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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Tuesday, August 11th, was probably the best day, professionally, that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has had in quite a while.
The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules has been a source of legislative frustration for the governor all year. He didn’t quite seem to grasp how best to work its process-dominated membership and he was handed a major defeat back in May when JCAR members in both parties turned thumbs down on a sweeping plan to impose fines and even jail time on violators of Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive orders.
Pritzker’s general counsel Ann Spillane spent hours explaining to and negotiating with JCAR members the myriad details in the administration’s latest attempt at enforcing some of the governor’s executive orders on mask-wearing and gathering sizes. Spillane testified on behalf of the emergency rule that Tuesday, and she and her final product drew praise from members on both sides of the aisle, though some said they had “agreed to disagree.”
Enlisting organized labor and medical and public health leaders to help put public and private pressure on JCAR wasn’t a bad idea, either. And rather than relying on legislative leaders to put the arm on fellow Democrats, the governor himself got directly involved and called individual members of the committee.
The administration worked it hard and worked it well and it all paid off when it cleared the panel and took effect. The new administrative rule is far better than Pritzker’s attempt in May and also better than the draft released just a week earlier. That’s how things are supposed to work.
As the administration’s top lawyer, Spillane, who served former Attorney General Lisa Madigan as chief of staff, has also been heavily involved with the numerous court battles over Pritzker’s executive orders.
And the governor had a banner day at the Illinois Supreme Court that Tuesday as well. Pritzker had asked the day before that the state’s top court step in and put a stop to the charade in Clay County, where a judge had issued rulings on behalf of Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) that Will County Circuit Judge John Anderson recently wrote were “bereft of any meaningful legal analysis.”
Clay County Judge Michael McHaney was planning a hearing on Friday, Aug. 14, to decide whether to hold Pritzker in contempt for continuing to issue executive orders in defiance of McHaney’s rulings and perhaps throw the governor in jail. On Monday, the governor asked the Supreme Court to intervene on McHaney’s “unenforceable and nonappealable partial summary judgment order,” stay the contempt hearing and take up the case itself.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a stay on the contempt hearing and then, later in the day, decided not to take up the case. The state’s high court instead acted on its own to consolidate Bailey’s case with others that it had already shifted to Sangamon County at the governor’s behest. The court also ordered that another Clay County case filed by Bailey’s attorney over the administration’s school reopening guidance (including a face mask mandate) be consolidated with similar cases in Sangamon County.
The Supreme Court justices obviously had seen enough of Clay County’s show trials and finally stepped in to stop a county judge from attempting to dictate to the state. The media-friendly legal maneuverings will likely continue, but at least they’ll now happen on a level judicial playing field (unless another avenue is found).
There were some who believed Ann Spillane should’ve cashed out in the private sector after Lisa Madigan retired. Spillane wanted to continue her public service career, however, and Pritzker is darned lucky to have her, especially during this unforeseen pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Republican leadership here has managed to put themselves on the side of outliers like Rep. Bailey. House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, for one, publicly opposed Pritzker’s emergency rule on masks, though national and regional public opinion polls have revealed strong support for requiring face-coverings.
And that public support likely will continue because mask mandates appear to be working. Lincoln, Nebraska, has dramatically lowered its daily case count and positivity rate after imposing a mask mandate just a few weeks ago. It worked so well that Omaha’s city council unanimously approved a similar mandate last Tuesday night over opposition from the state’s governor.
Some business groups opposed Pritzker’s mask rule, and the cash-strapped House Republicans need every bit of help they can get in a year that’s not looking good for their party here. So I suppose it was a decent short-term decision. But that’s going to be a difficult position to defend in some of their suburban battlegrounds.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 8:57 am
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==The Supreme Court justices obviously had seen enough==
I am not sure punting until after the election is putting your foot down. I cannot see if this was a vote by all 7 and how the voted, or a single admin order by one justice. Just curious how it fell out.
Did the Kilbride retention battle affect why they did not just take it up now? He could be the swing vote which would not be good for his retention.
Historically Courts are slow to act on emergency powers in times of crises. While it seems like it has been an eternity, it has only been 5 months so they could just be cautious which is historically par for the course.
Comment by the Patriot Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 9:22 am
One would hope that concern for public health during a pandemic would override the temptation for a short term fundraising bump for cash strapped Republicans but I guess that’s just naive.
Comment by slow down Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 9:26 am
===He could be the swing vote which would not be good for his retention. ===
LOL
One day you’re gonna realize that many of the views you espouse are not widely held. Just the opposite.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 9:35 am
The contrast between how the current IL GOP is handling this issue, and how the IL GOP under the late Gov. Thompson would have handled this issue, explains why and I no longer view myself as a Republican, and when that transition occurred.
Comment by Johnny Tractor Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 10:02 am
== I am not sure punting until after the election is putting your foot down.==
Nothing was “punted”. They saw a judge not doing his job, abusing the process, and not allowing cases to be adjudicated and appealed. So they stripped that judge of any and all authority over these cases, so that the adults in the room could properly hear and decide them. That’s not a small step of slap by the court. It’s a direct kick to his you-know-what.
Comment by fs Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 10:30 am
Leadership decision making: I need money or I should help support the health of the people I represent. Hmmm, here’s a coin….
Comment by zatoichi Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 10:39 am
I’m about as out of the loop as you get, but I did get to know Ann Spillane a bit on Lisa Madigan’s first AG run. She always struck me as smart and no-nonsense.
Comment by ZC Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 10:40 am
This morning I happened to hear an interview with Senator Schimpf. He’s an interesting man with an interesting outlook on how the Governor is handling things and now that Region 4 is in mitigation he’s highly upset. He doesn’t understand why the metric used is positivity rate vs hospital numbers. The way it sounded is he thinks the Governor should wait until the hospitals are getting full to shut things down.
Then the story got more interesting. Someone called in and our favorite Attorney was going on Facebook Live at 9am to explain mitigation to everyone. First though he is getting ready to file a lawsuit against the JCAR ruling cause it just isn’t right and doesn’t follow the law. As the the Governor’s mitigation he said he doesn’t see any teeth to it. So just call him and he’ll tell you what to do. It was hard to watch thinking all these businesses were going to be calling and he was going to say don’t listen keep doing what you are doing. Oh and that’s $300.00.
Comment by Club J Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 10:41 am
Whatever the Gov is paying Ann S. - it’s not enough.
Comment by Drake Mallard Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 11:00 am
This is Leadership, reminds me a bit of Thompson.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 11:20 am
“The Supreme Court justices obviously had seen enough of Clay County’s show trials and finally stepped in to stop a county judge from attempting to dictate to the state.”
And Pritzker is not attempting to dictate the state? Here in Dekalb County we have seen 32 deaths in 5 months, if you believe the statistics are accurate. Where is the emergency?
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 11:52 am
=And Pritzker is not attempting to dictate the state? Here in Dekalb County we have seen 32 deaths in 5 months, if you believe the statistics are accurate. Where is the emergency?=
First, get a name.
Where’s the emergency? You cannot be serious. It is a national emergency. And those 32 people and their families probably don’t share your perspective.
Dictate? Go read the state constitution and the laws of Illinois.Pritzker is well within his powers. Trump? Not so much.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 12:09 pm
Here in Dekalb County we have seen 32 deaths in 5 months, if you believe the statistics are accurate. Where is the emergency?
170K deaths in this country and climbing. Be grateful that the actions of Pritzker have kept this number to “only” 32 in DeKalb county and that you or people you care about aren’t included in this count.
Comment by Pundent Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 12:49 pm
=Here in Dekalb County we have seen 32 deaths in 5 months, if you believe the statistics are accurate. Where is the emergency?=
If it had been 32 people in DeKalb County killed / murdered, would you think the same? 32 additional deaths in one place are a problem, since they preventable deaths.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 1:47 pm
The last anonymous was H-W. I forgot to sign. I was not the original anonymous, however.
Comment by H-W Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 1:53 pm
so good to hear more about Ann Spillane, a smart and nice person.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Aug 17, 20 @ 1:58 pm