THE ILLINOIZE: Hospitalizations climbing...Cases out of control...Pritzker's travel stumble...Bustos tests positive...Scary budget numbers...Final election tallies today...Bernie & Finke...

November 17, 2020

“THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE”

I’ve never met Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. But there are few people I’m more empathetic toward out there today. She’s a doctor stuck in a political pi$$ing match.

She’s trying to help lead us with the best science and data available, while both Donald Trump and Governor JB Pritzker have galvanized their supporters and detractors, and it appears the simple act of wearing a mask has become the Waterloo.

Let’s leave the politicians out of it for a minute. The science is abundantly clear: cases are on the rise, hospitalizations are on the rise, and deaths are going to be following the trend.

So, forget the politicians. Listen to the scientists.

Thanks so much for reading. Please click throughout the day at www.theillinoize.com and Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, please feel free to click the share button right below this paragraph to send this newsletter to your co-workers, neighbors, and colleagues.

HOSPITALS “ON THEIR WAY” TO OVERWHELMED

It’s getting bad out there.

State statistics show on September 19, around 1,400 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19. As of Sunday night, that number was around 5,600. ICU beds are filling up and case numbers don’t appear to be dropping anytime soon.  

Two hospital executives spoke during Governor JB Pritzker’s daily press conference yesterday about the toll of the second wave of the coronavirus hitting Illinois.

Ruth Colby, President & CEO of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, in Will County, says 60 employees couldn’t come to work Monday because they contracted or came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

“What we’re seeing is our staff contracting and being exposed to the disease in small community gatherings or in places that people are not wearing masks,” said Colby. “That makes it more and more difficult to take care of people.”

“As we continue to have the volumes go up, it is very difficult for our staff to continue the long hours and resources are going to dry up,” said Dr. Michael Kulisz, Chief Medical Officer of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb.

HONEST QUESTION: why aren’t people buying in? Is this Trump-centric doubts about the severity of the pandemic? This whole “live free and die” (that’s not a typo) thing doesn’t make any sense. And those questioning the legality of the Governor’s executive actions are losing every time they go to court.

Why is this so hard? Honestly. Email your thoughts to patrick@theillinoize.com. I won’t use your name, but we may share some good thoughts Friday.

PRITZKER’S OPTICS PROBLEM

Governor JB Pritzker raised some eyebrows during his daily news conference yesterday when he hinted he may not be spending Thanksgiving in Illinois while advising residents to stay home.

I hope the administration knows the issues its dealing with as to how the Governor is perceived downstate.

For whatever reason, the Governor is going to have a hard time getting people to buy in to mitigations and mask wearing and lockdowns if he looks like a hypocrite. He received enough blowback last weekend when video surfaced of him walking around Chicago celebrating Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

Clearly, the issue isn’t so much Pritzker’s health and safety if he were just to hop in a car and drive the 90 minutes to his multi-million dollar mansion on the shores of Geneva Lake in Wisconsin or to his horse farm near the Illinois/Wisconsin border.

“I don’t know exactly what my plans will be,” Pritzker initially answered.

When pressed, Pritzker still wouldn’t confirm his plans. Asked if he would be staying in Illinois, he responded “that is my hope, but I will let you know.”

I sent the exchange to a couple of Republican legislators.

“Wow,” replied a State Representative, clearly flabbergasted by the comment.

“Seriously?” asked another GOP lawmaker.

BUSTOS TESTS POSITIVE

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-Moline), who won a close race for re-election three weeks ago, announced on Twitter yesterday that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

Bustos is at least the third member of Illinois’ congressional delegation to test positive for the coronavirus. Congressman Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) tested positive in October, while Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) tested positive in August.

We wish Rep. Bustos a quick recovery.

SCARY BUDGET NUMBERS, SCARY SOLUTIONS?

The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget put out its annual five-year forecast Friday and without some drastic action things don’t look good.

The report shows the bill backlog would balloon to more than $33 billion if action isn’t taken. That is, of course, if the state fails to meet its longtime standard of passing sound, balanced budgets.

Yeah, right.

Democrats had banked on billions in new revenue from the graduated income tax, but it failed before voters earlier this month. Add a budget that was passed with a giant hole that counted on a $5 billion federal bailout. Given the likelihood of a Republican Senate, it’s unlikely every Democratic Governor gets their wish list granted.

Pritzker said Monday cuts will have to come first.

“The cuts will be somewhat painful,” Pritzker said.

Some Republicans I spoke to think Pritzker is trying to scare the Democratic legislature into passing a tax increase before the next legislative session.

In 2011, after Democrats faced losses in the Illinois House, a number of lame duck lawmakers voted to raise income taxes in the final hours of their terms at the behest of then-Governor Pat Quinn.

More recently, more moderate Republicans broke from then-Governor Bruce Rauner to support a tax hike and unbalanced budget in an attempt to stop cuts to schools, universities, and state agencies in their districts. Republicans we’ve spoken to don’t seem interested in putting any votes on a tax hike under any circumstance or plea from Pritzker.

Pritzker, though, is the most liberal/progressive Governor we’ve seen in the state in quite some time, and cutting state services isn’t his style. Maybe he’s trying to gin up support from liberal voters to push more moderate Democrats (including the Speaker) to feel as if they have some cover to vote for a tax increase.

We may have seen some of the narrative start to play out during veto session this week, but, yeah. No veto session.

Click here for our write-up on the subject.

FINAL ELECTION NUMBERS TODAY

Today is the final day to count late arriving mail-in ballots and provisional ballots around the state. Any mail-in ballot postmarked November 3 can arrive as late as today and still be counted.

There are two races that seem like they have a chance to change results once all the ballots are counted. Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) leads Democrat Dave Vella by just 315-votes. Meanwhile, Rep. Mary Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville) has closed an over 4,000-vote deficit to Republican Chris Bos. She now trails by around 1,150 votes.

Keep up on the latest numbers today with our Legislative Race Tracker.

BERNIE & FINKE OUT AT SJ-R

Longtime Springfield newspaper stalwarts Bernie Schoenburg and Doug Finke are reportedly taking a buyout from the struggling paper. The Illinois Times first reported the story. Bernie confirmed it to me last night.

It’s just another sign of how dire the situation is for newspapers around the state, especially downstate. The SJ-R is owned by Gannett, the struggling conglomerate which operates over 250 newspapers around the country, including the SJ-R, Peoria Journal Star, and Rockford Register Star.

Lee Enterprises owns the Southern Illinoisan, Decatur Herald & Review, and Bloomington Pantagraph. The News-Gazette in Champaign was sold after its longtime owner declared bankruptcy last year.

The newspaper business is cutting staff at an alarming rate, making questionable coverage decisions, begging for clicks and national stories, and putting less emphasis on quality journalism.

It’s part of the reason I’m here. I was angered this spring that no media outlets would cover any details of a major downstate congressional primary.

Bernie was great at his job and we’ve gone round and round and round many times on issues over the years. I worked with Finke less over the years, but as a surly man myself, I always respected his gruff take-no-BS style.

Good luck to Bernie and Doug moving forward and I hope the SJ-R is able to hire quality replacements.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday tomorrow to former Attorney General and longtime President of the powerful Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago Ty Fahner.

GIVE A LITTLE BIT

I told you last week that I’ve signed up to host a “Virtual Red Kettle” for the Salvation Army. During the height of the pandemic, Salvation Army was giving away tens of thousands of meals to folks who were shut in, sick, or in dire financial straits. They’ve also been operating a program to help people pay rent or their electric bill.

There are fewer kettles this year and fewer coins out there. So, those of us who are lucky to have a little should all feel the need to give a little bit to help those in need this holiday season.

Please click here to give a few bucks to the Salvation Army.

Thank you for your support and thank you for reading The Illinoize.

Have a great week.