THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Will Trump stay on the Illinois ballot?...Previewing Pritzker's budget...The Pritzker vs. Johnson migrant funding fight intensifies
February 19, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
It’s President’s Day, so if you live in a competitive primary district, you won’t be getting any campaign mail today. Lucky you.
It’s State of the State/Budget Address week in Springfield. Who was it that started combining the two speeches? Was it Pat Quinn? The speech is Wednesday at noon.
The House and Senate return at noon tomorrow. There’s nothing on Governor Pritzker’s public schedule today.
We’ll have lots of big stuff for subscribers this week. If you haven’t joined yet, now is the time. Just click below.
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)
Cook County judge to decide [this] week on challenge to Donald Trump’s place on Illinois ballot (Chicago Tribune)
A Cook County judge said Friday she will decide late next week the fate of a legal challenge seeking to strike former President Donald Trump’s name from Illinois’ March 19 Republican primary ballot.
Judge Tracie Porter announced her plans after a near four-hour Daley Center hearing that featured footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol as attorneys for Trump sought to cast the challenge to the former president’s place on the ballot as a political attempt to “abuse the election code of Illinois.”
At issue is an appeal of last month’s decision by the State Board of Elections to reject an effort to disqualify Trump from the primary ballot under the “insurrection clause” of the U.S. Constitution due to his role in the deadly riot in the U.S. Capitol, which was aimed at preventing the count of Electoral College votes that made Democrat Joe Biden president.
Lawyers on both sides say regardless of Judge Porter’s decision, which she said will come Thursday or Friday, the matter is headed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
“What makes the most sense is to wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule,” said Trump attorney Adam Merrill, who noted that the Board of Elections said in its ruling that “no factual determinations were made regarding the events of Jan. 6.”
Related: Case over Trump's candidacy in Illinois goes before Cook County judge (Crain’s Chicago Business)
More funding for migrants, education to highlight Pritzker budget proposal (Decatur Herald & Review)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker will propose new funding to deal with the migrant crisis in Chicago and seek to continue ramping up investments in education in his proposed budget, set to be unveiled Wednesday.
The governor’s budget address is the unofficial kickoff to months of negotiations that will take place under the Capitol dome in Springfield to craft a spending plan for the 2025 fiscal year that begins July 1.
At the same time, tax revenues are coming down from post-pandemic highs, offering lawmakers less flexibility than they had in the past three years.
Illinois faces a $891 million deficit for the coming year.
Amid less rosy budget projections on the horizon, Pritzker will have to navigate the tricky politics of the migrant crisis. So far, the state has expended more than $640 million this fiscal year towards the effort, including $160 million in November to speed up the intake process, stand up temporary shelters and move new arrivals into housing.
House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, has formed a working group charged with finding legislative solutions to the crisis. One group member, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, is also the lead budget negotiator for House Democrats.
“This issue is going to be a really important part of budget negotiations,” said Gordon-Booth, of Peoria, in an interview last week. She noted, however, that there is only so much that can be done at the state level to address what is truly a federal issue.
“There are no delusions of grandeur,” Gordon-Booth said. “It's unrealistic that our state or any state is going to fix this issue. We're not. We have to address the crisis that literally has been dropped on our heads.
Related: 4 things to watch for in Pritzker's budget address (State Journal-Register)
Pritzker, Preckwinkle pony up $250M for migrant crisis. As for Johnson? He won't say. (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Illinois and Cook County have pledged about $250 million in funding to aid the ongoing migrant crisis, but the city says it never committed to provide its own share of $71 million.
State, county and city officials identified $321 million needed through 2024 to support ongoing shelter and support services, according to a Feb. 15 state and county joint statement.
A spokesman for the mayor’s office told Crain’s the “city never made that commitment” to provide the additional $71 million.
At a meeting last week with Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, Johnson agreed to the parameters of the deal where the city would chip in 25% of the new funding, according to sources familiar with the conversation.
Both Pritzker and Preckwinkle walked out of the meeting believing a deal was made, but over the following days the mayor’s office expressed concerns before eventually informing the other two parties the city could not make the commitment at this time.
The mayor’s office is concerned over whether the City Council would approve additional funding through a mid-year budget amendment after previously allocating just $150 million in the 2024 budget.
During a Feb. 15 press conference, Johnson repeatedly refused to answer whether the city would provide more funding.
Related: Mayor Brandon Johnson cites differences on migrant response for failure to pitch in on latest state, Cook County funding plan (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois, Cook County seeking more than $250M for migrant crisis (State Journal-Register)
Pritzker commits another $182 million to migrant response, details to come next week (Capitol News Illinois)
Editorial: The migrant crisis opens a rift between the mayor and would-be allies (Crain’s Chicago Business)
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Pritzker Pledges $182 Million More to Migrant Crisis If Legislature Approves
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
U.S. Rep. Danny Davis faces a hard reelection fight as he faces challenges from fellow Democrats (WBEZ)
NW Side state Senate rematch tops batch of big money General Assembly primary races (Chicago Sun-Times)
Unions target far-right Illinois state representatives (WBEZ)
Write-in votes will have significance in [downstate primaries] (Champaign News-Gazette)
Campaign cash and accusations fly in race for Cook County court clerk (Chicago Tribune)
Democratic Party politics loom large over fight for Cook County Circuit Court Clerk (WBEZ)
State’s attorney Democratic candidates spar over Foxx at Tribune Editorial Board meeting (Chicago Tribune)
Uihleins spent more than $1 million on DeSantis’ presidential campaign in fall — will they now back Trump? (Daily Herald)
Right to die on your own terms? Illinois lawmakers propose medical aid in dying bill (Daily Herald)
[Sunday] in History: Donald Trump commutes sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (Chicago Tribune)
Ex-Illinois lawmaker abruptly pleads guilty to fraud and money laundering, halting federal trial (Associated Press)
Former Illinois senator to remain in custody prior to sentencing (State Journal-Register)
Southern Illinois home of Paul Powell, the ‘Shoebox Scandal’ politician, could soon be sold (Associated Press)
Reinsdorf confident White Sox will get $1 billion subsidy for new South Loop stadium (Crain’s Chicago Business)
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