Good Tuesday morning, Illinois. Hollywood is coming to Springfield! Scroll down to the Buzz.
Gov. JB Pritzker condemned Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill — a brand leveled by the measure’s critics — yesterday, joining a chorus of opposition from across the country lamenting the new law’s ban on classroom discussion about LGBTQ issues with young learners.
“We cannot stand idly by as Republican governors wage incessant attacks on the LGBTQ+ community,” the governor tweeted from his personal account. “Everyone deserves a state where you can be your authentic self. As long as I’m governor, the state of Illinois will see you, support you, and welcome you with open arms.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill, officially titled “Parental Rights in Education,” on Monday. It takes effect this summer. The legislation has put the Sunshine State in the national spotlight, drawing criticism from LGBTQ advocates, entertainment giant Disney, Democrats and others concerned it could further marginalize vulnerable students and lead to bullying and even suicide.
DeSantis’ support for the bill has also helped maintain his standing at or near the top of the list of likely 2024 GOP presidential candidates.
That makes Pritzker’s entry in the debate all the more interesting. While he is a fierce and longstanding supporter of LGBTQ rights, Pritzker’s name also has popped up as a future potential Democratic presidential candidate — a point he denies is on his radar — and laws like this are likely to be hot-button issues on any campaign. A spokeswoman for Pritzker’s campaign calls it “a stretch to insinuate he has presidential ambitions for weighing in on an issue that uniquely affects governors.”
RELATED: How a lawsuit over a teen spurred Florida Republicans to pass the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, by POLITICO’s Andew Attterbury and Gary Fineout
SCOOP: Hollywood is coming to Springfield tomorrow when actor Harry Lennix III of NBC’s “The Blacklist” is scheduled to testify in front of lawmakers about his plans to build an arts center in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
“I’m going down to make the case for culture being restored to the South Side,” the actor told Playbook in a phone interview. “We know what happens in its absence, which is a great deal of lack of morale and creativity and imagination. And the results of that are pretty evident. But we also know what can happen in its presence.”
Lennix will be testifying before the House Committee on Museums, Arts, & Cultural Enhancements, chaired by Rep. Camille Lilly. Lennix will be appealing for line-item funding, according to Scott Yonover, a Chicago lobbyist who’s guiding the actor through the Capitol.
Lennix is backing a $26 million arts development that would transform the old Marshall Field warehouse into a performance venue. “It’s the jewel in the crown of the South Side of Chicago,” Lennix said of the “multi-disciplinary performing arts center that celebrates the accomplishments and the current creations of Black people in the performing arts.” The venue would include theater, dance, music, oratory and screen work, he said.
The Lillian Marcie Center, named after his mom, Lillian, and a mentor, Marcella “Marcie” Gillie, would also house the current Congo Square Theatre Company and a museum to document Black Americans in the performing arts. Lennix compares it to a Black version of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The project has already received $5 million in city financing, according to a spokesman.
Lennix is a Chicago native — born at Mercy Hospital on the city’s South Side and raised by a widowed mom. He earned a degree from Northwestern University and performed for Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters before becoming a notable name in Hollywood.
Chicago remains home. Lennix returns often, including for directing stints. He recently made headlines for sending dozens of students from the James R. Doolittle School in Bronzeville to an Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performance at Auditorium Theatre. The school is sentimental. It’s a few blocks from where the venue would be located — and it’s the same school that Lennix once worked as a substitute teacher when he was trying to get his acting career off the ground.
Who he’ll visit during his trip: Members of the women and Black caucuses and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin. Lennix will also visit with his brother, former Illinois State Police District Commander Michael Lennix. And the actor plans to “break bread” with Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. “I hear he’s a Northwestern man, too.”
SIDENOTE: Lennix talked about Sunday’s infamous Oscars confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock. “It was a travesty,” Lennix said. “It was a great stain on the event. It’s going to take a lot of work and a lot of healing” to get past it.
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At the state Capitol near the Lincoln statue at 11 a.m. to commemorate Illinois State Police’s centennial anniversary. At 11:30 .m. he’ll be in the governor’s ceremonial office for a press conference.
At Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom at 8:45 a.m. for the first graduation ceremony of the year for Chicago Police Department recruits and a promotion ceremony for new command staff and detectives. At 7 p.m., the mayor will be at Apostolic Church of God for the funeral service Esther Isabelle Brazier.
At Monse’s Tapas Bar at 11:30 a.m. for the 16th District Women’s Power Brunch honoring the 2022 Unsung Heroine and nominees.
SENATORS TARGET CRIME: State senators are going after organized retail theft rings with new legislation that treats smash-and-grab theft as Organized Retail Crime, which would give prosecutors greater authority to issue charges.
The goal is to deter theft of retail merchandise by people or in association with others with the intent to re-sell the stolen goods.
Penalties for organized retail crime would range from a Class 4 felony (1 to 3 years) to a Class 2 felony (3 to 7 years) – which are similar to the penalty ranges today.
The new legislation would allow the state to prosecute regardless of where the crime takes place. So goods could be stolen in one place and advertised or sold on the internet someplace else. The jurisdiction won’t matter, which would make it easier to prosecute.
Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Western Springs) is carrying the legislation, which mirrors an agreement in Congress headed by Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
In an op-ed Monday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Illinois Retail Merchants Association CEO Rob Karr praised the legislation, saying it “will help restore safety across the region, by disrupting criminal enterprises that have made residents feel unsafe and weakened our neighborhoods.”
— Robinson, Tarver, Buckner offer insights on budget, crime, legislative priorities, by Hyde Park Herald’s Aaron Gettinger
— Two Pritzker appointees to state parole board are out — amid GOP complaints of decisions that send ‘troubling message’: “Both Eleanor Wilson, whose appointment was voted down by the state Senate, and Oreal James, who resigned, drew sharp criticism for their votes last year to grant parole to Joseph Hurst and Johnny Veal, two men accused of killing police officers,” by Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles and Frank Main.
— Rainy Day map: State Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s Fiscal Focus magazine details defends Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposal to put $800 million in the state’s rainy day fund. HB4118 is sponsored by Rep. Michael Halpin and Sen. Elgie Sims. Most intriguing is this national map showing how long each state could run on its rainy day fund.
— Illinois launches economic development campaign to find the next Rivian and draw business beyond Chicago: “On the heels of Chicago’s guerrilla marketing campaign ‘Chicago Not in Chicago,’ the inaugural state economic development pitch under Seals could well be subtitled, ‘Illinois Not in Chicago.’ Dan Seals is leading ‘a concerted effort’ to draw businesses from six industries where Illinois is most competitive: manufacturing, electric vehicles, technology, life sciences, logistics and agribusiness,” by Tribune’s Robert Channick.
— Dozens of Chicago cops guard mayor and family in below-the-radar security unit created in 2020: “The unit protects Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Logan Square home and City Hall. Like past mayors, she also has a personal bodyguard detail. In February, a man was charged with stalking her. ‘It’s different than a call. It’s different than an email. This was real,’ the mayor said,” by Sun-TImes’ Frank Main and Fran Spielman.
— The first Asian American woman has been sworn into Chicago’s City Council: In her firsts press conference as a Council member, Nicole Lee addresses questions about herr personal finances and cleaning up a debt “made up primarily of student loans, but also included credit card bills, medical debt and a mortgage tied to a timeshare vacation home in Los Cabos, Mexico, according to court filings,” via WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel and Becky Vevea.
— Lightfoot ‘fully expects’ Columbus statue to be returned to Grant Park pedestal: “But first, the mayor wants a plan to prevent a repeat of the July 2020 protest that injured dozens of officers. And the leader of on Italian American group said Monday the return of another Columbus statue to Arrigo Park is just as vital,” by Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.
— Chris Rock ticket sales surge after Will Smith’s Oscar slap: “When the comedian comes to Chicago, it’ll cost you more to see him since the slap seen round the world,” by Bloomberg.
— Seventh Chicago-area Starbucks announces unionization effort, by WTTW’s Nick Blumberg
Equity firm GTCR, formerly headed by Rauner, says it never owned, operated Sterigenics: “A private equity firm once headed by former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has asked a Cook County judge to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits against it over emissions from a Willowbrook medical device sterilization plant, saying evidence makes clear it did not actually own the company that owned the sterilization facility,” by Cook County Record’s Jonathan Bilyk.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign account is finally growing. The latest A-1 donations show her recent campaign trip to Florida was fruitful, though it’s Chicago’s corporate elite who are really coming through for her, according to State Board of Elections filings. She received $12,000 from media mogul Fred Eychaner’s Newsweb, $6,000 from Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, $6,000 from real estate developer Al Friedman, $5,000 from Mayer Brown attorney Ty Fahner, and $12,000 each from the Illinois Black Business Political Action Fund and Fuel Line Management LLC.
— Aurora company that donated big to Richard Irvin’s mayoral campaign received millions in city contracts: “That same company was also the beneficiary of legislation pushed by Irvin that could prove lucrative. It follows a pattern of Aurora businesses donating to Irvin and receiving tens of millions in public aid and tax incentives, as first outlined in a 2018 story from the Aurora Beacon-News,” WTTW’s Paris Schutz reports.
— Who’s the greenest? Fight erupts between Casten, Newman, by E&E News Timothy Cama
— Rep. Mary Miller gets GOP primary boost from Mark and Debra Meadows, suspected of voter fraud: “Debra Meadows, the founder of the Right Women PAC backing Miller, is under a voter fraud cloud, along with her husband, Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff,” by Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet.
— Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi has been endorsed by Secretary of State Jesse White in his bid for reelection in the 8th Congressional District.
— Anna Valencia has been endorsed by state Reps. Theresa Mah (2nd), Anne Stava-Murray (81st), and Terra Costa Howard (48th) in her bid for secretary of state.
— Delia Ramirez, who’s running in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District, has been endorsed by the Illinois Nurses Association, Architectural and Ornamental Iron Workers’ Union Local 63, Transportation Communication Union/IAM, and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division.
— Small-business owner Willie Preston has been endorsed by Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) in the state Senate race in the 16th District. Alds. Stephanie Coleman and Howard Brookins have also endorsed Preston.
— Video game designer and wife give DePaul its largest donation ever for College of Computing and Digital Media: “Eugene Jarvis and his wife, Sasha Gerritson, a DePaul alumna and trustee, donated the funds that will create a student center for “innovation and collaboration,” an endowed scholarship and a research collaboration with the Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness,” by Tribune’s Madeline Buckley.
— ISU building service workers union authorizes walkout in contract deadlock: “Chuck Carver, president of AFSCME Local 1110, said during a rally outside the ISU administration building on Monday that starting pay for building service workers is less than you would get walking into Taco Bell for a job,” by WGLT’s Charlie Schlenker
We asked if you had an onstage moment you’d like to walk back: John Straus: “As president of the Knox College alumni association, I was slated to speak at homecoming convocation after the college president. When it was my turn, I walked to the podium and reached for the notes I’d left earlier, only to realize the president had picked up my notes with hers and walked back to her seat in the audience. Needless to say, it was quite an impromptu dance.”
With the legislative countdown kicking in, what are your go-to snacks during long days at the state Capitol? Email [email protected]
Judge declines to take control of Illinois dispensary license stay, suggests corrective lottery: “The Illinois judge overseeing the state’s dispensary supercase refused to take control last week over a stay barring the award of 185 dispensary licenses, saying that decisions about the order should remain in another case that has been stalled for months due to a change in judges,” by Grown In blogger Mike Fourcher.
Covid funding inaction threatens fragile progress on racial, economic disparities: “The congressional stalemate on additional Covid funding threatens to upend the fragile progress that has been made since the early days of the pandemic,” by POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Alice Miranda Ollstein
— Biden’s budget is meant to woo centrists, including one very important one, by POLITICO’s Laura Barón-López
— Impeach Thomas? House Dems can go there, but most won’t, by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney, Sarah Ferris and Nicholas Wu
— 8/9. That’s the Fed’s record on triggering a recession while trying to fix inflation, by POLITICO’s Ben White
— From Sun-Times’ Mary Mitchell | Will Smith’s behavior left me stunned and confused: “Slapping Chris Rock for his lousy joke on Oscar night isn’t going to make Will Smith or his wife feel better. It is going to cause them more grief.”
— Today at 3:15 p.m.: A virtual discussion with Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is the latest installment of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute’s “Understanding Our New World” series. Up for discussion: Ukraine. Register here
— Thursday at 5:30 p.m.: Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board president, is headlining a fundraiser for county Commissioner Louis Arroyo Jr. Details here
— April 13: Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris, and former state Sens. Toi Hutchinson and Heather Steans will be honored with the Party Builder Award from the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association. Sign-up for the fundraising event is here.
Ken Griffin gives $40M to NYC natural history museum: “The Chicago billionaire’s name will be placed in the four-story atrium of a new building designed by Chicago architect Jeanne Gang,” by Bloomberg.
MONDAY’s ANSWER: Thomas Foley was the Chicago 1st Ward alderman (1873 to 1875) who started a billiards hall on Clark Street after organizing the Chicago White Stockings baseball club.
TODAY’s QUESTION: Who were the friends and legal advisers of Mary Todd Lincoln who helped to win her release from a Batavia sanitarium? Email [email protected]
Ald. Anthony Napolitano, former White House press secretary now Bully Pulpit senior counsel Robert Gibbs, Endeavor Co-CEO Ari Emanuel, SDI Presence co-founder and rabid Loyola alum Jack Hartman, Better Government Association’s VP of operations Sally Gonzales, Pritzker campaign advance associate Angel Alicea, CTA comms director Tammy Williamson Chase, U. of Chicago economist Roger Myerson, CNN correspondent Casey Wian, and former POLITICO columnist Roger Simon.
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