Remember the national uproar last November when U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia bowed out of his reelection race at the last minute and quietly passed petitions to put his chief of staff Patty Garcia on the ballot? We saw a lesser, but still quite palpable mass grumbling when state Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) did the […]
Rich Miller
Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
Posted inRich Miller
SAFE-T Act questions persist
Gov. JB Pritzker set off a chain reaction last November when he told reporters he’d be open to changes in the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail and replaced it with a new pre-trial release/retention system, among other things. Pritzker was asked about the case of a woman, Bethany MaGee, who was horrifically set ablaze […]
Posted inRich Miller
Power shortages predicted
A recent study published by three state agencies warns electricity shortages are coming to Illinois. The shortages will start in PJM’s regional transmission system by 2029, with the shortage hitting Illinois’ ComEd territory (which is within PJM) beginning in 2030, and then kicks in hard by 2032. Capacity shortages in downstate Ameren’s territory are expected […]
Posted inRich Miller
Mid-decade congressional remap unlikely
The two most intense state legislative pressure campaigns I’ve witnessed both ended in failure. Back in 2017, Gov. Bruce Rauner tried everything he could think of to stop legislative Republicans from voting to increase the income tax to about where it was right before he took office for his one and only term. Both political […]
Posted inRich Miller
SAFE-T Act under fire again
In the days after the horrific burning of a woman on a Chicago CTA train by a clearly deranged habitual criminal suspect last month, some in the news media immediately focused on their go-to issue: The SAFE-T Act. “Illinois leaders blast SAFE-T Act after repeat offender charged with lighting woman on fire on CTA Blue […]
Posted inRich Miller
State targets SNAP program error rate
Congress’ “Big Beautiful Bill” that passed last summer could prove to be far more damaging to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in Illinois than most people know. A SNAP “death penalty” is built into the budget reconciliation law. Before we go further, there’s a caveat: The US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service has […]
Posted inRich Miller
Chuy Garcia and the machine
You likely already know that U.S. Rep. Chuy García (D-Chicago) dropped out of his re-election race in a way that essentially handed his seat to his top aide. After his doctor advised him not to run again because of his heart condition, and his spouse who has multiple sclerosis which didn’t respond to her most […]
Posted inRich Miller
Leaks lead to lecture
House Democratic legislators received a stern lecture during the second week of veto session about leaks from their private party caucus meetings. During the first week of veto session in October, I posted a photo on my blog of a caucus PowerPoint presentation showing the range of revenue ideas under consideration in the House to […]
Posted inRich Miller
Mass transit funding deal analysis
Last May, several Illinois House Democrats complained bitterly that their mass transit negotiators were ignored and even shut out by the Senate Democratic mass transit negotiators. The House members had a point. The Senate passed a bill which was an almost purely Senate Democratic creation. They literally gave the House a “take it or leave […]
Posted inRich Miller
IFT moves into new era
At the end of the 2024 spring state legislative session, the Illinois Federation of Teachers issued a decidedly diplomatic press release. IFT President Dan Montgomery praised the new state budget as “crucial for our state’s success,” and applauded increases in K-12 and early childhood education funding. Montgomery did criticize the “meager” increase in higher education […]
Posted inRich Miller
Hospitals and law enforcement
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights held a Statehouse lobby day last week to push its far-reaching veto session agenda. Included in the ICIRR agenda are things such as putting strict limits on executing civil immigration warrants in state courthouses. That would likely be challenged in court, but there is some common law […]
Posted inRich Miller
Budget deficit projections
The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget projected last week that the current fiscal year’s budget will run a $267 million deficit. The budget office recommended taking “immediate” action to plug the hole. And the problem gets much worse in the future, with a $2.2 billion projected deficit for next fiscal year, which begins July […]
