago probably loses out. If any of a company's directors of executives doesn't like Trump, same thing.
Struggling to keep up with a glut of new rooms across the city, Chicago hoteliers faced January’s polar vortex, a cyclical downturn in convention business, lower rates, lower occupancy and at least one high-profile default in 2019.
“There’s no doubt 2019 has been a challenging year for all hotels,” said John Rutledge, CEO of Chicago-based Oxford Development, which has developed 10 hotels in Chicago, including LondonHouse, The Langham and The Godfrey. “It’s time to take a breath and absorb some of that new product.” […]
But demand has not kept pace with supply. After a record year in 2018, hotel occupancy has fallen under 75% through September — a 2.5% year-over-year decline, according to data from research firm STR supplied by Choose Chicago.
Meanwhile, the average daily room rate in Chicago has dropped 3.2% to $205.74, according to STR data. Revenue per available room — a key measure of profitability — is down 5.6% to $153.41.
Seizing on a federal public corruption probe that has embroiled Democrats from City Hall to the state Capitol, Illinois House Republicans on Thursday proposed a series of changes to state ethics rules they say would provide greater transparency and help prevent future abuses of power. […]
The proposals from House Republicans include requiring lawmakers to provide more detailed information about their financial interests on annual statements of economic interest; instituting special elections to fill vacant seats in the House and Senate; loosening the control House committee chairs have over the fate of bills; and barring lawmakers and close family members from working as lobbyists at the local level.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs called the measures “common-sense, straightforward government ethics reforms that are long overdue.”
“If the Democrats are serious about at least trying to restore some confidence in the public, we shouldn’t have to wait till next January, next spring,” Durkin said.
Three Joliet Township workers said they were forced to do landscaping work on [Township Supervisor Daniel Vera’s] home. He didn’t answer questions about making the public employees work on his private property
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Wednesday requested an independent review of a county agency tasked with helping get vacant homes back on the market after the head of the agency admitted a sale involving a building owned by a top aide to 34th Ward Ald. Carrie Austin never should have been allowed.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported on the insider deal involving the Cook County Land Bank Authority and a building that Austin’s chief of staff Chester Wilson Jr. owned at 103rd Street and Corliss Avenue.
A company linked to the arrest and resignation of former State Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) on corruption charges for allegedly bribing a state senator for his support on legalizing “sweepstakes machines” sued west suburban Addison last month after the town passed an ordinance banning the machines.
Addison’s village board of trustees moved to ban sweepstakes machines in an ordinance passed by the body in June, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court by Collage LLC on Oct. 2. […]
The lawsuit notes the sweepstakes machines are regulated by the Illinois Department of Revenue, and that each of the six machines within city limits had already paid the state “to operate the machines and paid a licensing fee for each machine.”
The sweepstakes machines’ existing licenses and the fees paid for them establish a contract that Addison cannot preempt, according to the lawsuit.
The company also argues the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law, because it only targets digital sweepstakes machines.
More than a dozen runners and the boys team from St. Viator High School will be allowed to compete at the cross-country state finals this weekend after initially being bumped in favor of Chicago Public Schools students prevented from running because of the Chicago Teachers Union strike.
The Illinois High School Association announced Monday night that the runners — eight boys and five girls competing as individuals, and the St. Viator team in Arlington Heights — have been added to the field to compete at the IHSA Cross Country State Championship at Detweiller Park in Peoria on Saturday.
The runners had been displaced by CPS students allowed by a court order to compete in last weekend’s sectionals even though they missed the regional races due to the longest Chicago teachers strike in decades. […]
“After being granted an exemption to run by the courts, the CPS runners and team earned their places in the State Meet,” IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said in a news release. “However, given that they were not initially eligible to compete per IHSA rules, it seemed like a fair gesture to reward the individuals and team who lost their qualifier spots to them. We believe this is a fair recourse given the unique circumstances.”
Hours after saying Chicago Public Schools runners “earned their places” at the state finals after a judicial intervention allowed them to run in qualifying races, the Illinois High School Association filed a legal appeal that could cause those runners to be removed from the meet.
In a filing late Monday, the IHSA asked the Illinois Appellate Court to reverse a temporary restraining order that allowed CPS runners to compete at last weekend’s sectional meets. The IHSA had initially barred the athletes because the teachers strike forced them to miss an earlier set of regional races that were the first step in cross-country’s postseason.
IHSA policy says athletes whose districts are on strike cannot compete, though an exception is made when strikes begin after the start of the postseason. Cook County Judge Neil Cohen called that an arbitrary distinction in ruling that the CPS runners could compete in sectionals. […]
While the court’s timetable is unclear, [IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson] said in an interview that if the organization wins its challenge before Saturday’s state finals, it might bar the CPS runners from participating.
A former Olympian who still holds the fastest time in state cross-country history pleaded with the Illinois High School Association on Wednesday to allow Chicago Public Schools runners to compete in the state meet.
“(Don’t) be hamstrung by rules and laws and bylaws, but use some common sense, use some compassion and, most of all, think about what’s in the best interest of the innocent student-athletes involved here,” said Craig Virgin, who set the record running for Lebanon High School in 1972 and went on to make three Olympic teams. […]
As for the IHSA’s concern about setting a rule-breaking precedent, [Kevin Sterling, an attorney representing CPS runners] said the organization appears to be flexible when high-profile sports are involved.
He cited the IHSA board’s decision to allow the powerhouse football team from Simeon Career Academy to compete in the postseason even though the strike didn’t allow it to play eight games, as required by the organization’s rules.
Illinois piled a few billion dollars more onto its unfunded pension tab last year as contributions remain below the actuarial levels needed to keep it from falling further behind.
The unfunded liabilities rose to about $137 billion from $134 billion, according to a review of the preliminary actuarial valuation reports produced by the five funds that make up the state’s system. The reports were released over the last week. […]
The Teachers’ Retirement System accounts for $78.1 billion of the unfunded fiscal 2019 tab, up from $75.3 billion a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Segal Consulting. The funded ratio held nearly steady at 40.6% compared to 40.7% a year earlier. […]
The State Employees’ Retirement System, or SERS, accounted for $30.3 billion of the unfunded tab, down slightly from $30.4 billion a year earlier with the funded ratio growing slightly to 37.8% from 36.5%, according to the valuation report prepared by Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Co. The fiscal 2021 contribution was set tentatively at $2.35 billion, up from $2.3 billion this year and below an ADC level of $2.9 billion.
