"Serious Tensions" Between Senate Democrats and Pritzker Administration Over Appointments
Senate President Don Harmon (L) and Governor JB Pritzker at a news conference last year.
NOTE: This story was originally posted for subscribers only. To receive subscriber-only newsletters and content, click here.
A rift spanning more than two years may be about to break open and implode an already tenuous relationship between Governor JB Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon, and members of the Senate Democratic caucus over the Governor’s executive appointments, namely to the Prisoner Review Board.
The PRB, which is Illinois’ version of a parole board, lost two members last week, Donald Shelton, the Chairman, and LeAnn Miller, after a recent parolee was accused of attempting to kill his pregnant ex-girlfriend and murdering her 11-year-old son who tried to protect her.
It’s the latest public relations blow for the Pritzker administration, which has had to battle allegations of being “soft on crime” dating back to previous appointees to the board as well as his full-throated support for the controversial “SAFE-T” Act and Pretrial Release Act, which eliminated cash bail in Illinois courts.
In 2022, the Senate defeated two of Pritzker’s PRB nominations with the help of Democratic votes. Two others were withdrawn before they were called for a vote. Those nominees were expected to fail on the floor, as well.
“There are some serious tensions here,” one Democratic insider told The Illinoize. “Members think if they’re voting for these board members seen as soft-on-crime, it makes [them] all look that way.”
Another Democrat cited the tensions between Harmon and Pritzker becoming more difficult during negotiations of the 2021 Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), where Harmon was accused of holding up the inclusion of progressive and environmentalist causes.
Liz Mitchell, a spokesperson for Harmon, downplayed the statements.
“All of the Governor’s nominations receive the normal review,” Mitchell said.
As has been their position on responding to our inquiries for the past three years, the Governor’s office did not respond to The Illinoize Monday.
At an unrelated event Monday, Pritzker said changes in the PRB are needed.
“The panel didn’t take into consideration enough, the domestic violence history of this particular prisoner,” he said. “One thing that we have decided to do is make sure that we enhance the domestic violence training that all PRB members get…to make sure that this never happens again.”
Sen. Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines), who chairs the Senate Executive Appointments committee, did not return a message Monday, but it appears the tensions extend past the PRB.
Last week, Pritzker withdrew and resubmitted the nomination of Illinois Emergency Management Agency Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau after she had been criticized for her handling of financial mismanagement allegations after a temporary executive assistant billed the agency for more than a million dollars of work.
According to the Sun-Times, Murphy was among those questioning Tate-Nadeau if controls had been put in place to prevent overbilling by a staffer.
Committee chair state Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, asked whether her personnel policies include prosecution when theft is detected. Tate-Nadeau said they didn't.
“So that’s a concerning statement," Murphy said. "And I would ask the committee that we will continue to review that."
The committee still gave Tate-Nadeau’s nomination a green light. Murphy, however, told Tate-Nadeau: “Director, we need to have discussions before this is heard before the full body.”
Murphy this week said Tate-Nadeau gave "limited answers because she cannot comment on active investigations." But she noted allegations surrounding Gentry's actions are currently under investigation by the Office of the Executive Inspector General, and that the original appointment did clear the committee.
Republicans have long been critical of Pritzker’s PRB appointees and are expected to introduce legislation today to reform the board and its office. It is expected to be met with a shrug from supermajority Democrats.
But Pritzker, asked Monday if he had begun the search for new PRB members, made a jab at Republicans for having “politicized” the board.
“The more that people politicize the position, the less likely it is that someone would want to serve in it,” he said. “There have been people in the General Assembly, typically in the opposite party, who have politicized this. So it makes it more difficult.”
Pritzker said no formal search for replacements had begun, but were “contemplating” the nominations.
