By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the Illinois Senate on Friday announced a $1.8 billion package of mostly temporary tax relief proposals that they hope to include in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget as the legislative session entered its final week.  

The package is $800 million beyond the tax relief package proposed by Gov. JB Pritzker in his budget in February, although it includes many of the same tax reductions backed by the governor. The measures are contained in eight amendments to Senate Bill 1150.

Pritzker’s office said it will review the plan, while Republicans called it an election-year gimmick.

Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, one of the lead budgeteers in the Senate, said the tax relief was made possible by unspecified “additional revenues” made available in the budget.

The plan announced Friday would include one-time direct checks to Illinoisans. Those earning less than $250,000 in 2021 would receive a $100 check, while joint filers earning less than $500,000 would receive $200. Checks would include an extra $50 per dependent, up to three dependents.

Lawmakers said the hope would be that the checks would be distributed by September. Taxpayers would not need to take action to receive the checks. Anyone who is eligible based on their 2021 return would be sent a check.

Other programs include a six-month suspension on the state’s 1 percent grocery tax, as well as a six-month stay on the inflationary adjustment to the motor fuel tax. That equates to keeping the motor fuel tax at its current level rather than increasing it by 2-3 cents.

Democrats are also proposing to increase the state Earned Income Tax Credit by a percentage point, raising it to 19 percent of the federal tax credit. The EITC is a credit available to low- and moderate-income households. It is a refundable credit, meaning those who qualify can receive a refund, even if the amount of the credit exceeds what they would otherwise owe in taxes.

Another proposal would allow for a tax credit up to $300 for homeowners who earn less than $250,000 individually or $500,000 jointly. The credit would be 5 percent of property tax paid, up to $300.

Another measure gets rid of the sales tax on school supplies from Aug. 5 to Aug. 14 this year. The tax moratorium would also apply to qualifying clothing and footwear items up to $125 per item.

It would also give teachers a tax credit up to $300 beginning in tax year 2023, up from $250 the current tax year, for supplies purchased for their classrooms and a $500 credit for volunteer firefighters and EMS who held those positions for at least nine months in the tax year. The sponsors said those credits would be permanent.

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COMMUNITY INVESTMENT: Democrats in the General Assembly on Friday outlined community investment proposals that they say will be part of a broader crime reduction package that is still being negotiated as session enters its final week.

The measures outlined by House and Senate Democrats stand in stark contrast to the tough-on-crime sentence enhancements and mandatory minimums pushed for by Republicans. Instead, they focus on what the Democrats billed as long-term violence interruption programs.

Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, said the investments outlined in the proposals are aimed at addressing a “30- to 40-year Groundhog Day-like history” of what he called the “failed tough-on-crime status quo.”

Their proposals were largely appropriations-based, requesting nearly $240 million in funding increases from the current fiscal year for intervention programs such as early childhood education and after school programs.

But they also included a grant program for establishing anonymous tiplines across the state in an effort to help solve crimes, as well as a program aimed at expanding a witness protection program for those involved in bringing violent criminals to justice.

Gov. JB Pritzker proposed funding a Gang Violence Witness Protection Program with $20 million for the upcoming fiscal year. Peters has a bill, Senate Bill 4203, appropriating that amount while requesting another $1 million to fund grants to create anonymous hotlines across the state and fund cash rewards for tipsters.

His amendment to House Bill 4736 would also rename the Gang Crime Witness Protection Act as the Violent Crime Witness Protection Act and it would expand it to be able to fund emergency relocation expenses, lost wage assistance, security deposits for rent and utilities and other relocation expenses.

The financial assistance program would go online in January 2023, per the bill.

The plan would also create a crime reduction task force that would include lawmakers, law enforcement, legal and criminal justice professionals, crime victims and witnesses. The task force would meet four times to discuss violence prevention measures and report back to the governor and General Assembly by March 1, 2023.

An amendment to House Bill 1360 would create a “co-responder” pilot program that sends social workers alongside officers of the police departments in East St. Louis, Peoria, Springfield and Waukegan. The social workers would look to address mental health issues.

Democrats made clear the long-awaited package is still under negotiation in the General Assembly, particularly the funding components.

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DCFS DEATHS: Eight-year-old Navin Jones died Tuesday evening at OSF Healthcare St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. Jones’ family had been in contact with DCFS before his death, according to DCFS spokesman William McCaffrey.

Stephanie Jones, 35, and Brandon Walker, 40, Navin’s parents, face first-degree murder charges in connection with the boy’s death.

“I think there should be a hefty internal investigation by DCFS into this case,” Harwood said. “And if there were failures, those should be remedied.”

The Peoria Journal Star reported Peoria County State’s Attorney Dave Kenny said during the arraignment for Navin’s parents that the boy weighed 30 pounds and was living in deplorable conditions. The child was last seen in late October or early November, when was in “relatively good health,” according to the newspaper report.

Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood declined to comment on Navin’s condition at the time of his death, citing the pending investigation, but did say the cause of his death was homicide and the manner was abuse and neglect.

Eighty miles due north of Peoria in Nelson, another coroner was investigating the death of 3-year-old Tamsin Miracle Sauer. She died in a Sterling hospital in Whiteside County on Saturday. The manner and cause of her death is still under investigation.

Tamsin’s family also had contact with DCFS, McCaffrey said.

The deaths of Navin and Tamsin are the latest cases of children who have died after having contact with DCFS. Since January, Sophia Faye Davis, 1; Damari Perry, 6; and Zaraz Walker, 7 months, have died from child abuse.

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DCFS HIRING: On Tuesday, March 29, Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith filed the first annual report on the department’s plan to address investigator caseloads as a requirement of a federal consent decree. That report, filed in a court document, showed there is a current statewide rolling vacancy percentage of 21 percent, and DCFS has a goal of reducing it to 6 percent or less.

DCFS stated in the report that they are aggressively hiring, having added 198 investigators to the payroll since March 2021, but due to the high number of employees leaving and retiring, the overall headcount went up by only a dozen investigators.

The agency pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and a labor crisis, coupled with rising child abuse investigations across the state, as obstacles to meeting that goal.

Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert, whose office represents about 7,100 children in state care, said Thursday that if DCFS had been keeping up with hiring over the past few decades it would not be in such straits now.

“It’s clear that when DCFS’s investigators labor under untenable caseloads without the supports that they need, in violation of court orders, both children and the investigators alike are at risk of serious harm and even death,” Golbert said in a phone call. “I fear that until DCFS gets its investigator caseloads down to reasonable levels, as mandated under a federal court order that is now more than 30 years old, we will continue to see children harmed.”  

Golbert also mentioned the January death of DCFS investigator Deidre Silas as an impediment to hiring.

In the motion filed by DCFS last week the 12-month average of investigations in March 2021 was 6,535. That rose to 7,726 in March 2022. An increase in reporting may be attributable to children having more contact with mandated reporters, such as teachers and doctors, as the pandemic eases. The increase may also be attributable to an increase in family stress, such as financial pressures.

In addition to recruiting and retention efforts, DCFS is conducting weekend “blitzes,” moving staff from other locations to volunteer for weekend shifts to help with completing investigations. In DCFS’s northern region, the agency conducted 13 blitzes where 148 staff worked a combined 2,500 weekend hours to help with investigations.

Last year, the court granted a three-year extension to DCFS to meet caseworker hiring goals. The parties agreed to make changes in 1991, but 30 years later the agency is still struggling to be in full compliance with the decree.

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TEACHER COVID DAYS: A bill that allows school and university employees who are fully vaccinated to take paid administrative leave if they have to miss work due to coronavirus-related issues cleared the Illinois Senate Thursday, March 31, and will soon be sent to Gov. JB Pritzker.

House Bill 1167, sponsored by Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, would guarantee full pay for any day that a fully-vaccinated school employee misses if they are required to stay home because they have a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19.

It also applies if the employee is required to stay home because they have been in close contact with a person confirmed to have COVID-19, to care for a child with COVID-19, or if the building in which they work is forced to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

It also applies to public university and community college personnel.

The bill, which would be retroactive to the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, defines “fully vaccinated” as having received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two weeks before being forced to miss work.

The bill is similar to one lawmakers passed during the fall veto session last year, HB2778, except that the earlier bill did not include a vaccination requirement. Pritzker vetoed that bill while at the same time announcing he had negotiated a compromise package with the state’s two major teachers unions, school districts, community colleges and universities that included a vaccine requirement.

But while the earlier bill passed the General Assembly nearly unanimously – 113-0 in the House; 53-1 in the Senate – the inclusion of a vaccine requirement caused lawmakers to split along party lines.

Republicans argued that the new bill amounts to a kind of vaccine mandate for school employees because it treats people who are otherwise equally situated, differently, based on their vaccination status.

Harmon, however, said the bill does not mandate that any school employee be vaccinated, and he compared the extra benefit vaccinated employees would receive to the extra pay some teachers receive if they pursue an advanced degree.

He also said he believed people who object to being vaccinated for religious or medical reasons would be exempted under federal law.

The bill passed the Senate 32-18. It passed the House on March 1, 70-28.

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REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: Members of the Illinois House Democratic Caucus were joined by Planned Parenthood officials at a news conference Thursday, March 31, to tout actions they say reaffirm women’s reproductive rights.

House Democrats passed House Bill 1464, which prevents the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation from being able to revoke, suspend, or take any other disciplinary action against licensed physicians, nurses, and advanced practice nurses for providing any medical service related to an abortion.

Illinois law already protects the right to an abortion as health care, but the bill is aimed at protecting health care providers who practice in multiple states.

Bill sponsor Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, said that if a medical professional practicing in Illinois and other states is disciplined in the other state, it triggers potential disciplinary action in Illinois as well. But as other states have moved to make abortion more difficult or outright illegal, the law would shield an Illinois doctor who is disciplined in one of those states for performing an abortion from facing the same discipline in Illinois.

HB 1464 passed the House 68-41 and still needs approval from the Senate.

The Supreme Court is expected to release a decision as early as this summer arising from a Mississippi abortion case that challenges the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. The Mississippi law prohibits an abortion after 15 weeks but makes exceptions in cases when the fetus has a severe abnormality that is “incompatible with life” or when the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life.

Brigid Leahy, vice-president of public policy at Planned Parenthood Illinois, said if the Supreme Court ignores a half century of precedent and overturns Roe v. Wade, it will become more difficult for people outside of the state to access a full range of care they need.

Illinois has 17 Planned Parenthood health care centers that provide access to health care information and services for males and females.

House Democrats also advanced non-binding resolutions that acknowledged their support for protecting reproductive health care. House Resolution 94 urges the state to fully fund Planned Parenthood, House Resolution 789 brings further awareness to the importance of reproductive rights and House Resolution 790 is to serve as a reminder of Illinois’ support for Roe v. Wade.

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ISP CENTENNIAL: From his ceremonial office at the Capitol Tuesday, March 29, Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed the 12-month period beginning April 1 as the Illinois State Police centennial year, ordering the ISP flag to fly atop the Capitol dome for the month of April.

The news conference in Pritzker’s office followed an appearance on the Capitol’s east lawn, where a fleet of new black-and-white squad cars and ISP officers lined up in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue.

Pritzker, at a news conference in his office, told a story of an ISP that formed in 1922 to “maintain order and safety on its massive number of newly paved roads.” ISP Director Brendan Kelly said the first class of ISP troopers consisted of eight individuals driving motorcycles “that were left over from the First World War.”

“It’s safe to say the Illinois State Police has changed an awful lot since then, as threats have evolved over the decades. As our understanding of public safety has expanded, so too have the duties of the Illinois State Police,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker said ISP duties now include “forensic testing, crime scene services, investigations, intelligence, cybersecurity, disaster response and a spectrum of support for all local law enforcement throughout the state.”

“The makeup of the ranks of our state troopers has changed too. Women and people of color weren’t allowed to serve 100 years ago. Today they are among ISPs highest ranks,” he said.

At the event, Pritzker awarded retired Illinois State Police Captain Donald Norton with the Illinois State Police Achievement Medal Tuesday to honor his 30 years of service to ISP.

Norton, now 91, served from 1960 to 1990 in the ISP Division of Criminal Investigation and Division of Narcotic Control, and was commander of Illinois State Police District 3, now known as District Chicago.

He was previously awarded the Medal for Honor, which is awarded to Illinois State Police personnel who perform a heroic act that “by its nature results in saving a life, preventing a serious crime, or apprehending a person who committed a serious crime.”

Pritzker said Norton remains committed to ISP, providing military guidon flags for each cadet and recruit class for several years. Norton has also developed flags for the office of the ISP director, first deputy director and each division. Pritzker said those flags will be encased at a 100th anniversary ceremony this Friday.

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CRIME DISCUSSION: The ISP centennial event on Tuesday, March 29, came amid a political backdrop in which crime and the state’s response to it is top of mind in the early stages of the 2022 campaign season in which every seat in the General Assembly and all constitutional offices are up for grabs, including the governorship.

“I believe that our police are out there trying to protect our communities as best they can, sometimes in extraordinary and difficult circumstances,” Pritzker said. “So we ought to stand up for our police, whether they’re state police, local police. Obviously, where there are police who aren’t doing the job, people who are mishandling their duties, they need to be held accountable for their actions.”

Pritzker acknowledged crime is up across the state and nation, attributing the trends partially to a “pandemic recession.”  The state must support law enforcement in an effort to “put away the people who actually committed crimes,” he said.  

Pritzker’s budget proposal included an $18.6 million increase to the ISP budget to allow for three classes of Illinois State Police cadets. Previously passed infrastructure budgets include crime lab funding as well.

But as Pritzker and Kelly headed out to the Capitol grounds to shake hands with rank-and-file ISP troopers, Richard Irvin, a Republican challenger for governor, issued a news release criticizing the governor’s 2021 signature on a criminal justice reform bill known as the SAFE-T Act.

Republicans have seized on Pritzker’s signature on the SAFE-T Act which eliminates cash bail beginning next year in favor of a system prioritizing the offender’s threat level over ability to pay. It’s to be defined in the courts.

The bill also requires body cameras be implemented by 2025, a measure which Pritzker said would increase accountability and trust. It also changed use-of-force guidelines for law enforcement, created a new police certification system and expanded detainee rights.

The GOP has blamed the SAFE-T Act for resignations in sheriff’s offices and police departments across the state and for making recruitment of new officers difficult.

When asked about recruiting officers, Pritzker pointed to a nationwide labor shortage and emphasized the brotherhood of ISP and strong wages as a recruiting hook. Kelly said law enforcement is a “challenging and difficult job,” but it’s also “a calling” and he’s optimistic recruits will continue to materialize.

Pritzker’s proposed budget also includes $4.5 million to fund body cameras for ISP, as well as providing the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board with $10 million for distributing grants to local law enforcement for body cameras.

Pritzker has also touted $240 million in proposed funding as part of a two-year, $250 million commitment to the Reimagine Public Safety Act, which aims at investing violence prevention resources in some of the state’s most dangerous areas.

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ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME: A group of Illinois senators were joined by officials from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and state attorney general’s office at a news conference Tuesday, March 29, to outline an effort to combat organized retail crime.

House Bill 1091, a collaboration between IRMA and attorney general’s office, defines organized retail crime in law and adds requirements to the information third-party selling marketplaces would be required to collect from their sellers.

Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, D-Western Springs, said the bill defines organized retail crime as when a person steals merchandise, either from a store or while the merchandise is in transit, with the intent to resell it.

It further defines the crime as when an individual “receives, purchases or possesses items for sale or resale knowing or believing the merchandise to be stolen” from a retail establishment, among several other narrow definitions of related criminal acts.

Offenses of organized retail crime could be sentenced at various felony levels that could include restitution.

Third party sellers would be required to verify a user’s identity with a bank account number or other information to prevent stolen goods from being sold online. The selling platform would be required to suspend sellers in violation of the new law.

The attorney general’s office would also have the authority to bring action against an entity believed to be engaging in organized retail crime. The attorney general would also be given subpoena authority pertaining to organized retail crime.

The bill also provides the AG’s office the ability to prosecute through a statewide grand jury.

The measure proposes that if a ring of smash-and-grab thefts happens across multiple counties, prosecutors would have the jurisdiction to consolidate charges against the offender in one county for all the smash-and-grab incidents.

The bill requires state funds to allow state prosecutors to investigate and prosecute retail criminal rings. Rob Karr, IRMA president, said the necessary funding is about $5 million but those funds would need to be allocated separately in the state’s budget for fiscal year 2023.

Karr said the measure addresses organized retail crime from multiple angles and will, if funded, create a “statewide intelligence gathering and sharing platform” that will allow retailers and law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal level to coordinate in addressing retail theft.

At a separate news conference, Gov. JB Pritzker said that he has yet to see the details of the bill but that he is looking forward to reviewing it.

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TRANSCRIPT HOLD BAN: Graduates from Illinois colleges and universities may soon be able to access their transcripts even if they still owe money to the school they attended.

The Illinois House on Tuesday, March 29, gave its approval to a bill that had already cleared the Senate prohibiting higher education institutions from refusing to provide copies of student transcripts either to the current or former student or that student’s current or prospective employer.

The proposed change in Illinois comes as the Biden administration is considering limited changes to federal guidelines that have long encouraged colleges and universities to withhold transcripts from anyone who is delinquent on repaying certain student loans.

Senate Bill 3032, dubbed the Student Debt Assistance Act, would go further than the Biden administration’s proposal by prohibiting the withholding of transcripts, or charging a higher fee for accessing those transcripts, on the grounds that the student owes the school any debt.

Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, the chief House sponsor of the bill, said schools have not limited the practice just to collecting student loan debt but sometimes use transcripts as leverage to collect any debt, including library fines and parking tickets. An estimated 6.6 million people in the country cannot get a copy of their transcript because they owe a debt to the college, he said.

He said that can prevent students and graduates from being able to get a job and earn the money it takes to pay off their school debt.

The bill originally passed the Senate without opposition, 55-0. But Republicans in the House raised concerns that the bill has no cap on the amount of money someone could still owe a school while still being able to access their transcripts.

The bill passed the House 74-33 but was sent back to the Senate for concurrence with a minor technical amendment. That vote could happen as early as Wednesday, which would clear the bill to be sent to Gov. JB Pritzker.

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VEGAN LUNCH OPTIONS: Public schools in Illinois may soon be serving a lot more vegan and vegetarian meals, thanks to a bill that cleared the General Assembly Tuesday, March 29.

House Bill 4089 requires school districts to provide a plant-based lunch option that complies with federal nutritional requirements to any student who submits a prior request to the district asking for such an option.

Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria, the lead Senate sponsor of the bill, said the proposal was meant to accommodate students with certain religious, cultural or health concerns.

But the bill drew some opposition from Republicans who called it an unfunded mandate on schools and argued that it could lead to even more dietary mandates.

Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, said schools already have the authority to offer plant-based food options because there is nothing in state law prohibiting it.

“And so if we’re going to embrace the notion of local control in allowing our local units of government to make their own decisions, here lies an example of where we can put that to work,” he said.

Koehler said the impact of the bill might be minimal because there may be some districts in which no students ask for plant-based option. He also said there is little difference in the cost of plant-based foods compared to meat-based meals.

The bill previously passed the House on March 4, 96-7. It passed the Senate Tuesday, 42-10, and next will be sent to Gov. JB Pritzker for his consideration.

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PRB LACKS QUORUM: On Tuesday, March 29, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board website noted the next quarterly clemency hearings, which were scheduled for April 12 to April 15, have been indefinitely postponed due to “unforeseen circumstances” as the agency looks to “finalize a future date and location.”

On Monday, PRB member Oreal James resigned by way of a letter to Gov. JB Pritzker before going to the Senate for a vote, and Eleanor Kaye Wilson failed to get the required votes needed to confirm her appointment to the board.

With James’ resignation and Wilson’s failed confirmation, the PRB now has just six seated members of a 15-member board. Of those, LeAnn Miller, Jared Bohland and Ken Tupy need Senate approval. Tupy and Bohland were recommended by the Executive Appointments Committee unanimously. Miller was also recommended.

“As we predicted, recent attacks on the Prisoner Review Board left the body short-staffed and without the capacity to carry out April’s quarterly clemency hearings,” said Jennifer Soble, executive director of the Illinois Prison Project in a news release on Tuesday. “This is the result of failed tough-on-crime rhetoric meant merely to incite fear and score cheap political points.”

Last week, Jeff Mears, a downstate Democrat, won a recommendation from the Senate Executive Appointments Committee, but also failed to get confirmed by the full Senate. Two weeks ago, Pritzker pulled the appointment of Max Cerda, a PRB board member who was convicted of a double murder when he was 16 years old and paroled in 1998. It appeared Cerda would not have enough Senate support for approval.

The PRB has been a source of scrutiny from Senate Republicans who questioned the appointment process and the recent decisions on release, including the release of two men, both now in their 70s, who shot an Illinois State Police trooper in 1976.

Pritzker spoke out during a news conference to honor the Illinois State Police on Tuesday, saying Republicans were attacking the “character” and “biographies” in an effort to “tear apart this agency of government.”

“It’s very easy just to say, ‘this person committed an awful crime so many years ago,’ and to say, ‘we’re gonna throw away the key, leave them all in prison,’” Pritzker said. “That’s what you’re gonna end up with. If that’s what people want, well, let’s hear that. But I don’t think that’s what people wanted when we created the Prisoner Review Board.”

Pritzker did not directly respond to a question Tuesday as to how long it would take to get the board to a quorum, but he did note that the recent publicity around the board makes finding replacements more difficult.

The governor could appoint new members before the Senate adjourns, but the Senate would have to act on those appointments before recess on April 8, probably too late to save the April clemency docket. The constitution provides that a governor can make a temporary appointment to a board during a recess of the Senate.

 

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