Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

State lawmakers proposed new legislation on Monday that would overhaul public transportation in northeastern Illinois by merging CTA, Metra and Pace under a single agency.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (D-Chicago), is part of a package that also creates an additional $1.5 billion in annual transit operational funding. […]

The bill, backed by the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, essentially erases each of the independent transit agencies and establishes a regional entity called the Metropolitan Mobility Authority. That new agency would eliminate the Regional Transportation Authority, which currently oversees the three transit agencies. […]

The Metropolitan Mobility Authority’s governing board would include 19 directors with voting power. Three are appointed by the governor, five are appointed by Chicago’s mayor and five are appointed by the Cook County Board president.

* Rep. Kam Buckner introduced HB5823 yesterday…

Creates the Metropolitan Mobility Authority Act, and establishes the Metropolitan Mobility Authority. Provides that the Chicago Transit Authority, the Commuter Rail Division and the Suburban Bus Division of the Regional Transportation Authority, and the Regional Transportation Authority are consolidated into the Metropolitan Mobility Authority and the Service Boards are abolished, instead creating the Suburban Bus Operating Division, Commuter Rail Operating Division, and the Chicago Transit Operating Division. Reinserts, reorganizes, and changes some provisions from the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act and the Regional Transportation Authority Act into the new Act. Includes provisions about the operation of the Metropolitan Mobility Authority. Repeals the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act and the Regional Transportation Authority Act. Amends various Acts, Laws, and Codes to make conforming changes. Creates the Equitable Transit-Supportive Development Act. Establishes the Office of Transit-Oriented Development and the Transit-Supportive Development Fund. Provides that the Office and the Fund are to aid transit-supportive development near high-quality transit by providing specified funding to municipalities that have adopted the standards in the transit support overlay district for that area or that have adopted zoning and other changes that the Office determines have benefits greater than or equal to such a District, including transit support overlay districts. Includes provisions relating to Office standards, procedures, and reports. Amends the State Finance Act to make a conforming change. Amends the Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code. Requires the Department to establish, staff, and support an Office of Public Transportation Support for the purpose of optimizing the operation of public transportation vehicles and the delivery of public transportation services on highways under the Department’s jurisdiction in the Metropolitan Mobility Authority’s metropolitan region. Describes the duties and operations of the Office. Amends the Toll Highway Act. Provides that the Chair of the Metropolitan Mobility Authority is a nonvoting member of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.

A great thread from Metropolitan Planning Council Senior Advisor Thomas Bamonte…

Much of the rest of the bill is routine stuff, but note new 20 ILCS 2705/2705-594 on pg. 268, which requires @IDOTDistrict1 to establish an Office of Public Transit Support and affirmatively work to make its roadways, many of which host public transit, more supportive of transit.

— Thomas Bamonte (@TomBamonte) April 29, 2024

To read the rest of his thread click here.

* Rep. Maura Hirschauer…

State Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, issued the following statement regarding the tragic homicide that took place over the weekend in Villa Park:

“The murder of Julie Elguezabal is a tragedy and another unacceptable loss resulting from the intersection of domestic violence and firearms. While we collectively condemn this horrific act of violence, we must also collectively take action to right this wrong. Legislation that would remove firearms from the hands of domestic abusers remains stalled in the Illinois State Senate. Karina’s Bill (SB 2633) would allow judges to issue search warrants along with orders of protection so that law enforcement can search homes and immediately remove firearms from domestic abusers. Compared to this time last year, there is a 65% increase in the number of victims killed in firearm-related incidents across Illinois, according to The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence. We cannot let this trend continue and must pass this lifesaving bill this session. […]

“Each day that passes without action on Karina’s Bill means more lives shattered and more futures stolen. We owe it to every victim and their families to ensure that they have the protection they need to reclaim their safety. My heart is with the family of Julie Elguezabal, and for hopefully the last time, I say: enough is enough. It is time that we pass Karina’s Bill and end the cycle of firearm-involved domestic violence homicides.”

* The Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Alliance…

The Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Alliance (IGGVA) today urged Illinois lawmakers to support House Bill 2864 to provide parity for wineries at a time when they are facing an inability to grow under current law.

While Illinois is one of the top wine-drinking states in the country and the state’s wine industry has grown in esteem, current law places inequitable restrictions on production and sales for wineries compared to the beer and spirits sectors. In effect, the law limits the ability to grow and innovate for wineries, many of which are small, family-owned operations and provide significant tourism revenue for Illinois.

The current limitations stem from outdated regulations dating back nearly 90 years that govern wine production, distribution, and sales. The law caps production and self-distribution for Illinois wineries at 25,000 gallons and 5,000 gallons, respectively. Meanwhile, the spirits and beer industries are allowed to produce and self-distribute significantly more under the law – for spirits, 50,000 gallons of production and 5,000 gallons to self-distribute; and for beer, 930,000 gallons of production and 232,500 gallons to self-distribute.

HB 2864 would:

• Increase caps on winery production to 250,000 gallons and distribution to 25,000 gallons – levels that are on par with Illinois distillers and brewers.
• Allow wineries to grow both sales and employment, increasing their contributions to the Illinois economy.
• Address antiquated laws that prevent wineries from selling their wine in the marketplace, prevent retail stores from diversifying their products, and prevent consumers from buying local wines they enjoy.

Many Illinois wineries have reached their limit to self-distribute their wine, so their only option under existing law is to find a distributor to partner with to sell their product. However, this process has been plagued by problems, with most distributors uninterested in working with small business operations like many of the wineries in Illinois. Wineries are left to sell their wine themselves, but the law caps their ability to sell more product and grow as a business.

“Our state has one of the most competitive wine markets in the country. For an Illinois winery, the barriers are incredibly tough to succeed,” said Greg Fischer, owner of Chicago’s Wild Blossom Meadery & Winery. “In Chicago, 99 percent of the wine sold comes from out of state, even though homegrown Illinois wine has grown in quality and popularity. Every sip of Illinois wine benefits our state from the ground up. We urge Illinois lawmakers to work with us to reduce barriers and help us become successful.”

HB2864 has been re-referred to the Rules Committee in the House. The House committee deadline has long past and the bill does not have an extension.

* WGN…

If passed into law, the state’s Fuel Gas Detector Act would require gas alarms to be installed inside buildings. […]

The purpose is to protect against gas explosions, which have increased in number and can destroy property and cause serious injuries.

In cities such as Chicago, which has aging infrastructure, proponents of Senate Bill 1161 say this legislation could potentially save lives.

“We treat so many other hazards in our home. Why would we let this one go?” said state Sen. Craig Wilcox, a Republican from Woodstock, who supports the legislation. […]

Last year, there were at least 10 explosions in Illinois.

SB1161 is on Third Reading and has until May 3 to pass through the Senate.

* WAND…

The Pritzker administration and Democratic lawmakers say every woman in Illinois deserves the right to a healthy and safe pregnancy. A plan moving to the Senate could drastically improve maternal healthcare for Black women in Illinois.

The monumental bill in Springfield would require private insurance companies to cover maternal services provided by midwives, doulas and lactation consultants. This comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health reports Black mothers are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical issues than white women. […]

Gov. JB Pritzker also hopes to provide $4.4 million to IDPH in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget to address the state’s maternal mortality rate and create an action plan to support community-based full spectrum care. The Democrat wants lawmakers to approve a $5 million expansion of the state’s home visiting program and $1 million for a new diaper distribution program as well. […]

House Bill 5142 passed out of the House on a 72-37 vote on April 18. Senators could discuss the plan when they return to Springfield this week. Meanwhile, Pritzker’s maternal healthcare budget priorities could be approved during the final days of session next month.

* Advantage News…

Bills concerning employers and changes they will have to make passed the House last week.

House Bill 3763 makes a change where an employee’s legal representation can request access to personnel records, not just the employee themselves.

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, asked why the bill was necessary. The sponsor of the bill is state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago.

“So for instance, if an employee gets laid off in a hostile work environment, they have a right to their personnel records from that employer,” said Guzzardi. “Right now, as the courts have interpreted this law, that employee needs to go present themself and request these records. We think it is better for everybody if their lawyer could just get these records. If there’s tension between the employer and former employee, let’s just have an attorney submit the records request and have them be delivered to that person’s representative.”

* Investigate Midwest…

Carbon dioxide pipeline and sequestration projects would face significant new scrutiny and regulations under proposed legislation introduced in April in Illinois.

Advocates who helped draft the proposal (SB 3930, HB 5814) say it is crucial to institute standards and protections, as multiple companies seek to sequester carbon in Illinois’ Mount Simon sandstone geology and reap lucrative federal tax credits. The legislation was formally introduced Monday.

State lawmakers held a hearing earlier this month on separate bills (HB 4835, SB 3441) that would place a moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelines for four years or until new federal safety regulations are adopted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). […]

Companies seeking to sequester carbon dioxide in Illinois have so far failed to secure county approvals for proposed sites, and two major carbon dioxide pipeline proposals — from the companies Navigator CO2 Ventures and Wolf Carbon Solutions — were withdrawn from consideration by the Illinois Commerce Commission last year. But Wolf is expected to refile its application for a necessary certificate of authority. And the commerce commission is currently considering a proposal from One Earth Energy for a six-mile pipeline that — if built — is expected to spur proposals for longer pipelines that would connect to it and a proposed sequestration site.

* National Center for Science Education…

Illinois’s House Bill 4895, one of three climate change education bills active in the Illinois legislature, was passed by the House of Representatives on a 70-37 vote on April 18, 2024, and is now with the Senate.

The bill was amended before the vote. It now provides that, “Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, every public school shall provide instruction on climate change, which shall include, but not be limited to, identifying the environmental and ecological impacts of climate change on individuals and communities and evaluating solutions for addressing and mitigating the impact of climate change and shall be in alignment with State learning standards, as appropriate. The State Board of Education shall, subject to appropriation, prepare and make available multi-disciplinary instructional resources and professional learning opportunities for educators that may be used to meet the requirements of this subsection.”

The provisions of the bill as passed are thus substantially less ambitious than the bill as introduced. As introduced, the bill would have required every public high school in Illinois to “include in its curriculum a unit of instruction addressing climate change in either a required science class or a required social studies class.” It would also have required instruction on climate change to be included in all high school courses in science, agriculture, social science, and relevant career and technical education courses. The state superintendent of education would have been charged with preparing appropriate instructional materials and professional development training for educators.

The other two climate change education bills active in the Illinois legislature — Senate Bill 3644, which was similar but not identical to House Bill 4895 as introduced, and House Bill 4319 — are still in committee.

* WSPY…

A bill that would change the pension code and allow quicker access to payments for state employee retirees has passed the state’s House of Representatives.

The vote in the House occurred on April 16th and was unanimous. State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit sponsored the bill and commended her colleagues in the House for the bipartisan support.

House Bill 4870 focuses on providing state employees greater flexibility and expedite access to retirement benefits by allowing for an estimated payment, which would occur within 30 days of either the employee’s last day of employment or 30 days after filing for retirement benefits in the state’s system. Kifowit says the bill makes sure that state retirees can get access to the retirement they earned as quickly as possible.

The bill now heads to the Senate. If approved and signed into law, the bill would take immediate effect, providing relief and assistance to state employees navigating the retirement process.

* WGEM…

A proposed Illinois Bill, HB5527, would provide Narcan to those leaving jail or prison who struggle with substance abuse problems to help keep them safe upon release. […]

Pat Tyler is the executive director of the Well House, an organization that helps women who are getting out of prison or jail overcome challenges. She said they help women who deal with substance abuse problems by taking them to clinics to get assessed to see what level of care they need, as well as help them get in contact with programs to help them stay clean. She said it’s important they have support from the community to help keep them clean. She said having NARCAN on hand can help keep them safe if they relapse. […]

[Sheriff Anthony Grootens of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office] said they have NARCAN in the jail and provide treatment for prisoners suffering from substance abuse. However, when they are released, it gets difficult to track them.

Grootens said hospitals don’t have to inform them if a formerly incarcerated prisoner has overdosed. He said there’s been instances where they’ve revived a person who overdosed, taken them to the hospital, only for them to leave and overdose again later. He said while having NARCAN available to help is good, there should be a focus on trying to get people long-term help to have them stay clean.

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Open thread

Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…

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Isabel’s morning briefing

Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 - Posted by Isabel Miller

* ICYMI: Proft and Bailey feud underlined illegal campaign coordination, lawyers argue. Crain’s…

Lawyers for the executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois argued Darren Bailey and Dan Proft colluded on the 2022 gubernatorial campaign during an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing today.

Proft used his super PAC, the People Who Play By the Rules PAC, to create ads that would boost Bailey or hurt incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker during the 2022 campaign. Super PACs, or independent expenditure-only committees, can make unlimited contributions, but are barred from coordinating messaging and other decisions with the campaign they support. […]

Lawyers today presented their case to hearing officer Jim Tenuto. The Illinois State Board of Elections is expected to reach a decision in June or July, he said. That could clarify what it means for a super PAC to coordinate with a candidate, a parameter detailed in federal election law but previously left undefined in Illinois. […]

What is alleged to have ensued on June 29, 2022, the day after the Illinois primary, is a scene that is too on the nose for Chicago politics. According to today’s testimony, after Bailey initially rebuffed Proft, telling him he was too busy to meet following the primary, the candidate and his campaign manager arrived in the backroom of a Chicago country club. There, Proft slid over an envelope which he said contained $20 million. Proft said Bailey’s campaign would get that money if he gave him sole control of the campaign, which Bailey refused.

* Related stories…

∙ Tribune: At secret meeting, right-wing radio host Dan Proft dangled $20 million to Darren Bailey’s governor run
∙ Capitol News Illinois: Election officials to weigh whether Darren Bailey and GOP operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated

Subscribers know more.

Governor Pritzker and First Lady MK Pritzker to announce historic document donation to Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum at 1:00 pm. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s top picks ***
* WTTW | Efforts to Add Abortion Protections to the Illinois Constitution Cool as Election-Year Focus Turns to Other States: State legislators would need to vote by May 5 to place a question on the November ballot, and key players indicate there’s no effort to do so despite earlier talk at state government’s highest levels after Roe v. Wade was dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court almost two years ago.

* Pantagraph | Lincoln mayor pledges to fight Logan Correctional Center move: Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch said Monday that he and other elected officials were not given much notice of Illinois Department of Corrections’ recommendation to shutter the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln and rebuild the prison in Will County. While hoping for greater transparency in the future before such decisions are made, he said he was focused on making the city fiscally stable and continuing to provide goods and services to the community.

*** Statehouse News ***
* WBEZ | Weight-loss drug coverage for Illinois state workers could cost hundreds of millions of dollars: Pritzker’s administration says access to the medication will yield important health benefits for those who take advantage of the benefit and would equitably give access to the medication across the state’s insurance plans. But one economist who has studied the cost impact of this new class of drugs told WBEZ the state’s yearly outlay could cost as much as three times the state’s estimate, depending on the number of people who access the program.

* Tribune | Illinois lawmakers consider measures aimed at making mental health care more accessible: Illinois legislators have advanced two measures pushed by proponents of reform in the state’s behavioral health system that are intended to expand the insurance coverage available for those seeking care. The bills, both of which were passed by the House on April 19 and are now before the Senate, aim to combat what supporters say are inequities in access to support systems for people suffering mental health and substance abuse issues, which have remained at stubbornly high rates following the COVID-19 pandemic.

* WBEZ | What is ranked choice voting? And what could it mean for Illinois?: The 2024 elections are just seven months away, but a task force of state lawmakers, county officials and voters’ rights advocates are already thinking about the way Illinois residents will vote in the 2028 presidential primaries. They’re mulling over a process called ranked choice voting, where voters can rank multiple candidates instead of choosing one candidate per party. The Illinois Ranked Choice Voting Task Force, which launched in January, has concluded its monthly meetings and is expected to release their report recommending whether to adopt the voting method to Illinois lawmakers in the coming weeks.

*** Chicago ***
* WBEZ | Chicago will relaunch a guaranteed basic income program: The relaunch was announced as part of the Johnson Administration’s plan to dedicate and spend more than $374 million in federal funds earmarked for community projects. The city — which has been slow to spend the money it received in 2021 — has to allocate all funds by the end of this year, and spend them by 2026, or lose the money. City officials hope to have the funds allocated by November ahead of the end-of-year deadline.

* ABC Chicago | Many iconic Chicago bridges are deteriorating, officials race to fix problem before disaster strikes: City and state transportation officials tasked with maintaining these bridges are adamant that any bridge that’s open is considered safe to use, and “rigorous inspection schedules” are in place to keep travelers safe. Right now, there are billions of dollars earmarked for repairing the long list of bridges in poor condition across the state and city, something Illinois has never had before, officials say.

* Crain’s | Peeling back the sticker price on Bears stadium reveals even more costs: The total cost to taxpayers to build a domed stadium on the lakefront in an effort to keep the Chicago Bears in the city will be nearly $5 billion and would not be paid off until the team’s 22-year-old rookie quarterback, Caleb Williams, is in his 60s. The Bears’ plan to tap into government bonds to pay for their dream stadium is estimated at $4.97 billion over 40 years, when accounting for interest payments. That’s roughly $4 billion more than the $900 million in upfront capital the team would receive to build their new home.

* WGN | ‘The city is up for grabs’: Chicago Tribune reporter’s new book details Lightfoot’s tenure as mayor: Lightfoot won in a landslide, sweeping all 50 wards. She made history as the first openly gay person, and first black woman to hold the office. But, in Pratt’s analysis, she made an immediate error: alienating city council during her inauguration speech, in which she called out corruption in city government. Pratt’s book argues that the moment was indicative of a theme throughout Lightfoot’s time in office — the impulse to act as a prosecutor instead of a politician. “You can’t slap everybody all the time as though they were a criminal, because that’s just not the way you get stuff done., and she could not adapt her personality and her leadership style,” Pratt said.

* WBBM | Wish granted: Nine-year-old boy takes his family for a ride on CTA train: dris Lockett has a life-threatening heart condition and has endured several surgeries, but on World Wish Day, the 9-year-old’s wish of being a Chicago Transit Authority train operator came true. […] Jessica Miller, senior communications manager for Make-A-Wish Illinois, said granting Idris’ wish to be a CTA train operator was no easy task. “Logistically speaking, this is kind of a complicated wish,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of agencies involved. We live in a big city, so there’s a lot of people we need to connect with.”

* Daily Herald | Merge CTA, Metra and Pace? Lawmakers debut fix amid pushback from suburbs, transit agencies: Proponents promised benefits such as a universal fare and more efficiency, but the seismic shift will be anything but a smooth ride in Springfield. “We know that our current regional transit system needs improvement to provide integrated and community-centered service for all of our residents,” Democratic state Sen. Ram Villivalam of Chicago said during a Union Station briefing.

* WGN | All eyes on Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso as Sky start training camp: “It’s a mindset being able to come in here and not make any excuses because everybody is here is just fighting to be on the team and just fighting for greatness,” remarked Reese. “Coming in here, I didn’t have the mindset to be tired. I had the mindset to go into work every single day and figure everything else out later. I’m just happy to be here.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Wednesday Journal | Housing Forward opens Broadview Legacy Apartments: Housing Forward, a nonprofit organization working to end homelessness, has opened a permanent supportive housing development on Roosevelt Road called Broadview Legacy Apartments. The apartment complex has 16 apartments for individuals and families who were experiencing homelessness, 12 of which are one-bedroom units and four of which are two-bedroom units. The complex also has communal spaces and office space for Housing Forward. […] The project cost $7.8 million, according to the release, and was funded through the Illinois Housing Development Authority, Cook County Department of Planning and West Cook Coalition – Illinois Healthcare Transformation Collaborative.

* Fox Chicago | Thornton Township subpoenas reveal Tiffany Henyard is target of criminal investigation: One subpoena focuses entirely on Henyard, including two businesses she owns: a restaurant and a property management company, as well as Henyard’s political fund and the charity bearing her name. It asks for all records including personnel files, wage and tax statements, time and attendance, records of work performed, contracts, and checks written to “cash.”

*** Downstate ***

* WPSD | Carbondale city councilwoman receives death threats: She said she’s gotten emails consistently over the course of being a public figure. She said within two weeks of setting up her city council email account, she received an email in which a constituent said she was “a branch on the tree of life that necessarily must be pruned.” Worse are the death threats and messages explicitly advocating that she kill herself. She said people have told her the world would be better if she found the nearest chair and rope. “It does beg the question, ‘What about me is so threatening that it prompts this sort of rhetoric?’ And that’s a question I still haven’t quite answered,” she said.

* SJ-R | ‘Pain, grief, with a sense of joy and unity’: Lincoln Christian University says goodbye: Brian Messner plunks down on his desk a manila envelope full of notes from his former students telling him what a difference he made in their lives. A 29-year teaching veteran in Lincoln Christian University’s history department, Messner admitted his favorite came from a student working at a state agency. She thanked him for making her write shorter papers. “I never thought anybody would thank me for (that), but those kinds of things are meaningful,” Messner said.

* SJ-R | Illinois State Fair: Get early taste of Fair food, discounts at 100 Days Out celebration: You can get your hands on juicy ribeye sandwiches, fluffy cozy corndogs, tart and chilly lemon shakeups and of course – the infamous turkey legs. The cherry on-top of the day isn’t on the donuts, but the savings Springfieldians can claim at the event. Every menu item purchased comes with a ticket that can be used in a raffle to win State Fair prizes.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - More stuff

Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Live coverage

Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 - Posted by Rich Miller

* You can click here or here to follow breaking news. It’s the best we can do unless or until Twitter gets its act together.

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