Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger says it’s time for fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, reportedly under federal investigation in a sex-trafficking case, to resign. Kinzinger is the first GOP lawmaker to call for the Florida congressman to step down. It’s not, however, the first time Kinzinger has criticized Gaetz, an ally of another Kinzinger target: former President Donald Trump.
Gaetz has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
A Cook County judge this week ruled that the state of Illinois must pay two former Democratic state senators the salary hikes they voted against while in office, my Tribune colleague Dan Petrella reports. The pair sued, arguing that laws freezing legislative salaries from 2009 to 2016 violated the Illinois Constitution, which prohibits lawmakers from changing their pay during their current term.
And well before President Joe Biden announced a $45 billion proposal to replace all lead water lines in the nation, dozens of cities had been working to eliminate the health hazard, the Tribune’s Michael Hawthorne reports. Chicago, under Mayor Lightfoot, is only starting the process.
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Family of 13-year-old Adam Toledo to watch Chicago police video of shooting next week, lawyers say
From the Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat: “As Adam Toledo was buried Friday, lawyers for his family said they were scheduled to view police video next week after a Chicago police officer shot and killed the 13-year-old during what police called an armed confrontation late last month in the Little Village neighborhood, lawyers for the family said.”
The youngest person to be shot and killed by Chicago Police in recent memory, the fallout from the case has reached City Hall with Mayor Lightfoot calling for a new police foot-pursuit policy to be implemented before the start of the summer. She’s also demanded an investigation into the gun recovered at the scene where Toledo was killed.
It’s unclear when the footage will be released publicly, but according to city policy it should be within 60 days of the incident unless officials ask for a 30-day extension. Full story here.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger took to his personal Twitter account last night, and declared “Matt Gaetz needs to resign,” with a link to a Daily Beast story.
Kinzinger is the first Republican congressman to call for Gaetz to step down amid reports the Florida congressman is under federal investigation for possible sex crimes.
Gaetz, who has denied wrongdoing, thumbed his nose at those who have suggested he should resign and has even used it as a talking point to raise campaign funds, The Associated Press reports
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.RELATED — ‘New strategy’: Politicians in crisis refuse calls to resign: Gaetz “joins a growing list of politicians from both parties — almost exclusively men — who are defying the traditional response to controversy,” The Associated Press reports in this deep dive. “Rather than humbly step back from public life, they barrel ahead, insisting they did nothing wrong and betting that voters will forget alleged misdeeds once the news cycle eventually shifts.”
This isn’t the first time Kinzinger has taken aim at Gaetz, a Trump ally who heads to Florida today to speak at a pro-Trump women’s event, Politico reports. After announcing he’d formed his anti-Trump PAC to raise money for Republican candidates not aligned with the former president. Asked by The Washington Post which Republicans he’d like to see face a challenge, Kinzinger said “Oh, there’s a huge list” but quickly pointed to Gaetz and Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, also a Trump devotee.
Gaetz fired back at Kinzinger on Twitter, writing in part “F—ing bring it.”
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The Tribune’s Dan Petrella writes: “The state of Illinois must pay two former Democratic state senators salary hikes they voted to reject while in office, a Cook County judge ruled late Thursday.
“The ruling stems from a lawsuit Michael Noland of Elgin and James Clayborne of Belleville brought against Democratic state Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office. The senators argued that laws freezing legislative salaries from 2009 to 2016 violated the Illinois Constitution, which prohibits lawmakers from changing their pay during their current term.”
Noland, now a Kane County judge, sued in 2017 seeking back pay for himself and “all others impacted” by the eight bills lawmakers passed to give up the annual cost-of-living raises they are automatically granted under state law.
“But in a partial victory for Mendoza, (Cook County Judge Allen Price Walker’s) ruling only applies to Noland and Clayborne, not other lawmakers who were in the legislature at the time, because they filed their lawsuit as individuals and not as public officials,” Petrella notes. Full story here.
Federal appeals court rules Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers can exclude conservative think tank from attending his press briefings, The Associated Press reports.
The Tribune’s Michael Hawthorne writes: “As President Joe Biden pushes a $45 billion plan to replace every lead water line across the nation, dozens of cities already have a head start in eliminating the lingering threats to public health.
“One glaring omission: Chicago.”
Here’s why: “Despite having more lead pipes known as service lines than any other U.S. city, Chicago denied for years it had a widespread problem,” Hawthorne notes.
“The first sign of change came this month, when Mayor Lori Lightfoot launched a small pilot program to target the brain-damaging hazards in low-income neighborhoods,” he writes.
The vast majority of homeowners, however, will have to decide whether it’s worth replacing the toxic pipes at their own expense.
Money matters: “In their application for a low-interest loan financed by Congress and the General Assembly, city officials estimated it will cost $27,000 to replace each of the 650 lead service lines they plan to dig out of the ground this year,” Hawthorne writes.
The Chicago way? In an email response to Hawthorne’s questions, the (Chicago Department of Water Management) defended its cost estimates, which are more than five times higher than the national average to replace service lines.
My Tribune colleague Louisa Chu writes: “In the days following Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Brown Sugar Bakery in Chicago, Harris has been criticized for her stop while in the city — and the South Side bakery has been caught in the crossfire.”
During a White House press briefing Wednesday — two days after Harris’ quick Chicago visit — New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asked about Harris’ work on the nation’s immigration policy, mentioning that Harris “hasn’t visited the border or Central America,” but “took time to visit a bakery in Chicago.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded that Harris came to Chicago to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, and the bakery was not the focus of the visit.
Chu continues: “As Fox News, the Daily Mail and other outlets covered the story, Brown Sugar Bakery started to receive blowback for the visit, its owner said.” Stephanie Hart, who founded the acclaimed Park Manor bakery in 2004, woke up Thursday to about a dozen social media posts tagging her in connection to the ‘bakery versus border’ coverage.
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“She came for a worthy and important issue for America,” said Hart of the vice president. “She happened to get hungry and wanted a piece of cake.” Full story here.
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