* House Majority Leader Greg Harris just told the doorkeepers “Please lock down the chamber immediately.”
* A recorded security announcement was broadcast to the chamber: “May I have your attention please. The building is on lockdown. No one is to enter or leave the building. Please secure your location and shelter in place immediately.”
* Leader Harris: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m told the situation has cleared and we’re free to move about the building again and the doorkeepers can unlock the doors.”
* There may - may - have been a problem with the security system which triggered the alarm.
Today Governor JB Pritzker announced the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Dr. Ngozi Ezike is leaving the agency after three years of service. To celebrate Dr. Ezike’s outstanding tenure and heroic service, the governor issued a proclamation establishing today, March 1, 2022, as #DrEzikeDay. Amaal Tokars, PhD., who is currently the Assistant Director of IDPH will serve as interim director while a nationwide search is conducted to find a permanent replacement. Dr. Ezike’s last day will be March 14, 2022.
“Dr. Ngozi Ezike has led the Illinois Department of Public Health for over three years, her tenure defined not only by her ability to provide the latest expertise and data, but also her empathy and compassion – becoming a beacon of stability for millions during a time of tremendous uncertainty,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “No number of sleepless nights and endless days could wear down her commitment to think first and foremost of Illinois’ most vulnerable. Her departure is a change I am loathe to accept, but I have utmost faith that Dr. Ezike’s next journey will also bring more good to the world – as has been the hallmark of every step of her career. She will go down in the Illinois history books as a woman who saved lives and changed our state for the better.”
“It has been a great honor serving the people of Illinois as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. Being the state’s top doc during a global pandemic has been challenging to say the least, but it’s been an amazing journey to work with so many great public health professionals and leaders from all sectors,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “I want to thank Governor Pritzker for the opportunity he provided me and for his dedication to the people of this great state. The dedicated men and women of IDPH, will continue their mission-driven work to protect the health and safety of all Illinois residents.”
Amaal V.E. Tokars, PhD., has served as IDPH Assistant Director since June 2020 and is a Certified Public Health Administrator with a wide range of expertise. Prior to joining the administration, Tokars worked at the Kendall County Health Department and served as the President of the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium. Previously, Tokars served at the Association for Individual Development for fourteen years where she managed over 30 health and human services sites and programs. Amaal received her Bachelor of Science from Lewis University, and her Masters in family systems as well as a PhD. in Leadership and Policy from Northern Illinois University. She is also a graduate of the Navy Post Graduate School. Dr. Arti Barnes, MD, MPH, who joined IDPH in 2020 will continue to serve as Chief Medical Officer.
Governor Pritzker’s full remarks congratulating Dr. Ezike, as prepared for delivery, can be found below.
For over three years, Dr. Ngozi Ezike has served as head of the Illinois Department of Public Health. With all her being, she has dedicated each day — and I mean EVERY day — to the agency’s mission to protect the health and wellness of the people in Illinois. For much of the last two years, she’s dedicated each night, too.
Even with this unprecedented internal workload, Dr. Ezike prioritized joining me at more than 160 COVID press conferences, providing not only the latest expertise and data, but also her empathy and compassion – becoming a beacon of stability for millions during a time of tremendous uncertainty. And she has been doing so in both English and Spanish. She has an unshakeable faith in G-d, and she has leaned on her faith to give her the strength to care for the world.
I have watched Dr. Ezike mourn the loss of every one of the 32,000 Illinoisans who have died from COVID-19. This pandemic is a collective trauma that has, for many, numbed their ability to comprehend death on a massive scale. Not Dr. Ezike. No number of sleepless nights and endless days could wear down her commitment to think first and foremost of Illinois’ most vulnerable.
I ran for office. Dr. Ezike did not. But throughout this crisis, she has been beside me every step of the way. I don’t put it lightly when I say she has had one of the hardest jobs in the world. There is something particularly heroic about the service of an extraordinary individual who did not seek greatness but found it anyway.
Dr. Ezike’s last day leading our Department of Public Health will be March 14th. It is a change I am loathe to accept, but perhaps she can finally get a good night’s sleep and precious time with her husband and their four kids. It is well deserved.
I have utmost faith that Dr. Ezike’s next journey will also bring more good to the world – as has been the hallmark of every step of her career. She will go down in the Illinois history books as a woman who changed our state for the better. She saved lives, many thousands of lives.
On that note, I have issued a proclamation declaring today, Tuesday, March 1st, to be Dr. Ezike Day in the State of Illinois. I ask all our residents to take a moment today or any day in the future to thank her for her unprecedented public service in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Ezike has big shoes to fill, and I’m pleased to announce that one of her top deputies –Amaal Tokaars, who has joined us at COVID-19 updates in the past – will be leading IDPH in the interim as we look for a permanent successor. Amaal Tokaars has been an instrumental senior member of Dr. Ezike’s leadership team, and the people of Illinois will be lucky to have her watching out for them.
…Adding… From Dr. Ezike’s remarks…
As all of the speakers have mentioned, we have embarked on a new chapter in our COVID journey and I just want to highlight that, as the mask requirement has been lifted, it does not mean that it’s not recommended.
And as we think about our individual situations, and who may we may be coming around with, who we are living with, it may absolutely be the case that you are an individual, either because of your own risk assessment, or because of those that you live with that you will continue to wear a mask. And so I echo the pleas from Governor Pritzker that we just be respectful of each other’s choices. No one knows, you could be working side by side with someone who is undergoing chemotherapy. Unbeknownst to you, you could be working right behind someone who goes home and takes care of a severely immunocompromised child or parents. We don’t know what people are dealing with it. So let’s respect each other’s choices and equally respect those who have chosen not to wear a mask for whatever their situation is as well.
It has been just an honor to be able to share these updates, share information help create policy. Thinking back, January 2019, I got a call from a blocked number that I answered. And it was at that time that Governor Pritzker offered and I accepted the offer to serve as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Looking back at notes and journal entries that I had created at that time, I have several quotes that I just jotted down that were from that time. One said, ‘Wow, a dream is coming true for me even before I ever dreamt the dream, but it’s not my reality.’ Another one said ‘I’m so excited to grow and be stretched to new limits.’ I didn’t exactly know the full impact of that [laughs]. Another said, ‘I’m just look forward to doing wonderful things for the residents of Illinois. I’m so ready for this work.’ Again, this is January 2019. I did not know fully what I was getting into. But I had ideals that I believed in that would be my guiding light, my North Star. One is that believing that everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve their best health. A second is that intentionality is required to address long forsaken needs of selected populations. That’s now referred to succinctly as equity. And third that to better care for a diverse population like we are so blessed to have an Illinois you need a team that reflects that diversity to create the most robust and inclusive solutions.
She went on to thank her team at IDPH.
* More…
I acknowledge and mourn with the families of all the lives lost, not just to COVID but to gun violence, to suicide, to drug overdose, to racism to cancer, and all the other diseases and ills that public health officials and all of our partners work tirelessly to curb. Being a half full kind of gal, I am focusing in on all the positive actions of so many private citizens.
* More…
It’s just been my tremendous pleasure to serve the people of Illinois. I am so blessed to have been able to bring some measure of comfort to Illinoisans ,to quiet some of the chaos and infuse some calm. I’m glad that I served as a role model to young girls, girls of color, little black girls, that they can be leaders in any field. And I’m proud to show our young boys as well the future men of our society examples of women in leadership. I’m proud to exemplify that empathy and strength can exist in the same body and in the same breath.
And then she thanked her family.
* Dr. Ezike was asked about her growth as a leader…
I was just speaking at my local high school, at the Model UN conference, and I was talking to about 600 high schoolers on Saturday morning. And I was telling them that leadership is not a destination. It’s a continuous journey. And we are all leaders. You might be a leader in the fact that you’re the firstborn in the family and so you have some kind of responsibility over your siblings. You can be a leader in a classroom where you’re the one that speaks up if you see that someone is being bullied. I have been able to continue to grow leadership skills in all directions. Not perfecting anything yet. I feel like there’s still plenty and plenty of room to grow. My staff can tell you about that struggle. But I think definitely learning the best ways to navigate difficult conversations, understanding how to bring people of different backgrounds with different desires, how to find something that might maybe not satisfy everyone but at least be clear enough in communication to explain why you landed here and have them at least respect the process of your thinking. Being able to make decisions quickly when they need to be versus gathering everybody together and getting all the troops together to get buy-in from many stakeholders, figuring out when and where you use, employ which lever all of those things I am still growing and have been blessed to have the opportunity to really probably grow faster than I would have in another role and another time, but definitely feel that I was called for such a time as this and appreciate all of the growth.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
…Adding… Harmon…
Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) issued the following statement regarding Dr. Ngozi Ezike’s announcement that she will be stepping down as director of the Illinois Department of Public Health after seeing the agency through the pandemic response.
“Throughout this pandemic, Dr. Ezike has been a calming, compassionate voice offering reassurance and information to the people of Illinois in at least two languages. I want to thank her for her commitment to the public health of this great state and wish her the very best in her next endeavors.”
* Walker…
State Rep. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights, issued the following statement today after Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced her upcoming retirement from the Department:
“Dr. Ezike has been no less than a beacon of hope and light during one of the greatest challenges Illinois has faced in generations. Her spirit is warm, kind, and full of a love for what she does and for keeping Illinoisans healthy and safe. She has saved lives.
There aren’t enough words to thank Dr. Ezike for her tireless efforts, but she deserves them all. I join Governor Pritzker, my colleagues in the General Assembly, and all Illinoisans in thanking and congratulating Dr. Ezike and wish her and her family all the best in the next chapter of her journey.”
* Stratton…
Lt. Governor Stratton’s Statement on the Departure of Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike
Springfield —In times of uncertainty, we look to people who are knowledgeable, trustworthy, and courageous. Dr. Ngozi Ezike was all of that and more as she worked tirelessly to protect the health of Illinois residents during one of the worst public health crises of our lifetime.
She was a calming figure offering information with empathy and compassion that put the safety of our most vulnerable residents first. Our state could not have asked for a better steward during this pandemic.
As the head of the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, I am especially proud of Dr. Ezike because she is a stellar example of what is possible for women and girls who love science and want to serve the public. Thank you, Dr. Ezike, for all that you have meant to this state at a time when we needed you the most.
“Arne Duncan has dedicated himself to public service, and over the arc of his career contributed to our city’s well being in important ways. The work he’s doing now to build community-based solutions to violence is important, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with Chicago CRED and the other street outreach and intervention organizations and initiatives across our city. We all agree that the priority is to make sure every resident, regardless of zip code, experiences safe and peaceful neighborhoods, and I will work with all people of good will focused on that objective. We must all work together to combat gang and gun violence, and to continue our work of investing in historically neglected neighborhoods.”
* Teresi press release…
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is calling for an end to penalties for late payments of the state’s bills.
Following media reports questioning the wisdom of the initiative, Comptroller Candidate Shannon Teresi asks Susana Mendoza the following questions on why this act should be repealed:
1. Why should the state be exempt from paying late fees, but every Illinoisan still has to pay interest on their bills?
2. If the state pays its bills on time, this is not an issue. Why are you changing the rules and reducing accountability for timely state payments?
3. Why would Illinois remove its prompt payment legislation when almost every other state in the country has similar laws to hold government accountable to vendors?
4. As the state’s Chief Fiscal Officer, why are you working to avoid accountability for late payments? What message does that send to taxpayers, vendors and credit agencies?
5. Why would small businesses continue to provide goods and services in good faith to the state when the Comptroller is working to avoid accountability for late payments?
* Press release…
Just ahead of an election season, with new maps and adjusted timelines, the Democrats for the Illinois House are continuing to ramp up their team by adding former WVON News Anchor TaQuoya McConnico as their new Chief Communications Officer.
“We are pleased to welcome TaQuoya to the team,” said Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch. “We have a long history of doing great work in communities together. I know our party members will appreciate her energy, her expertise, and her passion for creating connections and great results.”
TaQuoya Michelle McConnico (former name Kennedy) is an award-winning communications and marketing professional and a proud United States Air Force Veteran. She has spent the last 15 years connecting brands to consumers and helping organizations achieve their goals through communications and digital marketing. TaQuoya is a former WVON News Director. She also served as a Vice President at Teneo Strategy, a global CEO consulting and advisory firm founded in part by the Clinton Administration’s own Doug Band. They counsel some of the world’s top organizations, including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, FIFA, and Petsmart. TaQuoya has received numerous awards for her work, including Verizon Wireless HQ Communications Improvement Recognition, President Obama’s Call to Service Award, and The Village of Maywood Helping Hand Award. She was also named one of Chicago’s Top Professionals Under the Age of 40 to watch by the Chicago Defender.
The addition of McConnico is just the latest of supports added to help the party build strong in their fight for a better Illinois as they work through COVID restrictions and later timelines to gather petitions and get support to get on the ballot. Other new supports for the party include a full-time staff of regional political directors to develop cutting-edge campaigns and an in-house fundraising expert to work one-on-one with candidates on financing plans.
McConnico is married to Tyler McConnico, an Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. member. They have three sons, Tyson (5), Taylor (4), and Troy (2). McConnico is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and a member of The National Association of Black Journalists. #
— Alexi Giannoulias has won the endorsement of Our Revolution in his bid for secretary of state. The national political group aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders announced its support last night during a national program that also included Jessica Cisneros, who’s hoping to unseat Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar (their primary is today), and Melanie D’Arrigo, who’s running for New York’s 3rd Congressional District as Rep. Tom Suozzi runs for governor. Our Revolution says it has more than 300,000 members in Illinois. Giannoulias also has the support of Illinois progressive Reps. Chuy Garcia and Jan Schakowsky. […]
— North Aurora trustee enters race for Foster’s 11th Congressional District seat: “Mark Carroll’s entry into the contest brings the GOP field to seven candidates,” reports Daily Herald’s Russell Lissau.
— Kirk J. Ortiz, a Cook County sheriff deputy, is jumping into the race for sheriff, challenging his boss, Tom Dart.
Gov. JB Pritzker used his appearance Sunday at the Kane County Democrats’ annual Truman Dinner fundraiser as a way to energize those in attendance ahead of the upcoming primary and general elections.
“Honestly, you all are protecting and securing our Democratic values by making sure that Kane County is a blue county now and forever,” said Pritzker during his remarks at the fundraiser, held at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora. “We’re a diverse and powerful coalition, moving this state in a bold new direction.”
Pritzker, the state’s top Democrat, has already announced he is running for a second term. He ticked off a few of the accomplishments of the Democrats during his administration.
“It was the Democrats that raised the minimum wage to a living wage,” he said. “We lifted hundreds of thousands of working people out of poverty…Democrats expanded child care, we increased funding for education, we raised teachers’ salaries and we made college more affordable. When COVID-19 hit Illinois, Democrats expanded health care coverage. We provided free COVID-19 testing and treatment and vaccinations. And we funded critical access hospitals and safety net hospitals.”
* Ken Griffin sat down for yet another softball interview and wasn’t even asked about dumping a $20 million down payment into the Illinois governor’s race…
What do you do for relaxation and exercise?
One thing that surprises people? I love to play “Call of Duty” and I’ll play it while I’m on the elliptical trainer. Takes a bit of work on balance to do both at the same time; maybe a bit of multitasking. But I’m always trying to find ways to stay in shape and to stay engaged.
A $5 billion Rivian Automotive Inc. electric-vehicle plant planned for central Georgia is now a pawn in the state’s bitter Republican gubernatorial primary.
Former U.S. Senator David Perdue, who is challenging incumbent Governor Brian Kemp with the backing of Donald Trump, is holding a Tuesday rally in Rutledge to protest the plant and investor George Soros, who is one of its backers. The attack puts Kemp’s biggest economic development coup squarely in the middle of the U.S. culture wars. […]
“Brian Kemp is selling us out to George Soros,” Perdue said in a release announcing the event. “He’s pledged our tax dollars to lure a California company funded by George Soros to Georgia and is calling it ‘economic development,” Perdue’s statement said. “Kemp thought he could get away with this under the guise of ‘economic development,’ but all he is doing here is selling us out and lining George Soros’s pockets.”
Hilarious. But it kinda makes me wonder if the GOP candidates here have a position on helping Rivian. I’m almost afraid to check.
Griffin has branded himself and Irvin as advocates for public safety. But weapons manufactured by companies within Citadel’s portfolio account for nearly one of every four guns recovered by police and used in Chicago homicides since 2017.
“Given this concern, you’d think Griffin would be outraged to learn Citadel and Citadel Securities have $86 million in investments and holdings in gun and ammunition makers,” the editorial board reported.
“You absolutely cannot be a voice about crime and murder or shootings on our streets when your company is a major investor in gun manufacturers,” said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of Faith Community of St. Sabina Church.
This isn’t the first time Griffin and Irvin have been called out for their bogus public safety platform. Last week, the Chicago Tribune exposed Irvin for helping clients accused of the same violent crimes he slams in campaign ads.
The Illinois State Fair is excited to announce the first six acts scheduled to perform on the Illinois Lottery Grandstand stage during the upcoming 2022 Illinois State Fair. From Grammy Award winning artists in country, pop and reggae to rock royalty, this year’s lineup has something for everyone. Fairgoers can start planning their summer concert adventures when tickets go on sale Friday, March 11th.
Multi-Platinum-selling, award-winning hitmaker Sam Hunt will kick off the first weekend of the fair on Friday, August 12. Hunt’s sophomore album SOUTHSIDE debuted to critical acclaim and was one of the top country albums of 2020 landing at number one on the Billboard country albums chart. Hunt is known for bridging multiple genres with powerhouse collaborations with artist that include Carrie Underwood (“Heartbeat”), Breland (“My Truck”), Sasha Alex Sloan (“When Was It Over”) and Ingrid Andress (“Wishful Drinking”).
Sunday, August 14 the best-selling duo in country music history will take the stage. Brooks & Dunn have 23 career chart-toppers and have sold 30 million albums over a career that has spanned over three decades. The duo made up of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn have amassed more than 80 industry awards, including two Grammy’s. The legendary country musical group has been nominated by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) for “Duo of the Year”, an award in which they have won more than a dozen times.
TLC and Shaggy will take fairgoers back to the 90’s and 2000’s on Wednesday, August 17. The best-selling American girl group of all time has sold 85 million records worldwide and has won four Grammys. Shaggy, two-time Grammy winner for Best Reggae album, saw massive success with his viral hit, “Banana” with fellow Jamaican artist, Conkarah which amassed over 2 billion streams and spawned over 50 million Tik Tok videos with over 5 billion video views for the #bananadrop challenge. As the only diamond-selling dancehall/reggae artist in music history, he is also among the top 3 streamed reggae artists of all time on Spotify. Shaggy is currently in the studio working on a new album slated for release later this year.
Thursday, August 18 ACM/CMA award-winning artist Jon Pardi will headline a night of country. Pardi recently released country radio single “Tequilla Little Time,” the follow-up to his number one hit “Heartache Medication.” Joining Pardi, is one of country music’s most promising young stars Lainey Wilson and country trio Chapel Hart.
The final weekend of the fair will be led by monstrous metal jams from Illinois based rock band, Disturbed. Taking the stage on Saturday August 20, this multiplatinum band from Chicago is described as a hard rock juggernaut that has accomplished the rare feat of achieving five consecutive number one debuts on the Billboard Top 200. Guitarist Nita Strauss will open for Disturbed. Strauss, who may be best known for her role as the lead guitarist for Alice Cooper, is the first female since 1995 to have a top 10 single on Billboard’s Top 10 Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Critics have called Strauss one of the most well-versed, living rock guitarists in the world.
The 2022 Illinois State Fair will go out rocking with Sammy Hagar & The Circle. The group was scheduled to open the 2021 Illinois State Fair, but severe weather canceled the show. Formed in 2014, the critically-acclaimed supergroup takes fans on a musical journey through rock history with a setlist spanning four decades of Hagar and the band’s biggest hits from The Circle, Van Halen, Montrose, Sammy Hagar & The Wabos, and beyond. With drummer Jason Bonham on board, concert goers can expect to hear a few Led Zeppelin classics as well as some surprise jams.
“We are very excited to bring this many talented artists to the Illinois Lottery Grandstand,” said Illinois State Fair Manager, Rebecca Clark. “Our number one goal is to have something for everyone’s musical taste, and I feel like we are well on our way to accomplishing that goal with several nights still to announce.”
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report said Monday if human-caused global warming isn’t limited to just another couple tenths of a degree, an Earth now struck regularly by deadly heat, fires, floods and drought in future decades will degrade in 127 ways with some being “potentially irreversible.”
“The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health,” says the major report designed to guide world leaders in their efforts to curb climate change. Delaying cuts in heat-trapping carbon emissions and waiting on adapting to warming’s impacts, it warns, “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”
Today’s children who may still be alive in the year 2100 are going to experience four times more climate extremes than they do now even with only a few more tenths of a degree of warming over today’s heat. But if temperatures increase nearly 2 more degrees Celsius from now (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) they would feel five times the floods, storms, drought and heat waves, according to the collection of scientists at the IPCC.
It will only become more difficult — and, in some cases, nearly impossible — to keep up with the costly and deadly effects of climate change without drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s one takeaway from the new United Nations climate report released Monday, which details risks to ecosystems and people across the globe in the face of human-caused climate change — and a warning that also rings true for the Great Lakes region and Illinois. […]
Although some have predicted the Great Lakes region will become a haven for people who flee damage from wildfires, drought and hurricanes elsewhere, the region’s climate is also transforming — with starker changes projected.
A climate assessment for the Great Lakes region detailed challenges including rising temperatures, flooding caused by a growing number of “unusually large” precipitation events and an increase in extreme weather.
In Illinois, the average daily temperature has increased throughout most of the state in the last century by 1 to 2 degrees, a state-specific climate assessment found. Winter warming has been most pronounced.
As Illinois’ indoor mask mandate ended in most public settings on Monday, hospitalizations for COVID-19 and daily caseloads were at their lowest levels since July, the last time face coverings were no longer required across the state. […]
As of Sunday night, 943 hospital beds statewide were occupied by COVID-19 patients, the lowest level since July 31, and less than half the number of occupied beds reported just a little over two weeks ago.
A total of 157 intensive care unit beds were filled with COVID-19 patients Sunday night, occupying just 5% of the total ICU beds across the state. That figure was roughly 40% when the state hit its all-time record of 7,380 patients hospitalized with the virus on Jan. 12, and 1,177 of them in ICU beds.
Deaths from COVID-19 were also down on Monday, with 12 reported.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday added child care centers to the list of public places where masks are no longer required, a move that his office said was the result of new federal guidelines issued late Friday.
Pritzker announced Feb. 9 that he would lift the mandate for most indoor public places at the end of the month, and he added schools to that list Friday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations and the Illinois Supreme Court overturned a lower court order that blocked enforcement of mask rules in schools.
But when he made the new masking rules official through an executive order Monday, day care centers were added to the list.
In making the change, the governor’s office cited the new CDC guidelines, which only recommend universal masking in areas where the agency says the coronavirus poses a “high” risk to the general public and the local health care system. Currently, more than three-quarters of Illinois counties are classified as “low” or “medium” risk.
[Dr. Howard Ehrman is a former assistant city health commissioner who now works as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago] scoffed at what he called the “racism” behind the argument from officials at the highest levels of the federal government who “basically want us to believe that, now, everything is okay because this disease is now endemic” and “like the flu.”
“It’s not like the flu. It’s 15 times more likely to be transmitted than the flu. You’re six times more likely to die than the flu. And who’s gonna get this disease first? It’s primarily Black and Brown children in Chicago Public Schools, including my two grandchildren. It’s primarily front-line workers who are working right now in restaurants, bars, Amazon warehouses and factories,” Ehrman said.
“This is a crime against humanity. This is genocide. Nothing less.”
Only 21 Illinois counties are listed as high level communities, mainly in the southern part of the state.
21 may seem like a lot, but most are small, low-population counties that obviously haven’t been following much if any of the guidance anyway.
* Illinois Federation of Teachers…
Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) President Dan Montgomery issued this statement following Governor Pritzker’s executive order lifting required masking in schools:
“We are grateful for Governor Pritzker’s leadership throughout the pandemic ensuring that science, not politics, has informed guidance. It has been a long two years, but there is finally light at the end of the COVID tunnel.
“We welcome this new guidance for a safe off-ramp from universal masking in schools. The CDC’s new guidelines set us on a path to a new normal in schools. By using an analysis of hospitalizations in addition to community transmission, school districts, in collaboration with educators, staff, and families, can decide when to ease mask requirements.
“Our sole priority since the start of this pandemic has been to protect students, teachers and staff, and their families by following the proper mitigations. Schools have remained open because of the implementation and enforcement of these mitigation strategies designed to protect everyone.
“We urge school districts to prioritize the most vulnerable, including our Black and Brown communities, as well as the immunocompromised, in all off-ramping decisions. They continue to be at a higher risk of exposure, illness, and death.
“We insist that school districts statewide work with their unions to maintain or come to agreements that will promote health and safety in schools and follow our laws around safe schools and workplaces.
“Finally, we ask everyone not to stigmatize students, teachers, and staff for their individual masking choices. And no one should be pressured into unmasking. These last two years have taught us that we must protect each other and that we all have a duty to protect our most vulnerable populations.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is scheduled to deliver a COVID-19 update alongside Illinois’ top doctor, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Tuesday.
The address is set to take place at 1:30 p.m. at Rush Hospital in Chicago, according to the governor’s schedule.
Illinois navigated the COVID-19 downturn about as well as the U.S., though a performance gap materialized over the course of the recovery. The labor market has recouped a smaller share of the jobs lost in the recession than nationally, though the disparity stems from the larger-than-average setback in late 2020. Employment growth gained momentum in 2021. Job growth from December 2020 to December 2021 matched the national pace and exceeded the regional pace. The decrease in joblessness has been typical for the U.S. but slightly slower than in the Midwest. Labor market conditions are about as tight as they are nationally judging by metrics such as the unemployment rate, the size of the labor force, the number of job openings, and wage growth.
Stronger-than-expected revenues and federal relief from the American Rescue Plan have put state finances on a firmer footing. The state promptly repayed a loan from the Federal Reserve, is reducing its backlog of unpaid bills, and has a budget surplus. These developments helped Illinois draw upgrades to its credit rating and outlook from multiple ratings agencies.
Though the past 12 months have been stronger than average, full recovery will come more slowly than in the region and the nation. Payrolls are poised to return to their previous peak in the middle of the decade, later than in the rest of the Midwest and U.S., and it will take longer for the unemployment rate to drop to pre-pandemic norms. Tailwinds to the manufacturing base are numerous, but easing of supply-chain bottlenecks is key to the near-term forecast. Prospects are solid for service-providing industries, especially professional/business services and logistics. Leisure/hospitality will also forge ahead as travel picks up, but a slow return of international visitors and less business travel and convention traffic are concerns.
Some existing headwinds will prove exceedingly difficult to overcome. Even as the pandemic loosens its grip on the job market and labor force, persistent out-migration will weigh on the strength of employment gains. Illinois was one of four states or territories that lost residents during the past decade, and additional losses are in store. Fiscal problems continue to plague the state, and Chicago faces the same challenges as many other large cities.
The state will continue to diversify into service-providing industries while nurturing its more efficient and smaller traditional manufacturing core. Chicago will continue to develop as the transportation and distribution center for the Midwest and will increasingly develop its tech industry. The explosion of tech-related hiring on the Near North and West sides and corporate relocations from the suburbs—such as those by Walgreens, Mondelez International, Peapod, Hillshire Brands, Kraft Heinz, and United Continental Holdings—suggest that this economic engine has reached critical mass, enabling its growth to become self-perpetuating.
Professional/business services. Professional/business services will be critical to the economy’s success. Most of the growth in well-paying industries such as professional, scientific and technical consulting will take place in northern Illinois. […]
Financial services. Financial services, which employ 6.9% of the state’s workforce and 7.7% of Chicago’s workforce, compared with 6% nationally, will remain among the state’s core industries. One reason for this is that the outlook for Chicago’s commodities exchanges is promising. They have successfully adapted to new technologies and, through mergers, have increased their market share in the global marketplace. They also hold virtual monopolies over their most important products, thereby benefiting from strong pricing power. Chicago is considered the world capital of futures trading since it is now home to by far the world’s largest derivatives exchange.
An outsize tech industry and legacy ties to financial services make financial technology a promising area of development, but stiff competition from existing fintech hubs limits upside. The insurance industry also has a large footprint on Illinois’ economy, especially in Bloomington, where it makes up 17% of employment, almost nine times the U.S. average. Insurance will remain a reliable source of jobs and income. […]
Tourism. Illinois’ tourism-dependent industries are expected to outperform other parts of the economy over the next decade, but they will be crawling out of an extremely deep hole. […]
Weak demographic trends and deep-rooted fiscal problems such as mounting pension obligations and a shrinking tax base represent the biggest hurdles to the longer-term outlook. The forecast anticipates that the state will grow a step behind the Midwest average and a few steps behind the nation over the extended forecast horizon. Over the next five years, employment in Illinois is forecast to increase 3.9%, below the 4.6% increase for the Midwest and 5.5% rise nationally.
The recovery will proceed much more quickly than the last one, which was hampered by damaged household and business balance sheets and a fragile financial system. However, the economy will emerge somewhat altered, because the pandemic has accelerated the shift toward e-commerce and the consolidation of higher education. The near-term outlook for Illinois closely resembles that for the U.S., but the state will underperform in the long term because of poor population trends and extraordinary pressure on state and local governments.
Manufacturing. Manufacturing will occupy a slightly greaterthan-average share of the Illinois economy, but the state will have to fight to hold on to its manufacturing base. The long-run decline of manufacturing will prevail despite the industry’s short-lived resurgence. Manufacturing is of greater importance in northern and central Illinois than it is in Chicago. While the share of employment in manufacturing in the state, at 9.5%, is only somewhat higher than the national average of 8.5%, the share outside Chicago is higher at 12.7%. Illinois’ largest manufacturing industries, in order of number of jobs in 2021, are food processing, fabricated metals, machinery, chemicals and transportation equipment. Together, these industries account for about 59% of all manufacturing jobs, compared with 53.2% nationally. […]
Higher education. Although higher education has typically been insulated from the whims of the business cycle—and sometimes even been the beneficiary of economic downturns—the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the sector head-on and thrusting into the spotlight problems that have long been simmering in higher education. Academia faces a looming demand problem not only due to rising costs but also due to changing demographic patterns. Longer-term structural issues in combination with pandemic-related stress will leave some institutions at risk of failure. If and when school failures occur, they are likely to be dominated by those already in poor financial condition due to sagging enrollment, poor student retention, and an overreliance on public funding. […]
Business climate. Illinois, and Chicago in particular, is an ap pealing location to corporate headquarters and companies that need highly skilled workers and are willing to pay for top talent. Despite Illinois’ advantages, however, the state’s financial problems threaten to discourage firms from locating to or remaining in the state. The state’s outlook is tarnished primarily by its bud get woes and weak population trends, not its high costs relative to nearby states. Firms in Illinois tend to pay more in taxes compared with those in neighboring states and labor is on the expensive side, but overall business costs are no higher than the national average. Illinois is gradually increasing its minimum wage, but dozens of other states and local governments are raising their wage floors as well. […]
Unions. Unit labor costs in the state are above the national average, in part because of a still-high presence of unions. The state’s unit labor costs are significantly higher than those of neighboring Indiana but lower than in Michigan and Wisconsin, three states that have adopted right-to-work laws. Under right-to-work laws, employees in unionized workplaces cannot be forced to pay union fees or join unions. Michigan passed a law after a number of businesses, mostly in manufacturing, cited the law as a factor in their decision to locate in Indiana. Less clear are the effects that right-to-work laws have on economic growth. The lack of clarity is mainly due to the fact that union strength is just one factor businesses look at when deciding whether to set up shop or relocate. Energy and other costs also matter, as do a slew of other factors including talent, infrastructure, and access to customers and capital that make it extremely difficult to gauge the precise effects of right-to-work laws on job creation and a state’s economic prosperity.
Personal income has been slower to rise in Illinois than na tionally, a trend that will extend through the new business cycle. Consumption depends mostly on the state’s income from labor, predominantly wages and salaries, which has lagged the U.S. and regional averages. Total personal income increased 3.6% per year on average over the course of the expansion that ended in 2019, less than the 3.7% regional average and 4.3% national average. Growth in the most important source of income, wages and salaries, averaged 3.3% per year over the 10-year period, versus 3.5% in the Midwest and 4.2% in the U.S.
The end of the pandemic will not resolve Illinois’ demographic woes. Population decline over the next few years will be the one of the worst among the states, and the deterioration in the workingage population will remain more severe than in other parts of the country. Fewer young adults will make it harder to fill jobs and keep consumer and housing demand afloat. The shrinking tax base will also aggravate state and local fiscal strain. Even as pandemic-related barriers to labor force participation diminish, persistent outmigration and increased remote work will weigh on the strength of employment gains.
Illinois navigated the COVID-19 downturn about as well as the U.S., though a performance gap materialized over the course of the recovery. The labor market has recouped a smaller share of the jobs lost in the recession than nationally, though the disparity stems from the larger-than-average setback in November and December of 2020. Employment growth gained momentum in 2021. Job growth from December 2020 to December 2021 was 4.7%, more than the regional pace of 3.7% and a bit higher than the national pace of 4.5%. At the end of the year, employment was 3.8% lower than in December 2019, versus 3.1% lower in the Midwest and 1.95% nationally.
The decrease in joblessness has been typical for the U.S. but slightly slower than in the Midwest. The unemployment rate at the end of the year was 5.3%, higher than the 4% regional average and 3.9% national average, but not as high as in many other large states. Jobless rates are generally lower outside of Chicago, but so is labor force growth. The state’s labor market conditions are about as tight as they are nationally judging by metrics such as the unemployment rate, the size of the labor force, the number of job openings, and wage growth.
Labor force participation has been volatile for the past two years, but it generally rose in 2021. The Illinois rate was 63.4% as of December, compared with the Midwest rate of 63.5% and the U.S. rate of 61.9%, and averaged 63% for the year, just slightly below the Midwest rate of 64% and above the U.S. rate of 61%. The labor force ended the year about 1.8% smaller than in the last month of 2019. That contraction was between the Midwest’s 2.2% gap and the nation’s 1.4% gap.
Inflation and wage pressures are in line with those at the U.S. level, though there is some variation across economies. Supplychain stresses are having the biggest impact in areas with a high concentration of manufacturing, exports or both, which helps explain why the consumer price index has risen more in factory centers such as Peoria than they have in the Chicago area. The Employment Cost Index for Chicago suggests that wages are rising at a pace similar to that nationally.
Most major industries are strengthening, and industries that started with strong recoveries such as transportation/warehousing have generally extended their leads. Green shoots are appearing in office-using industries such as professional/business services, which had been sluggish for most of the recovery. The leisure/hospitality industry has benefited meaningfully from the distribution and wide acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines in 2021: Employment in this industry is coming off an extremely depressed base, but job creation has gained significant momentum. Employment in some other parts of the economy, including manufacturing and government, is moving in the right direction at a tepid pace.
Bloomington’s recovery will be tepid. The outlook is tightly tethered to sluggish state government and financial services employment. Weak enrollment trends at Illinois State University will weigh on tuition revenue and limit the need for more faculty and staff. Financial services will remain a stable yet sluggish source of relatively high wage jobs, but a meaningful increase in finance jobs will not materialize in the near term. Rivian’s EV factory offers a glimmer of hope to an otherwise lackluster outlook. The manufacturer recently went public with one of the largest IPOs in years. The surge in production and hiring at the plant will have positive effects on downstream industries such as transportation/warehousing and business/professional services, as well as consumer-dependent industries. Growth will rise above our baseline if Rivian’s success and international attention draw other large investment projects to Bloomington.
Strength at the University of Illinois’ flagship campus will be a major advantage for Urbana-Champaign’s economy. The Illinois Board of Higher Education approved a fiscal 2023 budget, which calls for a 7% funding increase for the state’s higher education system, including 4% more for the University of Illinois system. It still requires approval by the General Assembly and Governor J.B. Pritzker. One of UofI’s priorities is faculty hiring and retention to keep up with the growing student body. If the request for UofI is granted, the larger budget will lend upside to our forecast for a slowdown in state government employment gains.
Springfield’s lack of dynamic drivers will keep it from picking up much momentum. The state government will have some breathing room over the next few years. However, this temporary cushion will not translate into hiring or solve Illinois’ deeper structural issues. Longer-term fiscal challenges such as massive unfunded pension liabilities will continue to put pressure on the budget and on job growth in Springfield. Healthcare will provide the best avenue for growth because of the continued graying of the population. Providers’ struggle to fill open positions as well as the contraction of the overall population will keep the industry a step behind the national average.
Overall business costs in the state are slightly lower than in the country as a whole, with energy costs a bright spot. The overall tax burden is relatively high, but not extraordinarily so, with Illinois getting an index rating of 104 with the nation as a whole 100.
At least one of the core problems facing Illinois is that with a declining population, the state has a smaller tax base to pay off old pension debt, the report says.
The bottom line of the report, prepared for the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting & Accountability: “Illinois has what it takes to remain a top business center, so long as it can solve the fiscal problems that are eroding its edge in the competition for talent, jobs and capital.”
Today Jesse Sullivan, Republican candidate for governor, launched a new ad campaign showcasing support from sheriffs across the state for his Safe Streets plan.
The 0:30 spot will be supported by a six-figure ad buy in target markets across the state.
Including 14 active Illinois sheriffs, Sullivan’s Safe Streets Leadership Council is the strongest coalition of active law enforcement leaders among a crowded Republican primary field.
“I’ve known Jesse Sullivan since long before he decided to step into public service,” said Menard County Sheriff and Safe Streets Leadership Council co-chair Mark Oller.
“Not only has he always supported law enforcement, but he has also worked with inmates at our county jail, praying with them and trying to help them find a better path. The Safe Streets Leadership Council is an example of his dedication to listening to the people on the front lines of keeping Illinoisans safe. There is no doubt in my mind that he is committed to restoring public safety and justice to the entire state of Illinois.”
Proposed action steps in the Safe Streets plan include:
Filling every officer vacancy across the state, augmenting with National Guard assets and State Police where necessary.
Reversing the elimination of cash bail for violent offenders and relaxing the restraints on pretrial / preventive detention.
Scaling positive models like DuPage County’s Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigations Team (MERIT).
Providing support to local police departments for witness / victim protection programs.
1. Fully staff and support state and local police officers.
• Fill every officer vacancy across the state; augmenting with National Guard assets and state police where necessary.
• Fully staff every Illinois State Police crime labs to prevent large backlogs of DNA testing, rape kit testing, weapons processing, and other evidence.
• Fully utilize National Guard support capabilities, such as helicopters, to reinforce law enforcement in areas where crime is surging.
2. Remove violent criminals from the streets to keep communities safe.
• Swiftly enforce warrants for violent criminals and leverage National Guard assets to track down and incarcerate violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
• End electronic monitoring statewide for violent criminals so they cannot menace their communities.
• Reverse the elimination of cash bail for violent offenders and relax the restraints on pretrial / preventive detention so that criminals cannot terrorize their communities and intimidate witnesses while awaiting trial.
3. Forge multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency partnerships that get results. Criminals do not abide by lines of jurisdiction, so our solutions need to be flexible and adaptive.
• Do what Gov. J.B. Pritzker cannot by working with neighboring states to share data, information, and tactics to target illegal drugs, guns, and gang activity.
• Grow positive models like DuPage County’s Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigations Team (MERIT) system, to allow smaller counties to train, work, and share information with larger ones.
• Work with federal partners to ensure carjackers, cop killers, and gang leaders are charged with the stiffest penalties in federal court, as in initiatives such as Detroit ONE
Protect our Heroes
1. Repeal the anti-police bill and defend qualified immunity for law enforcement.
• Repeal the anti-police “Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity- Today Act.”
• Strongly oppose additional changes to qualified immunity doctrine from the radical left.
• Protect police officers from threats of frivolous civil lawsuits in the course of doing their jobs and safeguard municipal budgets that would otherwise face increased litigation and insurance rates.
• End the allowance of anonymous citizen complaints against officers.
2. Increase penalties for assaulting law enforcement.
• Strengthen minimum sentencing requirements for violent criminals who assault law enforcement.
• Require that individuals who assault police officers or bring weapons into penal institutions serve at least 85 percent of their sentence (before parole eligibility).
• Call for federal action to ensure that killing any state or local law enforcement officer is considered a federal crime.
3. Compensate law enforcement fairly for the risk they assume.
• Introduce fair pay for sheriffs so that sheriff pay is structured to match the State’s Attorney scale (two-thirds paid by state, according to population).
• Join states like Florida, Washington, Arizona and New Jersey by offering temporary signing bonuses to attract new law enforcement officers from out of state.
• Create retention incentives to help retain law enforcement officers who are approaching retirement eligibility.
Restore Accountability
1. Take ownership and lead in the fight against crime.
• Incentivize collaboration and reward high performance across government.
• Create a new position of Anti-Violence Director, reporting directly to the governor, to oversee all efforts to reduce criminality of those in state systems (e.g. DOC, DHS, DCFS, DJJ, DHFS).
• Strengthen collaboration between sheriffs, police chiefs, and prosecutors, with fact-finding and showcase sessions led by the governor.
• Create performance-based incentives for prisons based on recidivism rates, and offer other prisons the opportunity to learn from these successes and implement their models.
2. Invest in witness protection to help convict criminals.
• Make it safe for people who “see something” to “say something” by enacting mandatory sentencing penalties for the intimidation and the threatening of witnesses.
• Provide financial support in the form of grants and housing vouchers to local police departments that establish comprehensive witness and victim protection programs.
3. Refocus on reducing recidivism.
• Reprioritize budgets to ensure adequate resources to allow qualified prisoners to take classes and access training while in prison.
• Double the Illinois Tax Credit for Hiring Ex-Offenders to a credit amount equal to 10% of qualified wages paid or up to $1,200 per hire, and establish a statewide hiring network for employers and qualified prisoners in advance of release.
• Strengthen relationships between Illinois Parole Agents and local law enforcement to prevent backsliding, including placing geographical restrictions on parolees to prevent them from falling back into their prior lifestyle.
• Increase penalties for violent ex- offenders who are rearrested while on parole.
* Gov. JB Pritzker asked the pension systems last night to explore divestment of Russian assets…
February 28, 2022
Dear Colleagues:
With the continued invasion by Russia of the sovereign nation of Ukraine, the State of Illinois stands with the people of Ukraine and nations around the world supporting peace in the country. As such, I am writing to request that your respective boards take all steps within your existing authority to explore the potential of divesting state pension assets from Russian-based companies and Russian assets and the feasibility of doing so.
Across our five statewide pension systems, the state holds nearly $100 billion in pension fund assets. My administration will continue to work closely with you to ensure minimal disruption to the strong progress we have made in recent years in shoring up the financial stability of the funds. I look forward to being briefed on what you determine at the soonest possible date, and I look forward to sharing those findings with the General Assembly.
Thank you for your continued service and please contact Deputy Governor Andy Manar should you have questions regarding my request.
Thoughts?
…Adding… Press release…
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR LORI E. LIGHTFOOT
“In light of recent events and upon reflection over these last few days, I believe that Chicago needs to go further in its definitive actions against Russia. That is why yesterday, I directed World Business Chicago to suspend Chicago’s sister city relationship with Moscow. While this is not a decision I enter into lightly, we must send an unambiguous message: we strongly condemn all actions by the Putin regime. This suspension will be upheld until the end of hostilities against Ukraine and the Putin regime is held accountable for its crimes. We must continue to support freedom-loving people everywhere and ordinary Russians in their desire to be free.”
...Adding… More…
Trust me, you will not want to miss the emotional backstory behind the raising of this flag, and the Ukrainian woman who helped raise it.
