97th District Democratic State Rep. Harry Benton is working on a number of bills including some for tax relief and to extend remote schooling options for military families.
One bill would list all of the exemptions that people qualify for on their tax bill.
Benton also says he’s working on a joint resolution naming a building for former Secretary of State Jesse White.
The Illinois House and Senate are working through thousands of bills filed for the spring legislative session which runs through May. Lawmakers also need to pass a budget in that timeframe.
Benton says that because it’s an election year, there could be more politics playing into what gets a vote and what doesn’t.
ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Currently only eight states in the country — Washington, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont, along with the District of Columbia –allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail.
The state of Illinois could soon be the ninth state to be able to conduct their elections by mail. Illinois State Rep. Carol Ammons (D) has introduced legislation in the statehouse in Springfield, Illinois that could make election all mail possible in the future.
Ammons explained to Total Information A.M. Wednesday that her legislation isn’t an full statewide vote by mail, but it would let clerks to be able to send ballots to all registered voters in their jurisdiction automatically.
"This is not the full vote by mail option you see in the state of Utah and Colorado," said Ammons. "This is the step that both states took before they got statewide vote by mail."
Ammons explained that the benefits from changing to an all mail-in ballots would mean more participation in elections from residents in Illinois.
"What we saw during our hearing in Champagne about a week ago is the participation increases dramatically in local, state and national elections (with all mail-in voting)" said Ammons.
Another benefit from the change would potentially be saving money on renting out space for polling locations, and paying election judges.
"My county( which includes Champagne) literally had 67 polling locations," said Ammons. "You would not have to fund and get election judges at each of those locations. These would simply go into your home and people can take their time to look at their ballot and research the candidate and simply mail them back from the comfort of their home."
One in 10 college students are food insecure, according to a 2020 University of Illinois study of U.S. Census data. Some Illinois lawmakers want to change this.
The challenge to former 114th District State Rep. LaToya Greenwood’s nominating petitions ended recently when Wavey T. Lester, a former state senate candidate from Milstadt, backed down and withdrew the objection. (Photo courtesy of LaToya Greenwood for State Representative)
In early December the Illinois GOP was quick to jump on a formal challenge brought against the nominating petitions of former 114th District House Rep. LaToya Greenwood.
Postings on the Illinois GOP’s website and the objector’s Facebook page bannered the action. The GOP alleged a “pattern of fraud,” and posted on both the organization’s website and on the former Twitter website (now “X”) on Dec. 11, over the background “Fraud Alert” in large red capitalized letters.
“Pattern of fraud in Metro East alleged in signature objections,” it announced.
There was no such fanfare in January, however, when objector Wavey T. Lester, a former state senate candidate from Milstadt, backed down and withdrew the
Kevin Schmidt, 114th District State Rep. (Kevin Schmidt photo)
objection. In order for the objection to have been sustained, an Illinois State Board of Elections hearing officer would have had to have found that fully two-thirds of the more than 1,600 signatures Greenwood had submitted were fraudulent or otherwise legally defective.
But Greenwood wasn’t blaming Lester. In a press release dated Jan. 12, Greenwood pointed the finger at freshman State Rep. Kevin Schmidt, who she will face in next fall’s general election. She called the challenge a “backroom effort to deny voters a choice in the November election.”
Greenwood also called the petition objections a “baseless attempt to defame me … .” She also opined that the real target of the attack was “… the people of this district who want smart leadership — not conspiracy theories, disenfranchisement, and extremist agendas.”
There was just a bit of overstatement in Greenwood’s press release. It referred to “a bipartisan election board’s rejection” of the petition objection and said that “Republican and Democratic election officials are rejecting Kevin Schmidt’s effort to disenfranchise voters in our community.”
However, the ISBE never convened a hearing in which anything was rejected by anyone, due to the objection being withdrawn. But her rhetorical overreach underscored the political animus that has developed between her and Schmidt since late 2022, when he upset Greenwood by a six-point margin, flipping the district from blue to red.
Schmidt has called Greenwood “radical,” and she has called Schmidt “extreme.” During the 2022 campaign, they differed heatedly on the Safe-T Act, which ended cash bail in Illinois. She strongly supported the changes, Schmidt said it was ant-police and eroded law and order.
Schmidt says he is “fighting for fiscal responsibility in Springfield, and that he voted against Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “bloated $50.4 billion budget because it included pay raises for legislators and hundreds of millions of dollars for people in our state illegally.”
Saying that his focus “is serving the people of the 114th District,” Schmidt announced that he is donating his recent pay raise “to local charities to help people in need right here in our own backyard.”
Schmidt also touts his support of law enforcement, and proposes creating a grant program to help communities fund police body cameras. He also co-sponsored a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting cases of COVID-19 relief funding fraud.
Greenwood has touted her co-sponsorship of 300 House and primary sponsorship of over 25 bills during her previous three terms as 114th District House Representative.
Schmidt, she said, “… cannot and will not represent the diverse voices of this district.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections overruled an objection to a local candidate’s candidacy on Thursday, allowing her to remain on the 2024 primary ballot.
The decision allows Village of Chatham Trustee Kristen Chiaro to continue her campaign for Illinois House District 95, a district spanning portions of Sangamon, Macon, and Christian counties. She is the sole Democrat in the race and will face incumbent state Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, in November.
Village of Chatham Trustee Kristen Chiaro is a Democratic candidate running in the Illinois 95th House District.
Objectors to Chiaro’s candidacy, including Sangamon County Chair Diane Barghouti Hardwick and Springfield School District 186 Subdistrict 7 board member Debra Iams, maintained she was ineligible since she signed the nomination papers of Kelvin Coburn, another Republican candidate for the 95th district.
John Fogarty, Jr., attorney for the objectors, said Chiaro was attempting to benefit Coburn’s candidacy by signing his papers — in violation of state election code. Coburn has since ended his campaign because he failed to receive enough signatures within his district. House candidates need at least 500 signatures for nomination papers to be valid.
"We have a case here where someone is trying to nominate a candidate of the opposite party," the Chicago-based attorney told ISBOE.
ISBOE records showed Chiaro signed Coburn’s nomination papers who was running in the same district. Michael Kasper, Chiaro’s attorney, however, said the candidate remained eligible since she signed her own nomination papers on Sept. 30 before signing Coburn’s on Oct. 31.
Under legal precedent, Kasper said the first signature was valid and the second one invalid.
"Once you declare your party affiliation, you’re locked into that party for that primary," he said. "That happens when you request your ballot application or in this instance where you sign a nominating petition."
Chiaro’s case was among the 20 candidacy objections reviewed by ISBOE General Counsel Thursday.
The eight-person board ruled to remove Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, from the ballot since his nomination papers were not notarized and his failure to submit a statement of economic interest. Niemerg was seeking a third term in the House. Fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, was allowed to remain on the ballot.
Later this month, the ISBOE board will consider whether to include former President Donald Trump on the primary ballot. Objectors are seeking to remove Trump from the ballot saying he participated in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. That meeting is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Also on ISBOE’s agenda was finalizing the primary ballot, where Trump will likely appear despite the challenge, but with an "objection pending" message next to his name. He is among five GOP candidates who filed including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Ryan Binkley of Texas.
Christie dropped out of the race on Wednesday but had not officially withdrawn his candidacy from the Illinois ballot leading up to Thursday’s deadline. Vivek Ramaswamy did not file.
President Joe Biden, author Marianne Williamson, Minnesota congressman Rep. Dean Phillips, and Frankie Lozada of New York filed as Democrats. Independent and new party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can file starting June 17.
Early voting begins on Feb. 8 and the primary is scheduled for March 19.
Contact Patrick M. Keck: 312-549-9340, pkeck@gannett.com, twitter.com/@pkeckreporter.
ALTON – Granite City’s Nick Raftopoulos, a candidate for state representative, held one of his meet-and-greets at the Tango Event Center in Alton this past Saturday. Abe Lee Barham, one of the organizers, said about 40 people came out and it was a session for about an hour and a half with the candidate running for state representative. "There were not any questions that he didn’t answer," Barham said. "I encourage people to post to him and participate in the Democratic process because your voice matters. Educating yourself on who will be your elected officials is very important to move our country and towns forward." Nick responded to questions about unions, school safety, and nurses’ rights in a town hall type of style. Barham said he thought the meet and greet was informative and "enlightening" for those in attendance. Nick has stated he is running for the Democratic nomination for state representative in Illinois’ 111th House District because he wants
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, received an award at the American Civil Liberties Union annual Legislator Awards, held at the ACLU’s Illinois headquarters in Chicago on Dec. 14.
According to a news release, the award recognizes Kifowit’s “unwavering commitment” to civil liberties, specifically her sponsorship and advocacy of SB 2323 in 2021, which ended the use of restraints to transport youth in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services.
“This award serves as a testament to the power of advocacy and collaboration in creating positive change, and I deeply honored to receive it,” Kifowit said in the release. “I remain steadfast in my dedication to championing the rights of every individual, and I am grateful for the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those in our care.”
According to the release, this recognition underscores Rep. Kifowit’s long commitment to the fight for civil liberties, especially the rights of vulnerable youth in the DCFS system. SB 2323, now law, not only prohibits the use of restraints during pre-arranged transports but also requires any violation of the prohibition to be reported immediately to the Department’s Office of Inspector General.
The ACLU Legislator Awards recognized 11 state senators and nine state representatives for their legislative achievements. The full list of awardees can be viewed at aclu-il.org/en/news/2023-legislator-awards.
State Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, is applauding new state funding to support books, educational materials, and programming for Decatur’s and Springfield’s public schools’ libraries. “As the price of books and other educational materials continues to rise with inflation, grants like this are more critical than ever for our schools and the communities they serve,” said Scherer. “As a former educator, I saw firsthand how many of my students loved the library, and I am excited to see what joy these new dollars bring.” State grants made possible by the fiscally and socially responsible state budget Scherer helped to pass will provide $1.4 million to Illinois’ public-school libraries. Decatur and Springfield public schools received amounts just over $6,000 and $4,000, respectively to purchase new and up-to-date books, additional educational materials and technology. Awards since 2020, when the program’s formula increased funding by more than 10 percent per student, have been some of the most impactful in the program’s history. “Our kids deserve the best schools – and that goes for teachers, facilities and libraries.” said Scherer. “I am proud to see our local schools receive this critical funding, and I am excited to see it put to good use.”
Working for Illinois Caucus 