Working for Illinois Caucus

ROCKFORD — State Rep. Maurice West brought members of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus to town Friday to call for racial unity and to demand an emergency session of the General Assembly to approve social and economic reform legislation.

More than 100 elected officials, civic leaders and residents stood and listened to the lawmakers explain the urgent need for legislation to hold police officers accountable and to enhance the social and economic lives of all Illinoisians.

People in the crowd wore face masks and stood 6 feet apart — dutifully following the social distance guidelines in place amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The crowd patiently listened for more than an hour as speaker after speaker delivered a call to action under the hot afternoon sun on the east lawn of Booker Washington Center, the heart of Rockford’s black history and heritage.

The killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer must awaken all Americans to the sobering truth of racial inequality, West said.

Americans can no longer afford to be silent or ambivalent "about where you stand on racial injustice. It makes others question what your true intentions really are."

"Rock Valley College is a perfect example — and I’m disappointed," West said.

West explained later on Friday that his statement about the city’s community college was a reference to the college’s "weak response to the death of George Floyd."

West and other members of the Black Legislative Caucus are developing a "working list" of legislative reforms that they hope the General Assembly will approve — and that Gov. JB Pritzker will sign into law — as soon as possible. The reforms include economic and employment measures designed to improve the quality of life in minority communities and measures to hold police officers more accountable.

"We know our police departments don’t have rules and consequences," said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago. "They get to run rampant and kill black people."

West said he has been inspired by peaceful protests that are happening in Rockford and across the country.

"The tide is changing," West said. "This massive ship of injustice and inequality is turning. It’s no secret that it will take time to fully move in the right direction. But we are committed to do what must be done. …That time is now and we will do this together."

Isaac Guerrero: iguerrero@rrstar.com; @isaac_rrs

ALTON, Ill. – State Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, is promoting a new Get Hired Illinois program from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Illinois Department of Employment Security. This program will help connect employers and job seekers with opportunities for job and career development across the state.

“The new Get Hired Illinois platform will help lay the groundwork to getting job seekers back to work and the economy on track,” said Bristow. “It’s essential that as our economy begins opening back up, that both employers and job seekers have the resources they need to return to normal.”

The Get Hired Illinois portal is a collection of both IDES and DCEO information and resources to give job seekers and employers a single platform to find unemployment resources and job opportunities. The page will allow for employers to upload jobs, host virtual career fairs, and training opportunities. The new portal already features nearly 60,000 jobs across various industries. Visit the new Get Hired Illinois Website at www.illinois.gov/gethired.

“Although the COVID-19 outbreak has setback numerous employers and workers, this platform will help put our economy work toward recovery,” said Bristow. “I encourage anyone who is looking for employment to visit the new Get Hired Illinois website and find resources and job opportunities.”

To find the most recent information about resources and information regarding COVID-19 in Illinois, visit https://coronavirus.illinois.gov or call the Illinois Department of Public Health at 1-800-889-3931.

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In the wake of the truncated four-day meeting that marked the end of the 2020 spring session of the General Assembly, there was plenty for lawmakers to crow about and also to complain about.

Who did what depended a lot on party labels.

A budget was passed that will keep the state running during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout from it. But for better or worse, the budget avoided deep cuts and relies on the budget relies on generosity from Washington that hasn’t materialized yet.

It saw a rebuke of Gov. JB Pritzker who wanted a law passed that gave his administration clear authority to fine businesses that reopened prematurely. The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate did not approve it. Pritzker called it “a complete abdication of responsibility on the part of the legislature.”

Legislation that would have allowed the General Assembly to meet remotely and let governments delay open records requests during a pandemic were beaten back. Republicans didn’t get the input they wanted into Pritzker’s reopening plans, but an oversight commission was created to review them. The GOP said it was useless.

And hundreds of issues big and small that lawmakers and others wanted considered during the spring session – from remap reform to stronger ethics laws to property tax relief – have been put off for another day.

Here’s how some Springfield-area lawmakers summed up the session:

Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield

McClure said it was a positive thing that the session was held in Springfield and not some other location. He also cited legislation that makes it a felony to assault a retail worker who is enforcing store policies on wearing a mask and distancing during the pandemic.

McClure also called the updated capital plan a positive. It includes a mix of older projects whose funding is being continued and new projects. McClure said he was able to secure funding to repair a railroad underpass on Cockrell Lane in his district.

Despite the shortened session, the legislature should have taken up stronger ethics reforms, McClure said. A task force formed to recommend improved ethics laws has all but disappeared during the coronavirus pandemic and has yet to deliver recommendations.

He also still wants to see a delay in any more increases in the state’s minimum wage or allowing a lower wage in southern Illinois.

“No one with any common sense can say it costs the same to live in Springfield as in downtown Chicago,” he said.

Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur

Although most Republicans complained that the new budget is precariously balanced on the idea the state will be getting more money from Washington to cope with the virus, Scherer said the state had no choice.

“To lose so much revenue, and there are basic needs that have to be met for our citizens, we’re just having to borrow money from the federal government and pay it back. We really have no other choice,” she said.

On the down side, Scherer said she had a lengthy list of bills she wanted addressed this year that are going to have to wait. If the legislature can’t get to them later this year, she and every other lawmaker will have to start over again from scratch because a new edition of the General Assembly starts in January.

Although she shares a party with the governor, Scherer said she was not surprised that his request for legislation stipulating that businesses could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor for reopening too soon failed to go anywhere.

“I think that at a certain point people were like we can’t take it anymore,” Scherer said. “So then all the conflict came. At that point, I feel that the legislature felt he was going to have to continue to make his decisions on his own. We weren’t going to just give him a blank check and just say make any rule and any law that you want and we will approve it.”

She also said Phase 3 is about to start and “I really think a lot of things are going to change when we move into Phase 3.”

Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Springfield

Murphy said the two key points of the session were ensuring the General Assembly will continue to meet in Springfield and that Pritzker’s legislation was stopped.

The legislature debated the idea that lawmakers could meet remotely in an emergency situation, but the idea got shelved.

“I think it’s important that we meet as a General Assembly and have an opportunity for interaction and discussion amongst ourselves,” Murphy said. “A lot takes place on the floor that wouldn’t take place on a Zoom meeting.”

Murphy said the idea of fining businesses for reopening too soon is something that should be done by the legislature, not by issuing an emergency administrative rule as Pritzker tried to do. That the Democratic-controlled legislature didn’t pass the bill surprised him.

“It shows how much people across the state, Republicans and Democrats, were upset with his overreach,” he said.

A former restaurateur, Murphy said he was pleased that lawmakers passed a bill allowing bars and restaurants to sell cocktails to go.

Like other Republicans, Murphy was not happy with the budget that got passed.

“I cannot believe we passed a budget that was so far out of balance,” he said. “And no cuts were considered. Democrats said they did not want to cut by 35 percent. They gave no indication that they wanted to do any cuts.”

Murphy said he is still convinced lawmakers will end up with a COLA because they did not specifically vote to refuse it. Most Democrats and Comptroller Susana Mendoza said there is no money appropriated for lawmaker raises so they will not be getting an increase.

Murphy said that if additional money shows up in his paycheck, he will donate it to the St. John’s breadline.

Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield

Workers compensation protections and a revised tax structure for a Chicago casino were key achievements in Butler’s opinion.

The workers compensation protections provide potential compensation for workers who may have contracted COVID-19 on the job, but it also gives employers a chance to challenge the claim. The protections were an agreement between labor and management and replaced the protections Pritzker tried to impose by fiat and which were struck down in court.

Revenue from a Chicago casino is critical to paying for last year’s capital bill, Butler said. A revised tax structure was needed to entice a company to operate it.

Butler, though, had said for weeks that the state should delay on passing a budget until late June, just before the new fiscal year starts to give lawmakers a better idea of what state finances will look like.

“I think this really would have been a good year for us to be deliberative on the budget,” he said. “I don’t see any need why we needed to pass a budget (now).”

He also thinks lawmakers should have had a chance to make an up or down vote on Pritzker’s plan to gradually reopen the state. The governor said it is based on science, but many Republican lawmakers believe is being too slow in reopening and does not sufficiently account for regional differences in caseloads.

Butler thinks Democrats shied away from Pritzker’s fines legislation because they, like Republicans, heard loud public opposition to it.

“I think the people of Illinois spoke tremendously loud on that issue, probably more so than anything I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It was very obvious that thousands and thousands of Illinoisans were just beside themselves on this.”

He called the failure to act on ethics legislation a “glaring omission.”

Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill

Manar helped put together the budget that was approved. He said it is a “true response to COVID-19.”

“This will come out in the coming weeks and months, but this budget will directly respond to needs on the ground level in communities around Illinois,” he said. “That was a driving factor in the creation of this budget proposal.”

It fully pays the state’s pensions, he said, and any increases in lines for human services or public health “are very nominal.” Negotiators could have chosen to make cuts, but didn’t. That could have included cuts to state government that could have resulted in state workers losing their jobs.

“We chose not do,” he said.

As a key architect of the new school funding formula, Manar said it was disappointing to have to hold the line on providing more money to it in the budget, but there was no other choice.

The issue Pritzker wanted lawmakers to tackle was “horribly complicated” Manar said, in the sense it dealt with separation of powers, enforcement at the local level and budgetary aspects.

“All of those things play into the decision making process. So I’m not surprised it turned out the way it did,” he said.

Manar said a major disappointment from the abbreviated session was that he could not continue working on prescription drug affordability. Manar said he had filed multiple bills to build off progress from his bill to cap out of pocket insulin costs.

He also had hoped the legislature could deal with ethics reform during the spring session.

Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville

Davidsmeyer is disappointed that Republicans still ended up with no input on Pritzker’s Restore Illinois plan to reopen the state.

“The whole reason Republicans wanted to be called back to Springfield was to have a discussion about how the state was run,” he said. “Getting to Springfield should have been a positive. We just kicked the can down the road.”

He isn’t impressed with a commission of lawmakers created to provide some oversight of the reopening plan. He said that is ineffectual and has no real authority.

An upside, though, was that Pritzker’s legislation was stopped.

“Not calling that bill at the end of the day was a huge positive,” he said. I think Democrats are getting a lot of pressure now. I think the tide is turning. People realize we need to reopen the economy.”

Another upside was that the plan to allow remote meetings of the General Assembly didn’t have the votes to pass, he said.

“Springfield is the seat of government and it should remain the seat of government,” Davidsmeyer said.

Contact Doug Finke: doug.finke@sj-r.com, 788-1527, twitter.com/dougfinkesjr

State and local leaders are making decisions every day about the COVID-19 pandemic that are met with both praise and criticism.  This is WNIJ’s fourth part of our series "The Hot Seat" talking to leaders about the process behind these big decisions. 

Democratic state representative Barbara Hernandez of Illinois’ 83rd district started the year off full speed ahead.

“I was campaigning nonstop knocking on doors for eight hours, even weekends,” she said.

Then March came. And things came to a screeching halt.

“And then I knew on the 18th I was supposed to go back to Springfield that day,” she said. “So, I was ready to go back. And I realized that everything changed.”

Tom Demmer is a Republican state representative for District 90. He’s also in his party’s leadership in the Illinois House. He said the biggest change for him was that he doesn’t travel as much.

“I have a district that’s 65 miles wide and about 50 miles north to south. And so to cover that amount of territory, typically you spend a huge amount of time in the car,” he said.  “Also, typically during this time of the year we’d be driving back and forth to Springfield every week.”

Hernandez said at first she didn’t realize a tidal wave was coming.  

“In a way I knew what was going on with the coronavirus in China and different parts of the countries. But because I was so focused on the campaign, I really didn’t acknowledge the big impact,” she shared.

The door-to-door visits for her turned to phone calls and digital interactions. She said calling nurses was the most difficult.

“It’s their job to make sure they protect everybody. So to be able to just call the nurse and hear her and just vent by crying together really showed what this community and what this world is going through,” she said.

She said after that it became harder for her to make those phone calls but she will continue.

Demmer’s wife is a nurse. He said she had to take extra precautions when she came home from work.

“We had a little decontamination station set up at the door. She would change clothes at the hospital before she came home,” he said. “You know, try to isolate as much of that, you know, the shoes and the clothing and everything.”   

Hernandez said, even in normal circumstances, making decisions is not easy.

“And it’s hard because I know as soon as I’m labeled a state representative that automatically is my label. So, ‘Barbara the human’ is no longer there to their eyes,” she explained.

She said the pandemic has added an extra layer to the process. Hernandez said she always thinks about her constituents when considering things that go into a decision.

“How big of an impact will it be towards that community? I want to make sure that the impact is positive for families and students,” she shared. "And for those I will be always able to acknowledge and be able to defend.”

She said her priority is to ensure that the families are being supported financially, mentally and emotionally.  

Demmer suggested that every decision will come with those who are for it and those who are against it. He said dealing with that is a part of being an elected official. 

"When we look at things like a reopening plan, the principle of having local involvement and input into a plan is one that a wide variety of people agree with," he said.

And, he said, if people understand the principle, the details of the plan don’t have to be explained as much.

Hernandez said right now, during the pandemic, decisions have to balance safety and the economy.

“Those are two sides that I see. And it is a little bit difficult. I think one of the bills that they wanted to propose this week or two — the governor was wanting to propose was to fine small businesses,” she said.

She voted against this plan and said that small businesses have endured enough. She said she trusts that small businesses in Aurora would follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention once they reopen.

Hernandez said things are tough during this time but she still has to continue working. With emotion, she shared what keeps her going.

“The families, the families are the ones that need it the most. And I know that all the stories that I hear constantly, and emails that I read, they, they’re frustrated, some of them yell at me and that is fine.”

And Hernandez reflects on the times when her office is able to help someone, and she finds gratitude.

“I know there are some good stories that we’re able to share that possibly tried to get unemployment for weeks, and then they reached out to my office and we were able to get that done,” she said.

Demmer said the pandemic has promoted a regional approach to solving problems. Local officials had good relationships in the past, he said, but the crisis really forced them to work together more closely, and he’s seeing great collaboration.

“People trying to understand, ‘What’s the mayor in the next town doing? How are they dealing with some of these unexpected circumstances?’ Or ‘What’s the health department next door doing?’ And those things are really positive,” he shared.

Last week Hernandez and Demmer traveled to Springfield for a state house session. They both said that it was quite a change from past ones.

Hernandez said she loves the capitol building, but this time, the meetings were held at a convention center. And everyone took precautions.

“That was completely new because sometimes we were there for eight or nine hours and that was the longest time I had a mask on for all my life,” she explained.

She said everyone stayed six feet apart and it felt like she had to yell just to say hello.

Demmer said the experience was surreal.

“Of course, everybody was wearing masks; we got tested before we went down there,” he said. "But really just that physical setting, you know, not being in a situation where we were, you know, in close proximity in the capitol.”

He said this made for a very unique and different session.

Demmer said now is a good time for people to relax and enjoy those around them.

“I think a lot of people are finding that if you can have a little bit of a getaway, you know, spending time with your family that can do quite a bit to fill your tank back up,” he said.

Hernandez said she wants people to know that despite the current crisis, they are still working.

“Even going to Springfield for four or five days and getting tested for COVID. That is part of the job right now,” she said. “And I hope in the future to continue going to session and continue working on bills that could benefit the families.”

In the end, although one is a Democrat and the other a Republican, both representatives have the same goal. And that’s working — pandemic or not — on behalf of their constituents.

State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, was one of the Republicans who said she couldn’t support the budget that the Democrat majority “pushed through” the General Assembly.

“The budget spends nearly $43 billion and relies heavily on massive borrowing and hope that the federal government will bail the state out with another stimulus package, which is no guarantee,” Rezin said in a statement.

Republicans also wanted the General Assembly to take more of an active role in managing the state’s reopening and have argued Gov. JB Pritzker has taken too much unilateral action. State Rep. Margo McDermed, R-Mokena, had already said she didn’t expect Democrats to challenge the governor’s authority.

“The people of Illinois deserve better,” McDermed said in a statement. “They deserve a reopening plan they have a voice in crafting. And if the Legislature couldn’t bring themselves to do that then they at the very least deserved to know where their legislators stand on the governor’s unilateral plan on record.”

State Rep. John Connor, D-Lockport,
acknowledged in a Facebook post that the budget relies on $6 billion in federal funding.
He called on the federal government to help Illinois, arguing the state is a “donor state,” meaning it sends more in tax money than it receives in aid.

“As Illinoisans and Americans, we are glad to support our federal government and we know how important our state is to the rest of the country,” Connor wrote.

State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, D-Shorewood, said that even though the state’s budget priorities were altered due to the pandemic, she favored funding for public schools remaining stable for the next year.

Connor and other Democrats also touted other pieces of legislation passed, including expanding mail-in voting and allowing county governments to give residents “breathing room” on paying their property taxes.

Pritzker said in a statement the budget recognizes the “massive economic disruption” the state faces.

“This budget begins to address the financial upheaval we are facing, but more hard choices about how to spend and save these dollars wisely remain to be made,” he said.

EDWARDSVILEE — State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, has pledged to donate the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) lawmakers will receive for the next fiscal year to the Cougar Cupboard food pantry and I Support the Girls – Edwardsville to show support for community organizations that help residents in need.

“It is unconscionable that politicians could consider accepting a pay raise while so many Illinoisans are struggling to make ends meet due to the COVID-19 crisis,” said Stuart. “I have continually fought against gold-plated perks for politicians and fought for legislation to block lawmaker pay if a balanced state budget was not passed.”

During the last General Assembly, with overwhelming bipartisan support, Stuart passed legislation to freeze lawmaker reimbursement rates and block an automatic cost of living adjustment from going into effect in the upcoming fiscal year. In 2017, Stuart passed similar legislation, which was signed into law.

“While a cost of living adjustment was included in the budget plan recently passed by lawmakers, I am continuing my commitment to promote fiscal responsibility and stand up for our families,” Stuart said. “So I will be donating these funds to two great organizations here in the Metro East that support residents in need — the Cougar Cupboard and I Support the Girls.”

Stuart recently co-hosted a virtual food drive for the Cougar Cupboard, which is fully supported by donations and has continually prepared emergency boxes for students, staff and faculty facing hardship during the COVID-19 health crisis. Stuart will be donating a portion of her COLA to the Cougar Cupboard to help alleviate the burden they’ve felt due to a spike in demand.

“Many students of SIUe are experiencing food insecurity because of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to this we have been faced with an increase in need that heavily overloaded our pantry supply,” said Carolyn Compton, Assistant Director for Community Engagement, who oversees the Cougar Cupboard, SIUE’s on-campus food pantry. “The Cougar Cupboard thanks Rep. Stuart for her continued support of our campus and food pantry, and her work for families in the Metro East, many of whom are tied to SIUe.”

Stuart has also been an outspoken advocate for organizations like I Support the Girls – Edwardsville, which works to increase access to period products for women in need. Stuart recently introduced House Bill 3991, which would require public universities and community colleges throughout the state to provide free feminine hygiene products in the bathrooms of their public buildings, and passed bipartisan legislation to require homeless shelters to provide period products free of charge.

“Our organization would like to thank Rep. Stuart for her continued advocacy and support of I Support the Girls, and her work to pass commonsense legislation to address period poverty in Illinois,” said Dr. Alicia Alexander, Affiliate Director of I Support the Girls – Edwardsville. “Her donation is just one more way that she is showing her dedication to our efforts and support for women and girls in need throughout our region.”

In these times of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am glad to have a leader like State Rep. Carol Ammons. She understands that criminal justice reform is linked to public health and safety.

We have seen outbreaks of COVID-19 in Illinois jails and prisons. The Cook County jail and Stateville Correctional Center are two current hot spots of the coronavirus. They have effectively become petri dishes that breed the disease until it spills out into our own communities.

Local officials have been considering the fate of our own Champaign County jail. Some have supported spending tens of millions of dollars on renovation. As former County Board member, Ammons spearheaded the campaign to stop jail spending. As state representative, she has backed legislation bringing bond reform that has led to Illinois lowering its incarceration rate for the first time in decades.

With more than 130 people still in our jail, there is still a need to further decarcerate Champaign County. There is no social distancing in jail. A COVID-19 outbreak in our jail would threaten the safety of us all.

As newly-elected chair of the Champaign County Democratic Party, winning the position with a 70 percent vote, Ammons has shown local voters support her advocacy around these issues. Ammons continues to stand against the local jail development, an issue Sheriff Dustin Heuerman recently admitted is “dead in the water.”

Ammons is the perfect leader in a time of crisis, an elected official who truly acts in the best interests of the public she serves.

BRIAN DOLINAR

Urbana