THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Pritzker's abortion gauntlet...Cities pipe up on grocery tax...The Trump ballot predicament
March 4, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
Thanks to NPR Illinois and Sean Crawford for having me on “State Week” Friday. You can listen to it here.
Tomorrow is two weeks from the Illinois primary. We’ll see after Super Tuesday tomorrow if Nikki Haley has enough juice to make the Illinois primary…anything at all.
There was some polling this weekend from GOP outfit M3 Strategies. It shows Supreme Court Justice Joy Cunningham leading and the Cook County State’s Attorney race as a dead heat. The real shocker was the huge number of undecideds.
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The House and Senate are back tomorrow. Gov. Pritzker is on the University of Illinois campus at 9:30.
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)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is backing abortion rights ballot measures across nation, but little on the horizon in Illinois (Chicago Tribune)
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expending political and financial capital around the country — from Ohio to Nevada — on ballot measures to enshrine abortion protections in state constitutions. But similar efforts in Illinois remain in limbo.
Abortion rights has become a platform issue for Pritzker. The second-term governor and billionaire Hyatt Hotels heir has increasingly looked to raise his national profile as he eyes a potential future White House run — particularly through the dark money group he launched last fall, Think Big America.
Just days after delivering a State of the State address in Springfield last week during which he made only passing references to abortion, Pritzker flew to Nevada over the weekend to help kick off a petition push to get a reproductive rights amendment referendum on the November ballot in a state that could prove key to President Joe Biden’s reelection effort.
“I know some of you are wondering why the governor of Illinois is here today,” a raspy-voiced Pritzker told a crowd of about 100 people Saturday at a community college outside Las Vegas. “I came here today because what you’re doing is so important, not just for the future of Nevada but the future of the entire nation.
“Together, you — we — are protecting access to health care and preventing MAGA extremists from passing an abortion ban,” said Pritzker, a key Biden surrogate, referring to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan and reports that Trump likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban with some exceptions.
Related: In Virginia, Gov. Pritzker steps up attacks on ‘stupid and ignorant’ Donald Trump (Chicago Sun-Times)
Pritzker plan to repeal grocery tax would mean less funding for services, Central Illinois city leaders say (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Officials across Central Illinois aren’t pleased with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s recent proposal to eliminate the state’s 1% grocery tax — a tax that is collected by the state and distributed to local governments.
Many were shocked when Pritzker announced the proposal during his budget address last week, saying they were not given a heads up from the governor or his staff. While Pritzker said earlier this week that he won’t back down from the proposal, many city leaders say they will oppose it because of the harmful effects to their budgets.
“We got caught off guard on the announcement of that,” said Normal Mayor Chris Koos. “It’s a concern for us.”
The Illinois Municipal League, a lobbying group that advocates on behalf of the state’s cities and towns, said repealing the grocery tax would cost the state’s municipalities approximately $325 million a year. If this repeal were to happen, it would cost Bloomington and Decatur $2 million each, according to the organization. Normal would lose $2.6 million, while Mattoon would lose $475,000.
Charleston City Manager Scott Smith said shared revenues from the state, such as this one, are important to municipalities like Charleston since many have limited ranges of revenue-generating opportunities available.
But Pritzker said it is long past time for the tax to be repealed, as it is disproportionately shouldered by families who are struggling. Eliminating the tax would save state taxpayers about $350 million in the 2025 fiscal year that begins July 1, the governor’s office estimates.
“You think about all the regressive taxes that exist in the state of Illinois — this one goes after people who are just trying to buy food,” Pritzker said during a press conference Wednesday. “When you say that it’s a dollar out of every 100, that could be hundreds of dollars for a family across a year. That matters to many people.”
Related: Opinion: When politically convenient, governor invites local control (Shaw Media)
Is Trump still on Illinois ballot? (Chicago Sun-Times)
A Cook County judge on Wednesday ordered former President Donald Trump’s name off Illinois’ primary ballot. But early voting for the March 19 primary is already underway.
So what does the judge’s ruling mean?
Cook County Judge Tracie Porter originally put her ruling on hold until Friday, expecting Trump’s lawyers to appeal. They did so hours after the decision was handed down.
So for now, nothing has changed at the ballot box. If Porter’s ruling does go into effect, she ordered that “any votes cast” for Trump “be suppressed” through administrative procedures.
Porter acknowledged her ruling likely won’t be the final word on the matter. What happens next will depend on the First District Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court or even the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule on the Colorado question soon — and appeared skeptical of the arguments to kick Trump off Colorado’s ballot.
Attorneys challenging Trump’s candidacy in Illinois have insisted the U.S. Supreme Court ruling will not completely resolve their case, though. Rather, they say the Illinois case also involves matters of state law and will eventually reach the Illinois Supreme Court.
Related: Editorial: Land of Lincoln now playing host to Trump ballot follies (Champaign News-Gazette)
LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Pritzker appoints former deputy governor to McPier board (Chicago Tribune)
Rank-and-file lawmakers skeptical of public funding for White Sox (Bloomington Pantagraph)
State and federal agencies deny role in diaper shortage at Chicago’s migrant shelters (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois bill targets 'junk fees' (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Endorsement: Lopez for Congress (Daily Herald)
Democratic establishment turns out for US Rep. Danny Davis in primary race (Chicago Tribune)
Downstate congressional race highlights the GOP’s hard move to the right (Chicago Tribune)
No endorsement in 14th Congressional District (Daily Herald)
Voters from Chatham to Kankakee to decide between Thaddeus Jones and newcomer Gloria White (Chicago Tribune)
Former Illinois Supreme Court chief justice from Springfield area dies at 87 (State Journal-Register)
Native tribe seeks return of ancestral land in Dekalb County (Capitol News Illinois)
Opinion: Here’s the problem with Gov. Pritzker’s latest pension plan (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s willingness to tackle pension problem is a breakthrough (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: These two Illinois proposals could help ease pain and suffering for dying patients (Chicago Sun-Times)
LaHood: The U.S. House passed a bipartisan tax relief bill to help families. Now, it’s the Senate’s turn. (Chicago Sun-Times)
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