THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Tate-Nadeau's testy appointment...Bost's doomed lawsuit...O'Neill-Burke hangs on to win
April 1, 2024
No fool.
We hope you had a wonderful weekend and a great Easter with family.
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The House is back tomorrow. The Senate is out this week. Governor Pritzker speaks at a tech event this morning.
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YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Pritzker reappoints Tate-Nadeau to IEMA post, but senators concerned over payroll scandal (Chicago Sun-Times)
Amid heightened scrutiny over Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s appointments to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, the reappointment of Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau is also raising eyebrows by state senators who say they want more answers from the agency head over a payroll scandal that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tate-Nadeau, appointed by Pritzker in 2019 to lead the state agency that oversees disasters and crises such as the pandemic and the influx of migrants, came under fire last year after the Sun-Times reported an executive assistant accounted for $240,761.30 in billings — double the salary of her boss between February and August 2023. Her total billings to the state emergency agency topped $1.03 million.
Amy Gentry and the state official who approved paying Gentry were two of four staffers ousted last year for what state leaders said was “personal reasons.”
Tate-Nadeau’s nomination was pulled on March 22, then resubmitted the same day to restart a 60 legislative-session day clock — the requirement for governor appointees.
Tate-Nadeau’s nomination was recommended for a full state Senate vote after an Illinois Senate Executive Appointments Committee hearing on March 13, but with her nomination pulled and resubmitted, she will be required to appear before the committee again. Governor appointments must be confirmed by the Illinois Senate.
At the hearing, Tate-Nadeau answered questions about the scandal, telling the six-member committee that the employee in question was a contractor filling in while her executive assistant was on maternity leave. She said the employee also worked on various projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“No one was forced out,” Tate-Nadeau said. “There’s one standard within my organization. Everyone is held to the same standard, and in this case, it was seen that these individuals needed to depart. They made that decision to depart the agency.”
State Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, asked Tate-Nadeau whether her agency has conducted a complete review of payroll compensation, focusing on fraud and inefficiencies. Tate-Nadeau said she now holds bi-weekly meetings about contractor pay — and limits the amount of hours worked. Anything over 45 hours must now get approval from a deputy director.
“I’m trying to be sensitive here because I know some of this is personnel related,” Plummer said. “But considering the quantity of dollars that we’re talking about here, taxpayer dollars, are you aware of, or do you anticipate, further investigation of these people and/or a referral to any law enforcement agencies?”
“Not at this time, sir,” Tate-Nadeau said.
“Really?” Plummer replied. “Yes, sir,” Tate-Nadeau said.
Committee chair state Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, asked whether her personnel policies include prosecution when theft is detected. Tate-Nadeau said they didn't.
“So that’s a concerning statement," Murphy said. "And I would ask the committee that we will continue to review that."
There’s a lot of building tension between the Governor’s office and Senate Democrats over appointments, and last week’s Prisoner Review Board mess didn’t help things. I’ll try to get something more for subscribers this week.
Appeals court skeptical of Mike Bost’s case to stop ballot counts after Election Day (Capitol News Illinois)
A panel of federal appellate judges on Thursday seemed skeptical of legal arguments made on behalf of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who claims Illinois’ law allowing counting of mail-in ballots for two weeks after an election is in violation of federal law.
Bost’s late 2022 lawsuit was filed with help from a conservative group that assisted former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block the counting of mail-in ballots after Election Day 2020. The suit named the Illinois State Board of Elections, seeking the court’s intervention against a 2015 state law that allows vote-by-mail ballots to be counted if they’re received within 14 days of Election Day so long as they were postmarked on or before Election Day.
A lower court judge dismissed Bost’s case last summer, ruling the state’s law governing mail-in ballots is in step with federal law. But Bost appealed, leading to Thursday’s oral arguments in front of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
The arguments happened to be scheduled nine days after Illinois’ 2024 Primary Election, in which the race for Cook County State’s Attorney was still too close to call Thursday as local election authorities were still counting mail-in ballots. While that scenario didn’t come up in front of the panel, Bost’s own recent electoral history did.
“Right now, he’s ahead in the count,” Bost’s attorney Russell Nobile said of his client’s close race against Republican challenger, former State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, the failed GOP candidate for governor in 2022. The Associated Press called the race for Bost the morning after the March 19 primary when Bost was 2,590 votes ahead of Bailey.
“He has spent nine days monitoring late arrival ballots, calling districts, checking the internet, having his staff do it, to make sure that the victory that is believed he received on election night is not taken away by late-arriving ballots,” Nobile said.
In dismissing the case last summer, U.S. District Judge John Kness rejected Bost’s arguments that he had the right to sue over Illinois’ law allowing ballots to be counted for two weeks after Election Day. Bost claimed the law forced him to spend significant resources on his campaign for that same time period.
“It is mere conjecture that, if Congressman Bost does not spend the time and resources to confer with his staff and watch the results roll in, his risk of losing the election will increase,” the judge wrote. “Under the letter of Illinois law, all votes must be cast by Election Day, so Congressman Bost’s electoral fate is sealed at midnight on Election Day, regardless of the resources he expends after the fact.”
Alex Hemmer, who argued on behalf of the Board of Elections, sought to discredit any argument that Bost’s lawsuit was on behalf of voters who were “injured” by the law because the continued counting of mail-in ballots for two weeks after Election Day would “dilute” votes made on or before Election Day.
“Voters aren't injured by a law that makes it easier for voters to cast ballots,” Hemmer told the panel.
Bost also made an originalist argument about Illinois’ ballot counting law not comporting to the nearly two-century-old law that set Election Day as the first Tuesday in November.
“The historical record does not support this argument at all,” he said. “If anything, it tends to refute it,” he said.
Related: Illinois Republicans are challenging the state’s vote-by-mail law. But appellate judges seem skeptical of their arguments. (WBEZ)
Eileen O’Neill Burke wins Democratic primary race for Cook County state’s attorney over Clayton Harris III (Chicago Tribune)
Ten days after voters went to the polls in the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney, former Appellate Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke secured the nomination over opponent Clayton Harris III.
With a rapidly dwindling number of votes remaining to be tallied after tens of thousands of mail-in and provisional ballots were counted in Chicago and Cook County suburbs since Election Day, O’Neill Burke declared victory Friday evening with 50.15% of the vote. After Harris initially balked at conceding defeat, the university lecturer and former government official called O’Neill Burke to acknowledge the loss. The Associated Press also called the race for O’Neill Burke.
“It was worth the wait,” O’Neill Burke said in a campaign release. “I’d like to congratulate Clayton Harris on a hard-fought campaign. While we may have had our differences in this election, we share a love for our beautiful city and Cook County.”
At Friday’s conclusion of counting by Chicago and Cook County election officials, O’Neill Burke had amassed 1,556 more votes than Harris — a sum that had not budged much throughout this week. O’Neill Burke had a lead of 10,000 votes on election night, March 19, and though Harris was able to close that margin by 84%, she never lost her advantage.
Related: Burke wins state's attorney race (Crain’s Chicago Business)
It’s over (finally)! Ten days later, O’Neill Burke declares victory, Harris concedes in state’s attorney primary (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: A show of confidence (Daily Herald)
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