THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Cash bail reform leads to spike in detention appeals...Supreme Court saves pension reform bill...Who pays for a new Sox park?
January 22, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
We’re in a better mood than Jason Kelce after his brother scores a touchdown. (It’s a lie, but at least it was funny.)
Tomorrow marks eight weeks to the March 19 primary. As of now, it appears only appointed Sen. Natalie Toro (D-Chicago) and Congressman Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) are running TV ads, though there are a couple of streaming buys out there, it would appear.
The General Assembly is out until February 6. Governor Pritzker has a “business development announcement” with solar company Nexamp at 10:30. He also holds a Roe vs. Wade roundtable and news conference at noon.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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With end of cash bail, ‘dramatic increase’ in appeals from people ordered held in jail or told to submit to restrictions to be released (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois appellate courts have been hit with a “dramatic increase” in appeals since the elimination of cash bail, with those appeals coming from people challenging orders keeping them in jail or imposing conditions, such as electronic monitoring, on their release.
The state’s high court announced Tuesday it is creating a task force of appellate court justices to study the issue. The task force is slated to hold its first meeting in the next two weeks and is expected to report to the Supreme Court within 45 days.
Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, which took effect in September, people can appeal a judge’s decision ordering them held in custody or setting conditions on their release.
Once it receives all filings in a case, the appeals court has 14 days to deliver a ruling.
As of Dec. 31, more than 160 appeals have been filed in the First District Appellate Court, which is located in Chicago and hears appeals of cases in Cook County.
But other appellate districts in Illinois have seen significantly more appeals — even as circuit courts in those districts see far fewer cases.
The Fourth District Appellate Court, located in Springfield, hears appeals from 41 central Illinois counties. It has seen the most appeals, with more than 430 filed by the end of the year.
The Fifth District, which hears cases from the state’s southernmost counties, has seen more than 390 appeals.
Data on how many of the appeals have been heard and ruled on was not immediately available.
“Appellate justices and courts throughout the state are working tirelessly to consider and issue opinions on the more than 1,500 appeals filed since September 18, 2023 related to detention and pretrial decisions across Illinois,” a spokesman for the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Related: Opinion: SAFE-T Act burying state courts with detention appeals (Champaign News-Gazette)
Illinois high court hands lawmakers a rare pension-overhaul victory (Associated Press)
The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday endorsed the consolidation of local police and firefighter pension systems, a rare victory in a yearslong battle to find an answer to the state’s besieged retirement accounts.
The court’s unanimous opinion rejected claims by three dozen working and retired police officers and firefighters from across the state that the merger of 649 separate systems into two statewide accounts violated the state constitution’s guarantee that benefits “shall not be diminished or impaired.”
For years, that phrase has flummoxed governors and legislatures trying to cut their way past decades of underfunding the retirement programs. Statewide pension systems covering teachers, university employees, state employees, judges and those working for the General Assembly are $141 billion shy of what’s been promised those current and retired workers. In 2015, the Supreme Court overturned lawmakers’ money-saving overhaul approved two years earlier.
Friday’s ruling, which does not affect pension programs in Cook County, which includes Chicago, deals with a law Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed in late 2019 intended to boost investment power and cut administrative spending for hundreds of municipal funds. The Democratic governor celebrated the unusually good pension news.
“We ushered in a new era of responsible fiscal management, one aspect of which has been consolidating over 600 local pension systems to increase returns and lower fees, reducing the burden on taxpayers,” Pritzker said in a statement.
It would appear to be working. As of 2021, the new statewide accounts together had a funding gap of $12.83 billion; a year later, it stood at $10.42 billion, a decline of 18.7%.
Related: State Supreme Court upholds downstate police, firefighter pension consolidation (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois Supreme Court allows continued consolidation of downstate fire, police pensions (State Journal-Register)
Illinois Supreme Court upholds police and fire pension funds consolidation (Chicago Tribune)
Who would pay for a new White Sox stadium? (Crain’s Chicago Business)
News that the White Sox are in talks with developer Related Midwest about building a new ballpark in the South Loop has resurfaced the key question that will shape the negotiations: Who would pay for such a stadium?
It's the same issue that ultimately led to the taxpayer funding of Guaranteed Rate Field more than three decades ago, when Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf leveraged a threat to move the team for Florida to win a public subsidy. Then-Gov. Jim Thompson even flexed his political muscle to make it happen.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Jan. 18 weighed in equivocally on what could be shaping up to be another hand of Sox stadium poker, implying his distaste for taxpayer financing for a new stadium while leaving the door open to ways that public bodies could help grease the skids for such a project.
“Nobody’s made an ask yet," Pritzker said of the Sox-Related Midwest negotiations during an unrelated news conference. "I think you know my views about privately owned teams, and whether the public should be paying for private facilities that will be used for private business. Having said that, there are things that government does to support business all across the state — investing in infrastructure, making sure that we're supporting the success of business in Illinois. As with all of the other (sports teams and private businesses that seek taxpayer help), we'll be looking at whatever they may be suggesting or asking."
But what would happen to the taxpayer-owned Guaranteed Rate Field? Johnson might wince at the optics of abandoning the facility on the disinvested South Side to benefit downtown. Could the ballpark be repurposed with a new user? And if so, who would finance that?
Related: Are the Chicago White Sox eyeing a stadium move to the South Loop? (Chicago Tribune)
South Loop would get more than a new White Sox stadium — think residences, a hotel, restaurants and more (Chicago Sun-Times)
White Sox and Related Midwest stadium pitch shows how a new neighborhood could be built (Crain’s Chicago Business)
TOP STORIES LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
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Pritzker Doesn't Rule Out State Support for New White Sox Stadium
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Smart Start preschool expansion ahead of schedule in first fiscal year (Capitol News Illinois)
State liquor tax revenues dropped last year. Will lawmakers raise tax rates? (Daily Herald)
Farm proponents hope for higher Illinois estate tax exemptions (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Back wages totaling more than $5 million owed to thousands of Illinois workers (Capitol News Illinois)
Pritzker: Let U.S. Supreme Court decide on ballot objections to Trump, Biden (State Journal-Register)
Patchwork aid system and uncertain funding leave thousands of migrants in limbo (Capitol News Illinois)
University of Illinois system freezes in-state tuition at all 3 of its campuses for 2024-25 school year (Chicago Sun-Times)
The Democratic Party’s pick to replace Kim Foxx is behind in fundraising (WBEZ)
Even after Burke conviction, some on City Council still resist banning outside income (Chicago Sun-Times)
In an encounter between the mayor and a D.C. reporter, did push come to shove? (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Duckworth, Durbin want sit-down with city and airlines to expedite terminal project (Daily Herald)
Editorial: Brandon Johnson’s upcoming CTU negotiation should scare taxpayers. Will he surprise us with tough love for his friends? (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Arson registry must be solved (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Opinion: Journalism is in a sorry state in Illinois and nationwide. But there is hope for local news. (Chicago Tribune)
Vallas: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ‘mansion tax’ plan is a regressive tax increase in search of a program (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: States attempt to act when federal government lacks results (Shaw Media)
Opinion: Illinois downstaters and their city ‘cousins’ live in different worlds (Chicago Tribune)
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