THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Trump's status for the Illinois ballot...Another suit against assault weapon ban (that isn't going anywhere)...State contract for prison health care under fire
January 29, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
If you’re a nerd like me, you keep an eye on campaign finance filings this time of year. Interesting things pop up, like the attorney who got $300,000 from his dad and grandmother (and hasn’t spent it), paying for $1,300 in signs on his own. Makes one think that money isn’t going to be used before March 19.
Or, how the Chicago FOP gives money to a suburban State Representative. Or, how union money is starting to come in against Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City)…even though it was filed incorrectly. Or, how big money is starting to come in for the primary opponents of Rep. Cyril Nichols (D-Chicago) and Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago).
It’s getting interesting out there.
Governor Pritzker makes an announcement on his “Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative” at 10. Keep an eye on the Gov’s budget rhetoric here, as he’s keenly aware there’s a nearly $1 billion projected deficit next fiscal year but Democrats still want, well, everything.
We were looking at some numbers the other day and only found about 12% of our full list of subscribers are paid subscribers. Paid subscribers get the real news with exclusive newsletters on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and a lot more behind the scenes updates, especially with an election just seven weeks from tomorrow.
Join us, will you? You can try it out for just $14.99 for a month.
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)
Trump’s candidacy on the Illinois ballot should be decided by the courts, an elections board hearing officer says (WBEZ)
Former Republican President Donald Trump participated in the fatal Jan. 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, but it’s the courts — and not the State Board of Elections — that should decide whether to remove him from Illinois’ primary ballot, a state hearing officer recommended Sunday.
The Illinois objection to Trump’s candidacy was brought by five state voters, a national voting-rights organization involved in trying to keep Trump off the ballot and two Chicago law firms.
The case is a part of a multi-state strategy around the country to bar Trump from appearing on the 2024 ballot based on language in the 14th Amendment that prohibits insurrectionists from seeking public office. The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing a Colorado Supreme Court ruling to bump Trump from that state’s ballot based on the 14th Amendment.
The Illinois State Board of Elections on Friday held a hearing on the issue, with attorneys for Trump and the citizens seeking to bar him from the ballot presenting arguments to a hearing officer, Clark Erickson, a retired, long-time judge from Kankakee County who is a Republican.
Erickson’s written recommendation, obtained by WBEZ, was submitted to the state election board, which will hold a hearing on Tuesday to consider what to do next.
Erickson’s recommendation was that the courts should decide whether the 14th Amendment bars Trump’s candidacy. But he also delivered a scathing assessment of Trump’s involvement in the insurrection, writing the former president “fanned the flames” that led to the breach of the Capitol and attempts to fraudulently undo the 2020 presidential election.
“[Trump] does not dispute that he knew violence was occurring at the capitol.. He understood that people were there to support him,” Erickson wrote. “Which makes one single piece of evidence, in this context, absolutely damning to his denial of his participation: the tweet regarding [Vice President] Mike Pence’s lack of courage while [Trump] knew the attacks were going on is inexplicable,” Erickson continued.
A spokesman for the voting rights organization that was part of the Illinois objection praised the hearing officer’s determination, effectively, that Trump participated in an insurrection. The group also held out hope that either the state elections board or Illinois’ courts would use that finding to block Trump from Illinois’ ballot.
“This decision by a Republican judge that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and is disqualified from office under the Constitution is highly significant,” said Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech For People, who is pressing the case along with the Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym law firm and Illinois election lawyer Ed Mullen.
Related: Illinois election officials to weigh recommendation to remove Trump from March primary ballot (AP/Chicago Tribune)
Lawsuit challenges Illinois' assault weapons ban over 'peace officer' exception (Crain’s Chicago Business)
An Effingham County man is suing the Illinois State Police and the state’s attorney general, arguing he, and any private citizen like him, qualifies as a “peace officer” and is therefore exempt from Illinois’ assault weapons ban.
Steve Holste and an Effingham-based firearms shop, Accuracy Firearms, filed suit in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois on Jan. 25 against Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The lawsuit is the latest legal action taking aim at the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which banned the sale, possession or purchase of assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the measure into law on Jan. 10, 2023.
A first-time offender of the ban would be slapped with a Class A misdemeanor, while subsequent offenses come with a felony charge. But the law also contains several exemptions, including peace officers, qualified law enforcement officers, retired law enforcement officers, armed security officers at nuclear facilities, prison wardens, and members of the armed services or Illinois National Guard reserves performing official duties.
The state of Illinois defines a “peace officer” as "any person who by virtue of his office or public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public order or to make arrests for offenses, whether that duty extends to all offenses or is limited to specific offenses, or any person who, by statute, is granted and authorized to exercise powers similar to those conferred upon any peace officer employed by a law enforcement agency of this state.”
In the complaint, Holste’s attorneys requested that the court declare their client as a peace officer, arguing that Illinois law states “any person may arrest another when he has reasonable grounds to believe that an offense other than an ordinance violation is being committed.” The complaint also cites two decisions at the appellate and state supreme court level that argue that private citizens have almost the same authority to arrest as a peace officer.
Illinois’ assault weapons ban has survived other legal challenges so far. In December, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency application by the ban’s opponents to block the law. That followed an earlier ruling from the 7th Circuit, which decided the law did not violate the Second Amendment.
I sent the suit to a constitutional attorney I know over the weekend who responded with the eye roll emoji. 🙄
“What a joke,” the lawyer (who I believe to be a conservative) said.
A private prison health care company accused of substandard care is awarded new contract in Illinois (Associated Press)
Illinois has awarded a more than $4 billion prison medical care contract to the same company it’s used for three decades, despite multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the firm and statewide complaints alleging substandard care.
Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources was one of two companies responding to a request for proposals from the Illinois Department of Corrections, but it was not the low bidder. Wexford’s offer came in $673 million higher than one from VitalCore Health Strategies of Topeka, Kansas, according to a procurement announcement reviewed Friday by The Associated Press.
The initial term of Wexford’s contract is five years for $1.956 billion, with a five-year renewal worth $2.201 billion.
State officials’ decisions on contract awards are not based on cost alone. But Wexford has also been roundly criticized for its performance, facing numerous multimillion-dollar lawsuits that accuse the company of delayed or shoddy health care and backlash for relying on off-site doctors to determine whether and what treatment is necessary. Positions for medical professionals continue to suffer high vacancy rates.
LAST WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
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GOP Pollster: Pritzker Used Numbers to "Cherry Pick" Favorable Economic Statistic
The Illinoize Podcast with Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz and Eric Zorn
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Tensions grow between city, state and federal government over influx of migrants (Capitol News Illinois)
No help: The federal immigration deal won’t fix the migrant crisis in Chicago — and it’s unlikely to pass Congress anyway (Chicago Tribune)
Lead pipes, child care centers, foot dragging a dangerous mix for Chicago’s children (Chicago Sun-Times)
Illinois farmers struggle to balance livelihoods with reducing agricultural runoff, a major contributor to Gulf dead zone (Chicago Tribune)
One year in, Budzinski remains 'optimist' while touting wins for 13th District (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Panel of experts suggest legislative measures to reverse journalism decline (Capitol News Illinois)
Chief of powerful union group throws support behind Sox stadium plan (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: The White Sox Need a New, Old-School Park (Chicago Magazine)
Opinion: Illinois has to shore up its electrical grid. Lawmakers and the ICC can make it happen quickly (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Illinois, let’s re-invest in working families with a state child tax credit (Chicago Sun-Times)
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