THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Legislative session kicks off this week...Pritzker defends Biden before heading to Iowa...Dems secret tax hike
January 15, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
It’s going to be a busy week! We head down to Springfield tomorrow morning for the first day of the spring legislative session and we’re up to Peoria Wednesday morning to speak at the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association Annual Meeting.
The Senate is in at noon tomorrow. The House gavels in at 2pm. Governor Pritzker is in Iowa today to stand in front of TV cameras and say bad things about Republicans.
We’ll be double fisting with primaries and the legislative session the next couple of months, so I would suggest you join us as a paid subscriber. That’s where all of the good stuff happens.
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)
With a March 19 primary election looming, Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield (WBEZ)
Illinois lawmakers will be picking up where they left off on Tuesday.
The Democrat-led legislature marked some wins last session, including a “ban on book bans” and an end to the state’s moratorium on construction of nuclear reactors. But there were more than 7,000 pieces of legislation introduced in the House and Senate last year. Most of them didn’t make any headway, but any of them could still move forward this year.
When action will happen is a different question. It’s an election year, so don’t expect much for a couple of months.
Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on in the months ahead:
Merging Chicago area transit agencies
Chicago Public Schools’s elected school board
Invest in Kids
Cannabis legislation
Offshore Wind Energy
Constitutional abortion protections
Legislative staff unions
State funding for migrant support
The House and Senate gavel in for the first time this year on Jan. 16 and they’ll only be in Springfield for part of that week. They’re back for two weeks in February and another two in March before the primary election.
They have a self-imposed adjournment deadline of May 24.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, heading to Iowa for Biden, dismisses president’s low poll numbers (Chicago Tribune)
On the eve of Iowa’s Republican caucuses, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday dismissed new national polling show low job approval for President Joe Biden, saying “the battle hasn’t been joined” until GOP voters pick their nominee.
Pritzker, who is scheduled to be in Des Moines on Monday for the caucuses as a surrogate for Biden’s reelection, acknowledged on ABC’s “This Week” program that former President Donald Trump is the likely GOP nominee based on polling. But he criticized the entire Republican field — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — as “MAGA Republicans.”
“It’s the Republicans that are trying to take your freedoms away. It’s the Republicans that are trying to take away your Social Security and your Medicare. It’s the Republicans that are basically fighting against the working families of America. And it’s Joe Biden, who has been lifting up the economy,” Pritzker said. “Things are getting better in this country and over the course of an election year, as the economy continues to improve, you’re going to see (Biden’s) poll numbers improve too.”
A new ABC-Ipsos poll released Sunday found Biden with an approval rating of 33%, worse than Trump’s 36% low during his presidency. One-third of poll respondents held a favorable opinion of Biden while 35% had a favorable view of Trump.
To be fair, Pritzker would probably call me a “MAGA Republican” though I’ve been fully opposed to his candidacy dating back to 2015.
Illinois lawmakers quietly scaled back a popular tax credit. A former governor wants it back. (WBEZ)
With tax season approaching, millions of Illinoisans won’t be seeing a bump up in a widely used state tax credit known as the standard exemption after lawmakers throttled a planned increase in the credit for the 2023 tax year.
Tucked within a 558-page revenue package, the little-noticed tax change came about last spring with passage of the state budget omnibus package approved by the Democratic-led General Assembly and enacted by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
The freeze in the exemption, coming a year after the biggest jump in inflation in four decades, resulted in as much as $114 million in savings for the state – money that went from taxpayers’ pockets to a series of other legislative spending add-ons.
The standard exemption will remain flat this year at $2,425 for those with an income of $250,000 or less individually.
More than 11 million Illinoisans claim the standard exemption on their taxes each year.
This is a tax increase, plain and simple. And it doesn’t benefit JB Pritzker and other billionaires, they already file with an itemized deduction. The standard deduction benefits working families, and Democrats screwed them. Let’s see if Republicans have the gumption to message the issue.
LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Illegal bribe or legitimate ‘gratuity’: How a $13,000 payment to an Indiana mayor could alter political corruption cases in Chicago (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois lawmakers created an arson registry. 20 years later, it's still empty. (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Legislative proposal calls for expanding vote-by-mail (Capitol News Illinois)
As online DMV services plagued by no-shows, secretary of state launches changes (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois secretary of state tells drivers to ‘ditch the DMV’ and register online (Associated Press)
Judge denies former Sen. Sam McCann's request to delay trial again (Illinois Times)
Why Darin LaHood says he's endorsing Trump for president over other Republicans (Peoria Journal-Star)
State awards over $10 million to Southern Illinois Healthcare Cancer Institute (Capitol News Illinois)
Thousands more migrants in Chicago than previously reported, city officials say (Chicago Tribune)
Pritzker urges Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop migrant drop-offs in winter storm: ‘I plead with you for mercy’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
Out of work and running out of time, migrants struggle to find jobs in Chicago (Chicago Tribune)
Johnson, suburban mayors to talk state of Chicago migrant crisis (Chicago Sun-Times)
Mayor Brandon Johnson will delay enforcing migrant shelter evictions policy, acknowledges pause on opening new sites (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: No migrant should be kicked out of a shelter in this weather (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: State must act where federal government has failed to address migrant influx (Daily Herald)
Editorial: Out-of-state abortions soared in Illinois, and the numbers are likely to keep rising (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Chicago casino revenue remains a roll of the dice for the city (Chicago Tribune)
Cassidy, Guzzardi: We’re Jewish legislators, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Clearing up phrasing on gun registration deadline expiration (Shaw Media)
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