THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...The migrant crisis causing rift in Chicago politics...Abortion issues back in a courtroom...Senior driving tests
October 2, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
The federal government avoided shutdown. The Bears and Illini are an embarrassment and I spent too much time on a bad US Ryder Cup performance. Just another weekend.
The General Assembly comes back October 24. There’s nothing on the Governor’s schedule for today.
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YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Migrant crisis pits Pritzker vs. City Council (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Chicago’s growing migrant crisis now threatens to pit Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s progressive allies in the City Council.
During a tense Immigrant & Refugee Rights Committee hearing on Friday, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th, repeatedly attacked the governor for not doing enough to assist the city. The mayor’s floor leader first mounted his criticism against the governor yesterday after Pritzker expressed concerns over the city’s contract with security company GardaWorld to build large tents to house migrants. The $29 million contract, part of an existing agreement GardaWorld made with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, has come under fire in recent weeks since the company also transported migrants north from Florida.
Ramirez-Rosa took aim at the state’s role in identifying brick-and-mortar buildings that could house migrants. Although the city and state partnered in May to use a vacant CVS pharmacy in Little Village, legal proceedings have slowed down efforts to open the shelter, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff, said at the hearing. Meanwhile, the city has scouted 250 locations since May 15, said Beatriz Ponce de León, deputy mayor of immigrant, migrant and refugee rights. When asked whether the state of Illinois has offered to open or operate any other shelters to assist the city since it began talks over the CVS location, Pacione-Zayas responded no.
“This governor has said that he supports migrants, that he supports immigrants,” said Ramirez-Rosa. “But when it comes to helping this city at this moment of need, the city is doing everything that it can with senior staff, working around the clock to make sure that we are living up to our responsibility as a sanctuary city. The state of Illinois can't help us.”
While Ramirez-Rosa criticized the governor both in the City Council and on X, formerly known as Twitter, Pritzker’s spokeswoman Olivia Kuncio tweeted “$330 million in state money has been provided for migrant assistance to the city of Chicago.” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh also noted state budget constraints when it came to operating additional shelters.
“We have plans for another site that we can't afford to fund,” Abudayyeh told Crain's. “We've shared that with the city as well.”
Related: Chicago alderpersons lash out at mayor and governor over response to the influx of migrants (WBEZ)
Pritzker says Chicago could house asylum-seekers in unused buildings, not winter tent basecamps (Chicago Sun-Times)
Johnson administration defends migrant tent contract (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Some allies break with Mayor Brandon Johnson over migrant response (Chicago Tribune)
How some Chicago migrants struggling to leave shelters are getting help (WBEZ)
7 years after passage, Illinois’ first in string of recent abortion protections gets day in court (Capitol News Illinois)
In 2016 – before Donald Trump’s presidency paved the way for the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade – Democrats in Illinois passed what would become the first in a series of laws shoring up reproductive rights in the state.
That law altered Illinois’ 1970s-era Health Care Right of Conscience Act – a statute passed in the wake of the Roe decision to shield health care providers from liability if they have religious objections to abortion. The change stipulated that, if requested by the patient, providers who don’t perform abortions must refer, transfer to or give patients written information about providers who do.
But the law has been in legal limbo since 2017 when a federal judge put it on hold. Amid the drawn-out litigation, Illinois Democrats have since passed several more sweeping abortion protections that have all but erased the 2016 law from the political discourse.
That could change after a federal judge in Rockford last week heard a three-day bench trial over the law, which gave a peek behind the curtain at “crisis pregnancy centers,” a type of limited services medical facility – usually religiously affiliated – aimed at diverting women from having abortions. The CPCs that sued over the law offer free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, along with counseling and material help for would-be mothers. But abortion rights activists call CPCs “fake clinics” that lure women in for the sole purpose of convincing them not to terminate their pregnancies.
U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston, a Trump appointee, heard more than 20 hours of arguments and testimony in the case last week, though it could be weeks or months until he issues a ruling. Johnston is also overseeing a challenge to a 2023 law that subjects crisis pregnancy centers to liability under Illinois’ longstanding Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act – a law he called “both stupid and very likely unconstitutional” in a preliminary injunction he issued in early August.
Giannoulias recommends permanent increase to driving test age requirement (Capitol News Illinois)
llinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias this week filed administrative rules that would increase the age at which a driver is required to pass a driving test when they renew their license, raising it from 75 to 79.
The rules – proposed by Giannoulias to the legislative Joint Committee on Administrative Rules – would keep in place a state policy that went into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, lawmakers in Springfield temporarily modified several requirements for driver's licenses to ease strain on the secretary of state’s office, which oversees driver services facilities. That included the age increase for required driver tests.
But that policy was scheduled to expire on Oct. 1, so Giannoulias’ office filed emergency rules to extend it beyond that date, along with identical permanent rules. That rulemaking committee's next regular meeting is planned for Oct. 17 in Chicago, at which point it can determine whether to leave the rules in place, request changes or file an objection.
“This change would make Illinois driving standards for senior drivers more consistent compared to other states while keeping Illinois as one of the strictest states for license renewals,” Giannoulias said in a Wednesday news release.
Under the pandemic-era policy and the rules proposed by Giannoulias, all drivers aged 78 and younger must renew their licenses every four years. At age 79, drivers must complete a driving test as part of that process.
State policies for those aged 79 and older would not change under Giannoulias’ proposed rules. Drivers aged 81 to 86 must renew their license and take a vision and driving test every two years, and drivers aged 87 and older must renew their license and take those tests every year.
Illinois is the only state in the country that has a driving test requirement for people over a certain age. Illinois also requires more frequent driver’s license renewals for people over age 80, something only 23 states require.
The change will affect approximately 3 percent of Illinois’ driving population, according to the secretary of state’s office.
As part of the temporary change, the secretary of state’s office issued a report on driving safety among older drivers, which found that drivers aged 75 years and older were involved in fewer crashes – even after the temporary rule change went into effect – than those aged 16 to 69 years.
“When it comes to total crashes, individuals who are aged 75 and older consistently experienced lower crash rates compared to nearly every other age group,” according to the report.
Related: Editorial: Permanent relaxation of seniors' driving test requirement is reasonable, safe (Daily Herald)
Opinion: Senior citizens are the safest drivers on Illinois roads (Chicago Sun-Times)
LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
DeKalb Mayor, Dem House Candidate Voted in GOP Primary in 2022
Burr Ridge Mayor Grasso Circulating Petitions for State House
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Registration now open for Illinois residents who own assault weapons (Chicago Sun-Times)
US Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago was lone House Democrat ‘no’ vote on stopgap funding bill over lack of Ukraine aid (Chicago Tribune)
Why Chicago Rep. Mike Quigley was the only Democrat to vote no on the House stopgap funding bill (Chicago Sun-Times)
SEC charges Exelon, ComEd and former utility CEO Anne Pramaggiore in Michael Madigan scandal (Chicago Tribune)
Audit of Illinois DCFS finds delayed reports of child abuse, torture, death (State Journal-Register)
Lobbyist who bribed 2 lawmakers argues for leniency (Chicago Sun-Times)
When it comes to pumpkins, Illinois is No. 1 (Daily Herald)
Pritzker touts Illinois pot legalization as model for other states (Chicago Sun-Times)
Personal income in Illinois fell for the first time since 2009 (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Central Illinois election authorities double down on commitment to integrity, transparency (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Will Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transfer tax plan deliver for the homeless amid a real estate downturn? (Chicago Tribune)
Loughran Cappel: New college funding opportunities are an investment in Illinois’ future (Shaw Media)
Opinion: Civic leaders seek sincere solutions while GOP stunt exploits Chicago violence (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Illinois' deal with a Chinese EV battery maker puts us at risk for espionage (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Looming transit merger will meet with resistance (Shaw Media)
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