#gov. J.B. Pritzker

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed a bill that is aimed at fighting homelessness.

Called “Home IL,” it will bring state agencies, nonprofit organizations and other advocates together. The bill focuses on an equity-based approach, which includes the voices and contributions of those who have experience homelessness.

It codifies the collaboration to move Illinois to “functional zero” homelessness by bolstering the safety net, targeting high-risk populations, expanding affordable housing, securing financial stability for unhoused individuals and closing the mortality gap.

“Every person deserves access to safe shelter and the dignity that comes with housing,” Pritzker said. “This is a first-of-its-kind multi-agency cooperative effort — bringing together state agencies, nonprofit organizations, advocates, and people with lived experience to prevent and end homelessness. I’m grateful for their dedication and believe that together, we can prevent and end homelessness once and for all.”

Rockford has already taken strides in this aspect. In 2017, it became the first community to reach “functional zero” levels among veterans and the chronically homeless.

Illinois’ Interagency Task Force and Community Advisory Council works across 17 state departments and agencies, as well as over 100 processes, programs and policies, to develop a comprehensive plan to combat homelessness.

The goal of the plan is to prevent shelter entry or ensure that shelter stays are limited and lead to quick transitions into stable living situations.

Pritzker has also committed about $360 million for the initiative in his FY24 budget. These investments include:

• $118 million to support unhoused populations seeking shelter and services, including $40.7 million in the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program.

• $50 million in Rapid ReHousing services for 2,000 households, including short-term rental assistance and targeted support for up to two years.

• $40 million in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Capital funds to develop 90+ new PSH units providing long term rental assistance and case management.

• $37 million in Emergency Shelter capital funds to create more than 460 non-congregate shelter units.

• $35 million for supportive housing services, homeless youth services, street outreach, medical respite, re-entry services, access to counsel, and other shelter diversion supports.

• $21.8 million to provide homelessness prevention services to approximately 6,000 more families.

• $30 million for court-based rental assistance.

• $15 million to fund Home Illinois Innovations Pilots.

• $12.5 million to create 500 new scattered site PSH units.

“People experiencing the trauma of housing instability are our neighbors and community members who deserve to be treated with humanity and dignity. With this cooperative effort, Illinois is ensuring our state agencies can continue to collaborate, and that stakeholders are at the table with us, to support our most vulnerable in living healthy, well, and with dignity.” Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton said. “Our state is making it clear that we will continue to work together so we can all move forward, and we will focus on holistic strategies that bring us closer to ending homelessness in our state.”

[xtruss]

War To Go: Illinois Will No Longer Allow Landlords To Consider Immigration Status

Illinois also enacted legislation extending standard driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants

— July 13, 2023 | By Michael Lee

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

An Illinois law set to go into effect at the beginning of 2024 will ban landlords from discriminating against potential tenants on the basis of their immigration status.

Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed SB 1817 into law late last month, which will add "protections in the Illinois Human Rights Act for housing regarding immigration status protection and discriminatory advertising."

The law was part of several pieces of legislation Pritzker signed last month, including another law aimed at giving undocumented immigrants access to state drivers licenses. The bill replaces the current Temporary Visitor Driver's License with a standard license that will last four years, a move that will impact over 300,000 people who currently hold the temporary licenses.

The Illinois State Capitol. Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

"This legislation is a significant step in eliminating the barriers to opportunity that many undocumented immigrants face," Pritzker said in a statement after signing the driver's license legislation, according to Fox 32. "We’re ensuring every eligible individual can obtain a driver’s license, making our roads safer, decreasing stigma, and creating more equitable systems for all."

The effort to expand housing rights to undocumented immigrants was led by Democratic State Sen. Ann Gillespie, who argued the bill would make sure people are not "unjustly denied housing."

"This law sets clear boundaries, protecting the rights of immigrants and ensuring that financial institutions and service providers cannot engage in discriminatory practices," Gillespie said in a press release last week.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File

Gillespie also noted that the bill would prohibit third party loan modification service providers from modifying their terms of service based on immigration status, though inquiries into immigration status will still be allowed where required by law.

"By making this change, we are breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for immigrants to establish homes and contribute to our communities," Gillespie said in the release. "Someone’s background should not disqualify them from buying or renting property.

[reasonsforhope]

"Illinois will become one of three states to require employers to offer paid time off for any reason after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law on Monday that will take effect next year.

Starting Jan. 1, 2024, Illinois employers must offer workers paid time off based on hours worked, with no need to explain the reason for their absence as long as they provide notice in accordance with reasonable employer standards.

Just Maine and Nevada mandate earned paid time time off and allot employees the freedom to decide how to use it, but Illinois’ law is further reaching, unencumbered by limits based on business size. Similarly structured regulations that require employers to offer paid sick leave exist in 14 states and Washington, D.C., but workers can only use that for health-related reasons.

Illinois employees will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours total, although the employer may offer more. Employees can start using the time once they have worked for 90 days. Seasonal workers will be exempt, as will federal employees or college students who work non-full-time, temporary jobs for their university.

Pritzker signed the bill Monday in downtown Chicago, saying: “Too many people can't afford to miss even a day's pay ... together we continue to build a state that truly serves as a beacon for families, and businesses, and good paying jobs.”

Proponents say paid leave is key to making sure workers, especially low-income workers who are more vulnerable, are able to take time off when needed without fear of reprisal from an employer.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, a Peoria Democrat, said the bill is the product of years of negotiations with businesses and labor groups.

“Everyone deserves the ability to take time off,” she said in a statement. “Whether it’s to deal with the illness of a family member, or take a step back for your mental health, enshrining paid leave rights is a step forward for our state."

“This is about bringing dignity to all workers," she said at the signing."

-via ABC News, 3/13/23

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

Serving Governor Pritzker

Featuring the Governor of Illinois, J. B. Pritzker

My dad worked in the office of Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire businessman, philanthropist and heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune. It was two days before Christmas, and my dad was going to Gov. Pritzker's inaugural ball, which we had to attend in the early afternoon. We would be meeting his boss for the first time, and he wanted me to impress the governor. Once there, I sent my afternoon playing nice and struggling with boredom with Dad kept me by his side like a trophy.

Hoping dad would release me; I was getting the eye from a husky guy, black hair, graying at the temples with a cute chin. I watched him working from across the room. Courteous, he seemed to bow slightly as he spoke to the guests, leaning in to let them know he was focused on their needs. He was still smiling and nodding, looking very relaxed as he headed over toward us. I wondered if I could get away long enough to drop a load. As much as I wanted to help my dad, there's a limit, and I haven't blown my load in what felt like ages ago; while Dad's grip on me tightened.

"Hey J. B.." Dad said as he stiffen beside me.  

Gov. Pritzker was far from what I expected. He had dark eyebrows over blue eyes that bore right through me. I temporarily lost my ability to speak as all of the blood in my brain had traveled south. Even his scent was sexy. An old-fashioned cologne I couldn't quite place, mixed with his natural musky, manly scent both soothed and exhilarated me. I inhaled slowly trying to make the moment last. What had seemed like just a cute, older guy across the room turned out to be a seriously hot daddy, governor of Illinois, billionaire and my dad's boss for which I was developing a major hard-on.

"Hello there. You must be John," Gov. Pritzker said, offering his hand as his eyes sweeping over me. "Your dad has mentioned you a lot."

"He has?" I said, taking the governor's hand and welcomed his firm grip. I wanted to grab him and stick my tongue down his throat.  

"Steady, boy," I thought to myself.

"Only good things," The governor said as Dad laughed, shaking his head while the governor's wife shook hands with Mom.

Was that a wink? Gov. Pritzker was definitely casting me a sly grin as he gave my hand an extra squeeze. As he chatted with us, mentioning his political operation and his ambition, joked constantly about his girth, which is ample. But what I really admire, though, is the horn dog under that jovial shell.

During our conversation, Gov. Pritzker was sidled next to me, nodding at a joke of my mother's while my dad was talking to his wife. I noticed he had managed to separate my dad from my side, but I wasn't complaining. As I leaned up against a nearby wall, I felt it. Gov. Pritzker hand was on my crotch, and just as that registered he gave me a distinct squeeze. I nodded, as though it could be for my mom's story, but I knew he would understand. I felt his hand, felt him trace the outline of my cock against the tight suit crotch. He squeezed again, and kept squeezing, almost jacking me then and there. All the while smiling at my mother and father.

Fuck. Instant hard on. His hand was by his side again, not pausing on his conversation at all. Damn, he was slick. I liked this man. Well, Dad wanted me to impress his boss.

I cleared my throat. 

"Sorry," I said. "But where's the bathroom at?"

Gov. Pritzker's wife started to point down the hall, but the governor waved her suggestion away, thankfully picking up on my hint.  

"There'll be dozens of people lined up for that one," He said. "You can use the one in my office."

"You don't mind?" I said, for the benefit of his wife and my parents.

"Not at all. It'll give your mom and MK (his wife) a chance to catch up, eh, honey?" He winked at his wife and pointed me out of the hall.

The journey to his office was unbearable. Politicians to dodge, people for the governor to nod away. Soon we were in a dark, quiet hallway and after a quick check up and down the corridor, Gov. Pritzker steered me into what I assumed was his office. I could only catch a quick glimpse of the large room before the lock clicked and Gov. Pritzker was grinning at me again with his hungry eyes.

"Fuck, you're hot, kid."

I grinned back, moving toward him, pushing against J. B. and plunging my tongue into his mouth. I could smell that old fashioned cologne again along with his natural musk. He moaned, suddenly weak and desperate; this powerful man, the 43rd governor of Illinois, moaning as an young man kissed him. Knowing my parents were nearby, knowing his wife was with them, knowing we could be found out by the dozens of reports attending, made it all the more intense.

He sucked at my tongue, lapping at me like a man desperate for water. His hands were undoing my belt, and I helped, pushing my boxer briefs under my balls to expose my cock.

"Wow." J. B. said as he slid down on his knees, taking in my cock with a look of wonder. I watched his lips tremble as they touched the warm tip.

He slurped in my head and wrapped his lips around my shaft, and only paused long enough to enjoy the taste before he engulfed my thick 7.5" cock, and suddenly my cock head was pressing the back of his throat. The man knew how to blow a cock. I knew that instantly; he had years of practice. Of course, all those years in politics, taking in their sweat and their power... J. B. obviously had a few cocks on the side.

"Fuck," I said as removed my cock from his mouth. I struggled to get my head back, to keep it from spinning. He looked diminished and hurt without it, as if I had taken his favorite toy.

"Look. We don't have time for both. Either you can suck me off or I can fuck your ass, but we gotta be quick."

That's when J. B. looked up at me with a dangerous twinkle back in his eye, stood up, dropped his pants to the floor and turned his fabulous billionaire ass toward me and said, "Fuck me!"

Seeing his hairy ass and his huge balls got my cock throbbing so much that I thought I was going to shoot off before I could get my cock into the governor. I quickly leaned over and licked his hole good and wet. Then spit in my hand to wet my cock, taking time to to relish the image of my dad's boss, governor of Indiana, prone before me, his ass desperate for me. Partially clothed, even. It was a delicious sight. I took the time to run my cock head over his deep and sweaty crack, teasing him, letting my precum wet his hole before I stuck my cock into his warm butt.

"Ooohhh, yeeess." He moaned as I pressed in.

I was surprised when he took my cock so easy, although the rim of his ass was indeed tight. I watched it pucker as I pulled my cock out and stuck in deeper. He gasped for air, knowing he couldn't make any noise, I could tell by him looking back at me that he wanted it even harder. I grabbed his beautiful, round, plump cheeks and spread them wider as I began fucking him fast and steady in seconds.  

"Is it good boy?" J. B. asked as I stabbed him with my hot cock.

"Oh yeah... Damn good." I replied as I fucked him hard, pinning him to his desk with my thrust.

The man was nothing but a toy now, reduced to a flesh Jack. A powerful, prominent politician once, now my whore with my cock planted deep in him. I owned him. I fucked him for another few minutes until I felt my orgasm brewing, pushing up through my balls. And where else to deposit it?

I reached around and held on to his ample belly as I came, panting and breathing hard, deep in his pretty ass. His ass made a sucking sound as my cum filled it to the rim. I reached up to feel his breast as I still pumped his daddy hole. His nipples were hard as a rock as I pinched them.

What a fucking I had given the governor and he really loved it to. J. B. had a wide grin on his face as he turned around with his hand going to his cock. Just then, I realized what happened. Somewhere between my orgasm and his breathing, he had experienced his own, earth-shattering orgasm. Without touching his cock, I had fuck the cum out of him. I watched him squeeze out the last drops for several long seconds, almost a full minute of quivering orgasm. Damn, what a slut.

"Come on, Gov. Pritzker," I said. "Your wife will be wondering where you are."

After a few long kisses, I went out and J. B. followed a few seconds later. I could hardly walk, my knees were wobbly as I went back to the party and found my parents. Gov. Pritzker was mingling with the crowd again, but walking a tiny bit slower than before our session. Just then, J. B. turned and saw me starring. He winked and smiled a warm friendly, knowing smile as his wife joined him. He hugged her and once again, looked in my direction and winked. What a cute little flirt he was. I need to hook up with him again.

[tomorrowusa]

Our founders carried muskets, not assault weapons. And I don't think a single one of them would have said you have a constitutional right to an assault weapon with a high capacity magazine — or that that is more important than the right of the people who attended this parade today to live.   So yes, I'm angry. We as a nation deserve better.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaking after the mass shooting in Highland Park on Monday. Via Illinois.gov

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A bill to lower the cost of a lifesaving medication is headed to the Governor’s desk.

The proposal, which passed the General Assembly, would cap the cost of a twin pack of EpiPens at $60.

Families who need them say it would make a huge difference.

“You shouldn’t have to go, ‘Am I going to pay a bill or am I going to make sure that my child has this medication,’” Tiffany Mathis, the CEO and executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Illinois, said.

One night, Mathis’ daughter was eating butter pecan ice cream, when her face and lips started to swell. At the hospital, doctors discovered she had a tree nut allergy.

Her daughter has needed to carry an EpiPen for nearly a decade. But the lifesaving medication can come at a high cost.

“I was a single mom, I was on Medicaid, she was on All Kids insurance, and around that time, some years later, the EpiPen skyrocketed, and they went from no copay, low copay to $100 an EpiPen,” Mathis said.

Mathis said her family doesn’t need just one pack — they use multiple.

“She needs to have at least four or five to split between all the households, daycare, extracurricular activities that she was participating in,” Mathis said.

EpiPens also have an expiration date, which means they need to be replaced.

“We’re not talking about Tylenol, or ibuprofen, you’re talking about an EpiPen that you can’t just not have,” Mathis said.

For many people with allergies, they could experience a life threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis. They could have hives, redness on their skin, swelling of their lips and tongue, wheezing, and even trouble breathing.

But using the EpiPen in someone’s leg can help save a person’s life.

“Having an allergic reaction is scary, because everyday you live with a threat that your child might have something happen to them, and they might die over their allergy and it’s a very severe allergy at that,” Mathis said.

Lawmakers say they want to make the medication more affordable for families.

“This shouldn’t be an area where companies are making profits off of,” State Sen. Mike Halpin (D-Rock Island), one of the bill’s Senate sponsors, said. “This is life or death for little kids, as well as adults.”

A couple of years ago, the state passed legislation requiring insurance companies to cover the cost of EpiPens for people 18 or under.

“But it didn’t say affordable coverage for EpiPens and that’s where the General Assembly’s now having to go back and try to either define that or stipulate that with a specific dollar amount,” Garth Reynolds, the executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, said.

A two-pack of name brand EpiPens can cost more than $600 and up to $300 for the generic version.

[meret118]

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Saturday approved a measure that would allow firearm retailers or manufacturers to be sued for marketing guns to people under 18 and promoting other improper marketing ploys geared toward the sale of weapons.

[nodynasty4us]

From the February 7, 2024 article:

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is tapping his personal wealth to try to enshrine abortion access in battleground states, making an election-year push to support ballot measures and expanding his national footprint in the Democratic Party, within which he is regarded as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.

...

Politicians eyeing a White House bid often get involved in key states beyond their home base, and other Democrats viewed as 2028 contenders have made similar moves. California Gov. Gavin Newsom last year launched a nonprofit, seeded with campaign money, to push back on abortion bans and other conservative policies in red states. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is fundraising for federal candidates through a political action committee. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — in the spotlight after his 2023 reelection in a bright-red state — recently launched a group backing Democrats nationwide.

[reasoningdaily]

Some fed-up migrants already heading home: ‘American Dream doesn’t exist anymore’

Some Venezuelan migrants who trekked thousands of miles to the US in search of a better life are so disheartened, they say they’re already heading back home.

Michael Castejon, 39, told the Chicago Tribune he has had enough after he, his wife and teenage stepdaughter spent five months sleeping either in a police precinct or a crowded city shelter in the now-brutally cold Windy City.

He’s also been unable to secure a job permit or enroll his daughter in a local school — two of the main reasons things they thought would bring a better life in the US.

“The American Dream doesn’t exist anymore,” Castejon told the paper on the eve of his family’s departure.

“There’s nothing here for us … We just want to be home,” Castejon told the Tribune of the South American country he earlier fled.

“If we’re going to be sleeping in the streets here, we’d rather be sleeping in the streets over there.”

More than 20,000 migrants have made their way to Chicago since August 2022, when Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began loading them onto buses and shipping them off to sanctuary cities.

Many of them ended up sleeping at O’Hare International Airport, at local police stations or in the streets.

Migrants Michael Castejon and wife Induliz Seville wait for an Uber to the airport to start their journey back to Venezuela.TNS

Fed up with the lack of housing and job opportunities, Castejon eventually followed in the footsteps of other disillusioned asylum seekers and turned to Catholic Charities to obtain plane tickets for his family to travel to Texas.

From there, they will somehow find a way to return to their native Venezuela, he said.

“How many more months of living in the streets will it take? No, no more. It’s better that I leave,” he said.

“At least I have my mother back home,” he said of the South American nation he fled earlier this year.

Yorbelis Molero (second from left), 16, says goodbye to a friend as Molero and her family of five wait to leave a Chicago police station and head to a Greyhound bus station on Nov. 2, 2023. TNS

Castejon and his family were among numerous disheartened asylum seekers who have decided to leave Chicago in recent weeks as the weather in the Windy City has grown colder and wetter, the paper found.

Some suggested they had been drawn to Chicago after being wrongly led to believe that they could be swiftly granted asylum status and a work permit, paving the way for a better life.

“We didn’t know things would be this hard,” Castejon said. “I thought the process was faster.”

Others said they have realized that Chicago’s limited resources have been depleted by waves of migrants that have overwhelmed the Democrat-led sanctuary city over the past 16 months, leaving the latest newcomers with nothing but scraps.

“If we’re going to be sleeping in the streets here, we’d rather be sleeping in the streets over there,” Castejon said.AP

Jose Nauh, 22, also returned to Texas earlier this month after sleeping in a police station in Chicago for more than two weeks.

Nauh said he came to Chicago because he heard there was shelter, food and other resources for asylum seekers, but “that’s not true,” he said.

In a scathing letter to President Biden in October, Illinois’ Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused the federal government of failing to provide adequate assistance to Chicago for a migrant crisis that has brought the city to a breaking point.  

“The humanitarian crisis is overwhelming our ability to provide aid to the refugee population,” Pritzker wrote. “Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government.”

Pritzker noted that more than $330 million had already been spent by the state to house and feed the migrants.

[vague-humanoid]

Last summer, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation establishing an Indian American Advisory Council that advanced an Islamophobic agenda and sowed enmity within the South Asian-American community. The legislation codified principles of the increasingly influential Hindu supremacist hate ideology, violated church-state separation by valuing certain faiths at the expense of others, and promoted the domination of India over other countries in South Asia.

Joining together with a multi-racial, multi-faith coalition led by South Asian-American and Asian-American community leaders, we worked to educate legislators about the Hindu supremacist falsehoods in the text, and in February, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a follow-up bill that addressed nearly all of our key concerns. Despite this win, we are deeply concerned about the Hindu supremacist movement’s ability to co-opt representation and progressive leaders across the U.S. As a coalition, we document our experience in Illinois to help policymakers and allies effectively engage with South Asian-American communities while centering democracy, inclusion, and justice. 

[agendermetalbender]

Begin article transcript:

[“First of Its Kind” Illinois Law Will Penalize Libraries That Ban Books

Illinois public libraries that restrict or ban materials because of “partisan or doctrinal” disapproval will be ineligible for state funding as of Jan. 1, 2024.

By The Associated Press

Published on 6/13/2023 at 5:48 PM

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday signed into law a bill that he says will make Illinois the first state in the nation to outlaw book bans.

Illinois public libraries that restrict or ban materials because of “partisan or doctrinal” disapproval will be ineligible for state funding as of Jan. 1, 2024, when the new law goes into effect.

“We are not saying that every book should be in every single library,” said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, who is also the state librarian and was the driving force behind the legislation. “What this law does is it says, let’s trust our experience and education of our librarians to decide what books should be in circulation.”

The new law comes into play as states across the U.S. push to remove certain books in schools and libraries, especially those about LGBTQ+ themes and by people of color. The American Library Association in March announced that attempts to censor books in schools and public libraries reached a 20-year high in 2022 — twice as many as 2021, the previous record.

“Illinois legislation responds to disturbing circumstances of censorship and an environment of suspicion,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Downers Grove Democrat Rep. Anne Stava-Murray sponsored the legislation in the Illinois House of Representatives after a school board in her district was subject to pressure to ban certain content from school libraries.

“While it’s true that kids need guidance, and that some ideas can be objectionable, trying to weaponize local government to force one-size-fits-all standards onto the entire community for reasons of bigotry, or as a substitute for active and involved parenting, is wrong," Stava-Murray said Monday at the bill's signing, which took place at a children’s library in downtown Chicago.

Despite Giannoulias' assertion that “this should not be a Democrat or Republican issue,” lawmakers' approval of the bill splintered across party lines, with Republicans in opposition.

“I support local control,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, a Republican who voted against the measure, in an emailed statement. "Our caucus does not believe in banning books, but we do believe that the content of books should be considered in their placement on the shelves.”

___

By CLAIRE SAVAGE]

End transcript