THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Pritzker proposing tax cuts?..."ComEd Four" trial begins...Will the paid leave bill hurt business?
March 16, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
Thanks to the great Rick Pearson from the Chicago Tribune for joining us on yesterday’s weekly podcast and livestream. You can watch it here or listen to it here. You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, or Amazon.
I’ll be on WLS-AM in Chicago at 6:35 this morning visiting with my guy Steve Cochran. You can listen online here.
The House in at noon. Governor JB Pritzker is in Joliet pitching funding for community colleges at Joliet Junior College at 10. Illinois plays in the NCAA Tournament at 3:30. I’ve already laid out an orange tie for today and you should, too.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Pritzker: Tax cuts on the table if state revenues continue to exceed expectations (Capitol News Illinois)
With two months to go before the legislature adjourns and current-year revenues continuing to smash expectations, Gov. JB Pritzker said he and legislative leaders are considering tax cuts.
His comments came one week after the legislature’s nonpartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, or COGFA, increased its revenue estimates by about $1 billion for the current and upcoming budget years combined.
“I would like to see – as we feel comfortable with these new revenues coming in and their stability; and I think we're seeing a few years in a row now of the stability of that revenue – that we should be talking about whether there are tax cuts that we can implement,” he said at an unrelated news conference at a Springfield community college.
The governor did not say whether tax cuts would be permanent or which taxes he and lawmakers are considering cutting. And tax cuts were one of several potential uses of excess revenues the governor said he would like to consider. Others include contributions to the state’s “rainy day” fund and added payments beyond required amounts to the state’s pension system.
The conversation about what to do with excess revenues that show year-over-year stability is one Pritzker said has involved both Democrats and Republicans.
In their budget approved last summer for the current fiscal year, lawmakers included an array of mostly temporary tax relief. That included direct checks of $50 or more to most Illinoisans depending on income and number of children, a permanent expansion of the state’s earned income tax credit to 20 percent of the federal credit, a six-month pause on a 2-cent gas tax increase that ended Jan. 1, a one-year suspension of the state’s 1 percent grocery tax that ends June 30, and a property tax rebate up to $300 for some Illinoisans.
Related: Pritzker continues tour promoting higher education plan at Lincoln Land (State Journal-Register)
Prosecutors say ‘ComEd Four’ bribery conspiracy defendants did Madigan’s bidding, while defense says conduct was legal lobbying, ‘a profession’ (Chicago Tribune)
The driver’s license photo displayed on large screens in a federal courtroom Wednesday looked like that of an average grandfather, with the requisite bad lighting, wispy hair, squinting eyes and slightly unprepared smile.
Only this grandfather was Michael J. Madigan, the now-indicted former House speaker and longtime lord of Illinois politics. And the image was being shown to the jury in one of the biggest political corruption cases the state has ever seen.
Madigan’s photo became a focal point as the high-profile “ComEd Four” trial started in earnest at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where federal prosecutors said in opening statements that the long-serving Democratic boss benefited personally and politically from a scheme by the utility giant to funnel payments and jobs to Madigan’s associates.
In return, prosecutors, say, the powerful speaker used his position to push or block legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the utility.
“In short Madigan wanted, the defendants gave, and the defendants got. It’s that simple,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said in her opening remarks to the jury.
Streicker alleged ComEd poured $1.3 million into payments funneled to ghost “subcontractors” who were actually Madigan’s cronies, put a Madigan-backed person on the ComEd board, and gave coveted internships to families in his 13th Ward, all part of an elaborate scheme to keep the speaker happy.
And, it worked, Streicker said, because over the eight years of the scheme, Madigan helped ComEd win three lucrative pieces of legislation, including the “Smart Grid” bill in 2011 and another bill in 2016 that held a rate structure in place and extended the life of two of the company’s nuclear plants.
The four defendants are McClain, 75, an ex-ComEd lobbyist; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 64; ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, 73; and Jay Doherty, 69, a lobbyist and consultant who formerly led the City Club of Chicago.
All four have pleaded not guilty to bribery conspiracy and other charges alleging they covered up illegal payments on ComEd’s books.
Related: Over 100 FBI recordings will be played at ComEd trial, but defense claims jurors will hear no hard evidence of bribery (Chicago Sun-Times)
Mandatory paid time off: ‘a strain’ for Illinois business (Associated Press)
Doug Knight’s family has owned Springfield amusement park Knight’s Action Park since 1930, himself for 43 of those years.
The pandemic was a bear — Knight fought to keep his doors open, and when they closed for COVID-19, he pushed to reopen as soon as possible. Inflation, too, has been an obstacle. From inflatable inner tubes to chlorine for the pools, prices have risen for “everything we buy,” and now a new Illinois law represents “another bump on the road” for business owners, he says.
On Monday, Illinois became one of three U.S. states to mandate paid time off “for any reason,” up to 40 hours per year for full-time employees. Small business owners in Illinois say they know the importance of taking care of their workers, but some view the paid leave requirement as a government-imposed burden.
“When you hit the big bump and go off the cliff, what does that do for ya?” Knight said.
Knight and his brother, a co-owner, mainly employ seasonal employees not covered by the measure, but they will have to provide paid leave for 10 year-round workers. The veteran business owner said he isn’t worried and will juggle whatever comes next, though consumers will ultimately pay the difference.
But proponents argue the policy supports both business owners and workers, and that guaranteeing paid leave will foster a healthier, more productive workforce.
“When folks have the kind of paid time off they need, they’re able to stay home when they’re sick,” said Molly Weston Williamson, who tracks paid leave policy at the research and advocacy group Center for American Progress.
POLITICIAL POTPOURRI
Transit agencies look to the state to help make up projected $730 million budget gap (Capitol News Illinois)
Democrats file another election complaint against Dan Proft’s political operation, alleging $1.2 million in undisclosed contributions (Chicago Tribune)
Moody’s gives Illinois another credit upgrade (Capitol News Illinois)
Congressmen, suburbs, Metra disappointed in federal approval of merger expected to bring more freight trains to Chicago area (Chicago Tribune)
DEA’s new Chicago boss Sheila Lyons: Will target fentanyl, an ‘awful, terrible challenge’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
Defund the police or take their handcuffs off? Paul Vallas, Brandon Johnson deny controversial statements at public safety forum (Chicago Tribune)
Votes from Chicago’s February election are official and there will be 14 races for City Council in addition to the race for mayor (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Chicago a front-runner for 2024 Democratic convention (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Sports betting has become big business in Illinois (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Rail remains the safest way to ship materials — despite the derailment in Ohio (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: State bill threatens Illinois data privacy (Crain’s Chicago Business)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM THE WEEK SO FAR
Should O'Brien and Rochford Recuse Themselves from Pritzker Cases?
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