The Herald-News / TheHerald-News.com • Friday, April 7, 2017
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STATE
J.B. Pritzker announces governor bid By SARA BURNETT and SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press
CHICAGO – Billionaire J.B. Pritzker touted his business record and progressive values Thursday as he kicked off his campaign for Illinois governor, raising the financial stakes in what was already expected to be a costly and competitive fight to unseat Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Pritzker wasted little time in blasting the venture capitalist-turned-governor, even comparing him to President Donald Trump. Rauner has been at odds with the Democrat-controlled Legislature since he took office. “Gov. Rauner talks about what he might have done or what he tried to get done. It’s past time for all his talk. It’s time for action,” Pritzker told the crowd of union officials and community leaders gathered at a park facility in a predominantly African-American neighborhood on the city’s South Side. “Everything
Chicago Sun-Times via AP
J.B. Pritzker speaks with the media Thursday after announcing his run for Illinois governor in Chicago. we care about is under siege by Donald Trump and Bruce Rauner.” Pritzker joins a growing field of Democrats who’ve said they’ll seek their party’s nomination in the March gubernatorial primary, including state Sen. Daniel Biss, Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar and businessman Chris Kennedy, who is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.
ILLINOIS ROUNDUP
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News from across the state Illinois House approves new stopgap budget plan
SPRINGFIELD– The Illinois House voted Thursday to tap $817 million in accumulated but unallocated revenue to temporarily relieve struggling universities and human services. The 64-45 vote represented a largely partisan roll-call, with minority Republicans saying that another temporary spending plan amid the nation’s longest state budget stalemate since World War II would actually hurt long-term efforts. The vote ended a two-hour debate over a small amount of funding in a plan the Senate can’t even consider until after the General Assembly returns from a two-week spring break. Even then its chances don’t look good because
Last month, Kennedy donated $250,100 to his own campaign, a move that under Illinois campaign finance law lifted the caps on campaign contributions for all candidates. His campaign said he raised another $1 million from about 3,000 donors in the first six weeks of his candidacy. Biss and Pawar already have made wealth an issue in the campaign, telling voters
that “millionaires and billionaires” shouldn’t have a lock on political power. “I welcome the debate about whether the future of the Democratic Party will be a vehicle for the very rich and machine politicians or one for the rest of us,” Biss said Thursday in a statement. An heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune, Pritzker was recently ranked by Forbes magazine as the third-wealthiest person in Illinois, with an estimated net worth of about $3.4 billion. That easily makes him the wealthiest person running, although Rauner – a multimillionaire who put $50 million into his campaign fund late last year – also has received millions in campaign contributions from Illinois’ richest person, businessman Ken Griffin. Pritzker, 52, acknowledged his own wealth and opportunity. He said his first job was washing sheets in his parents’ hotels and that his mother raised him with an “abiding sense of social justice.”
“I wake up every morning knowing that I need to work hard to earn what I’ve been given,” he said. He added that Illinois is losing jobs and opportunities because of inaction by Rauner and the state needs to first tax its “millionaires and billionaires” before the middle class. Rauner’s 2014 race against Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn set a record for spending in Illinois, topping $100 million. Outside groups already have been active in the 2018 contest as well. Last month, a group affiliated with the Republican Governors Association began airing campaign-style ads featuring Rauner. In them he talks up his efforts to improve Illinois’ business climate and enact changes such as term limits for lawmakers. The ads come as Rauner and the Democrat-controlled Legislature have been unable to agree on a state budget for nearly two years, leading to major cuts to social services, colleges and other programs.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said he opposes it.
its employees to take five days off over spring break.
Federal law doesn’t ban felons from soliciting money via PACs.
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Northeastern Illinois to cancel class for 3 days
CHICAGO – Northeastern Illinois University is planning to cancel three days of classes in order to cut costs as public universities in Illinois struggle to make ends meet during the state’s budget stalemate. The Chicago-based university will no longer hold classes April 11, 12 and May 1. Illinois has been without a budget for 21 months and has a $12.9 billion backlog of bills. Northeastern Illinois interim President Richard Helldobler called the state’s unprecedented budget impasse a “state of emergency” for the school. A statement from the university said administrators also are speaking with labor unions that represent their employees as school officials contemplate a schoolwide shutdown for those three dates. A complete closure would be the second wave announced by the university in less than a month. The university required
Prison inmate forms two political action committees
CHICAGO – An Illinois man sentenced to 10 years in prison for bilking an acquaintance out of $93,000 has started two political action committees from behind bars. The Center for Public Integrity reported that Angelo Pesce is a convicted felon and cannot vote, but there’s nothing stopping him from creating the fundraising entities. Papers filed last week with the Federal Election Commission identify the 51-year-old Pesce as the PACs’ treasurer and agent and list his mailing address as the Taylorville Correctional Center in central Illinois. The filings don’t explain who or what will benefit from the donations, but the name of one urges impeachment of an unnamed target referenced with an expletive and the other appears to support pedophiles.
Woman sues Uber, says she was stabbed by passenger
CHICAGO – A Chicago woman has sued Uber and a customer of the ride-sharing company, saying she was stabbed by another passenger. Jennifer Camacho said she called an UberPool for a ride home Jan. 30. She said the passenger in the front seat began slashing her in the face as soon as she got in. The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court contends the 25-year-old Camacho suffered several facial wounds. Plaintiff’s attorney Bryant Greening said Uber was negligent. Greening is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000 for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Uber spokeswoman Kayla Whaling declined to comment on the lawsuit. Chicago police arrested 34-year-old Julie Ramer for the attack on Camacho and charged her with battery.
– Wire reports