After doing very well for the majority of the pandemic, sales tax revenue has begun to level off according to Mt. Carmel finance commissioner Eric Ikemire…
Even with the flattening out, Ikemire said sales tax revenues are still running ahead of levels seen in 2018 and ‘19. Ikemire noted that Illinois income tax revenue is running well ahead of last year’s figures. Considering everything that’s gone on during the last 12 months, Ikemire said city finances are doing well overall.
There’s a new face in the Wabash County Chamber of Commerce office. Lori Cotner has been hired as the administrative assistant by executive director Lesley Hipsher. The Chamber’s hours are weekdays from 8am-4pm, except when a ribbon cutting is taking place. Stop by the Chamber office and say “hello” to Lori!
New Chamber of Commerce administrative assistant Lori Cotner (Center) listens as Chamber executive director Lesley Hipsher (L) talks with WGH’s Bridget Shepard at Monday’s ribbon cutting of the hospital’s senior enrichment center.
The Wabash County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting over the noon hour today for Wabash General Hospital’s Senior Enrichment Center. The SER is located at 219 West 13th Street.
More information can be found via this link: https://wabashgeneral.com/Services/Senior-Enrichment-Center
The Mt. Carmel street department was lauded for their hard work and long hours during the recent bouts of heavy snow and ice. At last week’s City Council meeting, street commissioner Tom Meeks said some employees logged as many as 14 to 16 hours days clearing city streets.
Mayor Joe Judge also thanked Derek Guisewite for clearing the long section of sidewalk along Oak Street from 9th Street to College Drive to make it accessible for walkers and runners, who had to walk and run in the street because of the deep snow.
City officials are hoping Mt. Carmel’s recycling program can get wider acceptance from local residents after a big change starting today. The city’s recycling container, which is currently located on Golden Aces Way and open only limited hours, is being moved today to the city’s garage at 130 Railroad Street according to commissioner Chandler Madden…
Previously, Madden said abuses of the recycling dumpster such as residents putting unacceptable items in them will cause Mt. Carmel’s recycling program to go away permanently.
An Illinois lawmaker wants the state’s Firearm Owners Identification card requirement to
become a thing of the past.
State Rep. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, has filed a bill to eliminate the law that forces
residents to obtain a FOID card to legally possess or purchase guns or ammunition.
“My proposal is we completely gut the program,” Chesney said. “It's not effective. It's the
number one call I get to my district office, even more than unemployment. It's just an
unnecessary hurdle for anybody that wants to lawfully possess firearms.”
Among other complaints, Chesney points to frustration over a massive backlog of
applications with the Illinois State Police. He says the delays are affecting residents in
every district across the state and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should pay
attention.
“It's impacting people of color,” Chesney said. “It's impacting the poor and the working
poor. You have a system that's antiquated and difficult and it's not designed in a user-
friendly way that gives access to everybody.”
Additionally, he says the antiquated system has resulted in out-of-date information being
used by officials and has led to errors like the 2019 arrest of state Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-
Chicago.
“What this is doing is taking and making what would otherwise be law-abiding citizens
and turning them into misdemeanor criminals,” Chesney said. “We can't stand for that.
That's not the way we treat our citizens.”
Tarver was arrested in November 2019 and charged with failing to surrender a concealed
carry license. According to reports, officers found him with a gun during a traffic stop.
Tarver explained that a renewal of his FOID card was not yet reflected in Chicago Police
Department records, leading officers to believe his concealed carry license was invalid.
The charges later were dropped.
Chesney says the incident will be featured in his appeal to new House Speaker Chris
Welch for a vote on his proposal. He’s encouraged that a conversation could begin on the
matter.
“This program, and this dysfunction, has put even people in his caucus, in jail,
wrongfully in jail, because of these mix-ups,” Chesney said.
Illinois’s FOID card requirement has been in effect since 1968. Similar legislation
introduced in previous years has not seen a vote by the full House.
“There's no reason it can't be fixed,” Chesney said. “The only reason it won't be fixed is
because they're making it political, which it shouldn't;t be political. Forty-six states don't
even do this. There’s no reason it can't be done in Illinois.”
Hawaii, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are the other three states with a similar law on
the books.
If the FOID requirement were to be eliminated, federal waiting periods and background
checks for firearm purchasers still would be in place.
The Illinois House will begin virtual hearings Monday.
While legislators are excited to get back to work, some are worried about whether remote hearings will be conducive to doing the people’s work.
The Senate approved virtual hearings last spring and has conducted several hearings over the last eight months. The House approved virtual hearings when members last met in person on Feb. 10.
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said nothing will replace in-person hearings, but with continued concerns about COVID-19, she said remote meetings are better than not meeting at all as was the case most of last year.
“My hope is that we will be able to be productive using this as we start to try to get everybody safe to gather more regularly,” Cassidy said. “We can take some of this time to get the work cued up.”
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said the legislature has abandoned its duty over the last year when leaders canceled around 70% of scheduled session days. While he’d rather legislate in person, he said he’ll take what he can get.
“Get the ball rolling,” Wilhour said. “We’ve got the budget situation that is a disaster. The corruption situation, ethics, these are issues that need to be taken care of.”
For years when Michael Madigan was speaker, minority Republicans complained they couldn’t get bills out of the Rules Committee. The rules the House approved Feb. 10 under House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch allows all bills to advance from the Rules Committee to a standing committee to be heard, unless the sponsor wanted to hold it back.
“Every single bill that was filed on time is being kicked out of Rules and into a substantive committee, that’s a fair chance,” Welch told the Economic Club of Chicago on Wednesday. “Democrats and Republicans equally need to work those committees, and work their bills.”
House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said Republicans are “chomping at the bit to get to work.”
“We’ll get a hearing before these committees, that’s all I’m asking for because that would be a dramatic change from the past,” Durkin said.
State Rep. Will Davis, D-Hazel Crest, said measures are being posted to committees, but that’s just one step.
“Now there’s the process about the movement of the bill and I think that’s where you have an internal, more confidential conversation with the committee chair where the committee chair may be getting feedback from some of the opponents of the bill,” Davis said.
State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said having confidential conversations during virtual hearings is unrealistic and not transparent. He also said committee chairs controlling what bills are called isn’t a fair process.
“This still doesn't give us the surety that we’re going to have a good piece of legislation voted on by the legislature and it continues to show the arrogance of the majority party,” Butler said.
Davis said they could return to in-person session the week of March 8, but that could change.
Legislative leaders in the Illinois House differ on what is causing the state to see continued population decline, and how to reverse the trend.
The state lost nearly 80,000 people in the year that ended July 2020, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data. That’s 22,000 more than were lost the year before and the seventh consecutive loss of population in the past 10 years. Illinois led the nation in population decline for the past decade at 255,000.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, told the Economic Club of Chicago on Wednesday the state has been losing population for years. Without details, he said the state needs to support small and big businesses. He also said leaders need to unite on messaging.
“Making sure people know that this is a state where they can come and be innovative and great, and this negative rhetoric just tears us down and sets us back,” Welch said.
Separately, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said the way to reverse the state’s population decline isn’t through rhetoric, but rather through policy.
“People are leaving Illinois because they are sickened by the policies, the corruption, the spending, the lack of accountability, and the failure to be responsible with their money,” Durkin said.
To reverse the outmigration trend, Durkin said lawmakers need to show taxpayers the state can live within its means.
The state’s migration issue is also developing into a campaign issue in the upcoming 2022 gubernatorial election.
When asked Wednesday about possible tax increases, Welch said everything is on the table.
“We have a long way to go in this [budget] process, and I don’t think we should rule anything out,” Welch said. “I think both parties should come into the room and honestly keep an open mind to all of these issues.”
The speaker also discussed bringing back the proposed progressive income tax that failed in November 2020, but tying that to paying down pension debt.
To the corporate tax incentive programs the governor proposed to end with a $930 million impact, Welch said he agrees with some of those, calling them “corporate welfare.”
Those are business incentives meant to grow the state’s economy, Durkin said, and ending those is deaf to why people are leaving the state.
“There’s a tone-deaf consistency that the Democrats have when it comes to spending other people’s money,” Durkin said. “Those other people happen to be the taxpayers of Illinois.”
The legislature returns with virtual hearings Monday. They have until May 31 to pass a balanced budget for the coming fiscal year.
When the recently signed criminal justice reform bill first became a topic of discussion, a southern Illinois Sheriff began drafting some protections for his employees regarding qualified immunity. The ‘Back the Blue’ Ordinance was crafted by Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard over 3 weeks of work. Although the qualified immunity portion was taken out of the new version of the bill that was signed this week, Sheriff Bullard said he wanted to be proactive for future changes.
He says the original version of House bill 3653 eliminated built-in protection for law enforcement from frivolous lawsuits and would cause a mass exodus if it stayed like the original.
The Jefferson County Board passed the ordinance by a vote of 10-2. Those who voted against the bill cited that qualified immunity already exists but Sheriff Bullard responded that this ordinance is an insurance policy going forward.
Ullin, IL –The Illinois State Police, Illinois Conservation Police, and Brookport Police Department are currently assisting the Massac County Sheriff’s Department with an Armed Barricaded situation. At approximately 2:54 p.m., the Massac County Sheriff’s Department responded to a residence on Greek Road in Brookport, IL for a Domestic Disturbance which turned into an Armed Barricaded situation. There is no threat to the public and it is requested to avoid the area at this time. The Massac County Sheriff’s Department is the lead agency. This is an ongoing investigation and no further information will be released by the Illinois State Police at this time.