THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Eclipse...Karen Yarbrough...The fake "news"papers are back...Tipped wages
April 8, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
Apparently there’s something going on with the sun today. Yeah, I don’t really care, but if you do, read here, here, or here.
Not yet a paid subscriber? Just click below and show your support for what we do and get all of our subscriber-only content each week !
The Senate comes back tomorrow. The House returns Wednesday. Governor Pritzker is in Carbondale for the eclipse and probably taking advantage of the opportunity to get on national television.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough dies at 73 (Chicago Sun-Times)
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, who was recently hospitalized for a serious medical condition, has died. She was 73.
Yarbrough passed away Sunday afternoon, according to Sally Daly, deputy clerk of communications for the county clerk's office.
Yarbrough had been hospitalized and was undergoing treatment for a medical condition Daly described last week as being serious without disclosing details. It wasn't clear when Yarbrough was first hospitalized.
The Maywood Democrat was the first Black person and first woman to serve as Cook County clerk. She served in elected office for more than two decades, including as the Cook County recorder of deeds and as a state representative.
She was also active in Democratic Party politics, working for both the Cook County Democratic Party and Democratic Party of Illinois. She was a Democratic committeeperson representing west suburban Proviso Township for the Cook County party, where she was also the treasurer. She’s a member of the state central committee for the Illinois party.
Yarbrough has said that helping people is what she finds most exciting about elective office and her party positions.
“I think people get energy from other people,” Yarbrough told the Sun-Times in a 2020 interview.
Yarbrough served in the House from 2001-2012 and was briefly Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.
Related: Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough dies at 73 (Chicago Tribune)
‘A trailblazer who broke barriers’: Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough dies (Daily Herald)
State elections board asks AG’s office to look into publisher of fake newspapers for printing voter data (Chicago Tribune)
The State Board of Elections has asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to consider legal action against the publisher of far-right faux newspapers and websites for publishing personal information about Illinois voters.
Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the elections board, said the board has received dozens of complaints from voters asking how personal information got into the hands of the publisher, Local Government Information Services. The publication of that information on LGIS websites is a possible violation of a statutory prohibition on the use of voter identification other than for “bona fide political purposes,” the elections board said.
Dietrich said political committees registered with the state elections board are allowed to purchase voter data, containing names, addresses and birthdates, with an explicit prohibition on the use of the data for other business purposes. The board stopped collecting voter birthdates in 2018 for additional privacy protection.
LGIS, a purveyor of what has become known as “pink slime” journalism, operates dozens of websites in Illinois and throughout the country that try to disguise its far-right Republican campaign advocacy through mailers and websites with names that could be construed as those of legitimate newspapers such as “Chicago City Wire,” the “DuPage Policy Journal” and the “Will County Gazette.”
LGIS is operated by Brian Timpone, an ally and business partner of onetime failed gubernatorial candidate, political operative and right-wing radio talk show host Dan Proft of Naples, Florida.
I hope this newsletter shows you there can be news and opinion from the center-right without being complete BS.
Related: Election board demands 'media watchdog' sites remove Illinois voter data (Peoria Journal Star)
Bill ending state’s tipped wage advances but prospects uncertain amid pushback (Capitol News Illinois)
An Illinois House committee advanced a measure that would end the state’s subminimum wage for tipped workers amid bipartisan opposition this week, but the bill’s sponsor said she’d seek further compromise before presenting it for a vote.
Current Illinois law allows employers to pay their tipped workers 60 percent of the state’s minimum wage. That amounts to $8.40 hourly, compared to the minimum wage of $14 per hour. If their wages plus tips do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. However, advocates say, employers don’t always do that.
House Bill 5345, sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez, D-Cicero, would mandate that tipped workers are paid at least minimum wage, not including tips. She said the bill will eliminate “subminimum wage, not tips.”
Hernandez made her comments during a lengthy hearing Wednesday in a packed committee room filled with advocates on both sides of the issue. She ultimately promised to not bring the bill to a vote in the full House without first negotiating amendments on it, but she also noted one of those changes would better address inequity within the industry and add punitive measures against “bad actors.”
Proponents of the bill said that not all employers follow the law and dependency on tips perpetuates inequalities. A 2014 report from the Economic Policy Institute think tank found at that time 66 percent of tipped workers were women and the poverty rate of tipped workers was almost double that of nontipped workers.
“Depending on tips to make a basic living wage is a system that exposes workers to poverty, to inequity and to harassment,” Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, said at the committee hearing Wednesday.
While the bill is intended to increase wages for tipped workers and address inequities within the industry, much of the roughly two-hour debate in the committee hearing focused on how the proposal will impact businesses and employees.
At a Capitol news conference earlier Wednesday, a coalition of tipped workers and representatives of the state’s restaurant and retail trade associations shared concerns about the proposal. They claimed the change would drive up prices at restaurants specifically.
Related: Opinion: Illinois restaurant industry at risk if lawmakers pass new legislation (State Journal-Register)
Editorial: Take a wait-and-see approach before eliminating subminimum wage for tipped workers in Illinois (Chicago Sun-Times)
TOP STORIES LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
"Serious Tensions" Between Senate Democrats and Pritzker Administration Over Appointments
Plummer: "I Hope the Governor Has Learned His Lesson" on Prisoner Review Board
Opinion: Prisoner Review Board Failures Fall Squarely on Governor Pritzker
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
New DCFS director in court to face questions on children stuck in emergency placements (Chicago Tribune)
Here are bills that are moving in Springfield and what to watch for (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Senate President Don Harmon proposes statewide office to support public defender system (Chicago Tribune)
Bears put lakefront stadium cards on the table with state agency key to funding deal (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois law allows most workers to earn 40 hours of paid leave. New legislation could expand that (State Journal-Register)
Number of students receiving Invest in Kids tax credit scholarships soared in program’s final year, according to state data (Chicago Tribune)
‘A gift to Madigan’s defense': Judge has harsh words for key witness who gave false answer on gun form (Chicago Sun-Times)
How Illinois’ sexual assault survivor law allows hospitals to deny care (WBEZ)
Supreme Court upholds law limiting where child sex offenders can live (Capitol News Illinois)
Chicago-area voters protest Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza at the ballot box (WBEZ)
Johnson urges progressives to vote for Biden despite support for Israel (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Editorial: The Bears have yet to say why they need the lakefront. Why even think of saying yes without that? (Chicago Tribune)
Corbett: Don’t listen to the naysayers. Republicans support IVF (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Recovery, reentry would be more difficult under new Illinois bill (State Journal-Register)
Opinion: Remind me, why do Bears, White Sox need to build stadiums with public money? (Daily Herald)
JOIN US