CAPITOL RECAP: Sweeping police reform bill faces opposition

[January 09, 2021]  By Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus has introduced a sweeping criminal justice omnibus bill that aims to heavily alter the state of policing in Illinois.

Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, introduced a 611-page amendment to House Bill 163 Tuesday in the state Senate, a move that would allow the bill to move during the General Assembly’s upcoming lame duck session scheduled from Jan. 8 to Jan. 13.

While the bill has been introduced on short notice, it is the result of over 100 hours of hearings held by the Black Caucus over fall and winter months as part of their legislative agenda “to end systemic racism in Illinois.” Criminal justice reform and police accountability made up the first of four pillars in that agenda.

The bill has seen intense pushback from Republican lawmakers and groups representing law enforcement. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police called it “the worst thing to happen to our profession” and “the end of the law enforcement profession as we know it” in a statement released Tuesday.

In a Wednesday notice, the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police wrote “it might as well be a crime to be a law enforcement officer in Illinois.”

State Rep. David Allen Welter, R-Morris, and state Sen. John Curran, R-Lemont, both released statements opposing HB163, with Welter calling it anti-police.

In response, the Senate Black Caucus distributed their own release Wednesday, saying “From our perspective, our communities know what they need in order to be kept safe. We come from the communities we represent. Our experiences, combined with our understanding of policy, have shaped our legislative approach, and they cannot be dismissed when it comes to determining what our communities need.”

The legislation has also received support from criminal justice reform groups such as the Illinois Justice Project and the Building a Safe Illinois Coalition.

HB163 contains several articles that would stand as their own new laws while also amending key components of state law already on the books. While most of the legislation pertains to law enforcement, there are sections devoted to altering other aspects of the criminal justice system, such as pre-trial detention, sentencing laws and prison diversion.

Read Capitol News Illinois’ full story about what’s in the bill at capitolnewsillinois.com.

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LAME DUCK SESSION: Illinois lawmakers will return to the capital city on Friday for a “lame duck” session that is expected to focus on the state’s COVID-19 response, a nearly $4 billion budget deficit and a host of social issues being advanced by the Legislative Black Caucus.

House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office notified that chamber’s members of the plans in an email sent Wednesday, Dec. 30. Senate President Don Harmon has not officially announced his plans, but his spokesman said in an email over the weekend that senators have been advised to hold the dates open in the event lawmakers are called back into session.

The budget that lawmakers passed during that special session with only Democratic votes was about $5 billion out of balance. But it was passed on the assumption that Congress would soon pass a stimulus package that would include aid to struggling state and local governments and that voters in November would approve a constitutional amendment to allow the state to levy a graduated income tax. Neither of those two things happened.

Republicans, who have been clamoring for months for lawmakers to return to session, said during a virtual news conference Monday, Jan. 4, that they believe Democrats want to use the lame duck session to push through a tax increase to fill the budget hole.

Rep. Greg Harris, of Chicago, the House Majority Leader, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment about his plans for the special session.

In addition to dealing with the budget crisis, lawmakers may also consider measures regarding the state’s overall pandemic response, which so far has been managed almost exclusively out of the governor’s office.

Also likely to be on the agenda is a long list of policy initiatives being pushed by members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus focusing on racial and social justice issues that were thrust into the forefront following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in May.

The session is scheduled to begin Friday, Jan. 8, and could run until Jan. 13, when the 102nd General Assembly will convene to inaugurate new members.

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CAPITOL SECURITY: Just two days after hundreds of rioters broke through police barricades and vandalized the halls of Congress, Illinois lawmakers will return to the seat of government for a lame duck session.

In a statement Wednesday evening Gov. JB Pritzker said he asked for the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement to “redeploy to heighten their presence at government buildings and the Capitol in Springfield” Wednesday night.

Pritzker’s spokesperson did not respond to a question Thursday about whether the governor plans to deploy the Illinois National Guard at the Statehouse or other government offices for the legislative session.

The governor’s statement Wednesday came as a much smaller group of demonstrators gathered outside the Illinois Capitol to protest the election certification of President-elect Joe Biden.

There were no arrests or incidents reported at the Illinois protest, according to Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for the Illinois Secretary of State, who estimated it was attended by 40 to 50 people.

The Secretary of State Capitol Police force is assigned to the nine buildings comprising the State Capitol Complex. Security at the Bank of Springfield Center, where the Illinois House will meet, falls under the purview of the Illinois State Police, said Haupt.

Steve Brown, spokesperson for House Speaker Michael Madigan, declined to comment on security procedures at the Bank of Springfield or discussions among House leadership for additional security.

“I think there is adequate security, as there was in May (during the last legislative session),” Brown said on Thursday. “If you remember, visualizing the scene, (security) was pretty comprehensive from what could be seen, and there were additional layers, not necessarily visible to the general public.”

John Patterson, spokesperson for Senate President Don Harmon, did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

Haupt said he couldn’t comment on staffing levels or security protocols at the Capitol Complex but said the Secretary of State Capitol Police are working with the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement entities to ensure the Complex and surrounding area remains safe.

Every entry point at the Capitol Complex is staffed with at least one armed Capitol Police investigator, Haupt said.

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SPEAKER’S RACE: State Rep. Ann Williams officially threw her hat into the ring Wednesday to become the next speaker of the Illinois House, making her the third Democrat to announce they were challenging embattled Speaker Michael Madigan.

Williams, 53, a Chicago attorney, released a statement Wednesday morning, hours ahead of a virtual candidates’ forum being hosted by the House Democratic Women’s Caucus.

She joins Reps. Stephanie Kifowit, of Oswego, and Kathleen Willis, of Addison, in the race for speaker. They, along with Madigan, were scheduled to make their case before the Democratic Women’s Caucus during a private virtual meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Madigan, who has served as speaker for all but two years since 1983, has been struggling to maintain his grip on power since July when he was implicated in a yearslong bribery scheme in which utility giant Commonwealth Edison awarded no-work jobs and lobbying contracts to his associates in order to curry his favor for legislation that benefited the company.

Madigan has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing, but the scandal has eroded his support within the Democratic caucus to the point where he no longer has the 60 votes needed to be reelected speaker.

Democrats will have 73 votes in the House when the 102nd General Assembly convenes on Wednesday, Jan. 13, but so far 19 of those Democrats have said publicly that they will not support Madigan for another term.

Williams, a member of the party’s liberal wing, was just reelected to her sixth term in the House. She currently chairs the House Energy and Environment Committee. In her statement, she said her priorities have included addressing the climate crisis and protecting access to reproductive health care.

Kifowit, 49, a Marine Corps veteran, has served in the House since 2013. A former Aurora city alderman, she currently chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, which recently held hearings recently about the COVID-19 outbreaks at state-run veterans homes.

Willis, 58, also has served in the House since 2013 and currently serves as the Democratic conference chairperson. She was the first member of the party’s leadership team to announce that she would not support Madigan for another term as speaker.

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VACCINE UPDATE: As of Tuesday night, Jan. 5, approximately 344,525 total doses of Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines have been delivered to Illinois, excluding the city of Chicago.

Federal supply issues have resulted in delivery reductions, according to the governor. The state is receiving approximately 120,000 doses per week, 60,000 each of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. From this lower than expected number of vaccine doses, Pritzker said the federal government pulls an allotment of doses from each delivery to put towards its long-term care vaccination program.

Approximately 114,075 doses from Illinois’ latest allotment, outside the city of Chicago, have been set aside for this purpose. The long-term care vaccination program is being facilitated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with CVS, Walgreens and Managed Health Care Associates Inc. to offer on-site COVID-19 vaccination services for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

About 850,000 residents are eligible for the first phase of vaccinations currently underway, which includes health care workers and long-term care facility residents.

Illinois as a whole has administered approximately 207,106 total vaccine doses to date, including Tuesday’s first round of second doses for recipients who received the first dose in mid-December.

That number also includes vaccinations through the federal long-term care vaccination program. Pritzker noted the program’s partners started vaccinating in Illinois on Dec. 28, nearly two weeks after the state’s first delivery of vaccinations.

Because of high demand for the COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended two initial priority groups receive the first rounds of vaccination.

Those in Phase 1A, who are currently receiving vaccines, include health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

Phase 1B will include Illinois residents age 65 years or older and non-health care frontline essential workers. ACIP recommended residents 75 years or older be prioritized, but Illinois reduced the age by 10 years. Gov. JB Pritzker noted Wednesday, Jan. 6, the average age of COVID-19 deaths is 81 for white residents, 72 for Black residents and 68 for Latino residents.

Phase 1B will begin once Phase 1A is substantially complete, but a specific time period is not yet clear. Pritzker said that many health care workers and long-term care facility residents are still in the process of receiving the vaccine and a decrease in federal vaccine distribution could delay the move to the next phase.

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TIER 3 UPDATE: Starting Jan.15, exactly one incubation period from New Year’s Day, any region that has met requirements for a reduction of mitigations will be able to move out of the Tier 3 mitigation plan, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday.

The entire state has been under Tier 3 restrictions since Nov. 20 in an effort to combat a potential holiday surge in cases. Under these increased restrictions businesses are required to follow 25 percent capacity limits, and close bars and restaurants to indoor service – a mitigation that will still be in place even when a region moves back to Tier 2.

Capitol News Illinois file photo

Pritzker said that despite not seeing a post-Thanksgiving surge, he is still advising Tier 3 restrictions be upheld for one incubation period, or 14 days, to ensure infection rates remain as low as possible.

After Jan. 15, regions will be able proceed past Tier 2, which would allow restaurants and bars to reopen for indoor service, depending on their future infection and hospitalization rates.

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COVID-19 UPDATE: Illinois has reported more than 1 million cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The state reported 8,757 newly confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 Thursday for a statewide total of just over 1 million cases. An additional 177 deaths were reported for a total of 17,272 since the pandemic began.

Hospitalization rates remained nearly identical to previous days, with a slight drop in hospitalizations and ICU patients, and a nearly consistent number of patients on ventilators.

As of Wednesday night 3,921 COVID-19 patients were reported hospitalized, a decrease of seven from the day prior. There were 783 patients in intensive care unit beds, a decrease of 74 from the day prior, and 450 on ventilators, one less than the day prior.

The seven-day rolling average case positivity rate increased slightly to 8.5 percent Thursday compared to the prior day report of 8.4 percent.

The governor’s office also announced a statewide mask mandate has been extended through a subsequent emergency rule that was filed Monday and will be in effect for an additional 150 days.

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HOSPITALIZATIONS DECREASING: Hospitalization rates for COVID-19 continued to fall for the sixth straight week as of Sunday evening, Jan. 3. From Dec. 28 through Jan. 3, the daily average hospitalization count from COVID-19 stood at 4,099, down 7 percent from the week before, and down 33 percent, or 2,029, from the period ending Nov. 22. At the end of Sunday, there were 3,948 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois, an increase of 131 from the day prior.

There were 816 intensive care beds in use by COVID-19 patients as of Sunday, an increase of 18 from the day prior. That left 25.9 percent of ICU beds open statewide, while the seven-day average for ICU bed usage stood at 833. That was a decrease of 9.9 percent, or 92, from the prior seven-day period. It’s the fifth consecutive week that the average decreased.

COVID-19 patients occupied 471 ventilators as of Sunday, an increase of five from the day prior. The seven-day average for ventilator use stood at 479 as of Sunday, a decrease of 43, or 8.3 percent, from the previous seven-day period.

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UNEMPLOYMENT: House Republicans continued to criticize the Pritzker administration Wednesday as the Illinois Department of Employment Support works through ongoing staffing and fraud issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since handling a historic number of unemployment assistance claims at the outset of the pandemic in March, IDES has added staff, changed processes and implemented additional measures to prevent fraudulent claims.

On Wednesday, some House Republicans continued calls for additional measures to be implemented, such as moving staff from other state departments to assist with the overload of unemployment assistance claims, implementing more anti-fraud measures and holding public hearings to discuss issues at the department.

IDES officials pushed back on criticisms offered by the Republicans Wednesday, stating that it is not possible to move employees from other state agencies without substantial training, and that many of the anti-fraud measures being proposed by the Republicans are already in use by the department.

“We are working hard to respond to an economic crisis and stand up five new, complex federal programs while battling fraudsters who have used stolen identities to file for benefits nationwide,” said IDES Acting Director Kristin Richards in a statement.

Richards said the department was already short-staffed as a result of years of budget cuts which left IDES ill-equipped to handle the unprecedented number of claims last spring. The current employee head count is roughly half of what it was 10 years ago, she said.

Since the pandemic began, the department has contracted over 1,000 employees to assist in handling unemployment claims, and has been approved for an increase in staffing and resources for the current fiscal year, which is fiscal year 2021. It continues to hire more employees, she said.

It has also implemented a callback only system which allows an applicant with a question to be placed in a queue to be called back, rather than having to experience extensive waits.

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FAIR MAPS PUSH: Republicans in the Illinois House said Tuesday that they hope to use legislation, instead of a constitutional amendment, to change the way state legislative and congressional district lines are redrawn every 10 years.

The so-called “fair maps” proposal would authorize the General Assembly to set up an independent, nonpartisan commission to redraw the lines, taking that highly political process out of the hands of legislators who currently are able to use that process to protect themselves politically, a process known as “gerrymandering.”

Redistricting is a process that all states go through following each decennial federal census and one that Illinois must complete in the upcoming session so that districts can be established in time for candidates to file for office in time for the 2022 elections.

Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said the measure is similar to the proposed constitutional amendment that supporters tried to put on the ballot in 2016 before being blocked by a sharply divided Illinois Supreme Court. The main difference is that it would put the process into statute instead of the constitution.

In 2016, supporters of such a change circulated petitions to put a constitutional amendment on that year’s general election ballot. That’s one of three ways the current Illinois Constitution allows amendments to be considered.

However, the constitution also limits the scope of citizen-initiated amendments to “to structural and procedural subjects contained in Article IV,” which pertains to the General Assembly.

In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court blocked the proposal from going onto the ballot because the proposed amendment contained elements that also dealt with the attorney general and the auditor general.

Butler filed the bill, House Bill 5873, Tuesday. That makes it eligible for consideration in the upcoming lame duck session, which begins Friday, Jan. 8.

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MANAR RESIGNS: Democratic state Sen. Andy Manar of downstate Bunker Hill announced Monday, Jan. 4, he will resign from the General Assembly effective Jan. 17 to join the governor’s office as an advisor two days later.

Manar announced his resignation shortly after noon Monday, and within 20 minutes Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced he would hire Manar as a senior advisor. Manar will be paid $278,000, annually according to the governor’s office, half of which will be paid out from a limited liability company created by Pritzker to compensate several of his top aides beyond their state payrolls. That company is East Jackson Street LLC.

The rate of pay is more than three-and-a-half times Manar’s Senate salary, which was $79,100 in 2019, according to a state database run through the Illinois Comptroller’s office.

“The time has come for someone new to take up the call in the Illinois Senate. Central Illinois is full of outstanding individuals ready to step forward to meet the challenge — be an agent of change in Downstate Illinois,” Manar said

Manar would have been up for reelection in the 48th Senate District in 2022, likely facing a difficult challenge in an area that leaned heavily toward Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. He did not respond to a phone message from Capitol News Illinois Monday.

Manar replaces Nikki Budzinski, who left the administration in February, as a senior advisor.

The Bunker Hill Democrat has served in the Senate since 2012 and was most notably the lead negotiator of an evidence-based funding formula for K-12 education which directs money to the schools that are furthest from funding adequacy based on a number of factors. That reform passed in 2017.

Prior to the General Assembly he served as city councilman, then mayor in Bunker Hill, as well as Macoupin County Board Chairman.

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BRADY RESIGNS: Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, announced his immediate resignation from the General Assembly on Dec. 31.

Brady, who resigned ahead of the new year, served as Senate GOP leader since 2017, but members of his caucus elected Sen. Dan McConchie, of Hawthorn Woods, to lead them in the 102nd General Assembly which begins Jan. 13.

Brady served in the Illinois House from 1993 to 2000 and has served in the state Senate since 2002. He also made three separate bids for the governorship, winning a place on the ballot as the GOP’s candidate facing Pat Quinn in 2010. He lost to Quinn by approximately 32,000 votes.

He did not give a reason for his resignation in a letter distributed to members of the Senate Republican caucus. He was paid $96,500 in 2019, according to the comptroller’s database. He would have stood for reelection in 2022 in the heavily Republican area.

“Over the years, our caucus was successful in securing additional funding for our public schools, helping create a tax-credit private school scholarship program for low and middle-income students, standing up against incomes tax hikes that hurt working families, and working tirelessly to improve our state’s crumbling infrastructure,” he said in the letter.

Both Sens. Manar and Brady stepped down after a deadline that would have called for special elections to choose their successors, so local party leaders in the counties within their districts will choose each of the senators’ replacements.

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MARIJUANA PARDONS: Gov. JB Pritzker issued 9,219 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Thursday, New Year’s Eve, while announcing the Illinois State Police had expunged all eligible records at the state level for marijuana related arrests.

Since the passage of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act in 2019, Pritzker has issued pardons in 20,236 marijuana cases. Pritzker previously issued 11,017 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on New Year’s Eve 2019.

In a release distributed New Year’s Eve, Pritzker also announced that ISP had expunged 492,129 non-felony marijuana-related arrest records in the state database. These expungements will also be mirrored in local law enforcement agencies.

Of the 102 counties in Illinois, only 10 – including DuPage, Kane and Peoria counties – have expunged their records for eligible arrests. The other counties were required to expunge records of arrests created between 2013 and 2019 by Jan. 1 and have until Jan. 1, 2025 to expunge all eligible arrest records.

The legalization act created three groups of marijuana-related records eligible for some type of expungement. The first two groups are eligible for automatic expungement, meaning no action is required on behalf of the affected party, while the third group requires a court petition to start the expungement process.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.