Heads down in Springfield

By Shia Kapos

Presented by the Save My Scholarship Coalition

Good Wednesday morning, Illinois. The U.S. House is now at the No. 4 pick for speaker — a guy named Mike Johnson.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — State lawmakers are back at the Capitol assessing how they’ll handle bills vetoed by Gov. JB Pritzker and whether to extend the controversial Invest in Kids tax credit.

Looming over their work: The crisis in the Middle East is weighing on some folks here, but there won’t be a Democratic resolution addressing it. As we mentioned earlier in the week, House and Senate Democrats who control both chambers see it as a fraught issue that would only splinter their caucuses.

Republicans pounced. On the House floor, Minority Leader Tony McCombie made a statement on point of personal privilege condemning the attacks. Republican state Rep. Brad Halbrook discussed his bill, HR 449, in support of Israel, also on point of personal privilege.

And in a follow-up statement: Republican state Rep. Martin McLaughlin called it "completely shocking" that Democrats wouldn't speak up on the issue.

SOME REAL ACTION: Democrats filed legislation that would extend the controversial Invest in Kids private school tax credit. The measure extends the program for five years and also cuts back on maximum annual contributions awarded by the state to $50 million, down from $75 million, to the program. Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner and Dan Petrella have the details.

The big question: Will opponents on either side of the issue come to the middle to support it? Some Democrats don’t like that the program gives tax dollars to private and religious schools they say may use anti-LGBTQ or anti-abortion curriculum. On the other side are Republicans who say the program gives underserved families a choice on their kids’ education.

Ameren’s last-ditch effort: The company’s Illinois chair and president, Lenny Singh, has been working the phones trying to convince lawmakers to override a bill vetoed by Gov. JB Pritzker that would give Ameren a monopoly to build power lines in Illinois. We hear Singh doesn’t have the votes. He must have heard that, too. Tuesday he made a last-ditch effort to sway lawmakers by sending them a letter stating his case. Here’s the letter: page 1 and page 2.

One bill getting traction: Speaker Welch pushes bill allowing legislative staff union, amendment to follow: “In addition to allowing the legislative staff to unionize, the bill would apply to other employees serving the Illinois General Assembly such as janitors and doorkeepers,” by State Journal-Register’s Patrick M. Keck.

If you are Lenny Singh, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email skapos@politico.com

A message from the Save My Scholarship Coalition:

Over 9,500 students are counting on the Illinois General Assembly to save the Tax Credit Scholarship Program. If they fail to act NOW, then students from low-income families will lose their scholarships, causing many to leave their best-fit schools. Most of these students are Black or Brown, and 100% are from households with demonstrated financial need. Additionally, 26,000 more students from low-income and working-class families sit anxiously on the waitlist. Do the right thing.

In Washington, D.C., at 10 a.m. ET to speak at the Center for American Progress 2023 CAP IDEAS Conference. He’ll join National Women’s Law Center Fatima Goss Graves to discuss “making families stronger with a women-focused policy agenda.” CAP livestream here.

At Theater on the Lake at 8 p.m. for the Chicago Police Department's Valor Awards ceremony.

In Posen at 9:30 a.m. to announce the Build Up Cook program, a $20 million effort to improve infrastructure in suburban Cook County.

If I don’t see you under the dome, email: skapos@politico.com

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— Pritzker proposes creating a new standalone early childhood agency: The new department would coordinate child care, preschool and early interventions. Pritzker has signed an executive order to reorganize the functions but said he will work with lawmakers on legislation to formalize the process in the spring, reports Capitol News’ Peter Hancock.

— More pregnant Illinoisans are dying — and it’s mostly preventable: “Black women continue to be disproportionately affected and more pregnant people who die are losing their lives months after giving birth,” by WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch.

— Illinois among 33 states suing Meta, alleging its platforms have harmed kids: “The Menlo Park, California-based company formerly known as Facebook is accused of ensnaring youths ‘while misleading the public about the risks of social media,’” by Sun-Times’ Dorothy Hernandez.

— INVESTIGATION | He was a rising football star — then he met this state trooper: “The Oath Keepers’ membership rolls included an Illinois state trooper, a campus cop for the University of Illinois Chicago, and an officer in a village known as ‘America’s First Black Town,’” by WBEZ’s By Dan Mihalopoulos, Sun-Times’ Tom Schuba and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s Kevin G. Hall.

— BREAKING LAST NIGHT | ‘Welcoming spirit’ vs. worries over safety: Brighton Park residents at odds over migrant tent plan: “Up to 2,000 asylum seekers could be placed in the shelter if the site clears final assessments. Residents expressed concerns over safety at Tuesday’s meeting. But one 92-year-old resident urged compassion. ‘We have to have kindness, peace and not be against each other, because we are America,’ she said,” by Sun-Times’ Emmanuel Camarillo.

— Mayor Brandon Johnson to split Chicago police union contract into two votes, citing issue with disciplinary provisions, by Tribune’s Alice Yin and Sam Charles

— Exodus of Chicago cops from the force has slowed, Supt. Larry Snelling tells City Council, by Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman

— Chicago-area carpenters reach 5-year deal with contractors, by Sun-Times’ David Roeder

— MacKenzie Scott breaks donation record b giving $8M to Chicago nonprofit Cara Collective, by Crain’s Brandon Dupré.

A message from the Save My Scholarship Coalition:

— Two Illinois parishes live on either side of a Catholic divide: “As the pope and church leaders meet in Rome to discuss the Roman Catholic Church’s future, they face a chasm between conservatives and progressives in the pews,” by The New York Times’ Ruth Graham with photos by Jamie Kelter Davis.

— NEW | Hate crime, aggravated battery charges filed after crowd maced at pro-Palestinian protest outside Israeli solidarity event in Skokie: “Zevulen Ebert, 33, was charged after he allegedly sprayed mace into a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters Sunday in Skokie,” Kade Heather.

— Cook County sheriff gives updated human trafficking statistics: 'We're just overwhelmed,’ by ABC 7’s Rob Hughes

— $159M redevelopment project at old Lombard seminary in jeopardy? Developer looking at options, by Daily Herald’s Katlyn Smith

— Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso says he won't run for state representative in the 82nd House District. Grasso had earlier expressed interest in the seat, which is currently held by state Rep. John Egofske, a Lemont Republican. Egofske was appointed to the seat after former Rep. Jim Durkin stepped down, via Patch’s David Giuliani.

— Larecia Tucker, a Democrat running for the Cook County Board of Review seat held by Commissioner Larry R. Rogers Jr., is out with a list of endorsements.

— Sen. Tammy Duckworth received an award for her legislation on the Federal Communications Commission regulating in-state phone calls and video calls placed from correctional facilities. The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden earlier this year. It’s named after a grandmother who struggled to afford calls to her grandson in a private prison. Duckworth keynoted the Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture, where she received the award.

— Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering has been named to the Strong Cities Network International Steering Committee. The group supports municipalities around the world in addressing hate, extremism, polarization and mass violence.

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We asked when you got most animated at a protest or rally.

Mike Gascoigne: “When yelling for Michelle Obama as she came near at a campaign event in Springfield.”

Michael Kreloff: “My full sprint east on Balbo to safe haven in the Artist’s Cafe during the ‘68 Democratic Convention.”

Ed Mazur: “I was at the battle of Michigan Avenue during the 1968 Democratic Convention. When I got home, I reeked of tear gas and my dad said, ‘The police should have killed all you commies!’”

Jim Montgomery: “At Democrat Day at the Illinois State Fair in 1987, when Paul Simon arrived as our home-state favorite presidential candidate.”

What’s one of Springfield’s hidden gems? Email skapos@politico.com

— Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) introduced a congressional record entry to recognize Cook County’s “Medical Debt Relief Initiative,” a program that has abolished more than $281 million of medical debt for county residents.

— Biden is worried about a wider war in the Middle East. Here’s how it could happen, by POLITICO’s Nahal Toosi, Lara Seligman and Paul McLeary

— Elise Stefanik is watching her male colleagues faceplant in the speaker fight, by POLITICO’s Nick Reisman

— Trump’s ex-lawyers become prosecutors’ star witnesses, by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney Betsy Woodruff Swan and Josh Gerstein

A message from the Save My Scholarship Coalition:

Voters are very clear: They support the Tax Credit Scholarship Program by an overwhelming margin of more than 2:1. What’s at stake is the best-fit education of thousands of low-income students who receive a Tax Credit Scholarship or are waiting for one. Over half of the recipients are Black or Brown, and all the recipients qualify based on financial need. We cannot fail these children and their families. The Illinois General Assembly needs to extend the Invest in Kids Act Tax Credit Scholarship Program during this fall veto session. In addition to the 9,500 students who currently receive the scholarships, 26,000 more students from low-income and working-class families sit anxiously on the waitlist hoping to receive the same opportunities as some of their peers. This commitment is an investment in poverty reduction and economic acceleration, so lawmakers should do the right thing: Extend the Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

— IT’s SHOWBIZ: Illinois Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen is featured in a new play that’s being shopped in New York City for a possible production on stage. The plot centers on Dirksen, a Republican who helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, being interviewed by a TV journalist looking for a big one-on-one interview.

Should it make it to stage, Dirksen would be played by actor Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live fame, and the reporter signed on is actress Roslyn Ruff. The play is titled “The Honorable Mister Marigold,” a reference to Dirksen's legislative quest to have the marigold designated the national flower.

— Erika López is now a private equity and M&A partner at the global law firm Baker McKenzie in Chicago. She was with Kirkland & Ellis.

TUESDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Jon Maxson for correctly answering that Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was known as “the voice of liquor” because he supported it being legal at the time of prohibition.

TODAY’s QUESTION: Laurie Strode and Michael Myers are residents of what fictional Illinois town? Email skapos@politico.com

Appellate Court Judge and state Supreme Court candidate Jesse Reyes, former state Sen. Brian Stewart and former Ald. Brian Doherty.

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Shia Kapos @shiakapos

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