THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Over 450 bills sent to Pritzker...Staff sues Speaker Chris Welch...House Speaker tries to play in Peoria
June 3, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
I was outside playing with our cicada obsessed toddler yesterday afternoon and couldn’t believe how loud the little buggers are here in suburbia. I spoke to University of Illinois entomologist Dr. Kacie Athey when I filled in on WMAY a couple of weeks ago, if you want to listen to more about it, click here.
I texted a friend about the cicada noise (which is a mating call, apparently) and the friend texted back “definitely louder than a White Sox crowd.”
Ouch.
I’ve heard from so many of our paid subscribers about the quality and amount of content we put out over the final weeks of the legislative session. A couple of Democrats even came up and wondered how we knew more than they did.
Join us and get on the inside. We’ll be turning our focus to campaigns soon.
The General Assembly is out until the fall. There is nothing on Governor Pritzker’s public schedule today.
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)
Legislation now before Gov. J.B. Pritzker: Mobile driver’s licenses, medical debt relief and a new state mushroom (Chicago Tribune)
The Illinois General Assembly’s spring legislative session ended in last-minute drama as Democrats barely eked out enough votes to pass a package of tax hikes that mostly affect gambling operations and corporations.
But lawmakers in the final days also sent a number of other bills to Gov. J.B. Pritzker that will directly affect the state’s residents and communities. And, during the course of the four-month session they approved some less significant measures, among them a bill designating Calvatia Gigantea, colloquially known as the Giant Puffball, as the state mushroom.
Here’s are some of the bills heading to the governor’s desk:
Residents would be able to keep digitial versions of their driver’s licenses and other state IDs in their cellphones under legislation pushed by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.
Lawmakers attempted to give local journalism a boost with a measure that would not allow a local news organization to be sold without 120 days notice to employees and their representatives, the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the county government in which the outlet is located and any “in-state nonprofit organization in the business of buying local news organizations.”
Lawmakers approved a key Pritzker initiative aimed at erasing as much as $1 billion in medical debt for more than 300,000 Illinois families. It would follow a similar effort launched in Cook County that was on track to wipe out medical bills for around 73,000 residents as of last year.
Bills spearheaded by Democratic Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz would protect artists and others in creative fields from unauthorized digital replicas, in line with the national conversation about artificial intelligence in pop culture.
Related: Pritzker bets FanDuel, DraftKings won't leave Illinois over hefty sports wagering tax hike (Chicago Sun-Times)
Ban on ‘captive audience’ meetings, AI regulations among 466 bills to pass this session (Capitol News Illinois)
Editorial: A balanced state budget. But hardly Springfield Democrats’ finest hour. (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Budget changes unlikely but needed (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Opinion: How Illinois’ new child tax credit will affect suburban parents (Daily Herald)
Illinois legislative staff union sues Speaker Welch demanding recognition (WBEZ)
In 2022, Illinois voters approved a ballot measure granting every employee in the state the constitutional right to collectively bargain.
Brady Burden and a group of employees in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s (D-Hillside) office took note.
Burden, a 27-year-old analyst, has been working in the Speaker’s office since 2020 – starting during Michael Madigan’s administration. He said workers at the end of Madigan’s reign and beginning of Welch’s tenure faced poor working conditions, low pay and inadequate comp time policies – but the passage of the Workers Rights Amendment offered a measure of hope.
Members of Speaker Welch’s legislative and research and appropriations units formed the Illinois Legislative Staff Association and kick started what has been an 18-month process to get recognition.
Burden said members have faced pushback by otherwise union-friendly Democrats. Without recognition and certification from the Illinois Labor Relations Board, or ILRB, members are unable to collectively bargain and Burden said they have no choice but to go to court.
ILSA filed a lawsuit against Speaker Welch in Cook County Circuit Court Friday, alleging he’s violating their right to organize under Article I Section 25 of the Illinois Constitution – the ballot measure voters approved.
“Plaintiff Burden and the plaintiff labor organization seek a declaratory judgment that the Defendant Speaker’s refusal to engage in any collective bargaining with his employees or recognize the legitimacy of their individual rights and the rights of Plaintiff ILSA to collective bargaining under the Illinois Constitution violates the constitutional duty of the Speaker to perform or carry out the lawful business of the State,” the lawsuit reads.
ILSA is asking for declaratory relief and wants the court to clearly define what their constitutional rights are, as well as injunctive relief – a court order that Speaker Welch stop violating those rights. The union also wants assurances of their right to organize without reprisal.
Burden said unionization efforts hit a snag from the beginning.
Related: House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch sued by staffers who say he thwarted their efforts to form union (Chicago Tribune)
Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois House speaker’s staff sues to unionize (Associated Press)
Speaker Mike Johnson in Peoria: Trump a 'symbol' in fight against 'deep state' (Bloomington Pantagraph)
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday stopped short of calling former President Donald Trump a martyr, but declared that America's first convicted felon former president had transformed into a "symbol" that would galvanize voters to return him and Republicans to power in November.
Johnson was in Peoria to deliver the keynote address of the annual Peoria-Tazewell Lincoln Day Dinner, one of the premier events in Illinois Republican politics, with past speakers including former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Unlike past years, the event was closed to the press, with Johnson instead speaking with gathered reporters for a 15-minutes question-and-answer session before addressing about 500 gathered in a downtown Peoria ballroom.
Johnson, flanked by Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, and 17th Congressional District Republican nominee Joe McGraw, continued a campaign by Trump and Republican officials to delegitimize the former president's criminal conviction.
On Thursday, a New York jury returned guilty verdicts against Trump on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Johnson dismissed Trump's prosecution as "lawfare in action."
"I think President Trump is not just our nominee, not just an individual running for president, I think now he's seen as a symbol — a symbol of someone who is willing to fight back against that corruption in the deep state and all the rest," Johnson said. "And that's a very powerful thing in an election year where we're deciding the future of the country."
Eye roll.
Related: In Peoria stop, Speaker Mike Johnson says this year's election is the most important of our lifetime (WGLT)
Are Illinois Republicans still backing Trump after being found guilty? (State Journal-Register)
Illinois Republicans slam Trump conviction. ‘Stalin would be proud’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
TOP STORIES LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Regulators reject Peoples Gas bid for more pipeline replacement funding (Chicago Sun-Times)
Regulators slash Chicago gas utility’s rate request, setting up likely legal battle (Capitol News Illinois)
Lawmakers’ lack of action on new Bears lakefront stadium raises hopes in Arlington Heights (Chicago Tribune)
Bears keep stadium focus on lakefront despite Springfield funding shutout (Chicago Sun-Times)
Lawmakers OK bill to require ‘faithful’ electors in 2024, loosen campaign finance rules (Capitol News Illinois)
Bill to end senior road tests ‘still alive,’ as legislators eye veto session reset (Daily Herald)
Soybean again falls short of becoming Illinois' state bean, despite lawmakers' late push (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Soybeans and giant puffball mushrooms: The latest prospective Illinois state symbols (Daily Herald)
Amid presidential chatter, Gov. Pritzker will address Wisconsin Democrats at annual convention (Chicago Sun-Times)
Duckworth: Capturing carbon emissions can have major positive economic impact in Illinois (State Journal-Register)
Opinion: State bill won’t relabel all offenders (Daily Herald)
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