Abortion and the state Constitution

By Shia Kapos

Presented by Protect West Chicago

With help from Olivia Olander

TGIF, Illinois. It's one step forward, two steps back for Senate Democrats as Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema switches to independent, reports POLITICO’s Burgess Everett.

Illinois lawmakers are considering more options to safeguard abortion rights, including adding an amendment to the state Constitution.

“We’re looking at it,” state Rep. Ann Williams told Playbook. “Elections have consequences and while Nov. 8 was a good day in Illinois for abortion rights, we are a single bad election day away from losing abortion rights even here in Illinois.”

She’s referring to the possibility, however remote it seems right now, of Democrats losing their grip on the Illinois General Assembly or governor’s office.

And there’s the state Supreme Court. Illinois Democrats also kept their majority on the high court, but they realized that the seats were vulnerable. Had the two open seats shifted right, reproductive rights cases could have been affected — and Illinois would lose its status as a safe haven for abortion, advocates say.

“Anything we can do” to solidify abortion rights “is worth exploring,” Williams said.

Like the U.S. Constitution, there’s no state constitution that “explicitly includes a right to abortion,” according to a recent NPR story.

There’s no rush. The next opportunity for voters to weigh in on a ballot proposal is 2024, so lawmakers have time to mull legislation before it could go to voters.

For now, says state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, “We’re focusing our energy on providing protections for patients, abortion providers and families.”

Related: Cassidy was in Washington, D.C., this week for a White House discussion on top legislative issues heading into 2023, including abortion rights, gender equity, economic justice and LGBTQIA issues.

A message from Protect West Chicago:

Join the fight to Protect West Chicago. Lakeshore Recycling Systems has announced its plans to build another garbage waste transfer station in West Chicago. If approved, about four million pounds of garbage carried by nearly 400 garbage trucks will be moved and dumped near West Chicago homes daily. This will mean more traffic, lower property values, road deterioration, more litter, environmental impacts, and increased odors. Stop West Chicago from becoming a dumping ground.

A new poll by Everytown for Gun Safety, shows more Illinois registered voters back an assault weapons ban than oppose it, 58 percent to 41 percent.

It’s not just a Chicago thing: The numbers also show that supporters outnumber opponents “in virtually every region of the state, including culturally conservative southern Illinois,” explains Crain’s Greg Hinz.

Teaming up in Illinois: Everytown is working closely with Protect Illinois Communities, the nonprofit advocacy group we told you about Thursday. It was formed to support passage of legislation that would ban assault weapons in Illinois.

Polling memo here

Are you Don Tracy of the Illinois GOP? What do you think about whether reproductive rights should be in the state Constitution? Email skapos@politico.com .

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No official public events.

On State Street at 10 a.m. for the Holiday Pop-up Market.

In Seattle for the National Association of Counties' (NACo) County Executives Roundtable.

Have a news tip, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? I’d like to hear from you: skapos@politico.com

— Illinois hasn’t delivered jobs, job-training promised under clean energy law: “Fifteen months after Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, the state hasn’t begun its promised workforce development programs aimed at helping minority contractors and workers,” by Sun-Times’ Brett Chase and Inside Climate News’ Dan Gearino.

— Gov. JB Pritzker signs plan to eliminate debt in unemployment fund: “An unexpected surge in revenue fuels the plan, with $1.36 billion paying off a federal loan distributed to Illinois and numerous other states when the coronavirus pandemic shut down businesses and sent unemployment rates to 40-year highs. That loan’s retirement carried a $20 million interest payment due next fall,” by The Associated Press’ John O’Connor.

— Illinois sets record with more than $1B wagered on sports in October: “Illinois casino sportsbooks came out ahead for the month of October with more than $102 million in revenue, cementing the state’s status as one of the nation’s most bet-hungry sports markets,” by Sun-Times’ Mitchell Armentrout.

— Illinois pension debt rises again as stock rout takes toll, via Bloomberg

— Biden giving nearly $36B to aid Teamsters’ pension fund, with 25,000 participants in Illinois, via The Associated Press

— A look at new Illinois laws going into effect in 2023, rounded up by WGN’s John Clark

State Sen. Scott Bennett, a Democrat representing Champaign and Vermillion counties, fell ill early Thursday morning and has been hospitalized at Carle Hospital in Urbana.

Stacy Bennett, his wife, sent a message through the Senate Democrats saying her husband is getting medical attention. A spokeswoman said it will take “a few days” to understand the scope of his health situation.

Gov. JB Pritzker issued a statement, saying, “Scott Bennett is genuine, kind and dedicated to serving his constituents. MK and I are keeping Scott, Stacy and his entire family and community in our prayers.”

Bennett, a General Assembly member since 2015, is a former assistant state’s attorney for Champaign County. He recently made headlines for filing an amendment to the SAFE-T Act on behalf of several state’s attorneys. The move preceded passage of the trailer bill for the historic legislation that ends cash bail.

A message from Protect West Chicago:

— As the Chicago mayor’s race heats up, it’s Ja’Mal Green v. Rickey Hendon. And Hendon isn’t even running: The race “took a turn toward the bizarre” Thursday when Green claimed Hendon, a former state senator and adviser to candidate Willie Wilson, offered a bribe for Green’s campaign to drop its challenges, writes Tribune’s Alice Yin.

— Nekoiya Washington has suspended her campaign for 21st Ward alderman. “I didn’t arrive at this decision easily, but my family comes first,” she said in a statement. There are 13 other candidates in the race to replace Ald. Howard Brookins Jr., who didn’t seek reelection.

— Scrap plans for new Chicago Gang Database, interim Police Oversight Board urges, by WTTW’s Heather Cherone

— Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez gets $10,200 raise, by Tribune’s Shanzeh Ahmad

— School of the Art Institute rescinds Kanye West’s honorary degree, by Sun-Times’ Mitch Dudek

— Francis W. Parker School defends LGBTQ sex ed, tightens security after right-wing viral video, by WBEZ’s Char Daston

— 101-room Pullman Hotel project, the Far South Side’s first in 40 years, gets $5M city grant, by Block Club’s Maia McDonald

— Annual South Side toy drive in jeopardy because of inflation, says organizer, via NBC 5

— U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy urges Covid boosters during Chicago visit as cases rise again: “The bottom line is we have protection available. It’s just upon all of us now to make sure people use those tools,” the surgeon general said. Sun-Times’ Mitchell Armentrout reports.

— He also addressed the state of youth mental health, via WGN 9’s Chip Brewster

— And Murthy was spotted having breakfast with Marty Nesbit and Kip Kirkpatrick of Vistria Group and Brian Fabes of Corporation Coalition. Joining them was former Illinois deputy governor and Vistria general counsel Jesse Ruiz and execs from Chicago Blackhawks, United Airlines and HCSC.

— Cook County’s chief judge investigating court employees who got Covid-19 relief loans: “Four workers in other county departments have quit or been fired this year while under suspicion of defrauding the federal Paycheck Protection Program,” by Sun-Times’ Frank Main.

— A Mount Prospect woman is home for good after three-year deportation, by WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang

— Pickwick Theatre owner fielding offers that could keep movie palace open, by Daily Herald’s Russell Lissau

— ETHS considering ‘weapons detection systems,’ by Evanston Now’s Jeff Hirsh

— Heather Mack called a ‘master manipulator’ as judge orders her to stay in jail: “Reality might be setting in for the onetime Chicago socialite at the center of an international legal drama that has stretched over nearly a decade,” by Sun-Times’ Jon Seidel.

— Sen. Tammy Duckworth wants to change how airlines downsize seats, evacuation plans: “She’s proposing legislation requiring a new FAA seat size study looking at how real life conditions including children, seniors and the disabled as well as the presence of carry-on bags impacts evacuation times,” via CBS 2.

— NLRB: Weed shop violated labor law by refusing to bargain with unionized Chicago workers, by Green Market Report’s Adam Jackson via Crain’s

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We asked who’s known you the longest, aside from your family:

Vince Brandys: “Rick Giglio and Sean Glinski from Hegewisch (a South Side neighborhood). We met in Little League Baseball and have been friends for over 50 years.”

Ed Mazur: “My dentist (now retired) Michael Kirshenbaum, for 66 years. We met in a high school sporting event.”

Charles E. Eastwood: “My best friend Paul and I have known each other since we were 14. When we were 18, we moved to Chicago from Arkansas. We didn’t know a soul. I met my wife, my other best friend, here also in 1988. In 1999, he was the best man at my wedding. Last year, I was at his in La Paz, Bolivia. We’re all still in Chicago.”

Jo Johnson: “Former state Sen. Laura Kent Donahue has been my mentor and friend since I was a teenager and continues to be a close friend (and her late mother, former state Rep. and state Sen. Mary Lou Kent, was also a mentor). They got me started in politics and Laura has continuously been a guiding force in my life.”

Alison Pure-Slovin: “I met Lonni Berkley in grade school. Fun fact, her grandfather was the legendary Abe Saperstein, founder and coach of the Harlem Globetrotters.”

If you’ve ever consulted a fortune-teller, what did they tell you? Email skapos@politico.com

— Biden had a ‘painful’ decision to make to secure Griner’s release. He made it, by POLITICO’s Alexander Ward and Jonathan Lemire

— More on Griner: Sen. Dick Durbin tweeted “great news. And Chicago Sky players called it ‘monumental,’ via NBC 5’s Rob Schaefer

— Private RNC member emails reveal anger at Trump, frustration with McDaniel’s response to him, by POLITICO’s Meridith McGraw

— As same-sex marriage protections pass Congress, House GOP support decreases, by POLITICO’s Anthony Adragna.

— About that vote: Rep. Rodney Davis is the only Illinois Republican to vote yes .

— David Orr has started a podcast called Politics 101. Orr is a former Cook County clerk and alderman and was acting mayor for a week after the death of Mayor Harold Washington. His first podcast guest is Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

— Sister Jean, matriarch of Loyola University Chicago, to publish a memoir, by Sun-Times’ Mitch Dudek

— Chris Redd, a Naperville native, on life after SNL and picking himself back up after that ‘sucker punch,’ by WBEZ’s Samantha Callender

— Dick Austin, former Sangamon County board chair, dies at 74, by State Journal-Register’s Steven Spearie

— Chantelle A. Porter has been appointed as a Circuit Court judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit for DuPage County, where she will be the first African-American woman to serve as a judge, according to the court announcement.

— Hector Villagrana has joined OMP Strategy Group as VP of state government affairs. He most recently was chief of staff to state Rep. Lisa Hernandez, who heads the Illinois Democratic Party. Villagrana also worked with Chicago City Council members, the former Illinois House speaker and four governors.

THURSDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Allison Schraub for correctly answering that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9, 2008, a day before his birthday.

TODAY’s QUESTION: Who was the pioneering Black baseball player, manager and club owner to later serve as a Cook County commissioner? Email skapos@politico.com

Today: Chicago Ald. Chris Taliaferro, Brunswick Group CEO Neal Wolin, McHugh & Howlett Public Affairs’ Ed Howlett, Chicago Housing Authority marketing manager Nicole Berry and Emily’s List Great Lakes regional director for campaigns Brittany Maloney.

Saturday: Former Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, state Sen. Jacqueline “Jacqui” Collins, Chicago Ald. Felix Cardona Jr., entrepreneur Valerie Beck, G2 enterprise sales leader Jason Anciulis and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Sunday: State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, Appellate Judge Nathaniel Howse Jr., former state Rep. Elaine Nekritz, retired Illinois Transportation exec Doug House, election attorney Burt Odelson and Brown Strategy CEO Josh Brown.

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A message from Protect West Chicago:

Join the fight to Protect West Chicago. Lakeshore Recycling Systems has announced its plans to build another garbage waste transfer station in West Chicago. If approved, about four million pounds of garbage carried by nearly 400 garbage trucks will be moved and dumped near West Chicago homes daily. This will mean more traffic, lower property values, road deterioration, more litter, environmental impacts, and increased odors.

Today, West Chicago is the only community in DuPage County with a garbage waste transfer station within its borders. This additional dump would make West Chicago the only community in the entire state of Illinois, other than the much larger city of Chicago, to have two garbage waste transfer stations in its community. Join us in asking the West Chicago City Council to vote NO on making our community a dumping ground.

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Shia Kapos @shiakapos

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