Corruption/Ethics
McCombie Presses Speaker on Handling of Harassment in IL House
After House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch completed a media tour last week defending his handling of sexual harassment complaints in the Illinois House, Minority Leader Tony McCombie responded, saying there are still more questions than answers.
Leader McCombie spoke with WGN’s Tahman Bradley to talk about her reaction, and why she believes there must be more accountability.
“We have zero tolerance. And as the speaker of the House, the one who is controlling everything, if this is how he handles sexual harassment, how else is he handling things?” said McCombie during a Friday interview on The Point. […]
Welch told WGN-TV he was forming a new House Culture and Accountability Working Group that would begin meeting next week. It will be led by State Rep. Dagmara Avelar. No Republicans were asked to be part of the working group.
“It’s just political posturing. We could right now, strengthen the powers of the LIG. We could have independent investigations. And, certainly, I don’t understand why we have to have a working group to do what’s right and what should have been done,” McCombie said.
Even Democrats Aren’t Buying Welch’s Working Group
Speaker Welch created the Workplace Culture and Accountability Working Group in an attempt to save face, but the group is already falling apart before it even gets off the ground.
Three Democratic lawmakers whose names were floated for the group have declined to participate, while even Governor Pritzker has questioned whether a working group is the right approach.
Here is what they are saying:
Rep. Kelly Cassidy:
“I’m disappointed, as I believe a working group on this topic could be necessary and important. But we have a responsibility to victims and survivors to ensure any such body is credible and effective, and I currently do not have confidence it will be.”
Rep. Gregg Johnson:
“But I’ve just made it very clear that I didn’t feel comfortable serving on the committee unless it was going to consist of people who had not publicly put out any statements or taken any interviews because I saw different narratives coming out of those interviews and those conversations.”
“My name was shared as a member of the House Culture and Accountability Working Group before I agreed to participate,” Rep. Katz Muhl told Capitol Fax yesterday. “After thoughtful consideration, I declined to serve.”
Governor Pritzker:
“I’ve seen working groups go on for a year-and-a-half. There is no time here. There are already models for dealing with this in other states. I believe that there doesn’t need to be much of a discussion through a working group.”
Speaker Welch’s working group is nothing more than a PR stunt. Even members of his own party are questioning its credibility and effectiveness. A Democrat-only working group that includes some members who have publicly defended Welch’s handling of the controversy is no substitute for real, bipartisan reform.
While Speaker Welch focuses on damage control, State Rep. Dan Ugaste and other House Republicans have consistently pushed for meaningful ethics reforms, including giving more authority to the Legislative Inspector General so he/she can work independently, banning lawmakers from using campaign funds for criminal defense, and suspending pension benefits for public officials charged with felonies related to their official duties.
Not partisans, but ‘statesmen’ in investigation of Ammons, says area lawmaker
A Jacksonville-area lawmaker says despite the glee of some Republicans to see the indictment and possible removal from office of State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana), we can be assured the House investigative process will be non-partisan.
State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Murrayville) told reporters after the August 6 inaugural meeting of the newly formed Special Investigating Committee.
“I think both sides should look at this equally,” he said, “not as a Democrat or a Republican, but as a statesman meant to uphold the integrity of this institution.”
Davidsmeyer is not part of the committee but is one of eleven House Republicans submitting the petition which got the process started. Ammons, accused of steering grant money to benefit her family, has been indicted; the House process will determine if there should be disciplinary action taken.
Agency Mismanagement
Judge orders DCFS director to answer for repeated failures to release public documents in child death
A circuit court judge in Sangamon County threatened last week to begin assessing daily fines against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services for its repeated failure to appear in court or comply with orders to hand over documents related to the death of a teenager who was in the agency’s care.
Judge Jack Davis II issued an order Tuesday for DCFS Director Heidi Mueller to appear personally at a Sept. 9 hearing to show cause why she and the agency should not continue to be held in contempt over repeated refusals to appear in court or comply with orders to produce records related to an 18-year-old girl who died while in foster care in 2024.
Capitol News Illinois sued for access to the personnel records of two caseworkers and one supervisor who were responsible for monitoring Mackenzi Felmlee, the girl who died.
According to doctors, Mackenzi died May 11, 2024, from a blood clot that hit her lungs. She was found struggling to breathe at the bottom of the basement stairs in a Fairview Heights foster home. Doctors reported she died of a blood clot that hit her lungs. Her neck, shoulders, legs and face were bruised, and her dehydrated body weighed just 90 pounds.
Her foster mother, Shemeka Williams, and foster grandmother, Cornelia Reid, are charged with murder in connection with Mackenzi’s death. Both are currently being held in the St. Clair County Jail.
Click Here to Read More from Capitol News Illinois
Illinois audit: State agency paid staffing firm $78.5M for contractors not actively working
A state agency under Gov. JB Pritzker’s purview paid a Kansas-based staffing contractor $78.5 million for time its employees spent on standby rather than actually working, part of a broader failure to properly oversee contractor billing, according to a report issued by a state watchdog.
The report released last week from Illinois Auditor General Christopher Meister’s office found the Illinois Emergency Management Agency-Office of Homeland Security did not provide proof to auditors that it could determine how many contractors it needed or to verify that its contractors were billing the state accurately. The agency has been responsible for helping coordinate the state’s response to major emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of migrants three years ago to the Chicago area.
The $78.5 million in standby billing — a practice known as “standdown,” under which contractors are paid even when not actively working — came from Favorite Healthcare Staffing, a national employment agency based in Kansas that also helped Chicago respond to the migrant influx and contributed to the city’s multimillion-dollar costs for housing new arrivals. Favorite Staffing billed the state $220.3 million in total during the audit period, with the standdown billings alone accounting for 469,892 hours, the report found.
“IEMA-OHS indicated it paid a premium for contractual staff due to being procured during the pandemic when there was an overwhelming demand and a limited supply of qualified people; however, IEMA-OHS could not provide documentation to support that it conducted an analysis to determine the appropriate number of contractor staff it needed,” the report said.
Favorite Staffing has come under scrutiny in Illinois for its high costs, especially during the crisis several years ago when migrants crossing the border were sent to the Chicago area from Texas. Its contract with the city was the costliest by far during the migrant crisis, with the firm receiving hundreds of millions of dollars to run operations at city migrant shelters. A Tribune investigation in 2023 found some of those costs were questionable, with Favorite Staffing charging premium rates and overtime costs as invoices showed hundreds of Favorite Staffing employees logged workweeks of 84 hours or more during the first half of 2023.
Click Here to Read More from the Chicago Tribune
Immigration
Colleges scramble after court strikes down in-state tuition for Illinois undocumented students
Thousands of immigrant students who attended high school in Illinois may soon have to pay more expensive out-of-state tuition rates for college — a change that could jeopardize their access to higher education.
On July 24, a federal judge struck down parts of three Illinois laws that allowed eligible undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates at community colleges and public universities and to receive state financial aid.
Judge David Dugan of the Southern District of Illinois sided with the U.S. Department of Justice in its argument that these provisions violate federal law because they grant a benefit to noncitizens who live in state that citizens who live out of state cannot get.
The state law concerning in-state tuition had been on the books for more than two decades. To qualify for the benefit, students must have attended an Illinois high school for at least three years, among other criteria. […]
Nearly 25,000 students at colleges and universities in Illinois are undocumented, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, which tracks immigrant student enrollment data across the country.
Click Here to Read More from the Chicago Sun-Times
Jobs
Rep. Ryan Spain Statement on Tyson Foods Plant Closure Announcement in Rock Island County
State Representative Ryan Spain issued the following statement after news broke on Thursday that the Tyson Foods plant in Joslin, Illinois in Rock Island County will be closing its doors as of August 14, 2026. The closure will result in the termination of over 2,500 jobs. The terminated employees will be paid for the next 60 days.
“I am stunned and saddened by the news that Tyson Foods is closing after 43 years in Joslin. This is devastating to our region, to the families that depend on the income they receive from this factory, and to the communities who will bear the downstream impacts of this closure. I have asked Tyson Foods and others to work together to analyze potential repurposing of this facility for preserving jobs.
“Tyson Foods must honor its commitment to supporting the impacted employees through this transition, providing them with necessary resources and assistance to navigate this difficult situation. Local officials and community leaders are united in urging state agencies to assist with worker transition and support services, as well as facilitating avenues for economic revitalization for this impacted regional economy.”
While Tyson is closing two other plants in the country, some of the work done in these plants is being relocated to Tyson’s facility in Texas. However, State Representative Dan Ugaste said there is no reason, of which he is aware, that this work could not have been consolidated to the facility in Illinois, other than our State Government has created an extremely difficult business climate. Therefore, Rep. Ugaste is again calling on the Democrat supermajority to work with Republicans to create a more friendly business climate in Illinois by lowering taxes, reducing litigation costs and removing the hurdles and costs of unnecessary regulation.
Illinois State Fair
State Fair Underway in Springfield
The annual Illinois State Fair opened on Thursday, August 13 and will run through Sunday, August 23. This year’s theme, “Miles of Smiles,” celebrates the 100th anniversary of Route 66. To help make the fair more affordable for families, children 12 and under receive free admission and seniors can enter for just $3.