THE ILLINOIZE: Guest hosted by Tim Drea of the Illinois AFL-CIO...BREAKING: Griffin to fund GOP slate of candidates...Pritzker agrees to sell Thompson Center...Hutchinson leaving administration
December 16, 2021
Good morning. Our guest host today is Tim Drea, who began his career as a coal miner from Christian County and today leads one of the state’s most politically influential labor unions with over 1,500 affiliates and around 900,000 members.
As we’ve mentioned before with all of our hosts, we don’t agree with everything our guests say or policies they work on behalf of, but we believe every side deserves to have their opinions heard and respected.
Thanks to Tim for taking time for us.
Let’s get to it.
The past few months have seen workers nationwide standing up for a better deal as the recovery from the pandemic has called them back to work. Working men and women in every industry are responding with calls to ensure safer workplaces, better pay, and more meaningful benefits.
In Illinois, workers whether their jobs are unionized or not, are uniting to support the Workers’ Rights Amendment, a constitutional amendment that received bipartisan approval from Illinois’ General Assembly this year and will appear on the November 2022 General Election Ballot. The Workers’ Rights Amendment will bring constitutional protection to organizing and collective bargaining rights and will stop politicians from intervening in the agreements reached by workers and their employers.
States that support workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain are the ones that grow jobs and deliver economic growth most effectively for everyone. Now is the time for Illinois to make this commitment to our workers and become the first state to enshrine these rights into our constitution.
In neighboring states, with no such rights, we have seen political attacks derail legislative sessions and postpone actual progress, all while delivering no economic benefit to taxpayers. In fact, while proponents of these anti-worker laws have promised savings and growth, the results are just the opposite.
Comprehensive economic analysis by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute shows that pro-worker states perform better in nearly every category. Compared to many of our neighbors, “workers’ rights states” have faster GDP growth, higher worker productivity, quicker personal income growth and lower worker poverty rates. Workers are more likely to have health insurance, own their own homes, and seek higher education.
Building a stronger, more vibrant middle class will provide all workers with a more direct path to economic opportunities, and our state will be even stronger and more competitive. Passage of the Workers’ Rights Amendment will protect Illinois workers from political attacks, and it will benefit working families, businesses, and our state’s economy as a whole.
Working families are on the ballot in 2022, and when they win, so does Illinois.
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SOURCES: GRIFFIN TO FUND STATEWIDE GOP SLATE
Billionaire hedge fund executive Ken Griffin is planning to fund a slate of candidates on the statewide GOP ticket in 2022, according to sources with knowledge of discussions.
Griffin, Illinois’ richest person, has had public spats with incumbent Democratic Governor JB Pritzker in recent months and vowed to do whatever it took to defeat Pritzker next year.
The slate is likely to include Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin for Governor, who has recently polled about the race, and Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville), a rising star in GOP politics, as his running mate.
Neither Irvin’s spokesperson nor Bourne returned messages from The Illinoize Wednesday night.
We’re told Griffin has pledged as much as $60 million in the primary, mostly aimed at beating back right wing Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia), who is seen by few insiders as having a chance to defeat Pritzker in the General Election.
The potential entry of a slate backed by a billionaire is a giant departure in Illinois Republican circles, and some insiders are rankled, we’re told.
“A lot of us wonder if Ken Griffin really is fully aware of what his consultants are doing,” a longtime Republican operative said on a condition of anonymity. “Slating has never been a Republican thing and choosing a [slate] with little to no input from party activists and elected officials is right out of the Madigan playbook. There’s a lot of irritated people.”
Read more here.
PRITZKER AGREES TO SELL THOMPSON CENTER
In a move that has been coming for close to 20 years, Governor JB Pritzker announced yesterday he’s reached a preliminary deal to sell the beleaguered, dilapidated, antiquated, insert bad adjective here James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago.
The state selected a company led by Michael Reschke, chairman and CEO of real estate developer The Prime Group, as the buyer from the two bids submitted this fall. Reschke’s JRTC Holdings is working with [original architect Helmut] Jahn’s firm on its plan to revamp a building that has inspired strong opinions since opening in 1985.
The redevelopment plan calls for installing a glass curtain wall to separate the office floors from the the soaring atrium, which should alleviate many of the heating and cooling issues and noise problems the building has faced during its lifetime, Reschke said.
Interestingly enough, the state has agreed to purchase back about 1/3 of the building after the developers finish renovating the building. The state already purchased a building in the West Loop to move state government operations to.
HUTCHINSON LEAVING ADMINISTRATION
Former Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who joined the Pritzker administration to implement the state’s legalized marijuana program, is departing to work for a national marijuana advocacy group.
From Crain’s:
Toi Hutchinson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s top adviser on marijuana, has been named CEO of the Marijuana Policy Project, a national organization that advocates for weed legalization.
“Toi’s unique resume is perfectly suited to lead MPP as we finish our reform work state-by-state across the country,” MPP Chairman Sal Pace said in a statement.
Hutchinson leaves the job of senior adviser on cannabis control with the centerpiece of the state’s legalization still unfulfilled. Illinois’ legalization efforts focused on social equity, or bringing minorities into ownership of what has been a mostly white, male-dominated business.
"Toi has been in immense demand for her insights, energy and enthusiasm for a long time, and while I am sad to see her go, I know that she will take all that we did in Illinois and expand it nationally," Pritzker said [Wednesday].
Hutchinson served in the Senate from 2009-2019.
MENDOZA ASKS FEDS FOR INTEREST BREAK ON COVID LOANS
Considering we all expected (or hoped) the pandemic to be beaten back by now, the feds were expecting states to start paying interest on loans they took out to battle COVID-19 problems.
More from the great John O’Connor of the AP:
Mendoza, a Democrat, was the lead signatory on a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen maintaining that the waiver’s Sept. 6 expiration has added to the burden states face in determining how to pay back more than $39 billion loaned since the tragic early days of the pandemic, when many states virtually shut down, putting hundreds of thousands of out work.
“Taxpayers should not be on the hook for interest just because the pandemic is lasting longer than projected,” Mendoza said. “States are wrestling with how best to replenish their COVID-depleted unemployment funds and they should not have to do that with the meter running.”
Illinois must repay $4.5 billion the federal government has advanced since early 2020 for skyrocketing unemployment benefits. But with the waiver’s sunset in September, Illinois has accrued $26.7 million in interest, of which $6.3 million has been paid. Interest must be reimbursed by Sept. 30, 2022, and could end up setting the state back $100 million.
Even with federal help last year, the state’s unemployment trust fund, where unemployment insurance payments are made from, is still $8 billion in the hole.
CONGRATULATIONS
To Rachel Hinton, who is moving from the Sun-Times to the Better Government Association.
To Leader McConchie’s spokesperson. Whitney Barnes, who is headed to Nicor.
To our friend Alex Degman, previously of WTAX and KMOX, who is coming back to Springfield to cover the Statehouse for Chicago Public Media.
BEFORE WE GO…