Capital Facts

It will be months for court to decide on SAFE-T Act

Published by admin on Sat, 01/07/2023 - 12:36pm

Kankakee County Judge Thomas Cunnington set off a chaotic chain reaction Dec. 29 with his ruling that the General Assembly over-stepped its constitutional grounds when it voted to eliminate cash bail. Cunnington essentially said that a cash bail requirement, even though not specifically mentioned in the constitution, could be inferred; and that the General Assembly had exercised powers that properly belonged to the judicial branch.

SAFE-T Act update will allow the arrest of trespassers

Published by admin on Sat, 12/17/2022 - 11:01am

Illinois House Deputy Majority Leader Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) headed up her chamber’s efforts to amend the controversial SAFE-T Act this year. The day before the bill came up for a vote, I asked her what were, in her opinion, the largest misconceptions about the 2021 social justice reform law.
Gordon-Booth pointed to the trespassing issue. “I don't care if you live in rural, urban, suburban. The trespassing [issue] was one that just made a lot of folks incredibly uncomfortable.”

Expect a big push to ban assault rifles in Illinois

Published by admin on Sat, 12/10/2022 - 11:09am

There’s been sort of an unwritten rule the past several years in Springfield to stay away from doing things like ban assault weapons.
The votes to pass one have seemingly been there in both chambers, but the will of past Democratic leadership seemed to be to not overtly poke any big, cash-rich bears, like the National Rifle Association, or to alienate or electorally imperil conservative members of their Democratic caucuses.

Respect needed between Illinois Democrats, Republicans

Published by admin on Sat, 12/03/2022 - 2:23pm

The state legislative debate last week over amending the Pre-Trial Fairness Act provisions within the controversial SAFE-T Act featured many of the same obfuscations and outright misinformation that characterized the fall campaign by Republicans and many of the same insufficient answers by Democrats.

Overturning Roe v. Wade changed outcome of recent election

Published by admin on Sat, 11/26/2022 - 12:26pm

The Illinois Senate Republicans’ new leader John Curran told Capitol News Illinois the other day that there was nothing left to do on the abortion topic in Illinois.
“The reality is, what else can we do here in Illinois?” Sen. Curran said. “The laws of Illinois are more weighted towards guarantees of the rights to have an abortion than any other state in the nation. There's no further to go.”
However, House Speaker Chris Welch strongly indicated recently that a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing reproductive rights was a very likely prospect.

What will Illinois do with extra cash?

Published by admin on Sat, 11/19/2022 - 3:27pm

Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration recently used its annual Economic and Fiscal Policy Report to outline three new budget proposals. The report revised projected revenues upward by $3.69 billion for this fiscal year, but noted that most of the projected increase was from one-time sources, like an unexpected spike in the state’s Income Tax Refund Fund of $1.28 billion.

Illinois Republicans’ problem is lack of money

Published by admin on Sat, 11/12/2022 - 10:12am

Rep. Tim Ozinga (R-Mokena) made the classic blunder of not focusing on one election at a time. But, his flub does give us an excuse to look at a few fundraising issues.
It’s been no secret that Ozinga wanted to be the next House Republican Leader. But he hasn’t really been involved in many House Republican races this year and then, the day before election day, all of a sudden reported giving his own campaign fund a million dollars.

Voters need to punish those using misleading attacks

Published by admin on Sat, 11/05/2022 - 12:25pm

I’m writing this a few days before election day, but, from where I sit, if the so-called Workers’ Rights Amendment fails to pass muster with voters, a campaign fueled by the Illinois Policy Institute could take a big share of the credit.
The proposed constitutional amendment is backed to the hilt by organized labor. They’ve raised $16 million to support their cause.

Illinois still a basket case, but improving

Published by admin on Sat, 10/29/2022 - 12:31pm

When Emerson College unveiled its latest Illinois poll last week, its press release included three “Key Takeaways.” At the very top of its list was this: “Fifty-two percent (52%) majority of voters think things in Illinois are on the wrong track, while 48% think things are headed in the right direction.”
The college is based in Massachusetts, a liberal state with a popular Republican governor. A recent poll taken in Massachusetts by Suffolk University found that 59 percent believed their state was on the right track while 33 percent said it was on the wrong track.

Illinois Democrats have millions more to spend

Published by admin on Sat, 10/22/2022 - 12:26pm

House Speaker Chris Welch reported raising a whopping $14 million in the third quarter, with almost half of that, $6 million, coming from Gov. JB Pritzker. That gives Welch a huge cash advantage for the home stretch over his Republican counter-part.
Welch’s personal campaign committee reported raising $7 million between July 1 and September 30 and reported having $11.6 million cash on hand at the end.