THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All
April 11, 2022
Good morning.
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The legislature may not be back in Springfield for some time, but we’ll be digging through their frenetic actions over the final hours of the spring session for some time. I’ll start to have more on those actions, and their repercussions, in tomorrow’s newsletter.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Illinois lawmakers approve crime package, $46.5 billion budget in marathon final day of session (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois lawmakers early Saturday approved a $46.5 billion budget that includes $1.8 billion in largely temporary election-year tax relief and a $1 billion deposit into the state’s rainy day fund.
The House voted in favor of the budget, which had already passed in the Senate, shortly before 6 a.m., more than 36 hours after Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic legislative leaders announced a budget agreement as lawmakers blew past the scheduled Friday adjournment of their truncated spring session.
As Friday came and went the Democratic-controlled General Assembly also finalized its legislative response to rising crime, which along with inflation is expected to be a key issue in this year’s elections.
The Democrats say their spending plan for the budget year that begins July 1 is designed to address both of those issues while continuing to dig out from the state’s longtime fiscal morass.
“This budget is about fiscal responsibility, restoring stability and setting a responsible course for our state,” House Majority Leader Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat and lead budget negotiator, said Friday.
Among the Democratic efforts Republicans argued falls short is a bill that would authorize a state council to provide grants to law enforcement to help catch and prosecute carjackers.
“This body has made policy choices that is making carjacking, including organized carjacking, including by juveniles ... that much easier,” state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, an Elmhurst Republican, said. “And it’s sad that we’re here on the last day of session and not a single piece of legislation has been proposed by the majority party to help the various (people) who are being attacked through these carjackings ... and this is the best you can do. A grant program for a state council.”
The House also passed a measure that would classify a car-fob replicator, one of the tools used by car thieves or carjackers to break into or steal cars, as a burglary tool.
Related: Election-year politics make crime, inflation top issues in shortened legislative session (Chicago Tribune)
Lawmakers tackle ghost guns, police reform, retail theft in last week (State Journal-Register)
Pritzker taps former U.S. Attorney, former judge for PRB (Capitol News Illinois)
After partisan fight, lawmakers approve bill limiting donations in judicial elections (State Journal-Register)
NW Republican lawmakers call budget rushed, short-sighted (Shaw Media)
'I love the job': Morrison cites family as reason for not seeking reelection to state House (Daily Herald)
Gov. Pritzker’s camp grapples with Dem Party Chair Rep. Kelly: Coordinated campaign an issue (Chicago Sun-Times)
Delicate discussions among top Democrats in Illinois have been taking place since a Jan. 17 meeting about the control and structure of a coordinated campaign for the 2022 ticket.
Accounts of what happened at that meeting vary regarding the views of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s political team on the role of Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., on the coordinated campaign.
The Chicago Sun-Times has learned talks regarding a coordinated campaign started on Jan. 17, when three Democrats up for re-election along with Pritzker — Treasurer Mike Frerichs, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Comptroller Susana Mendoza — were called to a meeting with Pritzker’s top team at Pritzker’s Loop campaign headquarters.
Pritzker’s lieutenants at the Jan. 17 meeting were Chief of Staff Anne Caprara; Deputy Governor Christian Mitchell; Ex- Deputy Governor Dan Hynes and Pritzker campaign manager Mike Ollen.
“I think we can be a lot further along. We need more cooperation,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday. “We’re moving in the right direction but too slowly.”
What’s at issue? “There are a lot of personalities tied up in this. We got to put them aside for the duration of the campaign. We got to focus on November and focus on victory and do it together,” Durbin said.
Is this about control? “I don’t know if that is the reason. It could be something else. But whatever it is, it’s unacceptable,” Durbin said.
There’s long been a beef between Durbin’s crew and Pritzker’s crew, and it will be interesting to see if they all get their ducks in a row.
Six Chicago teachers who sued CPS over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate win legal victory (Chicago Tribune)
An Illinois judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday that prevents Chicago Public Schools from taking employment action against six teachers for refusing to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or undergo weekly testing.
CPS is “the only school district left in the state that’s still enforcing this. None of the rest of the school districts that are in this case are trying to get vaccination or testing compliance out of teachers,” said downstate attorney Tom DeVore, who represents the six CPS teachers. “They should drop it.”
CPS issued a statement late Friday on Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow’s decision: “The district disagrees with the court’s decision and will continue to fight against this lawsuit and the TRO, as we believe our current health and safety protocols are in the best interest of our students, staff and school communities.”
The district said it intends to appeal the decision and will ask for the restraining order to be stayed.
Related: Chicago Public Schools asked to repay $87 million it got from ‘coding error’; state funds were due to other Illinois districts (Chicago Tribune)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
In All Night End of Session, Tensions Flare, Democrats Pass Budget
GOP Candidate McCullagh Drops Out After "Grooming" Allegation
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