THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All
Gov. JB Pritzker speaks on the far Northwest side Wednesday.
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September 22, 2022
Good morning, Illinois.
Former Governor Jim Edgar was our guest on our weekly Livestream and podcast yesterday. You can watch the whole video on our YouTube channel below. The podcast goes out later today.
It is 47 days to Election Day. Governor JB Pritzker does not have a public schedule. Sen. Darren Bailey continues a bus tour in Homer Glen at 9 and McCook at 5.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker deflects on corruption as state Sen. Emil Jones III resigns leadership and committee posts after federal bribery charges (Chicago Tribune)
Democratic state Sen. Emil Jones III resigned from his leadership post and committee chairmanship Wednesday, a day after he was hit with federal bribery charges that again pushed public corruption to center stage as Gov. J.B. Pritzker and fellow Democrats seek to keep control of state government in the November election.
At a campaign event Wednesday morning on the Far Northwest Side, Pritzker sought to portray pervasive political corruption in Illinois as a bipartisan problem rather than one endemic to Democrats.
“We’ve seen Democrats and Republicans all across the state get in trouble for not living up to the standards of public service that demand integrity,” Pritzker told reporters. “And so it’s disappointing, terribly disappointing, and it reminds us all that all the ethics work that we do on new ethics legislation needs to keep going, that this isn’t something you do one and done.”
Pritzker pointed to ethics overhauls he’s signed into law after previous scandals as evidence that Democrats are taking the issue seriously, though good-government groups have criticized those efforts as half-measures. A measure he signed last year prompted the resignation of the legislature’s top watchdog, who said it rendered her office a “paper tiger.”
Pritzker has not called for Jones to resign from his $72,906-per-year Senate seat, a point his Republican opponent in the Nov. 8 election, state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, noted in a Twitter post Wednesday.
“When will we get serious about anti-corruption legislation?” Bailey wrote. “JB should demand Sen. Jones step down, but he won’t. Pritzker hides from accountability when it comes to his party & administration. I don’t care what party you belong to, it’s time to clean house in Springfield.”
Related: State Sen. Emil Jones III gives up leadership posts after federal bribery charges — but not his Senate seat (Chicago Sun-Times)
State Sen. Emil Jones III charged with bribery in latest expansion of red-light camera case (Chicago Tribune)
Editorial: Charges against state Sen. Emil Jones III show cheap price of corruption in Illinois (Chicago Sun-Times)
UPDATED: Gov. Pritzker called on Jones and Sen. Mike Hastings (D-Frankfort) to resign.
SAFE-T Act comes into focus weeks ahead of election, months before cash bail abolition (Bloomington Pantagraph)
For the past year, Illinois Republicans have attempted to make crime a major campaign issue in the midterm elections, harping on concerns about a sprawling criminal justice reform law signed in early 2021.
“We're going to be running on public safety," said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin in January. "What party has the back of law enforcement? What party, more importantly, has the backs of victims? It's the Republicans. The Democrats have abandoned this.”
Though other issues like inflation and abortion rights have at times blocked it from reaching centerstage, a confluence of events the past few weeks have brought the matter back into focus.
Chief among those factors is timing. Several key provisions of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, better known as the SAFE-T Act, take effect Jan. 1 — just over three months away. Not to mention there's an election in just under seven weeks.
The law, passed in the middle of the night in early January 2021 with bare majorities, represents the most significant overhaul of the state's criminal justice system in a generation.
The situation also displays the nuances, confusion and, at times, lack of clarity in the law's language that may need to be cleaned up before it takes effect. Some changes will likely come in the legislature's veto session this November.
Time is short, which partially explains why the issue has been in the news as of late. But, part of it too is the rise of misinformation surrounding the law.
Some have spread misinformation about "non-detainable" offenses and have compared the law to "The Purge," the movie about an annual holiday where all crime is legal. These claims either untrue or misleading.
Still, this rise of misinformation exposes a hard truth: This 764-page law is extensive and, at times, incredibly confusing.
Related: McHenry County latest to sue over Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, elimination of cash bail (Shaw Media)
Prosecutors challenge SAFE-T Act eliminating cash bail as thousands sign petition (Daily Herald)
Opinion: SAFE-T Act 'certainly not about public safety' (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Voters should hold Illinois lawmakers accountable for a crime reduction package (State Journal-Register)
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Waukegan officials blast Darren Bailey’s campaign for photo posted from non-political event; ‘I do not support...his radical ideas’ (Chicago Tribune)
Republican Darren Bailey’s gubernatorial campaign hits Crystal Lake, talks crime (Northwest Herald)
How are those Proft political papers winding up in your mailbox? (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Omar Aquino and Cristina Pacione-Zayas: Hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico needs help to achieve self-determination (Chicago Tribune)
What’s at stake in Illinois, now that Indiana has made most abortions illegal (Chicago Sun-Times)
Republicans look to keep what few seats they have on the Cook County Board (WBEZ)
Treasurer’s Race: Frerichs touts investment gains, Demmer sees opportunity for GOP check (Capitol News Illinois)
Politics and Facebook: How candidates are using social media ads to advance campaigns (State Journal-Register)
