The Capitol Fax Blog

• Reader comments closed for the weekend January 28, 2022
  * Cowboy Junkies will play us out. Turn it up… It’s only castles burning
• Richard Duchossois January 28, 2022
  * From Thom Serafin… Richard L. Duchossois, a native of Chicago, a decorated war hero, renowned businessman and horseracing icon, passed away peacefully at his home in Barrington Hills, Illinois on January 28, 2022. Duchossois was known for his top-down management style, his exacting business principles, his customer service-oriented philosophies and his com […]
• It’s just a bill January 28, 2022
  * Kelsey Landis at the BND… Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Illinois lawmakers will consider whether there should be statewide standards for warehouses following a tornado that killed six people at an Amazon facility in Edwardsville. […] The General Assembly plans to hold hearings to explore what can be done in the upcoming session, said state Rep. Jay [...]
• COVID-19 roundup January 28, 2022
  * Hospitalizations are down 25.12 percent in the past week. Good stuff. The lagging indicators will eventually catch up. Press release… The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 123,812 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including an increase of 843 deaths since January 21, 2022. Currently, [. […]
• Pause for the cause January 28, 2022
  * I am in dire need of a haircut and I made an appointment for lunchtime. But, when I did, I forgot that Sangamon County Judge Reylene Grischow could issue an order or decision today on the Tom DeVore case(s). Too late to back out now, so if something breaks while I’m gone, [...]
• Campaign notebook January 28, 2022
  * Greg Hinz… He’s in. Chicago businessman Jonathan Jackson has filed federal paperwork to run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Chicago, almost certainly a sign that the son of civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the brother of former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. will enter the race. […] An official [...] […]
• State wants judge to review TRO on judicial redistricting law: “Respondents never sought this relief” January 28, 2022
  * Post-Dispatch earlier this week… Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine filed a lawsuit Friday in an attempt to block what he called a “dubious” new Illinois law that requires judicial elections to be decided by voters in new sub-circuits rather than countywide. Illinois GOP leaders have called the new law a judicial “power grab” in the [...] […]
• Today’s number: January 28, 2022
  * Bloomberg… At the end of 2020, Illinois risked a downgrade to junk-bond status after taking emergency loans from the Federal Reserve to allay revenue losses from the pandemic. The state had almost no rainy day fund, paid an ever-higher penalty to borrow in the $4 trillion municipal bond market and Pritzker’s plan to collect more [...]
• Study: Rape crisis centers proved resilient during the Rauner impasse January 28, 2022
  * The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority commissioned a study on the effect the 2015-17 Rauner impasse had on rape crisis centers (RCCs) in Illinois. It wasn’t as bad as I might’ve expected, but that’s not to say that we should ever let this happen again… Study findings showed RCCs’ service delivery was negatively affected [...]
• *** UPDATED x1 *** OEIG: IDOC used inmate labor for staff fundraising events “such as car washes and shoe shining” January 28, 2022
  * From the OEIG… An OEIG investigation relating to the administration of Employee Benefit Funds (EBFs) at the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) was recently released. EBFs exist at all of the IDOC Correctional Centers and at its central administrative office in Springfield. Although EBFs serve a purpose in boosting employee morale, the EBFs at each [ […]