CAPITOL RECAP: Petition filing ends with crowded GOP field in governor’s race

By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – Seven teams of Republicans and one team of Democrats have lined up to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the 2022 elections.

Monday was the deadline for candidates to turn in their nominating petitions to the Illinois State Board of Elections to get their names on the June 28 primary ballot.

Candidates who were in line at 8 a.m. on the first day of filing, March 7, will enter a lottery for a chance to have their names listed first on the ballot. But those who filed in the final hour before 5 p.m. Monday, March 14, have a chance to be listed last on the ballot.

The State Board of Elections has until Monday, March 21, to certify the petitions. In the meantime, candidates and party officials may try to challenge other candidates’ petition signatures.

Among the last to file in the governor’s race were Republicans Jesse Sullivan, of Petersburg, a political newcomer and owner of the venture capital firm Alter Global LLC, and his running mate Kathleen Murphy, of Warrenville. Murphy is a former spokeswoman for former state Rep. and 2018 GOP gubernatorial hopeful Jeanne Ives.

Their opposition includes Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and his running mate, state Rep. Avery Bourne, of Morrisonville. They join other teams of candidates who filed earlier: state Sen. Darren Bailey, of Xenia, and his running mate Stephanie Trussel of Lisle; Bull Valley businessman Gary Rabine and his running mate Aaron Del Mar of Palatine; former state Sen. Paul Schimpf, of Waterloo, and his running mate Carolyn Schofield of Crystal Lake; and the team of Emily Johnson, of Wheaton, and Bret Mahlen, of Orland Park, members of the group We Are the People Illinois, which has called for investigations into unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 elections. The website for the group identifies it as consisting of “over 200 people.”

Another late filer Monday was GOP gubernatorial candidate Max Solomon, of Hazel Crest, and his running mate, Latasha Fields, of Chicago. According to his website, Solomon is a native of Nigeria who now practices law in the Chicago area, while Fields is the founder of Christian Home Educators Support System.

One other GOP candidate, Keisha Smith, of Country Club Hills, filed for governor without a running mate, something that a State Board of Elections spokesman said could be grounds for objection and disqualification because state law requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run as a team.

Pritzker and Stratton also face one challenge from within their own party, Beverly Miles, a nurse and U.S. Army veteran from Chicago, and her running mate Karla Shaw.

* * *

CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS: Illinois voters this year will also choose candidates for other constitutional offices. The most contentious of those will likely be for the office of secretary of state, where incumbent Jesse White is stepping down after six terms in office.

On the Democratic side, former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia appear to be the leading candidates, while Chicago Alderman David Moore and charity director Sidney Moore, of Homewood, are also in the race.

On the Republican side, former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser, of Springfield, and state Rep. Dan Brady, of Bloomington, are competing for the nomination. Also in the race is former Chicago police officer Michelle Turney, who also affiliates with the group We Are The People Illinois.

In the race for attorney general, three Republicans have lined up to challenge incumbent Democrat Kwame Raoul. They include Thomas DeVore, the southern Illinois lawyer best known for his lawsuits challenging Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigations; Deerfield attorney Steve Kim; and David Shestokas, a former assistant state’s attorney for Cook County who is a hearing officer for the Chicago Board of Elections.

In the race for state treasurer, Republican state Rep. Tom Demmer, of Dixon, and Lake Bluff resident Patrice McDermand, also of We Are The People Illinois, will vie to challenge incumbent Democrat Michael Frerichs.

And in the race for Illinois comptroller, Republicans Shannon Teresi, a certified public accountant from Crystal Lake, and Michael Kinney, of Carol Stream, will compete for the nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Susana Mendoza.

* * *

FOID CHALLENGE: The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked for a second time to decide whether a state law requiring gun owners to have a firearm permit is unconstitutional – a question the court previously declined to answer.

The case involves a White County resident, Vivian Claudine Brown, who was charged in March 2017 with possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner’s Identification, or FOID card.

A circuit judge in White County threw out the charge, saying the Illinois law requiring potential gun owners to fill out a form, provide a picture ID, undergo a background check and pay a $10 fee to obtain a FOID card was unconstitutional, at least as it applied to Brown. The judge said it imposed a burden on Brown’s Second Amendment right to keep a firearm in her own home for self-defense.

The circuit court went on to say, even though Brown’s attorneys never raised the issue, that it is impossible to comply with the act in one’s own home. That’s because it would mean anybody who had knowledge of a firearm in the home and exclusive control over the area where it was kept could be construed as possessing the gun and therefore would have to have their FOID card on their person 24 hours a day.

The state appealed that decision directly to the state Supreme Court, but in April 2020, the high court declined to answer the question of the law’s constitutionality. Instead, it said the White County court had rushed to rule on the law’s constitutionality when it could have decided the case on other grounds, namely that the General Assembly never intended the FOID Card Act to apply in the home.

The Supreme Court then sent the case back to White County with instructions to enter a modified order that did not touch on the constitutionality question.

The White County court did that, but then in an unusual move, Brown’s attorneys asked the court to reconsider, arguing that the modified order forced Brown to take a position she didn’t want to take and one that would ultimately be overturned on appeal, thus delaying any final resolution of the case, possibly for years.

The circuit court agreed and reinstated the charges against her. Brown’s attorneys then filed a new motion to dismiss on constitutional grounds. The judge then upheld that motion, finding that “any fee associated with exercising the core fundamental Constitutional right of armed self-defense within the confines of one’s home violates the Second Amendment.”

The state then appealed that decision back to the Illinois Supreme Court. The court took the case under advisement and hosted oral arguments this week but did not indicate how long it might take to issue a decision.

* * *

STATE EMPLOYEE CHARGED: A state employee charged last month with molesting a child now faces a charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a patient at the state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.

Union County State’s Attorney Tyler Tripp charged former Choate mental health technician Charles W. Mills, 58, of Jonesboro on Thursday. Mills is accused of sexual assault that occurred on March 19, 2020, against a person, identified in the charges as E.K., who has a severe or profound intellectual disability and was unable to give knowing consent.

Mills tendered his resignation but it does not go into effect until March 15, Department of Human Services spokeswoman Marisa Kollias said last week.

According to the Illinois comptroller’s state employee pay database, he received a paycheck as recently as Monday and was paid $41,000 in annual salary in 2021 despite spending the entire year on administrative leave while under investigation.

Mills continued to be paid despite those allegations, submitting his resignation in February only after he was arrested on the unrelated child molestation charges. In that case, he faces four felonies for molesting a child younger than 13 years old.

The child molestation allegations date back to 2020 and were investigated by the Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation. The actions were not related to his state employment.

The allegations against Mills for his assault of a patient at Choate were investigated by Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation.

In an unrelated case, two top administrators at Choate face criminal charges for obstructing an Illinois State Police investigation into abuse allegations at the facility.

Center director Bryant Davis and administrator Gary Goins were indicted in June 2021 on official misconduct charges. Court documents filed in Goins’ case on Monday stated that Goins, then the quality assurance manager at Choate, accessed confidential investigative files and directed staff to speak to the victim before police did.

Both administrators remain on the DHS payroll.

* * *

PRISONER REVIEW BOARD: On Monday, March 14, Gov. JB Pritzker pulled the appointment of Max Cerda to the Prisoner Review Board as it appeared not to have enough Senate support.

Cerda was convicted of a double murder when he was 16 years old, paroled in 1998 and began working with ex-offenders in Chicago to help them transition to life outside of prison. Pritzker appointed him to the PRB in 2021.

The governor also sent a letter Monday to the state senators in charge of the appointment process urging action on his outstanding appointments.

The PRB appointment process has come under scrutiny by Republican members of the Senate in the past year as several PRB members are serving without Senate confirmation.

“It is critical to both public safety and justice that the Senate Executive Appointments Committee act on this so that this board can fully function,” Pritzker said in a letter dated March 15.

A copy of the letter addressed to Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, and Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, was obtained by Capitol News Illinois. The letter urged the Executive Appointments Committee, which Murphy chairs, to act on the appointments.

“Without the adequate number of members, one of the key PRB functions that will be jeopardized is the responsibility for conducting final revocation hearings. This function is not often reported on, but it is essential for public safety,” Pritzker wrote.

Pritzker was referring to the revocation hearings for offenders who have re-entered the Illinois Department of Corrections because they have violated the conditions of their parole. Final revocation hearings must occur within 90 days of the date the offender returns to IDOC custody. If the hearing is not held in time, the offender will be released and deemed not to be in violation of their parole.

There were 4,595 revocation hearings last year, according to the letter, and hearings across the state are held 15 to 20 times per month. Three board members must be present at each hearing, according to state law, and as many as three such hearings are scheduled in different parts of the state on the same day.

Thus, Pritzker said in the letter, approval of his appointees is needed to ensure all meetings have the minimum number of members. 

The governor’s office said any questions about timing of appointees should be directed to the Senate.

* * *

WAGE SUBSIDIES: Members of the Workers Center for Racial Justice held a rally in front of the Capitol Wednesday morning, March 16, demanding the Illinois General Assembly pass House Bill 3215, dubbed the Safer Communities Act. 

The measure offers job providers wage subsidies for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals at a living wage over a five-year period.

Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said that when people come home after being institutionalized, their “second sentence” begins due to lack of opportunities and programs in place to help them integrate back into the community. 

The bill’s current status as of Thursday was “re-referred to Rules Committee,” a legislative designation that generally means such a measure is unlikely to move, at least in the current General Assembly. But the advocates urged that the program be included in the final budget package.

The bill would provide a living wage job creation program for up to 20,000 formerly incarcerated workers for the duration a five-year pilot incentive period, which would begin on March 1, 2023, and end on Feb. 28, 2028. It would allow businesses that hire formerly incarcerated individuals on a union contract or at a wage of $20 hourly plus benefits to receive wage subsidies for those employees.

A maximum of 10,000 participants would consist of individuals released from prison on or after Jan. 1, 2022. The other 10,000 participants would consist of individuals released from prison between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2021.

The businesses would receive a $1,250 monthly wage subsidy for an employee hired in a “disproportionately impacted area,” meaning a census tract with high rates of arrest, conviction and incarceration among residents, and $850 monthly in other areas.

The bill caps the expenditures during the five-year incentive period at $1.5 billion. If requests exceed that amount, subsidies would be given on a first-come-first-served basis.

Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, said investing back in Black and brown communities and building the local economy through the living wage job creation program could help end mass incarceration.

According to the data from the Illinois Department of Corrections, as of Dec. 31, 2021, there were 27,970 people in prison. More than half, 15,204 or 54.4% of those individuals, were Black, according to the data.

* * *

WAGE THEFT BILL: A union-backed bill putting primary contractors on the hook for wage theft committed by their subcontractors is facing opposition in the General Assembly from minority contractor trade groups.

The measure, House Bill 5412, makes primary contractors – those who contract directly with the customer – liable for wages, fringe benefits and attorney’s fees if the subcontractors they hire fail to pay their employees.

It would not require, but would likely lead to, primary contractors purchasing more performance and bid bonds or requiring subcontractors to purchase bonds showing that they have the funding to pay workers and complete the job adequately.

Despite backing from a powerful carpenters’ union, the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, the bill specifically exempts union projects, homes built on private property, and projects funded by state, local and federal governments. House Sponsor Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, said that’s because unions already have a method of recourse for wage theft through their union representation.

Minority contractor trade groups oppose the bill, citing concerns that it would drive up costs for small subcontractors and non-union shops.

By adding to the risk a primary contractor takes in hiring a subcontractor, blanket liability incentivizes the primary contractor to use in-house labor and avoid hiring outside help, the advocacy groups argued. Added bonding would also have a disproportionate impact on a sector of the construction industry that includes more minority- and women-owned contractors, they said.

In short, they argued, the bill raises the cost of non-union labor. 

Terrance McGann, a lawyer for the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, said the strength of the bill is that it creates accountability for primary contractors “who previously walked away with impunity” in wage theft disputes.  

“Whether it’s in an organized market or an unorganized market, the pattern that we have seen is that in many of these even mid- to large-sized construction projects, the lowest bidder generally gets the bid,” he said. “And there’s no responsibility on behalf of the general contractor to ensure the success of those subcontractors.”

In current law, workers who are stiffed by a subcontractor can sue the subcontractor or file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor, but that’s often a long process. McGann said the bill addresses the case where a subcontractor performs a job then files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent without paying workers.

It passed the House in two tries on March 3, receiving 62 votes – two more than the constitutional majority needed to pass.

In the Senate, the measure will be sponsored by Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, after paperwork is filed to shift sponsorship from Senate President Don Harmon, according to staff. Castro said in an email statement that discussions are ongoing.

 

 

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.