As the 94th season at Fairmount Park arrives, track president Brian Zander wants to be confident.
The park, in Collinsville, opens Tuesday at 1 p.m. and will run through Sept. 14 with a Tuesday and Saturday schedule. Zander has no reason to believe that will change.
An unsuccessful battle to bring slot machines and video gaming to Illinois race tracks continues to make the future tenuous. But Zander, who has been on the job since 1986, has been through this for more years than he’d like to remember. […]
Trips to Springfield, Ill., to work on legislative efforts that could boost the track are now routine. Fairmount continues to offer live simulcasts and wagering on races at other tracks to generate more revenue.
And the track will continue to offer the usual promotions that have been successful, with Tuesday “Horse Hookie” and Saturday “Party in the Park.”
“From that standpoint we’re doing great,” Zander said. “But we’re competing with other tracks in other states that have slots and gaming, and we simply lack that in terms of generating money for purses. That’s what horse owners have to be driven toward. We’re running behind and need to catch up.”
* The Question: When was the last time you were at a horse racing track and, if you’ve been to one, how was the experience?
After all ballots opened in Ward 2, Gail Simpson has 466 to 465 for Shawn Gregory. Gregory is considering options, which include asking for a discovery recount
In Tri-City School Board race, one late ballot went to John Martincic, bringing him even with Patrick Davis at 284 each. County Clerk Don Gray set lottery for Thursday
It won’t be official until Thursday, but the latest results in the two closest aldermanic races make it a near certainty Ald. James Cappleman (46th) will be proclaimed the winner over Marianne Lalonde, while challenger Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez will be declared the victor over Ald. Deb Mell (33rd).
Although both races remain extremely close, there aren’t enough votes that remain uncounted to reverse the outcome — unless a large batch of ballots mysteriously arrive in Tuesday’s mail two full weeks after the election, which would set off quite the federal investigation.
After Monday’s count, Cappleman stretched his lead over Lalonde to 30 votes — 7,079 to 7,049 — while Rodriguez Sanchez saw her lead over Mell shrink to 13 votes — 5,753 to 5,740.
* This article is from January because it’s the most recent one I could find on the topic…
A new Champaign County judge has been assigned to sort out the details of a request for a recount in the one-vote Macon County sheriff’s race.
Newly installed Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Karle Koritz has assigned Associate Judge Anna Benjamin to hear the case after the attorney for Democratic Sheriff Tony “Chubby” Brown asked that a judge other than Tom Difanis be assigned to the case.
Litigants are entitled to one judge substitution without cause as a matter of right, assuming that no substantive rulings have been made by the assigned judge.
Republican Jim Root had initially filed suit Dec. 19 in Macon County Circuit Court asking for a judge to review the election results in hopes that he might be declared the winner over Brown.
Chris Rothweiler is the apparent winner in the race for Ward 6 alderman in Belleville as he garnered 14 votes by mail. Andrew Gaa received only four votes by mail, according to counts by the St. Clair County Clerk’s office.
That brings Rothweiler’s vote total to 313. Gaa now has 310 votes, according to unofficial totals. After election night, Gaa had a seven-vote lead.
* The first round of assessments under new Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi has some Evanston businesses upset, but it’s what the people voted for last year…
The assessor’s estimated value of some apartment buildings in the northern suburb [of Evanston] have doubled or even tripled, fueling fears that a massive property tax increase is coming next year. […]
Landlords have been bracing for big hikes since Kaegi was elected assessor last year, promising to reform the office and improve the accuracy of its assessments. Kaegi replaced Joe Berrios, who was harshly criticized for undervaluing commercial properties and being too cozy with property tax appeals attorneys who represent some of the biggest landlords in town. The result: Cook County homeowners bear more of the tax burden than they should, and commercial landlords bear less, said Berrios’ critics.
As landlords in Evanston are learning, that is almost certain to change under Kaegi, who says Cook County has “the least accurate assessment system of any major jurisdiction of the U.S.” Fixing that is his top priority—not worrying about how the tax burden is distributed. […]
If there is a silver lining, at least in the near term, it’s that higher assessments on commercial properties in Cook County are likely to result in lower taxes for many homeowners. In Evanston, for instance, the assessed value of all residential property rose 25 percent from 2018 to 2019, while the assessed value of all commercial and industrial property rose 125 percent. The wide gap suggests that taxes will rise for commercial and industrial landlords in the suburb when property tax bills come out next year but drop for Evanston homeowners.
The math is complicated. While some property owners assume that their tax bill will double after their assessment doubles, it doesn’t work that way. A taxpayer’s final bill depends on the relative change in assessed values among properties and a process known as equalization that was created to ensure fairness in the system. It also hinges on the tax levy, or how much local governments decide to collect in property taxes in a given year.
It’s downplayed in the piece, but homeowners are the ones who benefit from this tax shift.
Willis Tower illustrates the potential pain downtown. The 110-story tower sold for $1.3 billion in 2015, but its 2017 property tax bill shows the assessor valued it at only $579 million. Applying that year’s nearly 7.3 percent commercial property tax rate, which was calculated based on revenue needs for the dozen taxing bodies that pulled in money from Cook County property taxes, the tower’s tax bill was $31.2 million, county records show.
Based on a $1.05 billion valuation—the portion of the sale excluding personal property, which is not taxable—that tower’s tax bill would have been far higher. By applying a hypothetical 5.5 percent tax rate for the 2017 year using publicly available data that accounted for all commercial properties being assessed by Kaegi’s definition of market value, a study by tax property law firm O’Keefe Lyons & Hynes estimates Willis Tower’s tax bill would have been around $42.5 million, or 36 percent more than it actually was. […]
A report last year from tenant brokerage Savills comparing the average cost of rent, operating expenses, taxes and utilities for office users in major markets found that downtown Chicago in 2017 came in at a little more than $50 per square foot, lower than downtown Manhattan ($58), west Los Angeles ($63), Boston ($69), Washington ($71) and San Francisco ($80).
That makes Chicago a relative value play, especially for big corporations that can absorb a few extra dollars per square foot in property taxes. The bigger blow could be dealt to small and midsize, privately held companies already in the city that might endure a sudden, more painful hit to their bottom lines, says Savills Vice Chairman Robert Sevim.
I assume that human nature being what it is, building owners facing skyrocketing assessments will shovel big money at property tax appeals lawyers. Kaegi, in other words, could turn out to be fantastic for Mike Madigan’s law firm.
* The number of so-far successful bills that could fundamental change things in this state is really quite something to behold…
Kids in Illinois would have to start kindergarten at 5-years-old under a plan moving ahead at the statehouse. […]
The Illinois Senate last week approved a plan to lower the age to 5-years-old. Many parents start their children at age 6. Existing state law says kids have to be in school between ages 7 and 17.
Democrat Kim Lightford said lowering the school age will get kids a jump.
“It’s time for them not to wait until their 6-years-old to start school,” Lightford said at the statehouse last week. “If parents feel that their kids who turn 5 over the summer months, then they have the extra year to make sure their kids are ready.”
Critics, like Peoria Republican Chuck Weaver, said parents should decide when kids are ready for school, not the state.
“Parents are very concerned about the state taking the decision away from them,” Weaver said. “A lot of kids aren’t prepared to go to school at age 5. This makes that mandatory, it takes that [decision] away from parents.”
Members of the Senate Black Caucus are fighting a bill that would force private firms to pay their workers the prevailing wage in an area — a move the business community claims is tantamount to “forced unionization” — at least until trade unions can promise meaningful inclusion of minority workers in their ranks.
SB 1407, sponsored by State Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Orland Park), would require construction workers at “high-hazard facilities” — like oil refineries and ethanol plants — to be “skilled journey persons” with advanced safety training.
The measure would also require companies who employ these workers to pay them at least the prevailing wage that a union member would receive in that area.
Though the Black Caucus has not taken an official position on the bill, its members have privately been laying down a hard line during bill negotiations. Earlier last week, State Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) would only say that negotiations were ongoing. But since then, State Sen. Emil Jones III (D-Chicago) has taken over negotiations on the caucus’ behalf.
Jones referenced the years of fighting between the Black Caucus and trade unions, saying that it’s a fight his father, former Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) also took on, and yet minority representation within unions has not improved.
The Illinois State Senate has passed a bill to crack down on inmates who expose themselves to correctional officers and others.
WGN Investigates reported on the problem back in 2017 when Cook County Jail inmates set fire to new uniforms meant to prevent them from exposing themselves and throwing bodily fluid at staff and visitors. […]
The new bill allows correctional administrators to revoke up to 90-days of “good behavior” credit for inmates who do it. Repeat offenders could see as much as a year of “good behavior” time taken away for each subsequent charge.
* Other stuff…
* A New Association Fights for Illinois Counties: Joe McCoy, who lobbied for years for the Illinois Municipal League, brings his legislative experience to work on behalf of the counties across the state and to bring lawmakers the issues that the counties say need addressing.
* Group backs legislation to expand medical cannabis program: Along with making the state’s pilot program permanent, it adds health conditions that could qualify for medical cannabis care, including autism, chronic pain, migraines, anorexia and kidney disease. Patients under 18 would be able to see more designated caregivers, and veterans would qualify for the Opioid Alternative Pilot Program.
* Bill would put fire departments staffed by part-timers on hook for pension costs: Should the bill become law, any town larger than 5,000 people that hires a part-time firefighter would be required to pay into the pension system of their full-time employer. State Sen. Melinda Bush said larger departments are beginning to keep their full-time firefighters from taking extra work. “This is really about sharing in the liability issues when you’re a firefighter,” she said. “If you are hurt, at this point the primary employer is taking all of the responsibility.”
* Lawmakers to vote on adding DACA, work visa immigrants to Medicaid rolls: “Sixty percent of DACA recipients are already insured,” she said. “We’re looking at people who are already paying taxes, people that are already either DACA recipients or legal permanent residents who are already eligible for Medicaid.”
* As we’ve already discussed, the governor’s budget would essentially short state pension payments by $1.1 billion next fiscal year and several years into the future.
Carol Marin asked lawmakers last night if the governor was trying to skip state pension payments or not. Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford…
Well, I hope that isn’t the desired goal. I’m hoping we could look at some of those ideas that you’ve mentioned [cannabis, gaming, etc.] to generate revenue so that we don’t have to do that.
Trouble is, the money from all those revenue proposals are already being spent. I suppose he could use projected sales tax revenue from cannabis, sports betting and a new graduated tax on video gaming to cover pension payments, but will that be enough? I don’t think so.
* Marin then asked Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Northlake), a member of House leadership, whether Democrats were united in support of the governor’s pension plan…
No, I don’t think we’re all united. I think we all want to wait and see, look for possibly a better alternative to that because we don’t want to repeat history. We don’t want to see this. We’re open to ideas. But that doesn’t necessarily mean this idea.
The state of Illinois has abruptly changed the rules for providing vaccines to children from low-income families, putting tens of thousands of them at risk of potentially not getting their immunizations on time.
In late August the Illinois Department of Public Health told doctors that children covered by the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Plan for low-income families would no longer get their vaccines for free. Children covered by Medicaid can still get free vaccines, but for those 185,347 children covered by CHIP, doctors will have to privately order vaccines from suppliers and wait to be reimbursed by the state.
This new policy presents a sizable challenge for doctors and parents. And it goes into effect Oct. 1.
Illinois is committed to every child being immunized. For parents or guardians of a child covered by Medicaid or by CHIP, their child’s eligibility for free vaccines has not changed. What has changed is the way doctors obtain and get paid for vaccines. Some providers may choose not to provide free vaccines to children covered by Medicaid or CHIP.
The change was required because, for years, many doctors had not been doing the necessary work of determining a child’s eligibility for a vaccine (e.g. do they qualify under the Vaccines For Children program or CHIP), and then submitting the proper paperwork to HFS (the entity that administers CHIP). Because many physicians were failing to provide this billing paperwork, HFS has not been able to channel the appropriate reimbursement for children in CHIP to the CDC. For good reason, the CDC has requested that Illinois, and many other states, alter their process to ensure that the proper reimbursement occurs. Without making such a change, IDPH runs the risk that the CDC will no longer continue to provide vaccines free of charge to the State for the VFC program.
Dozens of Illinois pediatricians are warning Gov. JB Pritzker about a potential health crisis from reduced access to vaccines for potentially thousands of children. […]
Local doctors say a particular group of Illinois kids is at risk of triggering an outbreak — those who are covered by the state-run Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. There were about 324,000 children in Illinois enrolled in CHIP at some point in the 2017 fiscal year, the sixth highest amount in the nation, according to the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks health care issues.
Doctors say this large group of kids is vulnerable to an outbreak because some physicians stopped vaccinating them after a major policy shift by the Rauner administration in 2016 made it too expensive. Doctors at the time were already grappling with not getting paid, or waiting for months, during the state’s epic budget battle. […]
It’s not clear how many Illinois children on CHIP haven’t been vaccinated or are getting shots later than doctors recommend. Physicians aren’t required to report it, according to Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.
According to the article, the Pritzker administration says it’s working on changing the way doctors are paid for immunizations.
* A bit more history…
* July 13, 2017: What does $15 billion in overdue bills mean for the state’s doctors and hospitals?: Having a budget doesn’t put everyone at ease. Dr. Timothy Wall’s pediatric practice is one of the largest private providers of Medicaid managed care in DuPage County, and insurers owe it more than $1 million. He’s put off vaccinating children after their first birthdays because the insurers stopped paying for the expensive shots
It may not be the biggest state, nor the one with the most students, but Illinois leads the nation in school district spending on administrators. Even amid a looming statewide financial crisis, the state’s 852 districts spent more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2016, the most in the nation, according to a newly released analysis.
A report from the Metropolitan Planning Council analyzed administrative spending in Illinois and compared it with other states. […]
Illinois also spends twice as much per pupil on school administration as the national average — $544 in Illinois to $226 nationwide. Measured per pupil, that is the third highest rate in the country, nearly double New York at $349 and nearly five times as much as California, where admin costs are $95 per student.
Not only do most districts spend a lot on administration, Illinois has 852 districts, more than many other states. About one-quarter of those districts operate only one school. Roughly 4 percent serve fewer than 100 students.
The reasons for that are complicated, says Josh Ellis, vice president of the council. Some rural school districts in Illinois serve sparsely populated areas with few students. Historically, some school districts were formed a tool to to enforce racial segregation.
In FY 2016, Illinois spent $1,105,435,000 on general administration expenses, making us the only state in the country with more than $1 billion general administration expenses, despite serving the fifth most students. For comparison, Illinois spent 33% more than California, despite their public-school system serving over three times as many students.
What would Illinois districts save if they could reduce general administration spending to the national average? They would spend approximately $459 million per year, a savings of approximately $645 million. This would be a savings of $318 per pupil. […]
One of the drivers of administration costs is the number of students a district serves. As of July 1, 2018, there were 852 school districts in Illinois. There are 211 districts that serve only one school. There were 31 school districts with fewer than 100 students enrolled and 463 districts with fewer than 1,000 students enrolled. For example, Morris Illinois, a town with approximately 15,000 residents, has 3 elementary school districts and one high school district. Each elementary school district only has one school. Among the elementary districts, one district only had 86 students, while the other two have an enrollment level over 800. […]
On average, multi-school districts spend only $484 per student on general administration compared to $842 per student for single school districts, a disparity of 74%. A large portion of this savings represents Chicago Public Schools, which spends $349 per student on general administration.
In New Jersey, boards of education have been authorized to share their superintendents and school business administrators with other boards and to “subcontract” the services of their school business administrators to other school districts and have done so since 1996.
The State of New York also utilizes administrative service sharing through Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), and differential state aid encouraging sharing services with poorer districts.
The State of Texas authorizes Shared Services Arrangements that allow for a shared district unit or a shared fund in accordance with the shared services arrangement districts’ agreement.
The State of Ohio explicitly shares district staff, in particular, a treasurer, and has demonstrated cost savings. In Hamilton County, the Reading City Schools and Three Rivers Local School District reported annual saving of about $55,000 to $66,000 in each school district sharing a treasurer. The Wyoming City Schools and the Oak Hills Local School District report saving $45,000 for Oak Hills and $60,000 for Wyoming sharing a treasurer.
* I’m not sure this is why the Democrats want a graduated income tax, but I do know it’s why the wealthy are so strongly opposed…
Peoria Republican Senator Chuck Weaver said the biggest reason Democrats want a progressive tax is to make it easier to raise taxes on a small number of high-earners.
“Flat taxes are harder to raise. Illinois needs discipline,” he said.
A lawyer and political newcomer from Bridgeport announced Monday that he plans to challenge eight-term U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Abe Matthew, 32, made the announcement in a one-minute video posted on Twitter. […]
Matthew said that in the 2018 Democratic primary, he voted for challenger Marie Newman, a La Grange businesswoman who gave Lipinski the toughest challenge of his political career, garnering 49 percent of the vote in a district that stretches from the Southwest Side to the south and southwest suburbs. Lipinski, a conservative Democrat, easily won re-election, defeating Arthur J. Jones of Lyons, a Holocaust denier with neo-Nazi ties.
Newman has said she is exploring another run and has raised nearly $7,000 through political crowdfunding website Crowdpac.
* Early this morning, Newman all of a sudden sent out an e-mail announcing her candidacy. Here’s the Sun-Times coverage..
Democrat Marie Newman, after spending several months exploring a rematch against Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., on Tuesday made it official and said she would run again for the seat, setting up the biggest Chicago-area congressional 2020 primary.
The 3rd Congressional District race comes in what may well be a different political climate, with Newman’s progressive wing of the party gaining strength. At the same time, the House political operation, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, led by Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., is committed to supporting incumbents, a policy some activist freshmen Democrats oppose. […]
In the March 2018 primary, Lipinski defeated Newman by only 2,145 votes, or 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
The district includes several parts of wards on the Southwest Side and stretches into the western suburbs. A big vote for Lipinski from old Democratic machine city precincts contributed to his victory.
Today, Think Big Illinois released a new ad highlighting why we need to implement a fair tax in Illinois. The 15 second ad, “Almost Every,” will be running in media markets across the state as part of Think Big Illinois’ latest efforts to ensure voters have the chance to decide whether they want a tax system that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. “How Unfair” and “Affect You” will continue running in markets across the state.
“Almost Every” highlights how Illinois currently has one of the most unfair tax systems in the country. In almost every state with an income tax, wealthy people pay a higher tax rate than the middle class, but not in Illinois. This disproportionately places the burden on our middle-class families, who on average are forced to pay nearly 13% of their income for state and local taxes. Meanwhile, the top 1% of Illinoisans only have to pay around 7% of their income for state and local taxes.
Under the fair tax plan, 97% of Illinoisans will not see a state income tax increase, with only those making above $250,000 paying more. It will also help address the state’s $3.2 billion budget deficit and bring in much-needed revenue to fund critical programs, including our schools.
Very few drivers in Illinois get any money back when their cars are damaged on state roads, and one reason might be the state’s claims database seems to be stuck in the 1990s.
From 2016 through 2018, a total of 1,765 damage claims were submitted to the Illinois Department of Transportation for damages from bad roads and construction zone work, totaling $1.2 million. The state paid only 28 claims, reimbursing drivers $34,517, mostly from a single construction zone claim of $26,000.
IDOT still uses Microsoft DOS to manage damage claims. The MS-DOS operating system dates back to the 1980s, and was largely replaced on most computers by Windows in the 1990s. Microsoft founder Bill Gates heralded the end of the MS-DOS era in 2009. […]
Another reason so few claims are reimbursed could be the slow process. IDOT’s website indicates all claims can be filed with the agency only after waiting for the state to mail the form to you. The site also notes IDOT will decide in 120 to 180 days.
The Effingham County Board Monday voted to pursue a referendum to separate the rest of Illinois from Cook County.
The draft resolution has been modified from the measure approved out of committee earlier this month. This is the wording of what was approved by the Board on Monday: “Shall Effingham County collaborate in discussions with the remaining 101 counties of the State of Illinois, with the exception of Cook County, the possibility of forming a new state and ultimately seeking admission to the Federal Union as the 51st state, pursuant to the provisions of the United States Constitution?”
The separation referendum was brought to the table by board member Heather Mumma. Mumma said that the referendum moved to the full board with an addition stating the board will collaborate through discussions about just the possibility of separating from Chicago.
“I’m hearing from my constituents every day through many varieties of communication that this is one thing they’d like to see on the ballot as a referendum. They all seem to have a different reasoning. The main thing I am hearing is we have spoken to Springfield through the Second Amendment resolution and also the resolution for the unborn, and they just don’t seem to be listening,” Mumma said.
Matt Pals attended the meeting in support of the referendum and the board’s decision to discuss separation with Chicago.
“I think it has to start somewhere,” Pals said of the proposed separation. “I think once you get two more counties, four more counties, 10 more counties, then they’ll have to listen because right now…it’s not always about taxes and having some extra money. It is something about morals and raising your communities so people stay here.” […]
Menard County resident and separation movement leader Collin Cliburn was also in support of the county’s role in the separation, saying if the state was separated, the downstate portion would have a fair shake at voting in who it wanted and passing bills that would aid it.
* Mr. Cliburn’s attire at the meeting says it all about these folks…
The Board also voted to approve a resolution declaring the state’s Firearms Owner Identification Card unconstitutional.
* Related…
* Sales tax for schools rejected in Effingham County: A 2014 study on the 1 percent sales tax found that, in Effingham County, 54 percent of of the sales tax would be paid for by non-residents passing through, visiting and shopping in the county.
* Yet another dustup today about who is leaving Illinois and for what reasons. Rep. Guzzardi makes some valid points…
Slight clarification, @ShiaKapos: I said that families making >$100K are moving to New York, LA and the Twin Cities, with much higher top rates. Fact check: https://t.co/HTsWHAJPUW
March 14 was just 6 days before the Democratic primary. Everyone knew that Guzzardi’s candidate Sen. Daniel Biss was going down, but the left was still piling on hard. The Internet is forever.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said she is still on track to begin wiping clean thousands of minor cannabis convictions in the coming months, but acknowledges that her office is still trying to determine how exactly to implement her bold plan.
She also said in an interview with the Sun-Times last week that her office was also taking a look at her office policy toward prosecuting those arrested for the sale of marijuana, but said the review was still in its early stages. […]
Noting the arduous process of cataloguing years of convictions, Foxx told the Sun-Times that her office won’t attempt to expunge them all in one fell swoop. Nevertheless, the state’s attorney’s office hopes to start clearing the first round of convictions in a matter of months, she said.
Foxx said her office is seeking to enlist a nonprofit, Code For America, which has already assisted with expungements in California.
* Speaking of Foxx, here’s Comptroller Mendoza…
I am disappointed that “Quarters” Boyle received no jail time after he recklessly caused a 4-car accident two years ago. I went to every court hearing over the past two years to make sure these charges against Boyle did not get dropped. I would have preferred the Cook County State’s Attorney upgrade the charges from the misdemeanors Boyle essentially chose for himself when he finally turned himself in, cleaned up and sober, three days after he caused the accident and fled the scene. I turned over the video to police which showed Boyle staggering around; driving his car into one of his victims who was trying to keep him at the scene. The video showed Boyle falsely claiming to be a police officer. But even with the video, the State’s Attorney’s office never charged Boyle with DUI, reckless driving, battery or with impersonating a police officer. His conviction today for fleeing the scene is better than nothing. But the innocent drivers in those cars he hit deserved more justice.
* Other stuff…
* How legalized pot can help heal wounds inflicted on black and brown communities: Legal adult cannabis use won’t necessarily lead to fewer arrests of black and brown people for cannabis related offenses — Hailey and Childress are right about that. In Colorado, the first state to legalize adult cannabis use, black folks still are arrested for cannabis-related offenses three times more than whites. But rather than blame cannabis for these disparities, we should look at a deeper cause: Racial bias in the criminal justice system.
* Making the argument for cops on the street, not in schools: The video, obtained by the Sun-Times, flatly contradicts the two officers’ account of what happened during the January incident at Marshall High School. They claim that 16-year-old Dnigma Howard kicked and bit them as they tried to escort her out of the school. They also say they fell down a flight of stairs.
The owner of economically challenged coal-fired power plants in Southern Illinois is supporting legislation that, if passed, would help transform those sites into facilities for utility-scale solar and energy storage projects.
The Texas-based company, Vistra Energy, acquired the region’s fleet of coal plants when it completed its purchase of Dynegy Inc. last year. It says the facilities are beset by tough economic and policy conditions, and favors a bill before the state legislature that would provide funding to phase them out of production and repurpose the sites, instead of just shutting them down abruptly.
But some environmental groups oppose the measure, characterizing it as a potential “$140 million a year coal bailout,” according to J.C. Kibbey, an Illinois clean energy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Chicago. […]
Vistra employs about 1,000 workers total across its eight Illinois coal plants, Cohn said. The proposal would rely on a combination of funding mechanisms, including renewable energy credits and state-awarded grants. “Transitionary assistance” would be capped at $140 million annually from 2020 through 2024, a five-year period during which given coal plants would remain in operation, with solar or energy storage joining the mix at each site in either 2021 or 2022. The legislation would allow the plants to retire if unforeseen capital expenditures of more than $10 million would be needed to satisfy environmental laws or regulations and keep them in operation.
Legislation approved Thursday by the Illinois House would license craft distillers similar to the way craft brewers are regulated, with the aim of giving a boost to the burgeoning community of artisan spirits makers in the state.
The bill, which still faces a vote in the Senate, would create a license that allows small distillers to self-distribute some product, removing a major hurdle for unknown brands trying get on store shelves, and another license that allows distillers to open up to three satellite locations where they can serve their house-made spirits as well as other alcohol in a pub environment.
The changes would allow craft distillers to build brand awareness and new revenue streams, helping them grow and encouraging new distillers to set up shop in the state, said Noelle DiPrizio, who co-owns Chicago Distilling in Logan Square.
“Based on our surrounding states it would make us one of the more favorable states to start a business,” said DiPrizio, president of the Illinois Craft Distillers Association, which pushed for the bill.
There are 34 businesses federally licensed as craft distillers in Illinois, up from two in 2010, DiPrizio said. If the bill becomes law, “it could double very quickly,” she said.
* CUB: Breaking news: SCOTUS will NOT review appellate court decisions that upheld states’ right to advance decarbonization goals through zero-emission credit programs in Illinois and NY. Important victory for cost-effective clean energy
* MisterJayEm: You will never find a more wretched hive of hacks and half-wits.
If a school district — or any local government, for that matter — overtly promoted a bond issue that required voter approval, it would be drawn and quartered.
That’s against the law, and so when Barrington Unit District 220 recently held a referendum for one, school officials were careful to ensure that any publicity that was underwritten by the government was strictly informational, in tone as well as word.
Contrast that with the messaging you and we are financing through Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office. As one example: a “Fair Tax Calculator” on the Illinois government website that begins with the message, “Governor Pritzker is making good on his promise to protect working families and make our system more fair. With a fair tax, 97 percent of taxpayers will see some tax relief.”
Sounds more than a little promotional, wouldn’t you agree? […]
There’s only one reason for Pritzker to brand his proposal as a “fair tax:” to subliminally promote voter support. Who, after all, would want to consider themselves unfair?
At first I just figured this was a typical editorial from opponents demanding that the other side fight with both hands tied behind their back. But I checked the statutes and here’s one of the definitions for prohibited political activities on state time…
Campaigning for any elective office or for or against any referendum question.
Of course, the referendum hasn’t qualified for the ballot as of yet. But whatevs.
* The Question: Is the governor campaigning on state time? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please…
Speaking before more than a hundred journalists at the Illinois News Broadcasters Association’s annual spring conference in Normal, Pritzker said he’s committed to helping Illinois media tell the stories that matter.
Pritzker said mutual respect between journalists and elected officials is critical in the era of “fake news.”
“If we want our democracy to thrive, we must have a first amendment that thrives,” Pritzker said. “Those with political power must be extremely careful that when we disagree with what’s being said, we nevertheless fight for your right to get the information out.”
Illinois Public Media reporters questioned Pritzker about the lack of cooperation from some state departments, namely the Illinois Department of Corrections and Department of Healthcare and Family Services.
Apparently, some reporters at WILL have been working on stories about education in prisons and mental health care for children, but haven’t been getting cooperation from the directors.
“Now more than ever it’s important that elected office holders remind the public how important journalism is in a healthy democracy,” he said.
Pritzker drew applause from the conference room full of journalists representing news organizations from across the state, and later he invited them to ask questions, calling it “the biggest press conference I ever had.”
The questions posed included a call for more transparency and access to state departments and agencies, to which Pritzker asked for “one more minute, so to speak” as his administration works through the process of bringing in new people and making adjustments.
Pritzker said he’s still hiring new staff after the Rauner administration — and that he’ll step in when government officials are unresponsive.
That time to “step in” may be now.
Pritzker has been in office three full months. He doesn’t yet have his own Corrections director. Rauner appointed an IDOC Director in March of 2015, but the guy resigned two months later and the department didn’t have a full-time director until August.
At a news conference in his office Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker said it’s time to “let the people vote” on whether they would like to see the [income] tax structure overhauled.
“We have a constitutional amendment process that ultimately puts this decision to the voters,” Pritzker said. “It’s time to let the people of Illinois – our taxpayers – decide.”
We never guessed that, like spring introducing crocuses to wide-eyed baby bunnies, Gov. J.B. Pritzker would introduce a novel concept called democracy to his fellow Democrats. As in, letting the people of Illinois vote their wishes.
How startling, then, to see this lead story in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune: “ ‘Let the people vote’ on taxes — Pritzker pushes critics for their plan, says taxpayers can decide.” Boldface ours, with pleasure. […]
Yes, Illinoisans do have an amendment process, and Pritzker’s fellow Democrats have done a splendid job of making sure voters couldn’t make it work for them. For years citizens have tried — by amendment or statute — to enshrine pension reform, and term limits on lawmakers, and a redistricting process that lets voters choose their legislators rather than the other way around. […]
So how about a package deal, Governor, of amendments or statutory changes: Let the people vote not just on taking more billions of dollars a year from wallets — an amount sure to grow and grow as tax rates rise and rise. Let the people also vote on rewriting the rigid pension clause of the constitution. Let the people vote on term limits. Let the people vote on creating a fair remap scheme.
The result is his feverish interest in allowing voters to address an issue he cares about — generating more tax revenue — declines dramatically when it comes to other issues that would upset the status quo and the permanent political class.
Pritzker, of course, is no different from other politicians when it comes to issuing bogus cries to “let the people” vote. It’s a common refrain from intellectually dishonest pols who know a good line when they steal one.
But, like so much of the rhetoric from our public servants, its inherent insincerity is exceeded only by its grotesque selectivity.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed into law a bill that bars local governments from establishing so-called right-to-work zones, another rebuke to his Republican predecessor, who blocked similar legislation as he battled with Democratic lawmakers over his pro-business, union-weakening agenda.
The new law, which was passed with strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate and takes effect immediately, “makes it abundantly clear that we have turned the page here in Illinois,” the Democratic governor said during a bill-signing event at the Capitol, where he was joined by legislators and labor leaders.
Former Gov. Bruce Rauner was a major proponent of laws prohibiting employers and labor organizations from signing contracts that require workers to join unions or pay dues. In 2017, Rauner vetoed a previous version of the bill banning local governments from creating such laws, and the House fell one vote short of overriding him. This time, the measure passed the House on a 101-8 vote and was approved unanimously in the Senate.
“From the start, right-to-work was an idea cooked up to lower wages, slash benefits and hurt our working families,” Pritzker said. “ ‘Right-to-work’ has always meant, ‘right to work for less money,’ and it’s wrong for Illinois.”
But Liberty Justice Center Senior Attorney Jeffrey Schwab, who represents Lincolnshire in a case they’ve requested the nation’s high court take up, says right to work doesn’t ban collective bargaining.
“It just makes unions have to get voluntary consent from employees, rather than forcing them to join and pay them,” Schwab said. “It’s disappointing that even though Illinois doesn’t want to pass a statewide right to work that it’s prohibiting its local units of government from doing so.”
Schwab has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Lincolnshire’s case on appeal. Pritzker said he doubts that will change anything now that local right to work is banned in Illinois.
“This bill actually just establishes what is the law today, so I believe that that would be moot essentially at the [U.S.] Supreme Court,” Pritzker said.
Schwab said they’re still waiting to see how the new law will impact the lawsuit.
Marc Dixon, a sociologist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, said during an August 2018 interview that different arguments have been used over the years to campaign for the laws.
The first states to adopt them were primarily in the South, he said, where the laws were used to weaken labor unions, especially the Congress of International Organizations, or CIO, which were actively supporting civil rights legislation for African-Americans.
Later, in the 1950s, he said, they were supported by people who claimed certain labor unions embraced communist sympathies or had ties to organized crime.
More recently, supporters have argued for right-to-work laws on the basis of free speech. As more and more blue-collar workers aligned with the Republican Party, supporters have argued that workers should not be forced to join unions that, broadly speaking, tend to support Democrats.
Sen. Melinda Bush, D-Grayslake, spent more than a year holding hearings and overseeing negotiations which eventually produced SB 1829, a massive omnibus bill on sexual harassment.
The proposal would do everything from limiting non-disclosure agreements that could prohibit disclosure of sexual harassment, to preventing unions from representing both an accuser and an alleged harasser in disciplinary proceedings, to protecting contract employees from sexual harassment for the first time in state history, to forcing employers to allow victims of sexual harassment to take leaves of absence from work to “seek medical help, legal assistance, counseling, safety planning and other assistance.”
Despite all this, the historically conservative Illinois Chamber Employment Law Council supported the bill and it passed the Senate last week without opposition. A Chamber representative even attended a press conference with Sen. Bush to tout the bill’s success.
Almost immediately, however, House Majority Leader Greg Harris, Assistant Majority Leader Natalie Manley and Majority Conference Chair Kathleen Willis released a joint statement that basically said Bush’s measure would be placed under review in the chamber and stuck in a special study policy panel that’s charged with coming up with the House’s own omnibus bill.
The statement didn’t contain so much as a thank you to the sponsor or a hint of praise for the massive bill. Indeed, the language used in the release made it seem as though the legislation was inadequate to the task at hand and was no big deal.
“Senator Bush’s legislation contains many elements which will be reviewed and evaluated alongside ethics and human rights issues proposed by members of the House in our effort to develop the most comprehensive legislation possible,” the statement read in part.
Sen. Bush served on the Democratic Party of Illinois’ Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access Panel (and intervened to have Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough kicked off the panel because she was too closely aligned with House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is also the state party chairman). She also co-chaired the Senate’s bipartisan Task Force on Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Awareness and Prevention. This is a life mission for her.
Bush has personally poured hundreds of hours into her bill, so to watch the House Democrats blithely shrug while tossing it on a pile with a bunch of other, lesser bills was simply too much to take. She was also furious that Rep. Willis had snatched up sponsorship of her proposal in the House without her consent and then refused to relinquish control.
House members say Bush confronted Leader Harris and others on the House floor last week to strenuously object to their press release and to question their intentions. She reportedly pledged to hold a press conference to angrily call them all out if they allowed her proposal to die.
It didn’t work. The chamber’s top Democrats stood by their decision.
Some House members have also complained about their bills being dumped into the informal sexual harassment and ethics study panel and have also been rebuffed by Harris, Manley and Willis every time they’ve asked to move their bills separately from the rest. But the senior Democrats are determined to put their own bill together and that’s that.
The legislative process is often compared to sausage-making for good reason. But Speaker Madigan and the House Democrats have had some, um, issues with this particular topic for the past couple of years, leaving some folks suspicious about his actual intent.
Madigan’s own chief of staff had to resign after he was accused of sexual harassment. Madigan’s political operation is being sued for retaliation after a former worker complained of sexual harassment by the brother of Madigan’s alderman. A former staffer lost his lobbying job after allegations of misconduct while on staff. Another former staffer was accused of misconduct while running some Madigan campaigns.
“We haven’t done enough. I take responsibility for that,” Madigan wrote to his members in February of last year after one incident.
“I didn’t do enough,” Madigan then wrote in September of last year. “I have made it a personal mission to take this issue head-on and correct past mistakes,” he added in his Chicago Tribune op-ed.
So, maybe the House will craft a tough new law. Maybe they just figured that since the Chamber enthusiastically supported it, Bush’s bill wasn’t strict enough. I guess we’ll find out by May 31, which is the scheduled end of the spring legislative session.
But that final product had better be pretty strong and comprehensive or there will be heck to pay. Sen. Bush will make sure of that.
Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, to extend protections to DCFS and Adult Protective Services workers in honor of slain-DCFS worker Pam Knight has received the unanimous approval of the Illinois House of Representatives.
HB 1482 adds protections to DCFS and Adult Protective Service employees concerning assault, the same protections applied to teachers, police/fire, and other emergency responders who protect those in harm’s way.
“This is a public safety bill that closes a loophole to protect DCFS and Adult Protective Service workers. The loophole was discovered when DCFS worker Pam Knight was brutally beaten, and ultimately succumbed to her injuries,” said McCombie.
Kyle Hillman, an official with the National Association of Social Workers Illinois Chapter, does not believe this bill will better protect DCFS employees. Instead, he believes it could land foster kids who are already struggling with trauma, in jail for years.
“You have an 18-year-old that acts out that, let’s say kicks a social worker in a fit of rage. This individual could be hit with a Class One felony under this bill,” Hillman said.
He believes there are other ways to better protect DCFS employees.
“If we did a little bit better training, if we had more social workers go into those dangerous situations so they aren’t going at it alone, those would be much more effective at protecting our members than adding higher penalties to existing crimes,” Hillman said.
