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* Too bad the chamber’s deadline for Third Reading passage of House bills was April 23rd. It’ll get some nice play, though. And, who knows, maybe it’ll wind up being attached to another bill …
Folks, we have a new bill alert. Illinois could soon allow bars to reward people who got the vaccine with a free beer.
Rep. Mike Zalewski filed the “Shot and a Beer” bill in the House this morning. pic.twitter.com/okxyEAjm8r
— Mark Maxwell (@MarkMaxwellTV) May 11, 2021
* From Anita Bedell, Executive Director of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems…
backroom gambling deal is being worked out behind closed doors, as the General Assembly nears the May 31 deadline. Three gambling issues under consideration:
Internet Scratch-off lottery tickets. Scratch-off tickets account for 2/3 of lottery sales. Instant scratch-offs are like playing games on phones, with a “Play Again” button that pops up after purchase. Anyone 18 and older could “scratch” tickets for hours on end and lose a great deal of money.
The Lottery simplified online registration during the pandemic, added Apple and Google Pay, and used web-push notifications/nudges on phones to lure gamblers. Having a gambling app in your pocket is a constant temptation to gamble.
Betting on Illinois College Sports. Threats against student athletes are real, especially when people are gambling on college teams. The 2019 gambling bill banned bets on Illinois college sports to protect college players, many of whom are under the age of 21.
More at the link.
* Greg Hinz…
The Illinois House has voted to “fire a shot across the bow” of the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund, the massive retirement system that’s been riddled with internal tension and has tapped its board chairman to double as its interim executive director.
In a near-unanimous action, the House voted 114-0 to approve a bill sponsored by Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfield, that would impose a 12-month ban on any board member of a public pension system going to work for that system or any of its vendors. Four representatives did not vote.
Batinick said the measure would not apply to an earlier move by CTPF to make its board president, Jeffery Blackwell, the interim executive director, the fund’s top staff job. But the move is intended as a warning —”a shot across the bow”—to the $11 billion fund because there “seems to be a clear conflict of interest” in Blackwell supervising his own performance as both a board member and the executive director, Batinick told me.
Blackwell got the job in February, succeeding Mary Cavallaro. She resigned after just a few months in the job, saying in a statement that “I can no longer tolerate the chaos and toxicity of the boardroom, along with the vile disrespect and insults directed toward me, the leadership team and the hard-working staff of the fund by certain misinformed trustees.”
* Center Square…
Members from both sides of the aisle at the Illinois statehouse say they’re taking small steps to save taxpayers on the $140-plus billion unfunded liability of public sector pensions.
State Sen. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago, said after the legislature changed the pension plans a decade ago from Tier I to a plan with fewer benefits, Tier II may not cut it for some retirees. He passed Senate Bill 1675 requiring more state employees to save more on their own through a deferred compensation plan.
“So it doesn’t cost the government anything,” Martwick said. “It costs the pension systems a small amount of money in administration compared to their larger pot.”
* Same source…
Passions are pouring out on both sides of the issue of a measure to regulate retail pet stores.
House Bill 1711 would change state law to allow the sale of dogs and cats only if they come from an animal control facility or shelter. It passed the House with bipartisan support last month.
Illinois State Director for The Humane Society, Marc Ayers, advocates for the measure.
“And to change that source to shelters and rescues and animal controls so for one we can stop the proliferation of these puppy mills that they’re often coming from but also we can increase life-saving by adopting animals out that need a loving home,” Ayers told WMAY.
Jonathan Berning, co-owner of Happiness Is Pets with several locations in Illinois, said the measure would essentially shut down his business.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 2:40 pm
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The “shot and a beer” heard round the world
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Tuesday, May 11, 21 @ 3:19 pm