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In Wednesday’s order, the justices said chief judges should consider public health department recommendations, facility and staffing conditions, case deadlines and any prejudice that may result from delays in their normalizing plans.
In the letter, McSweeney focuses on various orders issued by Pritzker, and particularly on the governor’s enforcement threats concerning his so-called stay at home order and potentially long lasting limits on the size of religious gatherings. “We ask that you remind Illinois Gov. Pritzker that the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis,” McSweeney wrote.
“Let this be a message to developers and contractors throughout the city of Chicago, that when coming forward with projects that require City Council approval, please keep in mind that 32 members of the City Council are either black or brown, and that we are demanding that on any project that there be a reflection of the city of Chicago,” Economic Development Committee chair Ald. Gilbert Villegas said. “Any developer or any contractor that seeks City Council approval needs to take into account and consideration that there be some diversity and some parity when awarding some of these contracts.”
Pritzker has so far shown no indication that he is willing to deviate from the Restore Illinois plan that he issued that gradually has the state reopening. Republican Rep. Tim Butler acknowledged that the Democratic-controlled legislature isn’t likely to allow a vote on the governor’s plan.
Said Cristian Ionescu, Elim Romanian’s pastor, “It’s like they think I was drunk and fighting in a bar or something.”
The annual City Combined Taxpayer Burden report released in April by Truth in Accounting showed Chicago taxpayers shoulder $122,100 in deferred costs from the multiple units of government they reside in.
“I don’t think that the people who sent us here today, whatever district you represent, that those people intended for us to focus our time on a mask showdown of whether you’re wearing it or not,” said Rep. Dan Brady of Bloomington. Lawmakers are trying to complete the entire spring session’s worth of work into three days.
Mark Konkol: “And it doesn’t take a genius to know comparing tests totals in New York, or any other state, to Illinois’ testing count is a metric that only matters to a governor with national political ambitions.”
If signed into law, the COVID-19 Emergency and Economic Recovery Renter and Homeowner Protection Act, which Chicago Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez introduced Friday, would cancel rent debt and suspend mortgage payments for those experiencing hardships related to COVID-19.
“If high death rates at nursing homes have been due to neglect or lack of preparedness — or, as some try to argue, politics — the tragedies happened almost across the board. It is why elected officials here and elsewhere need to be ready for possible second and third waves of coronavirus outbreaks this fall and beyond, and why preparations should be underway to funnel resources to long-term care facilities.”
The announcement came as the Illinois General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, or JCAR, was about to review the rule that imposed criminal penalties of up to a $2,500 fine and a year in jail. Pritzker’s withdrawal of the rule means he likely did not have the votes to avoid public rejection from lawmakers – let alone their constituents.
Jim Dey: “There’s no question that Pritzker is insulated from public opinion. He’s not up for re-election until 2022. He and his fellow Democrats have the state wrapped up tight and his multibillion-dollar fortune to keep it that way. But a respect for public opinion places limits on the actions of even the most audacious elected officials.”
The move is a shift from the state’s original guidelines, though restaurants still cannot reopen for dine-in service until phase four. Illinois Restaurant Association president Sam Toia urged eateries and public officials to find creative solutions under the new guidelines, such as closing down streets, parking lots and public ways to make space for additional seating. “Let’s show how innovative Illinois can be.”
The hospitalization data is a key determinant in whether the state advances later this month under the governor’s five-phase reopening plan. So, too, is the rate of infection, which also showed encouraging movement.
Employers are now blocked from firing or retaliating against employees who decline to return to work because they have been ordered to isolate by public health officials.
A federal lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Education and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos claims teachers now face an “impossible burden” to revise these plans for remote learning during the final weeks of the school year. CPS spokeswoman Emily Bolton said, “Make no mistake: this lawsuit against the district is not about helping students – it’s about avoiding the necessary steps to ensure our most vulnerable students are supported during this unprecedented crisis.”
After the initial installation, the city also requires the reduced pressure zone valve to be recertified twice a year, tacking on an additional $150 each time. “People wonder why the West Side is in such a mess, but it’s because people don’t get support from the city government,” one garden manager said.
The Joint Commission on Administrative Rules got confirmation Wednesday from Illinois Department of Public Health officials that the rule was going to be repealed. “The rule that we’ve put in place, an emergency rule, only would last until the end of this phase, Phase 2. That’s about 10 more days,” Pritzker said. “And then in Phase 3, a new rule would need to be issued. So that’s the way it would work. It’s not something that would last five months.”
New research indicates that indexing unemployment benefits to a state’s economic conditions provides greater solvency for state finances. At the beginning of the year, states that had not reformed their UI systems had just 68 percent of the funds needed to handle a typical downturn. Trust funds fell by more than 50 percent in Massachusetts and New York; West Virginia, Illinois, and California have lost more than 40 percent.
The state argued that not only does the Governor have the ability to declare multiple disaster proclamations, but also that protecting public health takes priority over constitutionality.
While it took three-fifths of each the state House and Senate to put the amendment question on the ballot, only a majority vote in each house would be needed to remove it.
“I believe that the governor’s action to criminalize folks who are trying to protect their livelihoods and support their families by threatening them with a class A misdemeanor charge is a vast government overreach at a time when small business owners are doing everything they can to just to stay afloat,” said Oswego Republican Rep. Keith Wheeler, a co-chair of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
Jacobin is a leading socialist publication.
Illinois has the third-highest gas taxes and fees in the nation, with an average expense of 55 cents per gallon, the Tax Foundation’s 2019 survey showed.
“Whether or not you agree with these decisions or the policies they overrode, the principle at stake is vitally important. Even in an emergency — especially in an emergency — government officials are bound by the law. “
As the state moves forward with reopening, Illinois State Police say they won’t arrest someone for violating the executive orders or emergency rules.
When this crisis is finally over, Illinoisans will look back at the failure to protect the vulnerable residents of retirement homes as one of the worst tragedies of the COVID-19 crisis. The fact that cases and deaths have been so widespread means there was a systemic failure in protecting the elderly.
“Something is happening here. People are waking up. Overwhelmingly people are indignant about this emergency rule. People are starting to understand the danger of the precedent that would be set here if indefinite powers, like Gov. Pritzker claims he has, are allowed to stand.”
In late March, Police Chief Gary Wiseman sent an email to his officers saying, “If you are in need of a haircut, I know I am, I can get a hairstylist to come to the police department to carry out that service.” But the village trustees in Forest View say the police chief had no business turning the station into a barbershop for his personal hair stylist.
The extraordinary safety measures that will govern the session were delineated in a letter last week from Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan to the House minority leader. Legislators will have to pledge to follow Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines to prevent the spread of the highly contagious and potentially lethal coronavirus.
No one is speaking for the small brick and mortar businesses; no one is speaking for the kids and families facing mental illnesses. No one is standing for women who have lost their jobs. It’s up to us, mothers, and women to tell the governor of Illinois our stories, the stories of the small businesses we lean on to be a community, so they can be part of an
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