Archived Articles
Illinois Cultural News
(Articles appear from the newest to the oldest. To read the articles in the time line in which they were posted, scroll down to find the oldest in the tread and read upwards from oldest to newest.)
The Mayflower Compact and our Government
by Joyce Geiler
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth 400 years ago this month. They signed the Mayflower Compact, which was an agreement of how they would govern themselves in their new settlement. In these weeks when the nation is still experiencing uncertainty in elected government, it seems an opportune time to examine the relationship of this famous compact and our current government.
The Pilgrims were not the first Europeans to settle in what would become the United States of America. European settlers came from a variety of social and religious groups, including adventurers, farmers, indentured servants, tradesmen, and a few from the aristocracy. Settlers included the Dutch of New Netherland, the Swedes and Finns of New Sweden, the English Quakers of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English Puritans of New England, the English settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, the English Roman Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists of the Province of Maryland, the "worthy poor" of the Province of Georgia, the Germans who settled the mid-Atlantic colonies, and the Ulster Scots of the Appalachian Mountains. These groups all became part of the United States when it gained its independence in 1776. Russian America and parts of New France and New Spain were also incorporated into the United States at various points. The diverse colonists from these various regions built colonies of distinctive social, religious, political, and economic style.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States
Jamestown
Most readers will have familiarity with both the Jamestown, Virginia colony settlement and the Plymouth settlement in the Massachusetts Colony. This article will contrast and compare the Jamestown settlement and the Plymouth settlement since both contributed to the founding principles of our nation. We will begin the story some thirteen years before the Pilgrim’s landing. The 105 colonists and seamen who set sail from England and settled in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 carried the Geneva Bible with them. Before finding what would be their permanent settlement, Rev. Robert Hunt (1568–1608) offered the following prayer on April 29, 1607 at Cape Henry (now Virginia Beach, Virginia)
“We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World. May all who see this Cross, remember what we have done here, and may those who come here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
Using covenantal language, Hunt declared, “from these very shores the Gospel shall go forth not only to this New World but the entire world.” The following Bible passage was read at the conclusion of the prayer: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and he ruleth among the nations” (Ps. 22:27–28).
https://americanvision.org/1644/choose-day-whose-notes-will-follow/
The Jamestown Colony in Virginia, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was the third attempt of the Virginia Company of London to establish a permanent trade center in the Americas following the failures of the Roanoke Colony (1587-1590) and the Popham Colony of 1607-1608 CE. The primary objective of the Jamestown Colony was profit for the shareholders who financed the expedition; and at first, it seemed a failure. Those who had been selected to establish it turned out to be unfit for the task except for Captain John Smith (1580-1631) who was able to negotiate with the native Powhatan tribe and assume leadership of the colonists.
The success of the Spanish had led the English to believe that the Americas were lands of plenty, teeming with gold, silver, and precious gems just waiting to be found; and a large percentage of the colonists were upper-class noblemen who signed on believing they would just pocket whatever gold was found lying about and return home. The reality of the situation was that there was no ready-at-hand gold to be found, that the colonists had arrived too late to plant crops, and that many did not even know how to do so, and that the marshlands – which the indigenous people avoided – was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Most of the colonists were dead within a few months of their arrival. https://www.ancient.eu/Jamestown_Colony_of_Virginia/
In spite of these seemingly negative attributes of the Jamestown settlement, once settled in the fort, the whole company, except those who were on guard, attended regular prayer and services led by the Reverend Hunt. The endeavor at Jamestown was a business venture. Although Robert Hunt was a God-fearing Episcopal priest whose reputation was one of impeccable character and an earnest pursuit for evangelism, the attributes of the first settlers was not similar. In due time Captain Smith helped establish regulations for law and order.
Plymouth
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock November 11, 1620 as reckoned by their calendar. The date was November 21, 1620 as reckoned by our current calendar. The Pilgrims were covenant people. In a previous series, we outlined the covenants related to the Pilgrims. They covenanted together while they were still in England in what is called the Scrooby Covenant.
The Scrooby Covenant of 1606 entered into by those who later comprised the Pilgrims reads, “As ye Lord’s free people joined themselves by a covenant of the Lord into a church estate, in ye fellowship of ye gospel, to walk in all his ways, made known or to be made known to them according to their best endeavor, whatever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them. Amen!” https://inthewholeworld.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/the-scrooby-covenant-of-1606/
Unlike other migrations to early America, including the Jamestown settlement, which were composed largely of young unattached men, the Puritan migration in the New England area that included the Pilgrims was overwhelmingly a migration of families. A spiritual covenant had marked the beginning of the Pilgrim congregation in England and their creation of a civil covenant provided the basis for a secular government in America.
The Pilgrims comprised only about one third of the passengers on the Mayflower and knew they would need the majority of the group to remain with them at Plymouth to promote success in their settlement. To preserve unity, Pilgrim leaders drafted the Mayflower Compact before going ashore. The brief document bound its signers into a body politic for the purpose of forming a government and pledged them to abide by any laws and regulations that would later be established “for the general good of the colony.” The compact was signed by nearly all of the Mayflower’s adult male passengers (41 of a total of 102 passengers) before they went ashore at Plymouth. Since two thirds of the passengers were not of the Pilgrim’s Puritan faith, and perhaps not people of faith at all, this was a remarkable government agreed upon by Christians and secular people alike.
The Mayflower Compact was not a constitution but rather an adaptation of a Puritan church covenant to a civil situation. It was an agreement/covenant of self-governmental cooperation to live in accordance with the Christian faith. The Mayflower Compact became the foundation of Plymouth’s government and remained in force until the colony was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
Both Settlements Contributed to our National Values
The first English settlement at Jamestown was largely a venture of undisciplined selfishness, but God still arranged for a covenant-believing man, Robert Hunt, to proclaim the covenant purpose for the land’s dedication to the spread of the Gospel. In due time, Captain John Smith recognized the need for law and order, which he instituted in the settlement.
The purpose of the Pilgrim’s settlement in the New World was to ensure the freedom of religion for themselves and their posterity. From the beginning, they recognized that in order for their work to be accomplished a covenanted civil government was necessary. Both settlements demonstrate, among other things, that an orderly, covenantally-agreed upon civil government is imperative for the success of business and the success of the propagation of the gospel and religious freedom. The Pilgrims and later the Thirteen Colonies stood against tyrannical government.
The current election process in the United States will determine whether our nation continues to pursue religious and economic freedom as did our forefathers or allows itself to be strangled by a governmental system that eliminates the God of our forefathers with the resulting loss of those very freedoms.
by Joyce Geiler
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth 400 years ago this month. They signed the Mayflower Compact, which was an agreement of how they would govern themselves in their new settlement. In these weeks when the nation is still experiencing uncertainty in elected government, it seems an opportune time to examine the relationship of this famous compact and our current government.
The Pilgrims were not the first Europeans to settle in what would become the United States of America. European settlers came from a variety of social and religious groups, including adventurers, farmers, indentured servants, tradesmen, and a few from the aristocracy. Settlers included the Dutch of New Netherland, the Swedes and Finns of New Sweden, the English Quakers of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English Puritans of New England, the English settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, the English Roman Catholics and Protestant Nonconformists of the Province of Maryland, the "worthy poor" of the Province of Georgia, the Germans who settled the mid-Atlantic colonies, and the Ulster Scots of the Appalachian Mountains. These groups all became part of the United States when it gained its independence in 1776. Russian America and parts of New France and New Spain were also incorporated into the United States at various points. The diverse colonists from these various regions built colonies of distinctive social, religious, political, and economic style.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_history_of_the_United_States
Jamestown
Most readers will have familiarity with both the Jamestown, Virginia colony settlement and the Plymouth settlement in the Massachusetts Colony. This article will contrast and compare the Jamestown settlement and the Plymouth settlement since both contributed to the founding principles of our nation. We will begin the story some thirteen years before the Pilgrim’s landing. The 105 colonists and seamen who set sail from England and settled in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 carried the Geneva Bible with them. Before finding what would be their permanent settlement, Rev. Robert Hunt (1568–1608) offered the following prayer on April 29, 1607 at Cape Henry (now Virginia Beach, Virginia)
“We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World. May all who see this Cross, remember what we have done here, and may those who come here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled.”
Using covenantal language, Hunt declared, “from these very shores the Gospel shall go forth not only to this New World but the entire world.” The following Bible passage was read at the conclusion of the prayer: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and he ruleth among the nations” (Ps. 22:27–28).
https://americanvision.org/1644/choose-day-whose-notes-will-follow/
The Jamestown Colony in Virginia, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was the third attempt of the Virginia Company of London to establish a permanent trade center in the Americas following the failures of the Roanoke Colony (1587-1590) and the Popham Colony of 1607-1608 CE. The primary objective of the Jamestown Colony was profit for the shareholders who financed the expedition; and at first, it seemed a failure. Those who had been selected to establish it turned out to be unfit for the task except for Captain John Smith (1580-1631) who was able to negotiate with the native Powhatan tribe and assume leadership of the colonists.
The success of the Spanish had led the English to believe that the Americas were lands of plenty, teeming with gold, silver, and precious gems just waiting to be found; and a large percentage of the colonists were upper-class noblemen who signed on believing they would just pocket whatever gold was found lying about and return home. The reality of the situation was that there was no ready-at-hand gold to be found, that the colonists had arrived too late to plant crops, and that many did not even know how to do so, and that the marshlands – which the indigenous people avoided – was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Most of the colonists were dead within a few months of their arrival. https://www.ancient.eu/Jamestown_Colony_of_Virginia/
In spite of these seemingly negative attributes of the Jamestown settlement, once settled in the fort, the whole company, except those who were on guard, attended regular prayer and services led by the Reverend Hunt. The endeavor at Jamestown was a business venture. Although Robert Hunt was a God-fearing Episcopal priest whose reputation was one of impeccable character and an earnest pursuit for evangelism, the attributes of the first settlers was not similar. In due time Captain Smith helped establish regulations for law and order.
Plymouth
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock November 11, 1620 as reckoned by their calendar. The date was November 21, 1620 as reckoned by our current calendar. The Pilgrims were covenant people. In a previous series, we outlined the covenants related to the Pilgrims. They covenanted together while they were still in England in what is called the Scrooby Covenant.
The Scrooby Covenant of 1606 entered into by those who later comprised the Pilgrims reads, “As ye Lord’s free people joined themselves by a covenant of the Lord into a church estate, in ye fellowship of ye gospel, to walk in all his ways, made known or to be made known to them according to their best endeavor, whatever it should cost them, the Lord assisting them. Amen!” https://inthewholeworld.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/the-scrooby-covenant-of-1606/
Unlike other migrations to early America, including the Jamestown settlement, which were composed largely of young unattached men, the Puritan migration in the New England area that included the Pilgrims was overwhelmingly a migration of families. A spiritual covenant had marked the beginning of the Pilgrim congregation in England and their creation of a civil covenant provided the basis for a secular government in America.
The Pilgrims comprised only about one third of the passengers on the Mayflower and knew they would need the majority of the group to remain with them at Plymouth to promote success in their settlement. To preserve unity, Pilgrim leaders drafted the Mayflower Compact before going ashore. The brief document bound its signers into a body politic for the purpose of forming a government and pledged them to abide by any laws and regulations that would later be established “for the general good of the colony.” The compact was signed by nearly all of the Mayflower’s adult male passengers (41 of a total of 102 passengers) before they went ashore at Plymouth. Since two thirds of the passengers were not of the Pilgrim’s Puritan faith, and perhaps not people of faith at all, this was a remarkable government agreed upon by Christians and secular people alike.
The Mayflower Compact was not a constitution but rather an adaptation of a Puritan church covenant to a civil situation. It was an agreement/covenant of self-governmental cooperation to live in accordance with the Christian faith. The Mayflower Compact became the foundation of Plymouth’s government and remained in force until the colony was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
Both Settlements Contributed to our National Values
The first English settlement at Jamestown was largely a venture of undisciplined selfishness, but God still arranged for a covenant-believing man, Robert Hunt, to proclaim the covenant purpose for the land’s dedication to the spread of the Gospel. In due time, Captain John Smith recognized the need for law and order, which he instituted in the settlement.
The purpose of the Pilgrim’s settlement in the New World was to ensure the freedom of religion for themselves and their posterity. From the beginning, they recognized that in order for their work to be accomplished a covenanted civil government was necessary. Both settlements demonstrate, among other things, that an orderly, covenantally-agreed upon civil government is imperative for the success of business and the success of the propagation of the gospel and religious freedom. The Pilgrims and later the Thirteen Colonies stood against tyrannical government.
The current election process in the United States will determine whether our nation continues to pursue religious and economic freedom as did our forefathers or allows itself to be strangled by a governmental system that eliminates the God of our forefathers with the resulting loss of those very freedoms.
The Struggle for the Vote
by Joyce Geiler
The United States is predicated on the notion of self-rule — the idea that, individually and collectively, the people are the best determiners of the structures that should shape their society. In our nation, voting is an essential tool in enacting that ideal of governance both of the people and by the people. The year 2020 marks two significant anniversaries in the history of America: the 400th Anniversary of the signing of the Mayflower Compact and the 200th Anniversary of the ratifying of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Considering the great importance of this year’s presidential election, this article will briefly outline the history of voting in the United States and Illinois. Some paragraphs are less than brief where interesting parallels are seen with today’s voting.
IN THE BEGINNING
Neither the 1787 U. S. Constitution nor the original Bill of Rights secured a right to vote, as voting was generally seen as a “political” right, rather than a natural or “inalienable” right secured to all persons, and thus it was the power of states to decide their citizens’ voting rights. Early state constitutions differed on suffrage, with some states predicating voting privileges on property ownership and some having universal male suffrage for residents who take the “Freeman’s oath,” which was basically an oath of citizenship. (1) Some states combined the two requirements allowing free native-born inhabitants of the states to vote if they met the property requirements—meaning that many states allowed black male citizens to vote. When Illinois entered statehood in 1818, its Constitution stated that “In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of 21 years, having resided in the state six months next preceding the election, shall enjoy the right of an elector." (2)
In the 1820s and 1830s, as part of the massive changes to American democracy known as the “Jacksonian Period,” all states but South Carolina moved towards universal white male suffrage. At the same time, restrictions on voting, for black Americans and immigrants in particular, began to become more prevalent. In fact, all states that entered the union after 1819 limited voting to while males. By 1855, only five states—Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont—had black male suffrage. (3)
POST CIVIL WAR
Following the Civil War’s end in April 1865, the leadership of Reconstruction Republicans, pushed to secure the civil rights of newly freed African-Americans at a time when former Confederate states imposed “Black Codes” that deprived black Americans of basic liberties to restore them to slave-like status. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 guaranteed citizenship without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude. The bill also guaranteed equal benefits and access to the law (due process), a direct assault on the Black Codes passed by many post-war Southern states.
Read more here. Note that Illinois, although a free state, also imposed Black Codes. The Civil Rights Act protected the “civil” rights of all citizens, such as the right to sue, make contracts, and buy and sell property. However, it failed to protect “political” rights, like the right to vote and hold office, or “social” rights guaranteeing equal access to schools and other public accommodations. (4)
To strengthen the Civil Rights Act, Congress passed the 14th Amendment known as the Enforcement Act, which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the laws regardless of race, and sent it to the states for ratification. After a bitter struggle, the 14th Amendment was adopted on July 28, 1868. Northern states were generally as averse to granting voting rights to blacks as Southern states. In the year of its ratification, only eight Northern states allowed Blacks to vote. Although a step in the right direction, the Amendment still lacked “teeth” for enforcement. (5)
As part of the process of readmitting the former Confederate states to representation in the House and Senate, Congress required those states to grant broad, race-neutral access to the ballot, enfranchising "male citizens, twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color or previous condition of servitude, except such as may be disenfranchised for participation in rebellion or for felony at common law" (Voting Rights Act of 1867). Through the Military Reconstruction Act and its implementing legislation, Congress established the fundamental condition that this suffrage provision could never be narrowed by future state law. By establishing a broad class of citizens entitled to vote, this condition was designed to prevent states from disenfranchising African Americans through clever stratagems. On the assumption that the fundamental condition was unconstitutional, the Southern states disenfranchised African Americans anyway, enacting grandfather clauses, literacy tests and poll taxes that violated the fundamental condition. (6)
15th AMENDMENT: RIGHT OF BLACKS TO VOTE
On February, 25, 1869, more than two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives approved the proposed 15th Amendment. The next day, the Senate followed suit, and the proposed amendment was sent to the state legislatures for ratification. Ratification proved problematic in Northern and Border states. California, Nevada, and Oregon rejected the amendment because of apprehension it would be applied to enfranchise Chinese residents even if they were ineligible for naturalization. Meanwhile, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware refused to ratify as well due to opposition to expanding the black vote. The Amendment was adopted in 1870, Illinois having been the fourth state to ratify on March 5, 1869. (7)
With the adoption of the 15th Amendment in 1870, a politically mobilized African American community joined with white allies in the Southern states to elect the Republican Party to power, which brought about radical changes across the South. By late 1870, all the former Confederate states had been readmitted to the Union, and most were controlled by the Republican Party, thanks to the support of African American voters. In the same year, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, became the first African American ever to sit in Congress. Although African American Republicans never obtained political office in proportion to their overwhelming electoral majority, Revels and a dozen other African American men served in Congress during Reconstruction, more than 600 served in state legislatures, and many more held local offices. However, in the late 1870s, the Southern Republican Party vanished with the end of Reconstruction, and Southern state governments effectively nullified the 14th and 15th Amendments, maintaining they were unconstitutional and stripping Southern African Americans of the right to vote. (8)
19TH AMENDMENT: RIGHT OF WOMEN TO VOTE
In January 1918 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment, the right of women to vote. However, the Senate did not follow up! May 21, 2019 the House again passed the amendment and this time the Senate followed up on June 4, 1919. The ratification by thirty-six states was required before the Susan B. Anthony Amendment became the law of the land. On June 10, 1919, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin became the first states to ratify the amendment. It was not until August 26, 1920 that the necessary number of ratifications was obtained, even with eight states rejecting the amendment, and the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was certified by the Secretary of State – one hundred years ago. (9)
CURRENT VOTER REGULATIONS
Generally, you must be a United States citizen to vote in an election. While federal law does not expressly prohibit noncitizens to vote in state and local elections, no states allow noncitizens to vote in those elections. (10)
As of April 20, 2020, 19 states and the District of Columbia had enacted automatic voter registration policies. Illinois is one of those states. (11) Illinois’s automatic voter registration system, which was signed into law in August 2017, triggers voter registration for people applying for driver's licenses or state identification cards at secretary of state facilities as well as other state agencies also provide information for the automatic registrations. (12)
Illinois law allows immigrants who are not citizens to get a driver’s license or state identification. More than 500 non-U.S. citizens were inadvertently registered to vote in Illinois in 2018 before a glitch in the system was caught. Although voting by illegal residents may result in deportation these particular people were given letters telling them not to vote and that, since the error was a programming error and not their fault, they would not be prosecuted. (13)
Illinois' same-day registration law requires counties with populations exceeding 100,000 to provide for same-day voter registration but does not require the same of smaller counties. Persons registering must provide appropriate documentation. (14)
In Illinois, individuals with felony convictions automatically regain their voting rights at the completion of their prison or jail sentence, as specified by Article III, Section 2 of the Illinois State Constitution. (15)
Behind each of the dates and events listed in this article is the story of the years of struggle of the men and women involved in accomplishing them. We owe them gratitude for their perseverance.
End Notes:
http://www.babcock-acres.com/Misceallaneous/freeman.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_foreigners_to_vote_in_the_United_States#Illinois
https://www.thoughtco.com/us-constitution-14th-amendment-summary-105382#:~:text=The%2014th%20Amendment%20and%20the%20Civil%20Rights%20Act,work%20on%20what%20would%20become%20the%2014th%20Amendment.
https://www.thoughtco.com/us-constitution-14th-amendment-summary-105382#:~:text=The%2014th%20Amendment%20and%20the%20Civil%20Rights%20Act,work%20on%20what%20would%20become%20the%2014th%20Amendment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=589301
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-15th-amendment-is-ratified
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/15th-amendment-adopted
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/womenshistory/womens-suffrage-timeline.htm#:~:text=June%2010%2C%201919%3A%20Illinois%2C%20Michigan%2C%20and%20Wisconsin%20became,Summer%201919%20Brought%20More%20States...and%20the%20First%20Rejection
https://www.findlaw.com/voting/my-voting-guide/can-noncitizens-vote-in-the-united-states-.html
https://ballotpedia.org/Automatic_voter_registration
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/more-than-500-noncitizens-registered-to-vote-in-illinois
https://www.wcia.com/illinois-capitol-news/state-board-of-elections-admits-non-u-s-citizens-may-have-voted-illegally-in-2018/
https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_in_Illinois#Voter_registration
https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_in_Illinois#Voter_registration
by Joyce Geiler
The United States is predicated on the notion of self-rule — the idea that, individually and collectively, the people are the best determiners of the structures that should shape their society. In our nation, voting is an essential tool in enacting that ideal of governance both of the people and by the people. The year 2020 marks two significant anniversaries in the history of America: the 400th Anniversary of the signing of the Mayflower Compact and the 200th Anniversary of the ratifying of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Considering the great importance of this year’s presidential election, this article will briefly outline the history of voting in the United States and Illinois. Some paragraphs are less than brief where interesting parallels are seen with today’s voting.
IN THE BEGINNING
Neither the 1787 U. S. Constitution nor the original Bill of Rights secured a right to vote, as voting was generally seen as a “political” right, rather than a natural or “inalienable” right secured to all persons, and thus it was the power of states to decide their citizens’ voting rights. Early state constitutions differed on suffrage, with some states predicating voting privileges on property ownership and some having universal male suffrage for residents who take the “Freeman’s oath,” which was basically an oath of citizenship. (1) Some states combined the two requirements allowing free native-born inhabitants of the states to vote if they met the property requirements—meaning that many states allowed black male citizens to vote. When Illinois entered statehood in 1818, its Constitution stated that “In all elections, all white male inhabitants above the age of 21 years, having resided in the state six months next preceding the election, shall enjoy the right of an elector." (2)
In the 1820s and 1830s, as part of the massive changes to American democracy known as the “Jacksonian Period,” all states but South Carolina moved towards universal white male suffrage. At the same time, restrictions on voting, for black Americans and immigrants in particular, began to become more prevalent. In fact, all states that entered the union after 1819 limited voting to while males. By 1855, only five states—Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont—had black male suffrage. (3)
POST CIVIL WAR
Following the Civil War’s end in April 1865, the leadership of Reconstruction Republicans, pushed to secure the civil rights of newly freed African-Americans at a time when former Confederate states imposed “Black Codes” that deprived black Americans of basic liberties to restore them to slave-like status. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 guaranteed citizenship without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude. The bill also guaranteed equal benefits and access to the law (due process), a direct assault on the Black Codes passed by many post-war Southern states.
Read more here. Note that Illinois, although a free state, also imposed Black Codes. The Civil Rights Act protected the “civil” rights of all citizens, such as the right to sue, make contracts, and buy and sell property. However, it failed to protect “political” rights, like the right to vote and hold office, or “social” rights guaranteeing equal access to schools and other public accommodations. (4)
To strengthen the Civil Rights Act, Congress passed the 14th Amendment known as the Enforcement Act, which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the laws regardless of race, and sent it to the states for ratification. After a bitter struggle, the 14th Amendment was adopted on July 28, 1868. Northern states were generally as averse to granting voting rights to blacks as Southern states. In the year of its ratification, only eight Northern states allowed Blacks to vote. Although a step in the right direction, the Amendment still lacked “teeth” for enforcement. (5)
As part of the process of readmitting the former Confederate states to representation in the House and Senate, Congress required those states to grant broad, race-neutral access to the ballot, enfranchising "male citizens, twenty-one years old and upward, of whatever race, color or previous condition of servitude, except such as may be disenfranchised for participation in rebellion or for felony at common law" (Voting Rights Act of 1867). Through the Military Reconstruction Act and its implementing legislation, Congress established the fundamental condition that this suffrage provision could never be narrowed by future state law. By establishing a broad class of citizens entitled to vote, this condition was designed to prevent states from disenfranchising African Americans through clever stratagems. On the assumption that the fundamental condition was unconstitutional, the Southern states disenfranchised African Americans anyway, enacting grandfather clauses, literacy tests and poll taxes that violated the fundamental condition. (6)
15th AMENDMENT: RIGHT OF BLACKS TO VOTE
On February, 25, 1869, more than two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives approved the proposed 15th Amendment. The next day, the Senate followed suit, and the proposed amendment was sent to the state legislatures for ratification. Ratification proved problematic in Northern and Border states. California, Nevada, and Oregon rejected the amendment because of apprehension it would be applied to enfranchise Chinese residents even if they were ineligible for naturalization. Meanwhile, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware refused to ratify as well due to opposition to expanding the black vote. The Amendment was adopted in 1870, Illinois having been the fourth state to ratify on March 5, 1869. (7)
With the adoption of the 15th Amendment in 1870, a politically mobilized African American community joined with white allies in the Southern states to elect the Republican Party to power, which brought about radical changes across the South. By late 1870, all the former Confederate states had been readmitted to the Union, and most were controlled by the Republican Party, thanks to the support of African American voters. In the same year, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, became the first African American ever to sit in Congress. Although African American Republicans never obtained political office in proportion to their overwhelming electoral majority, Revels and a dozen other African American men served in Congress during Reconstruction, more than 600 served in state legislatures, and many more held local offices. However, in the late 1870s, the Southern Republican Party vanished with the end of Reconstruction, and Southern state governments effectively nullified the 14th and 15th Amendments, maintaining they were unconstitutional and stripping Southern African Americans of the right to vote. (8)
19TH AMENDMENT: RIGHT OF WOMEN TO VOTE
In January 1918 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment, the right of women to vote. However, the Senate did not follow up! May 21, 2019 the House again passed the amendment and this time the Senate followed up on June 4, 1919. The ratification by thirty-six states was required before the Susan B. Anthony Amendment became the law of the land. On June 10, 1919, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin became the first states to ratify the amendment. It was not until August 26, 1920 that the necessary number of ratifications was obtained, even with eight states rejecting the amendment, and the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was certified by the Secretary of State – one hundred years ago. (9)
CURRENT VOTER REGULATIONS
Generally, you must be a United States citizen to vote in an election. While federal law does not expressly prohibit noncitizens to vote in state and local elections, no states allow noncitizens to vote in those elections. (10)
As of April 20, 2020, 19 states and the District of Columbia had enacted automatic voter registration policies. Illinois is one of those states. (11) Illinois’s automatic voter registration system, which was signed into law in August 2017, triggers voter registration for people applying for driver's licenses or state identification cards at secretary of state facilities as well as other state agencies also provide information for the automatic registrations. (12)
Illinois law allows immigrants who are not citizens to get a driver’s license or state identification. More than 500 non-U.S. citizens were inadvertently registered to vote in Illinois in 2018 before a glitch in the system was caught. Although voting by illegal residents may result in deportation these particular people were given letters telling them not to vote and that, since the error was a programming error and not their fault, they would not be prosecuted. (13)
Illinois' same-day registration law requires counties with populations exceeding 100,000 to provide for same-day voter registration but does not require the same of smaller counties. Persons registering must provide appropriate documentation. (14)
In Illinois, individuals with felony convictions automatically regain their voting rights at the completion of their prison or jail sentence, as specified by Article III, Section 2 of the Illinois State Constitution. (15)
Behind each of the dates and events listed in this article is the story of the years of struggle of the men and women involved in accomplishing them. We owe them gratitude for their perseverance.
End Notes:
http://www.babcock-acres.com/Misceallaneous/freeman.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_foreigners_to_vote_in_the_United_States#Illinois
https://www.thoughtco.com/us-constitution-14th-amendment-summary-105382#:~:text=The%2014th%20Amendment%20and%20the%20Civil%20Rights%20Act,work%20on%20what%20would%20become%20the%2014th%20Amendment.
https://www.thoughtco.com/us-constitution-14th-amendment-summary-105382#:~:text=The%2014th%20Amendment%20and%20the%20Civil%20Rights%20Act,work%20on%20what%20would%20become%20the%2014th%20Amendment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=589301
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-the-15th-amendment-is-ratified
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/15th-amendment-adopted
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/womenshistory/womens-suffrage-timeline.htm#:~:text=June%2010%2C%201919%3A%20Illinois%2C%20Michigan%2C%20and%20Wisconsin%20became,Summer%201919%20Brought%20More%20States...and%20the%20First%20Rejection
https://www.findlaw.com/voting/my-voting-guide/can-noncitizens-vote-in-the-united-states-.html
https://ballotpedia.org/Automatic_voter_registration
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/more-than-500-noncitizens-registered-to-vote-in-illinois
https://www.wcia.com/illinois-capitol-news/state-board-of-elections-admits-non-u-s-citizens-may-have-voted-illegally-in-2018/
https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_in_Illinois#Voter_registration
https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_in_Illinois#Voter_registration
The Ekklesia of Illinois says NO to Graduated Tax Amendment
by Joyce Geiler
Monday, October 12, 2020 about 50 people met in Carbondale, Illinois at the Eagle’s Nest Watch Ministries to come into agreement and exercise their spiritual Ekklesia authority to declare the proposed Illinois constitutional amendment regarding graduated income tax is defeated. Representatives of the Ekklesia in Illinois traveled from Chicago, Northwestern Illinois and Central Illinois to join with those in Southern Illinois to conduct Kingdom citizen business for the state in which we are natural citizens.
The last two articles in this publication have focused on the proposed amendment to Illinois’ constitution to change the current flat income tax to a graduated income tax. At Monday’s convocation, Todd Maisch, President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, explained via Zoom, some of the hidden consequences of the proposed Constitutional amendment. Also, via Zoom, James Gilbert, an author and Christian missions statesman, presented the biblical perspective on taxation. Both presentations enlarged the group’s understanding of the implications of the proposed amendment.
Having gathered information about the proposed amendment and having examined scriptural principles, the gathered Ekklesia released prayers of repentance and prayers of alignment with God’s principles and then made decrees to bind in Illinois that which is bound in heaven and to loose in Illinois that which is loosed in heaven regarding the proposed tax amendment. The remainder of this article is the record of some of the key prayers and decrees released at the Ekklesia Convocation so that you can add your agreement.
We began with repentance that our state has erred so greatly on our watch. While we built our churches, others built on the leviathan economic structures. Our eyes are now open, and we stand watch. We are no longer sleeping, but we are here on guard. We then prayed, “You, God, are the one who crushed leviathan when You took Israel out of the Red Sea. You are the one that Isaiah appealed to and said, ‘God, You crushed leviathan once, do it again’. And so, we stand here this day, and this is what we, the Ekklesia of Illinois say, You crushed it once, crush it again. We thank You Father, that the leviathan spirit will not traffic up and down in our commerce system. In Jesus’ name we say that the leviathan spirit will not take the lion's share of funds in order to fund the kingdom of darkness. We have a Redeemer and our Redeemer lives. We have come through the redemption and deliverance of this Passover season. Now we come to this festival season of Tabernacles where it is time for us to celebrate the abundance of land and so we celebrate it. We say that vineyards that the Canaanites planted come under our management for restructuring, in Jesus name. And so, Lord, we present our state to you in full repentance for our sin but fully acknowledge it’s for Your glory for transformation.“
Another declaration stated, “Lord, there is coming from Your mind the way to manage economic structures in alliance with Your kingdom. You sent Joseph at a time when management strategies were needed. We say, Josephs are arising with wisdom and that those who spoil the economy will have to acknowledge that wisdom, in the name of Jesus.”
One of those in attendance prayed and proclaimed, “Father, we thank You that You are making room for Your righteous ones to come into place, those who know the principles of the proper way to run finances. You already have those in the sidelines that are waiting for openings in order to come forth. And we thank You for the training and the preparation that You've already taken them through so they can come into these places. God, we thank You that this state can be turned around very, very quickly when You are in charge. We don't have to wait for decades for this to take effect. We call positions open in the heads of corporation as well as positions in government. We see the seats opening and we call them filled by your anointed ones, in Jesus’ name.”
The subject of the economy continued, several others spoke forth the following: “We are decreeing that the church will arise in the fullness of biblical fellowship, with a Koinonia economy of liberation as a new center of prosperity in our state that has influence on the larger government and economy of the state.” “Father, we repent for sending representatives to Springfield that have passed unrighteous laws. We repent for state senators and representatives who write these unrighteous laws that put undue pressure on our financial system that cause the budget to be unbalanced and spend more than we receive. That's not biblical. We ask, Lord, that You would put an unction into Your people so they would have a desire to serve in government, not as a career, but for a few years, a few terms.” “We honor You for all You're doing and we're asking now that your Holy Spirit would do a work in Illinois to recreate this state as the apostolic state that You desired. We desire representatives that have an unction to serve You as a diplomat, as a servant, and not as a career.”
The following proclamation about image bearing came forth. “Jesus, You said render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's. And You identified what was Caesar's by that which had his image on it. And You have declared that man is marked with Your image; man bears Your image. And so, we call in those who have learned how to be spent by You, those with Your image that have learned how to be spent by You, to take the high places and the mountain of finances. Only those who have learned to be spent, do You mark with your image, because they're Your treasure. To be spent by You is the only thing that will stand in those places, because then they will continue to be spent by You and the finances that flow will bear Your mark as well. We declare it in Jesus name, we decree it, and we say to all of you who have financial anointings and financial skills and have learned how to take that mark of God, that image of God, and to let Him spend you, to come and let Him spend you in the area of finances. We make room for the image-bearer.”
The above quotes are a small sampling of the many words that were released on Monday. The assembly was in unity and in faith that the Illinois tax amendment will be defeated and for the state to align with righteous economic policies. (Please note that the above quote were not taken from a recording but were captured, rather, from hand-written transcripts. Therefore, there may some inconsistencies with all the words that were spoken.)
by Joyce Geiler
Monday, October 12, 2020 about 50 people met in Carbondale, Illinois at the Eagle’s Nest Watch Ministries to come into agreement and exercise their spiritual Ekklesia authority to declare the proposed Illinois constitutional amendment regarding graduated income tax is defeated. Representatives of the Ekklesia in Illinois traveled from Chicago, Northwestern Illinois and Central Illinois to join with those in Southern Illinois to conduct Kingdom citizen business for the state in which we are natural citizens.
The last two articles in this publication have focused on the proposed amendment to Illinois’ constitution to change the current flat income tax to a graduated income tax. At Monday’s convocation, Todd Maisch, President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, explained via Zoom, some of the hidden consequences of the proposed Constitutional amendment. Also, via Zoom, James Gilbert, an author and Christian missions statesman, presented the biblical perspective on taxation. Both presentations enlarged the group’s understanding of the implications of the proposed amendment.
Having gathered information about the proposed amendment and having examined scriptural principles, the gathered Ekklesia released prayers of repentance and prayers of alignment with God’s principles and then made decrees to bind in Illinois that which is bound in heaven and to loose in Illinois that which is loosed in heaven regarding the proposed tax amendment. The remainder of this article is the record of some of the key prayers and decrees released at the Ekklesia Convocation so that you can add your agreement.
We began with repentance that our state has erred so greatly on our watch. While we built our churches, others built on the leviathan economic structures. Our eyes are now open, and we stand watch. We are no longer sleeping, but we are here on guard. We then prayed, “You, God, are the one who crushed leviathan when You took Israel out of the Red Sea. You are the one that Isaiah appealed to and said, ‘God, You crushed leviathan once, do it again’. And so, we stand here this day, and this is what we, the Ekklesia of Illinois say, You crushed it once, crush it again. We thank You Father, that the leviathan spirit will not traffic up and down in our commerce system. In Jesus’ name we say that the leviathan spirit will not take the lion's share of funds in order to fund the kingdom of darkness. We have a Redeemer and our Redeemer lives. We have come through the redemption and deliverance of this Passover season. Now we come to this festival season of Tabernacles where it is time for us to celebrate the abundance of land and so we celebrate it. We say that vineyards that the Canaanites planted come under our management for restructuring, in Jesus name. And so, Lord, we present our state to you in full repentance for our sin but fully acknowledge it’s for Your glory for transformation.“
Another declaration stated, “Lord, there is coming from Your mind the way to manage economic structures in alliance with Your kingdom. You sent Joseph at a time when management strategies were needed. We say, Josephs are arising with wisdom and that those who spoil the economy will have to acknowledge that wisdom, in the name of Jesus.”
One of those in attendance prayed and proclaimed, “Father, we thank You that You are making room for Your righteous ones to come into place, those who know the principles of the proper way to run finances. You already have those in the sidelines that are waiting for openings in order to come forth. And we thank You for the training and the preparation that You've already taken them through so they can come into these places. God, we thank You that this state can be turned around very, very quickly when You are in charge. We don't have to wait for decades for this to take effect. We call positions open in the heads of corporation as well as positions in government. We see the seats opening and we call them filled by your anointed ones, in Jesus’ name.”
The subject of the economy continued, several others spoke forth the following: “We are decreeing that the church will arise in the fullness of biblical fellowship, with a Koinonia economy of liberation as a new center of prosperity in our state that has influence on the larger government and economy of the state.” “Father, we repent for sending representatives to Springfield that have passed unrighteous laws. We repent for state senators and representatives who write these unrighteous laws that put undue pressure on our financial system that cause the budget to be unbalanced and spend more than we receive. That's not biblical. We ask, Lord, that You would put an unction into Your people so they would have a desire to serve in government, not as a career, but for a few years, a few terms.” “We honor You for all You're doing and we're asking now that your Holy Spirit would do a work in Illinois to recreate this state as the apostolic state that You desired. We desire representatives that have an unction to serve You as a diplomat, as a servant, and not as a career.”
The following proclamation about image bearing came forth. “Jesus, You said render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what is God's. And You identified what was Caesar's by that which had his image on it. And You have declared that man is marked with Your image; man bears Your image. And so, we call in those who have learned how to be spent by You, those with Your image that have learned how to be spent by You, to take the high places and the mountain of finances. Only those who have learned to be spent, do You mark with your image, because they're Your treasure. To be spent by You is the only thing that will stand in those places, because then they will continue to be spent by You and the finances that flow will bear Your mark as well. We declare it in Jesus name, we decree it, and we say to all of you who have financial anointings and financial skills and have learned how to take that mark of God, that image of God, and to let Him spend you, to come and let Him spend you in the area of finances. We make room for the image-bearer.”
The above quotes are a small sampling of the many words that were released on Monday. The assembly was in unity and in faith that the Illinois tax amendment will be defeated and for the state to align with righteous economic policies. (Please note that the above quote were not taken from a recording but were captured, rather, from hand-written transcripts. Therefore, there may some inconsistencies with all the words that were spoken.)
Decision Time: Graduated Income Tax
by Joyce Geiler
Early voting is already happening. November election day will arrive soon. While the Presidential election may be on the minds of most people, it is vital that the people of Illinois have clear minds about the Illinois issue of the proposed amendment change from our current flat income tax schedule to a graduated tax schedule. In our previous article the basic proposal and arguments against it were presented. There is also a well-funded vociferous support for the proposed amendment. Before continuing the discussion opposing the proposed change, let us look at the support.
Following are excerpts from a September 17 article in the Alton Telegraph which purports to correct misconceptions about the graduated income tax amendment. Notice how both supporters and opponents can use the same information to argue their side.
https://www.thetelegraph.com/opinion/article/Graduated-income-tax-is-the-right-choice-for-15574693.php
Misconception #1- If the amendment passes, it will give the legislature the power to raise taxes. Wrong! The Legislature already has the power to raise taxes, but legislators are loath to add more taxes to the lower and middle classes. The amendment would place more of the tax burden on wealthy taxpayers. (Supporters consider placing extra tax burden on the wealthier of society as fair while opponents consider that practice as not fair.)
Misconception #2- If the amendment passes it will open the door for the state to tax retirement income. Wrong! The Legislature already has the power to tax retirement income. Actually, if the Graduated Tax Amendment does not pass, taxing of retirement income will more likely be considered due to the urgent need for state revenue. (Does this sound like coercion and threat?)
Misconception #3-Voting against the Graduated Income Tax Amendment is a step toward keeping our taxes from increasing. Wrong! Illinois is one of only eleven states that do not have a graduated income tax and one of only 3 states that do not tax retirement income. Illinois also imposes sales taxes on fewer items than most states. The lack of sufficient revenue forces local governments to rely heavily on property taxes to meet their obligations; and due to the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, additional state funding will be required. (Both sides use the argument of the hardships of Covid.)
Misconception #4- Family farms will be hurt by the Graduated Income Tax Amendment. Wrong! Only corporate farms will pay the corporate tax rate. (Corporations employ workers so workers could see job loss or other cuts if corporations have more expenses?)
Approaching the issue from another angle, let us consider evidence from New Jersey as what would most likely happen in Illinois since the two states share many political characteristics. New Jersey Democrat lawmakers came to an agreement with their governor to raise the state income tax rate for those making $1 million a year and more to 10.75%. Currently, those making $5 million and more pay 8.97%. The new income tax — part of a $32.4 billion spending plan that New Jersey lawmakers are set to approve — will increase the number of people who pay the state’s top marginal rate of 10.75% by extending it to those who earn between $1 million and $5 million a year.
Calling it the "Millionaire's Tax," New Jersey lawmakers say because of the budget deficit aggravated by dramatic dips in revenue attributed to COVID pandemic, there is a serious need for more taxpayers to carry the load. New Jersey’s millionaires comprise less than 3% of its taxpayers, but they provide more than 40% of the Garden State’s income tax revenues as northjersey.com reported last year. In 2019, New Jersey was ranked the highest in the country for residents moving out of state. New Jersey Republicans point to "the unending tax increases and excessive spending under the Murphy administration in his effort to turn New Jersey into the next California. Many financially-successful people, who leave Illinois and New Jersey, head for lower or non-income tax states like Florida. (Texas, Florida and Washington do not have any personal income tax.
https://www.sapling.com/5257213/definition-graduated-income-tax) According to the 2019 National Movers Study, Illinois was right behind New Jersey as being the second most moved-out of state in the U.S. More residents moved out of Illinois than into Illinois, with nearly 66 percent of moves being outbound.
Illinois manufacturers say focusing on millionaires is misguided. They maintain the change will affect employers' options of what they can do for their employees. Covid has affected manufacturers as well as government. Manufacturers have not been able to give bonuses or raises and some are not even able to stay in business.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/09/new-jerseys-expanded-millionaire-tax-sets-downhill-path-for-illinois-to-follow.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
The tax rate, which was outlined in the previous Kingdom Congress email article, has already been approved by the general assembly. If the amendment change is approved by the voters, the change to graduated tax begins January 2021 along with the legislature-approved tax schedule. The 2021 graduated tax would reduce the rate on incomes of $100,000 or less. Relief for low-income Illinoisans is estimated to be only$6. The current tax rate of 4.95% is set to remain on incomes between $100,000 and $250,000. Incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 would be taxed at 7.75 percent. Income from $500,000 to $1 million would be taxed 7.85 percent and income over $1 million would be taxed 7.99 percent. The corporate tax rate within the package would also be raised to 7.99 percent. The state calculator can be used to determine the change in income tax using the legislature-approved rates.
https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/fairtax/Pages/default.aspx
Since the federal tax system uses a graduated income tax structure, most are familiar with it. But, to review, a graduated tax is a system where the tax rate is divided into tax brackets, and earnings between certain levels are taxed at certain rates. For example, the first $10,000 of earnings might be tax-free, with earnings between $10,000 and $25,000 taxed at 2 percent and earnings above $25,000 taxed at 4 percent and continuing up the earnings scale. In most graduated income tax systems in use today, including the United States federal income tax, each person's income is taxed according to each bracket it passes through. Using the example brackets above, a person making $50,000 would pay no tax on the first $10,000, 2 percent on the next $15,000 and 4 percent tax on the next $25,000, for a total tax of 10,000 + 0.02; $15,000 + 0.04; $25,000 for a total of $1,300 in total tax.
https://www.sapling.com/5257213/definition-graduated-income-tax
Voting in favor of the progressive tax requires a leap of faith—a belief that Illinois politicians can be trusted to shepherd these new resources responsibly. Chicago Crain's Business editorial board opines on September 19, 2020, that Illinois politicians have done nothing to earn that trust.
Both proponents and opponents of the proposed amendment change in the Illinois constitution have persuasive opinions and arguments. As Christians, we are directed by God to examine His Word for answers. In doing so, we find that taxes are a legitimate means for government to fund its God-ordained functions. (Much more could be written on that subject to consider where Illinois government is over-reaching its legitimate functions.) The total taxes Illinois citizens currently are assessed including income tax, sales taxes, property taxes and gasoline taxes, are greater than the portion of the tithe God assesses. The biblical tithe is a flat rate. These should be the considerations of the Christian when deciding how to vote regarding the proposed amendment.
by Joyce Geiler
Early voting is already happening. November election day will arrive soon. While the Presidential election may be on the minds of most people, it is vital that the people of Illinois have clear minds about the Illinois issue of the proposed amendment change from our current flat income tax schedule to a graduated tax schedule. In our previous article the basic proposal and arguments against it were presented. There is also a well-funded vociferous support for the proposed amendment. Before continuing the discussion opposing the proposed change, let us look at the support.
Following are excerpts from a September 17 article in the Alton Telegraph which purports to correct misconceptions about the graduated income tax amendment. Notice how both supporters and opponents can use the same information to argue their side.
https://www.thetelegraph.com/opinion/article/Graduated-income-tax-is-the-right-choice-for-15574693.php
Misconception #1- If the amendment passes, it will give the legislature the power to raise taxes. Wrong! The Legislature already has the power to raise taxes, but legislators are loath to add more taxes to the lower and middle classes. The amendment would place more of the tax burden on wealthy taxpayers. (Supporters consider placing extra tax burden on the wealthier of society as fair while opponents consider that practice as not fair.)
Misconception #2- If the amendment passes it will open the door for the state to tax retirement income. Wrong! The Legislature already has the power to tax retirement income. Actually, if the Graduated Tax Amendment does not pass, taxing of retirement income will more likely be considered due to the urgent need for state revenue. (Does this sound like coercion and threat?)
Misconception #3-Voting against the Graduated Income Tax Amendment is a step toward keeping our taxes from increasing. Wrong! Illinois is one of only eleven states that do not have a graduated income tax and one of only 3 states that do not tax retirement income. Illinois also imposes sales taxes on fewer items than most states. The lack of sufficient revenue forces local governments to rely heavily on property taxes to meet their obligations; and due to the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, additional state funding will be required. (Both sides use the argument of the hardships of Covid.)
Misconception #4- Family farms will be hurt by the Graduated Income Tax Amendment. Wrong! Only corporate farms will pay the corporate tax rate. (Corporations employ workers so workers could see job loss or other cuts if corporations have more expenses?)
Approaching the issue from another angle, let us consider evidence from New Jersey as what would most likely happen in Illinois since the two states share many political characteristics. New Jersey Democrat lawmakers came to an agreement with their governor to raise the state income tax rate for those making $1 million a year and more to 10.75%. Currently, those making $5 million and more pay 8.97%. The new income tax — part of a $32.4 billion spending plan that New Jersey lawmakers are set to approve — will increase the number of people who pay the state’s top marginal rate of 10.75% by extending it to those who earn between $1 million and $5 million a year.
Calling it the "Millionaire's Tax," New Jersey lawmakers say because of the budget deficit aggravated by dramatic dips in revenue attributed to COVID pandemic, there is a serious need for more taxpayers to carry the load. New Jersey’s millionaires comprise less than 3% of its taxpayers, but they provide more than 40% of the Garden State’s income tax revenues as northjersey.com reported last year. In 2019, New Jersey was ranked the highest in the country for residents moving out of state. New Jersey Republicans point to "the unending tax increases and excessive spending under the Murphy administration in his effort to turn New Jersey into the next California. Many financially-successful people, who leave Illinois and New Jersey, head for lower or non-income tax states like Florida. (Texas, Florida and Washington do not have any personal income tax.
https://www.sapling.com/5257213/definition-graduated-income-tax) According to the 2019 National Movers Study, Illinois was right behind New Jersey as being the second most moved-out of state in the U.S. More residents moved out of Illinois than into Illinois, with nearly 66 percent of moves being outbound.
Illinois manufacturers say focusing on millionaires is misguided. They maintain the change will affect employers' options of what they can do for their employees. Covid has affected manufacturers as well as government. Manufacturers have not been able to give bonuses or raises and some are not even able to stay in business.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/09/new-jerseys-expanded-millionaire-tax-sets-downhill-path-for-illinois-to-follow.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
The tax rate, which was outlined in the previous Kingdom Congress email article, has already been approved by the general assembly. If the amendment change is approved by the voters, the change to graduated tax begins January 2021 along with the legislature-approved tax schedule. The 2021 graduated tax would reduce the rate on incomes of $100,000 or less. Relief for low-income Illinoisans is estimated to be only$6. The current tax rate of 4.95% is set to remain on incomes between $100,000 and $250,000. Incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 would be taxed at 7.75 percent. Income from $500,000 to $1 million would be taxed 7.85 percent and income over $1 million would be taxed 7.99 percent. The corporate tax rate within the package would also be raised to 7.99 percent. The state calculator can be used to determine the change in income tax using the legislature-approved rates.
https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/fairtax/Pages/default.aspx
Since the federal tax system uses a graduated income tax structure, most are familiar with it. But, to review, a graduated tax is a system where the tax rate is divided into tax brackets, and earnings between certain levels are taxed at certain rates. For example, the first $10,000 of earnings might be tax-free, with earnings between $10,000 and $25,000 taxed at 2 percent and earnings above $25,000 taxed at 4 percent and continuing up the earnings scale. In most graduated income tax systems in use today, including the United States federal income tax, each person's income is taxed according to each bracket it passes through. Using the example brackets above, a person making $50,000 would pay no tax on the first $10,000, 2 percent on the next $15,000 and 4 percent tax on the next $25,000, for a total tax of 10,000 + 0.02; $15,000 + 0.04; $25,000 for a total of $1,300 in total tax.
https://www.sapling.com/5257213/definition-graduated-income-tax
Voting in favor of the progressive tax requires a leap of faith—a belief that Illinois politicians can be trusted to shepherd these new resources responsibly. Chicago Crain's Business editorial board opines on September 19, 2020, that Illinois politicians have done nothing to earn that trust.
Both proponents and opponents of the proposed amendment change in the Illinois constitution have persuasive opinions and arguments. As Christians, we are directed by God to examine His Word for answers. In doing so, we find that taxes are a legitimate means for government to fund its God-ordained functions. (Much more could be written on that subject to consider where Illinois government is over-reaching its legitimate functions.) The total taxes Illinois citizens currently are assessed including income tax, sales taxes, property taxes and gasoline taxes, are greater than the portion of the tithe God assesses. The biblical tithe is a flat rate. These should be the considerations of the Christian when deciding how to vote regarding the proposed amendment.
Graduated Income Tax - Not Fair
by Joyce Geiler
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
In May 2019, the Illinois General Assembly approved allowing Illinois voters to decide in November 2020 if the state’s flat-tax structure should be removed from the Illinois constitution and be replaced with a progressive or graduated income tax. The amendment on the ballot is simply to replace Illinois tax structure from a flat rate where everyone pays the same percentage tax, to a graduated or progressive rate, where the rate is determined by income. The actual percentage that can be levied by the General Assembly as the result of this amendment, if passed, can vary from group to group as deemed appropriate by the General Assembly. Voters have no direct vote on the actual percentage implemented.
The current income tax levied on ALL taxpayers is 4.95%. The flat tax rate, which began at 2.5% and has fluctuated over the years, has been part of the Illinois constitution since 1970, a year after income tax was first enacted in Illinois. It remained at 2.5% until 1990, except for a 2-year rise to 3%. From 1990 to 2010 the individual tax rate was 3%. From 2011 to 2014 the rate increased to 5%, then reduced to 3.75% for 3 years and in 2018 increased to the current 4.95%.
Voting yes for the constitutional amendment would give the General Assembly the authority to implement the graduated tax structure of their choice. The specific tax rate will not be decided by the voters in November, but will be decided by the General Assembly and subject to change with approval by the Assembly. The constitutional amendment sets no limit on the number of tax brackets that can be created and no limit on how high tax rates can be increased on groups of individual taxpayers -- including middle-income families.
The new income tax rates, which the Governor calls a fair tax, would go into effect January 2021. With the proposed constitutional change, the Pritzker administration estimates that 97% of Illinois residents will see at least a modest decrease in their income taxes.
The specific progressive income tax, which Governor Pritzker is proposing would reduce the rate on incomes of $100,000 or less. The amount of reduction has not been stated but the relief for low-income Illinoisans is estimated to be only $6. The proposal maintains the current tax rate of 4.95% on incomes between $100,000 and $250,000. Incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 would be taxed at 7.75 percent. Income from $500,000 to $1 million would be taxed 7.85 percent and income over $1 million would be taxed 7.99 percent. The corporate tax rate within the package would also be raised to 7.99 percent. The state calculator can be used to determine the change in income tax using the Governor’s proposed rates.
https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/fairtax/Pages/default.aspx
Proponents of assessing taxes based on income feel it is “fair” for those with higher income to shoulder a greater percentage of responsibility. According to this line of thinking, those who have stewarded their finances and increased their income will be taxed at a higher percentage for their stewardship. The tithe instructed by God is a flat 10 percent for all. Apparently, God feels 10 percent of $100,000 is as fair as 10 percent of $1 million.
Effect on Small Business
According to the Illinois Policy Center, small businesses are responsible for 60% of the net job creation in Illinois and are the businesses most at risk from the economic fallout of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the progressive income tax hike would be the largest for these businesses. Small businesses could face an income tax hike nearly five times larger than that for large businesses.
Total corporate income tax rate – including the Personal Property Replacement Tax – will increase from 9.5% to 10.49% (when including the replacement tax.) Personal property replacement taxes (PPRT) are revenues collected by the state of Illinois and paid to local governments to replace money that was lost by local governments when their powers to impose personal property taxes on corporations, partnerships, and other business entities were taken away. These taxes resulted when the 1970 Illinois Constitution directed the legislature to abolish business personal property taxes and replace the revenue lost by local government units and school districts. In 1979, a law was enacted to provide for statewide taxes to replace the monies lost to local governments. Corporations, partnerships, trusts, S corporations and public utilities pay these taxes. Corporations pay a 2.5 percent replacement tax on their net Illinois income. Partnerships, trusts, and S corporations pay a 1.5 percent replacement tax on their net Illinois income. Public utilities pay a 0.8 percent tax on invested capital.
https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/localgovernments/Pages/replacement.aspx
The tax hike for pass-through businesses could be increase from 6.45% to 9.49% when including the replacement tax. A pass-through business itself pays no taxes. Instead, some control person, often the owner, pays the business taxes through that person's own personal tax return. Pass-through taxation typically applies to sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S-corporations upon that entity's ability to prove that it deserves pass-through status. This is opposed to either traditional corporations or C-corporations, in which the company itself pays corporate taxes on income the corporation earns. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/pass-through_taxation. Non-business persons may be confused by these terms but the take-away is that businesses will likely experience higher taxes with graduated tax implementation.
Effort to Have Amendment Proposal Withdrawn
In May 2020, a broad coalition of organizations representing small businesses, employers, farmers and taxpayers across Illinois sent a letter calling on the legislature to repeal Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 1, which would impose a graduated income tax on Illinois. Article XIV §2(a) of the Illinois constitution specifically allows for this action by allowing for a proposed amendment to be “withdrawn by a vote of a majority of the members elected to each house.”
The coalition agreed that Illinois faced considerable challenges before the COVID-19 that are now even more dire. More than one million Illinoisans have filed initial unemployment claims since March 1st and over 160,000 loans to employers have been granted through the CARES Act.
As discussed in the above section of this article, graduated income tax would give the legislature broad powers to raise taxes on small businesses – the economic driver of our economy. Illinois job creators cannot withstand another economic blow as they struggle to reopen their doors and provide a livelihood for their employees. The coalition letter stated that Illinois lawmakers must repeal this amendment. Governor Pritzker responded by saying Illinois needs the progressive tax now more than ever.
Conversely, more than 100 labor organizations in Illinois endorsed the proposed amendment on the November ballot to change the state's flat-rate income tax structure to a graduated income tax system. Representatives from the UAW, AFL-CIO, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Brotherhood of Electricians held a virtual news conference to call for the passage of the fair tax amendment in November. The UAW spokesman said the income tax amendment would create jobs in the state.
Business groups counter that proposed amendment would make it easier for lawmakers to change the tax rates and income levels in the future. The constitutional amendment sets no limit on the number of tax brackets that can be created and no limit on how high tax rates can be increased on groups of individual taxpayers. The amendment would raise costs for small businesses, which could result in job losses. For example, what started out in Connecticut as a millionaire tax turned out to be a tax increase on people making $50,000 a year. The revenue that the Pritzker administration has been touting won't come in if people leave the state to avoid higher taxes.
The budget Governor Pritzker enacted and the Democratic supermajority voted for in May relies on more than $1 billion from the proposed tax. However, consider that the 2011 tax increase was used to pay about $3.6 billion in state bills, pay down $8 billion in pension bonds and pay about $21 billion into the state's five pension systems. Would another tax increase be used any differently?
Overall Tax Status of Illinois
Currently 7 states have a flat income tax rate: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania. and Utah. Seven states have no income tax. Two states limit income tax to dividends and interest income only.
Kiplinger finance rates Illinois as one of the least friendly tax states. The state's 4.95% flat income tax rate actually isn't that high when compared to other states, but other taxes contribute to the poor tax atmosphere. For example, property taxes in Illinois are the second-highest in the nation. Average property taxes are $2,408 in taxes per $100,000 of assessed home value.
Average state and local sales tax is 8.78% with groceries being taxed. In Illinois, gas taxes and fees are $0.5387 per gallon (varies by county). Sales taxes are high, too. In some municipalities, combined state and local sales taxes exceed 10%. Most states exempt food and drugs from their sales tax, but that's not the case in Illinois.
www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/taxes/t054-s001-all-50-states-ranked-for-taxes-2019/index.html
by Joyce Geiler
Proposed Constitutional Amendment
In May 2019, the Illinois General Assembly approved allowing Illinois voters to decide in November 2020 if the state’s flat-tax structure should be removed from the Illinois constitution and be replaced with a progressive or graduated income tax. The amendment on the ballot is simply to replace Illinois tax structure from a flat rate where everyone pays the same percentage tax, to a graduated or progressive rate, where the rate is determined by income. The actual percentage that can be levied by the General Assembly as the result of this amendment, if passed, can vary from group to group as deemed appropriate by the General Assembly. Voters have no direct vote on the actual percentage implemented.
The current income tax levied on ALL taxpayers is 4.95%. The flat tax rate, which began at 2.5% and has fluctuated over the years, has been part of the Illinois constitution since 1970, a year after income tax was first enacted in Illinois. It remained at 2.5% until 1990, except for a 2-year rise to 3%. From 1990 to 2010 the individual tax rate was 3%. From 2011 to 2014 the rate increased to 5%, then reduced to 3.75% for 3 years and in 2018 increased to the current 4.95%.
Voting yes for the constitutional amendment would give the General Assembly the authority to implement the graduated tax structure of their choice. The specific tax rate will not be decided by the voters in November, but will be decided by the General Assembly and subject to change with approval by the Assembly. The constitutional amendment sets no limit on the number of tax brackets that can be created and no limit on how high tax rates can be increased on groups of individual taxpayers -- including middle-income families.
The new income tax rates, which the Governor calls a fair tax, would go into effect January 2021. With the proposed constitutional change, the Pritzker administration estimates that 97% of Illinois residents will see at least a modest decrease in their income taxes.
The specific progressive income tax, which Governor Pritzker is proposing would reduce the rate on incomes of $100,000 or less. The amount of reduction has not been stated but the relief for low-income Illinoisans is estimated to be only $6. The proposal maintains the current tax rate of 4.95% on incomes between $100,000 and $250,000. Incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 would be taxed at 7.75 percent. Income from $500,000 to $1 million would be taxed 7.85 percent and income over $1 million would be taxed 7.99 percent. The corporate tax rate within the package would also be raised to 7.99 percent. The state calculator can be used to determine the change in income tax using the Governor’s proposed rates.
https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/fairtax/Pages/default.aspx
Proponents of assessing taxes based on income feel it is “fair” for those with higher income to shoulder a greater percentage of responsibility. According to this line of thinking, those who have stewarded their finances and increased their income will be taxed at a higher percentage for their stewardship. The tithe instructed by God is a flat 10 percent for all. Apparently, God feels 10 percent of $100,000 is as fair as 10 percent of $1 million.
Effect on Small Business
According to the Illinois Policy Center, small businesses are responsible for 60% of the net job creation in Illinois and are the businesses most at risk from the economic fallout of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the progressive income tax hike would be the largest for these businesses. Small businesses could face an income tax hike nearly five times larger than that for large businesses.
Total corporate income tax rate – including the Personal Property Replacement Tax – will increase from 9.5% to 10.49% (when including the replacement tax.) Personal property replacement taxes (PPRT) are revenues collected by the state of Illinois and paid to local governments to replace money that was lost by local governments when their powers to impose personal property taxes on corporations, partnerships, and other business entities were taken away. These taxes resulted when the 1970 Illinois Constitution directed the legislature to abolish business personal property taxes and replace the revenue lost by local government units and school districts. In 1979, a law was enacted to provide for statewide taxes to replace the monies lost to local governments. Corporations, partnerships, trusts, S corporations and public utilities pay these taxes. Corporations pay a 2.5 percent replacement tax on their net Illinois income. Partnerships, trusts, and S corporations pay a 1.5 percent replacement tax on their net Illinois income. Public utilities pay a 0.8 percent tax on invested capital.
https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/localgovernments/Pages/replacement.aspx
The tax hike for pass-through businesses could be increase from 6.45% to 9.49% when including the replacement tax. A pass-through business itself pays no taxes. Instead, some control person, often the owner, pays the business taxes through that person's own personal tax return. Pass-through taxation typically applies to sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S-corporations upon that entity's ability to prove that it deserves pass-through status. This is opposed to either traditional corporations or C-corporations, in which the company itself pays corporate taxes on income the corporation earns. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/pass-through_taxation. Non-business persons may be confused by these terms but the take-away is that businesses will likely experience higher taxes with graduated tax implementation.
Effort to Have Amendment Proposal Withdrawn
In May 2020, a broad coalition of organizations representing small businesses, employers, farmers and taxpayers across Illinois sent a letter calling on the legislature to repeal Senate Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 1, which would impose a graduated income tax on Illinois. Article XIV §2(a) of the Illinois constitution specifically allows for this action by allowing for a proposed amendment to be “withdrawn by a vote of a majority of the members elected to each house.”
The coalition agreed that Illinois faced considerable challenges before the COVID-19 that are now even more dire. More than one million Illinoisans have filed initial unemployment claims since March 1st and over 160,000 loans to employers have been granted through the CARES Act.
As discussed in the above section of this article, graduated income tax would give the legislature broad powers to raise taxes on small businesses – the economic driver of our economy. Illinois job creators cannot withstand another economic blow as they struggle to reopen their doors and provide a livelihood for their employees. The coalition letter stated that Illinois lawmakers must repeal this amendment. Governor Pritzker responded by saying Illinois needs the progressive tax now more than ever.
Conversely, more than 100 labor organizations in Illinois endorsed the proposed amendment on the November ballot to change the state's flat-rate income tax structure to a graduated income tax system. Representatives from the UAW, AFL-CIO, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Brotherhood of Electricians held a virtual news conference to call for the passage of the fair tax amendment in November. The UAW spokesman said the income tax amendment would create jobs in the state.
Business groups counter that proposed amendment would make it easier for lawmakers to change the tax rates and income levels in the future. The constitutional amendment sets no limit on the number of tax brackets that can be created and no limit on how high tax rates can be increased on groups of individual taxpayers. The amendment would raise costs for small businesses, which could result in job losses. For example, what started out in Connecticut as a millionaire tax turned out to be a tax increase on people making $50,000 a year. The revenue that the Pritzker administration has been touting won't come in if people leave the state to avoid higher taxes.
The budget Governor Pritzker enacted and the Democratic supermajority voted for in May relies on more than $1 billion from the proposed tax. However, consider that the 2011 tax increase was used to pay about $3.6 billion in state bills, pay down $8 billion in pension bonds and pay about $21 billion into the state's five pension systems. Would another tax increase be used any differently?
Overall Tax Status of Illinois
Currently 7 states have a flat income tax rate: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania. and Utah. Seven states have no income tax. Two states limit income tax to dividends and interest income only.
Kiplinger finance rates Illinois as one of the least friendly tax states. The state's 4.95% flat income tax rate actually isn't that high when compared to other states, but other taxes contribute to the poor tax atmosphere. For example, property taxes in Illinois are the second-highest in the nation. Average property taxes are $2,408 in taxes per $100,000 of assessed home value.
Average state and local sales tax is 8.78% with groceries being taxed. In Illinois, gas taxes and fees are $0.5387 per gallon (varies by county). Sales taxes are high, too. In some municipalities, combined state and local sales taxes exceed 10%. Most states exempt food and drugs from their sales tax, but that's not the case in Illinois.
www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/taxes/t054-s001-all-50-states-ranked-for-taxes-2019/index.html
How Did the Second Great Awakening Affect Illinois?
by Joyce Geiler
As we hear news of corruption in the highest leadership of Illinois, perhaps encouragement can be found by taking a look at the past to see where a move of God impacted this state. The First Great Awakening occurred during the colonial days of America greatly influencing the move of the Colonies toward independence. The Second Great Awakening occurred during the time Illinois was a territory and newly formed state (1818) affecting not only an increase in Christianity and church memberships but also encouraging a move toward racial equality and righteous conduct.
The Second Great Awakening
The earliest Europeans to settle in Illinois, the French Catholics, certainly brought their religion with them and established numerous missions to convert the Indians to Christianity and to facilitate trade. When France ceded the territory to Britain in 1783, many of the French Catholics moved west across the Mississippi so little religion of any sort was practiced on the Illinois frontier. Apart from a few thousand nomadic Indians and the French settlers, Illinois was largely uninhabited before 1815.
In 1800, only 1 in 15 of America’s population of 5,300,000 belonged to an evangelical church. (1) During the first half of the 1800's, the population of the United States grew from five to thirty million, and the boundary of the nation moved ever westward. Revivals became the primary means of Christianizing the growing and expanding population. These revivals at the beginning of the nineteenth century became known as the Second Great Awakening. (2)
On the American frontier, camp meetings came to characterize revivals. The first camp meeting revival was in south-central Kentucky in June 1800 ministered by Presbyterians. In August 1801, Barton W. Stone, who later broke away from the Presbyterians, led a revival in Cane Ridge, Kentucky that became the most famous camp meeting. The meeting lasted a week with numerous Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist ministers participating in the services to which 23,000 people came. Revival camp meetings swept through Kentucky, Tennessee and many of the southern states. Revivals also made their way back to the states in the East. These revival meetings were characterized by expressions of God’s spirit freeing the souls of people. The revivals were social events where faith was renewed. (3) In time, these multiple revivals and their effect became known as the Second Great Awakening.
In addition to the Presbyterians, the Baptists and Methodists often worked together in these revivals. Both religions believed in free will with personal redemption. The Baptists were highly decentralized with no hierarchical structure in place and preachers lived and worked among their congregations. The Methodists, on the other hand, had more of an internal structure in place. Individual preachers like the Methodist bishop Francis Asbury (1745–1816) and the "Backwoods Preacher" Peter Cartwright (1785–1872) would travel the frontier on horseback converting people to the Methodist faith. They were quite successful and by the 1840s the Methodists were the largest Protestant group in America. (4)
How Did the Effects of the Awakening Reach Illinois? During the time when Americans settled Southern Illinois, many moved from Kentucky, including the first governor, Ninian Edwards. The first government, bank and major businesses began in Southern Illinois with settlers from Kentucky and southern states. They had moved from Virginia to Kentucky looking for land and then on to Illinois upon hearing reports of the wonderful resources in Illinois. Many preachers and Christians moved from Kentucky to Illinois.
Several Examples
Peter Cartwright, noted in an earlier paragraph, was born in Virginia but his family soon moved to Kentucky. In 1801, at the age of 15, Peter was converted at a camp meeting associated with the Revival of 1800 and the power of God stayed on him for days. He subsequently joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, became a preacher in 1802 and was ordained in 1806. Peter Cartwright called himself "God's Plowman" and he ministered as a circuit rider preacher throughout Southern Illinois.
Peter became acquainted with the Gillham family and their allied friends who came the to the Granite City area of Illinois between 1799 and 1806. They or their children were all Revolutionary War patriots. This group voted en masse against slavery, which helped Illinois to be admitted to the Union as a free state. Thomas and Polly Gillham had been at Cane Ridge and converted from Presbyterian to Methodism. (6)
Like the Gillham’s, Peter Cartwright was opposed to slavery and moved his family from Kentucky to Illinois. As a Methodist circuit rider, Cartwright rode circuits in Kentucky and Illinois, as well as Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio. He helped found McKendree College (Lebanon), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington); and Illinois Conference Female Academy in Jacksonville (now MacMurray College). In 1830 he did the dedication service for a church newly started in Granite City. (5) An interestingly written archived book that doesn’t require Kindle or the like, Autobiography of Peter Cartwright Methodist Preacher can be found on-line. (7)
In another story, Publication No. 7 of the Illinois State Historical Society we read: “In April 1807 Mr. Walker (Jesse Walker was a Methodist circuit rider known as the “Daniel Boone of Methodism”) held the first camp meeting ever in the State, about three miles south of the present town of Edwardsville. The meeting was a powerful one, and many present were affected with that strange movement, the “jerks.” At one of Mr. Walker’s camp meeting, Enoch Moore was converted. He was the first American male child born in Illinois. He was licensed as a local preacher and held that office until his death in 1848. He was a member of the convention that formed the first constitution of Illinois. For a number of years, he was circuit clerk of his county, and for 20 years was probate judge. (8)
By looking into the lives of actual people like Peter Cartwright, the Gillham family, Jesse Walker and Enoch Moore, we can get glimpse of some of the specific influences that the Second Great Awakening imparted to Illinois. The state would also have experienced the effects of the Awakening in general.
General Effects of Revivals and Awakening One needs to recognize the difference in the use of the terms “revival” and “awakening.” Simply stated, revival brings the people of God back to life from a state of slumber and apathy. An awakening goes beyond the influence of a revival. A "Great Awakening" comes to a whole nation, changing even the culture of the time. Some would say revival can be encouraged with powerful preaching and tools of communication while awakening requires a move of God. (9) The Second Great Awakening sprang from multiple intense revivals at a time when people in the newer western territories of America needed something, or some One to hold on to.
Although the time frame of the Second Great Awakening pretty well coincided with the beginning of the 19th century and continued for the first three decades of that century, effects were felt for some time afterward. The Second Great Awakening, which “spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching,” sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a key part of the movement and attracted hundreds of converts to new Protestant denominations. It led to the founding of several well-known colleges, seminaries and mission societies. Ordinary people were encouraged to make a personal connection with God, instead of relying on a minister. Newer denominations, such as Methodists and Baptists, grew quickly. New religious movements emerged during the Second Great Awakening, such as Adventism, Dispensationalism, and the Latter-Day Saint movement. (10)
The Second Great Awakening served as an "organizing process" that created "a religious and educational infrastructure" across the western frontier that encompassed social networks, a religious journalism that provided mass communication, and church-related colleges. Publication and education societies promoted Christian education; most notable among them was the American Bible Society. Evangelical converts were leading figures in a variety of 19th century reform. Social activism influenced abolition groups and supporters of the Temperance movement. They began efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill. They believed in the perfectibility of people and were highly moralistic in their endeavors. This was the atmosphere in which Presbyterian minister, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist, was shot and killed by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, during their attack on the warehouse where Lovejoy's press and abolitionist materials were stored. (11)
The Second Great Awakening, occurring during a time of rapid increase in Illinois’ population and a time of being forced to grow as a state, definitely impacted that growth. It was a time when people needed their faith to be the strong tower they had discovered with the Awakening. Illinois, and the nation, is ripe for another Awakening!
Endnotes:
https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/257668-brief-history-spiritual-revival-awakening-america.html
https://www.christianity.com/church/the-2nd-great-awakening-11630336.html
https://www.christianity.com/church/the-2nd-great-awakening-11630336.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-second-great-awakening-104220
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cartwright_(revivalist)
(Research done by Roy Boyer, pastor of Harvest Community Church in Granite City.)
https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofp02cart
https://archive.org/stream/transaction00illi#page/58/mode/2up
https://www.charismamag.com/spirit/revival/23197-why-awakening-and-revival-are-not-the-same-thing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Great_Awakening
Illinois Monuments and Statues
by Joyce Geiler
We are living in a time in our nation when statues, monuments and memorials are being targeted and defaced or torn down by mobs and even being removed on purpose. This article offers a cursory view of the place of monuments, memorials and statues in history and an overview of the same in Illinois.
Erecting monuments, memorials and statues is probably as old as man. Certainly, the Bible gives many, many instances of creating memorials. The Bible, itself, could be seen as a written memorial to the mighty acts of God in the history of the earth and the people He created. There are at least 63 specific references to memorials in the Bible.
One such instance occurred when the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River to begin their conquest of Canaan. Joshua instructed a man chosen from each of the tribes of Israel to “take up a stone and carry it on their shoulder” from the middle of the miraculously-dry river bed and take it to the east side of the river to build a memorial. For what purpose? “So that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7) (1)
Monuments and memorials in the United States are apparently not forever. As of June 12, statues had been toppled, vandalized or officially removed in thirty-three places amid recent protests. One of those places was Washington Park in Chicago where the George Washington statue was found vandalized with spray paint and a white hood placed on its head on June 14. (2)
As of July 7, Wikipedia already has created an article listing 116 monuments and memorials toppled illegally or removed by legal means since the George Floyd murder, plus twenty-nine statues specifically of Christopher Columbus being removed. Statues are also being removed in other nations!
Statue of King George III
The first monumental statue in what was to become the United States of America was an equestrian statue of King George III. It was executed by the British sculptor Joseph Wilton. Commissioned in 1764 and cast in lead covered with gold leaf, the Neoclassical statue showed King George dressed in Roman garb astride a horse, the whole effect being reminiscent of the Marcus Aurelius statue in Rome. It was set up on a tall pedestal in Bowling Green Park in New York City and dedicated in August 1770.
The following month another statue by Wilton was erected. This statue was of William Pitt, a British politician very popular in the Americas for being responsible for the repeal of the much-hated Stamp Act of 1765. As with the King George statue, Pitt was portrayed in Roman clothes and was also located in New York.
On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was first read in New York City; and to celebrate it, a group of patriots pulled down the King George statue and, eventually, melted it down to make bullets with which to fight the British. When British troops arrived in November of that year, they retaliated by destroying the Pitt statue. (3)
Memorials, Monuments and Statues Found in Illinois
The National Historic Preservation Act is federal legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America. Among many other things, the act created the National Register of Historic Places, the list of National Historic Landmarks, and the State Historic Preservation Offices. (4) There are 87 National Historic Landmarks in Illinois. (5) In addition, the Historic Sites Division of the Illinois Natural Resources agency oversees the more than 56 historic sites and memorials across the state. (6) The Illinois Historic Preservation Division of the Illinois Natural Resources agency lists twenty-one of those Illinois’ monuments and memorials ranging from wild Bill Hickock’s birthplace to the Norwegian Settler’s Memorial and including memorials to the War of 1812, WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Viet Nam Veterans. (7)
Most readers will be familiar with the Lincoln–Douglas debates (also known as The Great Debates of 1858) which were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, who was the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, who was the Democratic Party candidate. Each was trying to win control of the Illinois General Assembly for their respective parties. Illinois was a free state, and the main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery in the United States, particularly its future expansion into new territories. Each of the sites has some sort of memorial or marker. (8)
Illinois has four Confederate memorials, with three of these memorials located in Federal cemeteries and connected with prisoners of war. Note that two of these three are twenty-first century memorials. Below is a listing:
Alton: United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) monument (1909), North Alton Confederate Cemetery. The memorial was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Alton Military Prison. As of October, 2018, it is one of 7 cemeteries with Confederate monuments that the Veterans Administration has under 24-hour guard.
Rock Island: UDC obelisk (2003), Rock Island Confederate Cemetery. The column was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Rock Island Military Prison.
Springfield: UDC/SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans) monument (2005), Camp Butler National Cemetery. This commemorative site was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Butler.
Chicago: Confederate Mound (1895), Oak Woods Cemetery. The mass grave and monument was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Douglas. As of October, 2018, the Veterans Administration has it under dawn to dusk guard. (9) It is number six on the Make It Right Project's 2018 list of the 10 Confederate monuments it most wants removed. “The Make It Right Project is dedicated to working with multiple groups—activists, artists, historians and media outlets—to remove Confederate monuments and tell the truth about history.” (10) Efforts to remove Confederate monuments, memorials and statues predates the recent protests suggesting an already ongoing movement.
Illinois Monuments, Memorials and Statues Disturbed
Following are incidents of four Illinois monuments vandalized, removed or for which removal is planned: (11)
The “Races of Mankind” is a series of 104 sculptures created for Hall 3 of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago by sculptor Malvina Hoffman, representing the various races of humankind, and unveiled in 1933. Most of the sculptures are life-sized. In the 1960s such a portrayal of race became viewed negatively, as racist; and in February 1969, the Hall was dismantled and the statues were either spread around the museum or placed in storage. The museum stated that the Hall was "scientifically indefensible and socially objectionable."
The “Haymarket Affair” statue was repeatedly vandalized and defaced plus attempts were made to blow it up. It was moved several times, finally being moved again in 1976 into the garden of the Police Training center. The Haymarket Affair occurred in May of 1886 when police in Chicago, feeling threatened by a crowd, fired into the crowd killing six people. A rally was held the next day near Haymarket Square, at which time an unknown person threw a bomb into a group of policemen, killing eight. In 1889, a monument by Johannes Gelert portraying a "robust policeman, in his countenance frank, kind, and resolute," was created. On the base were the words "In the name of the people of Illinois I command peace" although a reporter at the event had the policeman saying, "In the name of the law I command you to disperse." At the dedication the Mayor of Chicago, DeWitt Cregier, said, "May it stand here unblemished so long as the metropolis shall endure" words that were amazingly unprophetic.
In 1893, the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument by Albert Weinert was unveiled in the German Waldheim Cemetery, where three men convicted and executed for the Haymarket Affair police bombing are buried along with the fourth convicted man who committed suicide the day before the hanging. In addition, another monument was unveiled in September 2004. These monuments still stand. Chicago city historian Tim Samuelson said "The unifying theme is it's a tragedy – a human tragedy of people under difficult circumstances reacting to something beyond their control." Reading these historical accounts may convince one that current events are continuations of old themes.
In August, 2017, a bust of Abraham Lincoln in West Englewood, Chicago, was spray-painted black and later covered in tar and set on fire.
In Chicago, a campaign is underway to remove a monument to Italo Balbo, an Italian air marshal, which the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini presented to the city in 1933. Balbo Drive is a well-known street in the heart of downtown.
Concluding thought: Monuments, memorials and statues generally reflect the passions and concerns of a group of people or the paradigm of a certain time in history. While there is no doubt that memorials instituted by God as “forever” are intended to be just that, changing times and passions cause men to assess the value and appropriateness of temporal memorials. Their assessment will be colored by their world view.
End Notes:
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Memorial
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/502492-list-statues-toppled-vandalized-removed-protests
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Confederate_monuments_and_memorials#Illinois
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/About/Pages/Laws.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Historic_Landmarks_in_Illinois
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/Experience/Sites/Pages/Default.aspx
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/Experience/Pages/Monuments-and-Memorials.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%E2%80%93Douglas_debates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Confederate_monuments_and_memorials#Illinois
https://independentmediainstitute.org/make-it-right-project-announcement/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monument_and_memorial_controversies_in_the_United_States#The_Races_of_Mankind_(1969)
by Joyce Geiler
We are living in a time in our nation when statues, monuments and memorials are being targeted and defaced or torn down by mobs and even being removed on purpose. This article offers a cursory view of the place of monuments, memorials and statues in history and an overview of the same in Illinois.
Erecting monuments, memorials and statues is probably as old as man. Certainly, the Bible gives many, many instances of creating memorials. The Bible, itself, could be seen as a written memorial to the mighty acts of God in the history of the earth and the people He created. There are at least 63 specific references to memorials in the Bible.
One such instance occurred when the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River to begin their conquest of Canaan. Joshua instructed a man chosen from each of the tribes of Israel to “take up a stone and carry it on their shoulder” from the middle of the miraculously-dry river bed and take it to the east side of the river to build a memorial. For what purpose? “So that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7) (1)
Monuments and memorials in the United States are apparently not forever. As of June 12, statues had been toppled, vandalized or officially removed in thirty-three places amid recent protests. One of those places was Washington Park in Chicago where the George Washington statue was found vandalized with spray paint and a white hood placed on its head on June 14. (2)
As of July 7, Wikipedia already has created an article listing 116 monuments and memorials toppled illegally or removed by legal means since the George Floyd murder, plus twenty-nine statues specifically of Christopher Columbus being removed. Statues are also being removed in other nations!
Statue of King George III
The first monumental statue in what was to become the United States of America was an equestrian statue of King George III. It was executed by the British sculptor Joseph Wilton. Commissioned in 1764 and cast in lead covered with gold leaf, the Neoclassical statue showed King George dressed in Roman garb astride a horse, the whole effect being reminiscent of the Marcus Aurelius statue in Rome. It was set up on a tall pedestal in Bowling Green Park in New York City and dedicated in August 1770.
The following month another statue by Wilton was erected. This statue was of William Pitt, a British politician very popular in the Americas for being responsible for the repeal of the much-hated Stamp Act of 1765. As with the King George statue, Pitt was portrayed in Roman clothes and was also located in New York.
On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was first read in New York City; and to celebrate it, a group of patriots pulled down the King George statue and, eventually, melted it down to make bullets with which to fight the British. When British troops arrived in November of that year, they retaliated by destroying the Pitt statue. (3)
Memorials, Monuments and Statues Found in Illinois
The National Historic Preservation Act is federal legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America. Among many other things, the act created the National Register of Historic Places, the list of National Historic Landmarks, and the State Historic Preservation Offices. (4) There are 87 National Historic Landmarks in Illinois. (5) In addition, the Historic Sites Division of the Illinois Natural Resources agency oversees the more than 56 historic sites and memorials across the state. (6) The Illinois Historic Preservation Division of the Illinois Natural Resources agency lists twenty-one of those Illinois’ monuments and memorials ranging from wild Bill Hickock’s birthplace to the Norwegian Settler’s Memorial and including memorials to the War of 1812, WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Viet Nam Veterans. (7)
Most readers will be familiar with the Lincoln–Douglas debates (also known as The Great Debates of 1858) which were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, who was the Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, who was the Democratic Party candidate. Each was trying to win control of the Illinois General Assembly for their respective parties. Illinois was a free state, and the main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery in the United States, particularly its future expansion into new territories. Each of the sites has some sort of memorial or marker. (8)
Illinois has four Confederate memorials, with three of these memorials located in Federal cemeteries and connected with prisoners of war. Note that two of these three are twenty-first century memorials. Below is a listing:
Alton: United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) monument (1909), North Alton Confederate Cemetery. The memorial was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Alton Military Prison. As of October, 2018, it is one of 7 cemeteries with Confederate monuments that the Veterans Administration has under 24-hour guard.
Rock Island: UDC obelisk (2003), Rock Island Confederate Cemetery. The column was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Rock Island Military Prison.
Springfield: UDC/SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans) monument (2005), Camp Butler National Cemetery. This commemorative site was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Butler.
Chicago: Confederate Mound (1895), Oak Woods Cemetery. The mass grave and monument was dedicated to Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Douglas. As of October, 2018, the Veterans Administration has it under dawn to dusk guard. (9) It is number six on the Make It Right Project's 2018 list of the 10 Confederate monuments it most wants removed. “The Make It Right Project is dedicated to working with multiple groups—activists, artists, historians and media outlets—to remove Confederate monuments and tell the truth about history.” (10) Efforts to remove Confederate monuments, memorials and statues predates the recent protests suggesting an already ongoing movement.
Illinois Monuments, Memorials and Statues Disturbed
Following are incidents of four Illinois monuments vandalized, removed or for which removal is planned: (11)
The “Races of Mankind” is a series of 104 sculptures created for Hall 3 of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago by sculptor Malvina Hoffman, representing the various races of humankind, and unveiled in 1933. Most of the sculptures are life-sized. In the 1960s such a portrayal of race became viewed negatively, as racist; and in February 1969, the Hall was dismantled and the statues were either spread around the museum or placed in storage. The museum stated that the Hall was "scientifically indefensible and socially objectionable."
The “Haymarket Affair” statue was repeatedly vandalized and defaced plus attempts were made to blow it up. It was moved several times, finally being moved again in 1976 into the garden of the Police Training center. The Haymarket Affair occurred in May of 1886 when police in Chicago, feeling threatened by a crowd, fired into the crowd killing six people. A rally was held the next day near Haymarket Square, at which time an unknown person threw a bomb into a group of policemen, killing eight. In 1889, a monument by Johannes Gelert portraying a "robust policeman, in his countenance frank, kind, and resolute," was created. On the base were the words "In the name of the people of Illinois I command peace" although a reporter at the event had the policeman saying, "In the name of the law I command you to disperse." At the dedication the Mayor of Chicago, DeWitt Cregier, said, "May it stand here unblemished so long as the metropolis shall endure" words that were amazingly unprophetic.
In 1893, the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument by Albert Weinert was unveiled in the German Waldheim Cemetery, where three men convicted and executed for the Haymarket Affair police bombing are buried along with the fourth convicted man who committed suicide the day before the hanging. In addition, another monument was unveiled in September 2004. These monuments still stand. Chicago city historian Tim Samuelson said "The unifying theme is it's a tragedy – a human tragedy of people under difficult circumstances reacting to something beyond their control." Reading these historical accounts may convince one that current events are continuations of old themes.
In August, 2017, a bust of Abraham Lincoln in West Englewood, Chicago, was spray-painted black and later covered in tar and set on fire.
In Chicago, a campaign is underway to remove a monument to Italo Balbo, an Italian air marshal, which the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini presented to the city in 1933. Balbo Drive is a well-known street in the heart of downtown.
Concluding thought: Monuments, memorials and statues generally reflect the passions and concerns of a group of people or the paradigm of a certain time in history. While there is no doubt that memorials instituted by God as “forever” are intended to be just that, changing times and passions cause men to assess the value and appropriateness of temporal memorials. Their assessment will be colored by their world view.
End Notes:
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Memorial
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/502492-list-statues-toppled-vandalized-removed-protests
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Confederate_monuments_and_memorials#Illinois
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/About/Pages/Laws.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Historic_Landmarks_in_Illinois
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/Experience/Sites/Pages/Default.aspx
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnrhistoric/Experience/Pages/Monuments-and-Memorials.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln%E2%80%93Douglas_debates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Confederate_monuments_and_memorials#Illinois
https://independentmediainstitute.org/make-it-right-project-announcement/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monument_and_memorial_controversies_in_the_United_States#The_Races_of_Mankind_(1969)
Illinois Governors and Corruption
by Joyce Geiler
Illinois is unique among the states in the notable fact that four of Illinois' seven governors between 1961 and 2009 were imprisoned for various forms of corruption while in office. One of those governors, Rod Blagojevich, was also impeached and removed from office in 2009. At a recent time of prayer for Illinois, it was noted that we are not dealing with just one administration of corruption, but governor after governor, politician after politician. We are dealing with the foundation previous ones have built.
As we endeavored to put words to our prayers for Illinois' government, we understood that we needed to look at its foundational spiritual character. Current corruption didn't just happen suddenly. We must find the places where truth and righteousness were expressed through our governors and spiritually restore that foundation. We must find the places of corruption in our past governors, offer repentance, and ask God for forgiveness.
Where is that spot? Certainly, no governor has pleased everyone, but where is the first evidence of outright corruption? In our last issue, we discovered that racial inequality has been an issue since the beginning of our state; however, outright corruption does not appear to have begun that early.
Since becoming a state in 1818, 43 people have served as governor of Illinois; before statehood, it had only 1 territorial governor, Ninian Edwards. The longest-serving governor was James R. Thompson, who was elected four times to a term lasting 14 years, from 1977 to 1991. Only one governor, Richard J. Oglesby, has served multiple separate terms, having been elected in 1864, 1872, and 1884. None of those three were considered corrupt. Although this article deals only with corruption in governors, Wikipedia lists numerous U. S. Congressional members as well as state and municipal office holders who have been convicted of crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Illinois
The first instance of corruption in governors discovered by research is with Illinois’ tenth governor, Joel Aldrich Matteson who was governor from 1853-1857. During Matteson’s term as governor, Illinois prospered. Public wealth increased; public debt was reduced and taxation was reduced; the population of Chicago was nearly doubled; and its commerce more than quadrupled. All these were positive accomplishments. However, after he had served his term as governor, he was accused of defrauding the state of $388,528.
In 1838, prior to becoming governor, Matteson became a heavy contractor on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Beginning in 1839, as the canal commissioners increasingly found themselves unable to pay their debts, they simply issued scrip. Canal scrips were checks drawn on the credit of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and payable whenever funds became available. Their face values were accepted when purchasing canal lands but on the open market they were traded at less than par value. By the fall of 1842, after the State Bank had closed due to insolvency and the last remnants of all construction along the line had ceased, canal paper scrip was being traded at fifteen cents on the dollar meaning If persons had cash at that time they could have bought up canal scrip for fifteen cents on the dollar. https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/I_and_M_canal/doc14.html
Upon the completion of Matteson’s job in 1841, he was paid with the scrip; and being financially solvent, he could have purchased more. Most of the scrip, including Matteson’s, was redeemed in the 1840s but some scrip mysteriously resurfaced in the 1850s. The Great Canal Scrip Fraud came to light in 1859 when Matteson was charged with having exchanged 20-year-old scrip for new state bonds. Although there is a plausible story about how he obtained the scrip illegally, Matteson maintained he had purchased the scrip legally. An investigation was dropped after Matteson promised to pay back the state, even though he maintained he was innocent.
It was seventy years before the next incidence of corruption surfaced. Governor number twenty-six, Republican Len Small who was governor for two terms (1921-1929), is known primarily for his corruption. Small was the Illinois Treasurer from 1905 to 1907 and again from 1917 to 1919. In the interim, 1908-1912, he served as the assistant U.S. Treasurer in charge of the sub treasury at Chicago. He was indicted six months after becoming governor in 1921 for embezzling over a million dollars in a money-laundering scheme in which he misplaced state funds into a fake bank while he was state treasurer. Small was reelected Governor in 1924. He was acquitted of the embezzling charges, but eight jurors later got state jobs, which raised suspicions of jury tampering.
As governor, Small pardoned 20 members of the Communist Labor Party of America who had been convicted under the Illinois Sedition Act. He also pardoned or paroled over 1000 convicted felons, including Harry Guzik of Posen, Illinois, who was convicted of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into lives of prostitution (then commonly called white slavery). Governor Guzik was the brother of the Chicago Outfit's Jake Guzik. In 1923, bootlegger Edward "Spike" O'Donnell of Southside Chicago was released from prison by Small. O'Donnell returned to Chicago as the leader of one of the most powerful bootlegging gangs in the city.
Small's reputation for corruption finally caught up with him at the ballot box when he was defeated in the 1928 Republican "Pineapple Primary." The Pineapple Primary was the name given to the primary election held in Illinois on April 10, 1928. The campaign was marked by numerous acts of violence, mostly in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County, and was largely related to the mayoral campaigns. In the six months prior to the primary election, 62 bombings took place in the city,and at least two politicians were killed. The term "Pineapple Primary" originates with the contemporary slang term "pineapple" to describe a hand grenade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Primary
Underlying the violent campaign was the lucrative Prohibition-era bootlegging trade, a corrupt city government, politicians with ties to organized crime, and a deep-seated and bitter political rivalry between several of the Illinois Republican candidates. Under a finding by the Illinois Supreme Court, election judges were ruled as officers of the county court, and any election judge who tampered with votes or intimidated voters could be jailed for contempt. The same ruling deprived Governor Small from the power to pardon politicians arrested under this contempt ruling.
William Stratton, who served two terms (1953-1961), become the youngest governor in America up to that time. During his tenure: state hospital reforms were instituted that included beds for inmates; a bond issue was approved that funded the state’s expressway system; the first woman was chosen in a cabinet level status; and an improved state sales tax was initiated and used in school programs. Stratton was acquitted on charges of tax evasion in 1965. No additional related information was found.
https://www.nga.org/governor/william-grant-stratton/
As noted in the previous Kingdom Congress article about governors, Illinois’ thirty-third governor, Otto Kerner Jr. (1961-1968) achieved national fame as chair of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), which remains a milestone in America’s struggle for racial harmony. Kerner resigned as governor on May 20, 1968, during his third term, to accept a federal judicial appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Kerner was convicted on 17 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges. On appeal, all counts were overturned with the exception of four counts of mail fraud. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison in Chicago and fined $50,000. Faced with almost certain impeachment, he resigned his position on the federal bench on July 22, 1974. He was released early from prison when it was determined that he was suffering from terminal cancer. Many believed his conviction was unfair and would have been overturned had he lived longer.
The post political career of Dan Walker, Illinois’ thirty-sixth governor (1973-1977), was marked by high living but marred by a guilty plea to bank fraud and perjury at the peak of the late 1980s savings and loan crisis. He served a year and a half in federal prison.
During Governor Jim Edgar’s second term (1991-1099), the relationship between his re-election campaign and Management Systems of Illinois (MSI) came under federal scrutiny. MSI, Edgar's largest campaign contributor, was granted a contract that cost an estimated $20 million in overcharges. Edgar was never accused of wrongdoing, but he testified twice regarding the investigation.
George Ryan’s political career, including his time as governor (1999-2003), was marred by a scandal called "Operation Safe Road," which involved the illegal sale of government licenses, contracts and leases by state employees during his prior service as Secretary of State. Instead of ending the practice, he tried to end the investigation that had uncovered it. When he was a sitting governor, he lied to the FBI about this conduct. He was later convicted of federal corruption charges and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement.
When Rod Blagojevich (2003-2009) was charged with corruption, the Illinois House and Senate moved quickly to impeach the governor for abuse of power and corruption with an almost unanimous vote. He was first Illinois governor to be impeached. In January 2009, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn became Governor. On December 7, 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. On May 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of Illinois officially disbarred him. After serving nine years of his sentence Blagojevich’s sentence was commuted by President Trump, wiping away the sentence but not the conviction.
Brief Summary of Corruption Accusations and Convictions:
The fraud investigation against Governor Matteson when he was no longer governor, was dropped.
Governor Len Small was indicted in 1921, six months after becoming governor, but was acquitted.
In 1965, William Stratton was acquitted on charges of tax evasion, four years after completing his term as governor.
Otto Kerner was convicted on four counts of mail fraud and was sentenced to three years in federal prison and fined $50,000 when he was an Appeals Court Justice after his time as governor.
Dan Walker served prison time for bank fraud and perjury unrelated to his time as governor.
Jim Edgar came under federal scrutiny regarding a campaign contributor but was never accused.
George Ryan was convicted of federal corruption charges for actions as Secretary of State as well as governor and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement.
Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to fourteen years in prison on corruption charges and was also impeached and removed from office.
by Joyce Geiler
Illinois is unique among the states in the notable fact that four of Illinois' seven governors between 1961 and 2009 were imprisoned for various forms of corruption while in office. One of those governors, Rod Blagojevich, was also impeached and removed from office in 2009. At a recent time of prayer for Illinois, it was noted that we are not dealing with just one administration of corruption, but governor after governor, politician after politician. We are dealing with the foundation previous ones have built.
As we endeavored to put words to our prayers for Illinois' government, we understood that we needed to look at its foundational spiritual character. Current corruption didn't just happen suddenly. We must find the places where truth and righteousness were expressed through our governors and spiritually restore that foundation. We must find the places of corruption in our past governors, offer repentance, and ask God for forgiveness.
Where is that spot? Certainly, no governor has pleased everyone, but where is the first evidence of outright corruption? In our last issue, we discovered that racial inequality has been an issue since the beginning of our state; however, outright corruption does not appear to have begun that early.
Since becoming a state in 1818, 43 people have served as governor of Illinois; before statehood, it had only 1 territorial governor, Ninian Edwards. The longest-serving governor was James R. Thompson, who was elected four times to a term lasting 14 years, from 1977 to 1991. Only one governor, Richard J. Oglesby, has served multiple separate terms, having been elected in 1864, 1872, and 1884. None of those three were considered corrupt. Although this article deals only with corruption in governors, Wikipedia lists numerous U. S. Congressional members as well as state and municipal office holders who have been convicted of crimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Illinois
The first instance of corruption in governors discovered by research is with Illinois’ tenth governor, Joel Aldrich Matteson who was governor from 1853-1857. During Matteson’s term as governor, Illinois prospered. Public wealth increased; public debt was reduced and taxation was reduced; the population of Chicago was nearly doubled; and its commerce more than quadrupled. All these were positive accomplishments. However, after he had served his term as governor, he was accused of defrauding the state of $388,528.
In 1838, prior to becoming governor, Matteson became a heavy contractor on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Beginning in 1839, as the canal commissioners increasingly found themselves unable to pay their debts, they simply issued scrip. Canal scrips were checks drawn on the credit of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and payable whenever funds became available. Their face values were accepted when purchasing canal lands but on the open market they were traded at less than par value. By the fall of 1842, after the State Bank had closed due to insolvency and the last remnants of all construction along the line had ceased, canal paper scrip was being traded at fifteen cents on the dollar meaning If persons had cash at that time they could have bought up canal scrip for fifteen cents on the dollar. https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/I_and_M_canal/doc14.html
Upon the completion of Matteson’s job in 1841, he was paid with the scrip; and being financially solvent, he could have purchased more. Most of the scrip, including Matteson’s, was redeemed in the 1840s but some scrip mysteriously resurfaced in the 1850s. The Great Canal Scrip Fraud came to light in 1859 when Matteson was charged with having exchanged 20-year-old scrip for new state bonds. Although there is a plausible story about how he obtained the scrip illegally, Matteson maintained he had purchased the scrip legally. An investigation was dropped after Matteson promised to pay back the state, even though he maintained he was innocent.
It was seventy years before the next incidence of corruption surfaced. Governor number twenty-six, Republican Len Small who was governor for two terms (1921-1929), is known primarily for his corruption. Small was the Illinois Treasurer from 1905 to 1907 and again from 1917 to 1919. In the interim, 1908-1912, he served as the assistant U.S. Treasurer in charge of the sub treasury at Chicago. He was indicted six months after becoming governor in 1921 for embezzling over a million dollars in a money-laundering scheme in which he misplaced state funds into a fake bank while he was state treasurer. Small was reelected Governor in 1924. He was acquitted of the embezzling charges, but eight jurors later got state jobs, which raised suspicions of jury tampering.
As governor, Small pardoned 20 members of the Communist Labor Party of America who had been convicted under the Illinois Sedition Act. He also pardoned or paroled over 1000 convicted felons, including Harry Guzik of Posen, Illinois, who was convicted of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into lives of prostitution (then commonly called white slavery). Governor Guzik was the brother of the Chicago Outfit's Jake Guzik. In 1923, bootlegger Edward "Spike" O'Donnell of Southside Chicago was released from prison by Small. O'Donnell returned to Chicago as the leader of one of the most powerful bootlegging gangs in the city.
Small's reputation for corruption finally caught up with him at the ballot box when he was defeated in the 1928 Republican "Pineapple Primary." The Pineapple Primary was the name given to the primary election held in Illinois on April 10, 1928. The campaign was marked by numerous acts of violence, mostly in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County, and was largely related to the mayoral campaigns. In the six months prior to the primary election, 62 bombings took place in the city,and at least two politicians were killed. The term "Pineapple Primary" originates with the contemporary slang term "pineapple" to describe a hand grenade.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Primary
Underlying the violent campaign was the lucrative Prohibition-era bootlegging trade, a corrupt city government, politicians with ties to organized crime, and a deep-seated and bitter political rivalry between several of the Illinois Republican candidates. Under a finding by the Illinois Supreme Court, election judges were ruled as officers of the county court, and any election judge who tampered with votes or intimidated voters could be jailed for contempt. The same ruling deprived Governor Small from the power to pardon politicians arrested under this contempt ruling.
William Stratton, who served two terms (1953-1961), become the youngest governor in America up to that time. During his tenure: state hospital reforms were instituted that included beds for inmates; a bond issue was approved that funded the state’s expressway system; the first woman was chosen in a cabinet level status; and an improved state sales tax was initiated and used in school programs. Stratton was acquitted on charges of tax evasion in 1965. No additional related information was found.
https://www.nga.org/governor/william-grant-stratton/
As noted in the previous Kingdom Congress article about governors, Illinois’ thirty-third governor, Otto Kerner Jr. (1961-1968) achieved national fame as chair of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), which remains a milestone in America’s struggle for racial harmony. Kerner resigned as governor on May 20, 1968, during his third term, to accept a federal judicial appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Kerner was convicted on 17 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy, perjury, and related charges. On appeal, all counts were overturned with the exception of four counts of mail fraud. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison in Chicago and fined $50,000. Faced with almost certain impeachment, he resigned his position on the federal bench on July 22, 1974. He was released early from prison when it was determined that he was suffering from terminal cancer. Many believed his conviction was unfair and would have been overturned had he lived longer.
The post political career of Dan Walker, Illinois’ thirty-sixth governor (1973-1977), was marked by high living but marred by a guilty plea to bank fraud and perjury at the peak of the late 1980s savings and loan crisis. He served a year and a half in federal prison.
During Governor Jim Edgar’s second term (1991-1099), the relationship between his re-election campaign and Management Systems of Illinois (MSI) came under federal scrutiny. MSI, Edgar's largest campaign contributor, was granted a contract that cost an estimated $20 million in overcharges. Edgar was never accused of wrongdoing, but he testified twice regarding the investigation.
George Ryan’s political career, including his time as governor (1999-2003), was marred by a scandal called "Operation Safe Road," which involved the illegal sale of government licenses, contracts and leases by state employees during his prior service as Secretary of State. Instead of ending the practice, he tried to end the investigation that had uncovered it. When he was a sitting governor, he lied to the FBI about this conduct. He was later convicted of federal corruption charges and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement.
When Rod Blagojevich (2003-2009) was charged with corruption, the Illinois House and Senate moved quickly to impeach the governor for abuse of power and corruption with an almost unanimous vote. He was first Illinois governor to be impeached. In January 2009, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn became Governor. On December 7, 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. On May 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of Illinois officially disbarred him. After serving nine years of his sentence Blagojevich’s sentence was commuted by President Trump, wiping away the sentence but not the conviction.
Brief Summary of Corruption Accusations and Convictions:
The fraud investigation against Governor Matteson when he was no longer governor, was dropped.
Governor Len Small was indicted in 1921, six months after becoming governor, but was acquitted.
In 1965, William Stratton was acquitted on charges of tax evasion, four years after completing his term as governor.
Otto Kerner was convicted on four counts of mail fraud and was sentenced to three years in federal prison and fined $50,000 when he was an Appeals Court Justice after his time as governor.
Dan Walker served prison time for bank fraud and perjury unrelated to his time as governor.
Jim Edgar came under federal scrutiny regarding a campaign contributor but was never accused.
George Ryan was convicted of federal corruption charges for actions as Secretary of State as well as governor and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement.
Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to fourteen years in prison on corruption charges and was also impeached and removed from office.
Illinois Governors and State Racial Equality
by Joyce Geiler
Most readers will be somewhat familiar with the part of Illinois history that deals with the issue of slavery. The history of slavery in Illinois represents a real dichotomy because slavery was outlawed but, at the same time, was widely tolerated. In the early 1700s, slaves were brought to the area now known as Illinois by the French settlers. In the late 1700s, slavery was outlawed when the Americans took possession of the territory. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set forth the parameters for establishing states in the Northwest Territory, of which the Illinois country was a part. The Ordinance forbade slavery; however, slavery continued to be tolerated in Illinois. At least five southern counties (St. Clair, Gallatin, Randolph, Edwards and Pope), embraced slavery as an institution. https://www.lib.niu.edu/2003/ih090315.html
The first state Constitution (1818) was a compromise which allowed slavery in the salt mines near Shawneetown in Southern Illinois but nowhere else. This exception was made because the slave-operated salines contributed one-third of the new state's yearly revenue. At the time of the next Constitutional Convention in 1848, slavery was finally outlawed outright.
The purpose of this article is to examine the role of Illinois governors in the issue of slavery. Governors, having been elected by the people, are the “head of the state” and represent the state. That is not to say that everyone agrees with a particular governor but by virtue of his leadership position, the governor represents the state and sets the tone of the state. The first four Illinois governors owned slaves at some time.
Shadrach Bond was Illinois’ first governor serving from 1818-1822. Bond was a farmer in what is now Monroe County. Mr. Bond represented the “Convention party,” for introducing slavery into the State while Pierre Menard, Bond’s Lieutenant Governor, represented anti-slavery. Politically, people were not very much concerned over the issue of slavery but were more interested in “internal improvements,” as they were called, State banks and the location of the capital. Slavery was only an issue in that Illinois felt being a non-slave state enhanced its ability to enter the Union.
When the famous Missouri Compromise was adopted by the United States Congress in 1820 limiting slavery to the south of the parallel of 36° 30′ except in Missouri, it settled the slavery controversy, so far as the average public sentiment was temporarily concerned. However, slavery became an issue in the 1824 campaign for a constitutional convention in order to extend slavery.
Illinois’ second Governor serving from 1822-1826 was Edward Coles, an anti-slavery advocate throughout his adult life. He twice led political campaigns that prevented the legitimization of slavery in the new state of Illinois. Born in Virginia, Coles inherited a plantation and slaves but eventually left Virginia for the Illinois Territory in order to set his slaves free and give each head of family 160 acres of land that he had purchased near Edwardsville. Governor Coles led the opposition to a bill approving a referendum to hold another constitutional convention, recognizing it as a dishonest attempt to more clearly legalize slavery in the state. In 1824, the bill to hold the referendum passed and was slated to go before Illinois voters. Coles committed his total pay as governor ($4000) to defeat the referendum and led a committee of anti-slavery citizens, religious leaders, and legislators (who committed another $1000). On August 2, 1824, Illinois voters rejected the pro-slavery convention referendum.
Ninian Edwards served as Illinois’ third Governor from 1826 to 1830. Edwards settled in the American Bottom on land he received as a grant upon his appointment as territorial governor. Along with his family, Edwards brought a number of slaves, whom he did not free even though the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had made slavery illegal in the territory. An 1803 "Law Concerning Servants" had been promulgated for the Indiana Territory by Indiana’s then-Governor William Henry Harrison that maintained the status of people brought into the territory "under contract to serve another in any trade or occupation." The law, which remained in force in the Illinois territory, permitted slavery to persist for decades under the guise of indentured servitude. Edwards bought and sold indentured servants, rented them out for forced labor, and did not free his slaves, who worked on his Kentucky plantation.
Governor number four (1830-1834), John Reynolds owned seven slaves and emancipated them over a period of 20 years. One might think the acceptance of slavery comes from the South and that all four of these governors came to Illinois from the South, but that is not so. Bond was born and raised in Maryland. Coles was from Virginia. Edwards was born and raised in Maryland and Reynolds was raised in Tennessee.
Succeeding governors did not own slaves but race relations and tensions continued throughout Illinois’ history. Joseph Duncan was Illinois’ sixth governor when Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an abolitionist was murdered in Madison County in 1837. Joel Aldrich Matteson 1853-1857, was Illinois’ tenth governor when Illinois became first state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, in 1856.
John Wood, became Illinois’ twelfth governor upon the death of Governor Bissel, serving for less than 2 years (1860-1861). Wood considered his work to keep Illinois a free state one of his life's greatest achievements and cooperated with efforts by former Governor Edward Coles. Richard Yates, Illinois’ thirteenth governor, served during 1861-1865, the time of the Civil War. Before his governorship and during Yates' second term in the U. S. Congress, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise reignited the anti-slavery controversy. He opposed the repeal as it would open the possibility of slavery expanding into Kansas and in doing so, became identified with the new Republican Party. Illinois Democrats redrew the boundaries of his district to favor their candidate, and Yates lost his bid for a third term in Congress. Nevertheless, he still became Illinois’ thirteenth governor.
Yates supported the Emancipation Proclamation of1863, after which the Democratic-dominated Illinois legislature proved increasingly uncooperative. As governor, Yates feared that the Democrats had been infiltrated by the pro-secession Knights of the Golden Circle, and dissolved the Illinois legislature on June 10, 1863, declaring that "the past history of the Assembly hold[s] out no reasonable hope of beneficial results to the citizens of the State, or the army in the field, from its further continuance."
During the service of the fourteenth governor, Richard J. Oglesby 1865-1869, Illinois ratified the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. That legislative session also repealed the notorious “black laws,” a compilation of laws regarding Blacks that included a heavy fine on anyone bringing a free Black into the state. Any Blacks caught entering the state were subject to arrest and fine. If they could not pay the fine and the court costs, they could be required to pay with their labor. Slaveholders were also forbidden to bring slaves to Illinois for the purpose of freeing them.
John M. Palmer, Illinois’ fifteenth governor, 1869-1873 was born in Kentucky, but his family moved to Madison County, Illinois. As an Illinois senator true to the anti-slavery sentiments bred in him, he took a firm stand in opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; however, no action is recorded during his governorship. John Marshall Hamilton, eighteenth governor (1883-1885), sent the National Guard to quell the 1883 riots in St. Clair and Madison Counties in which white factory workers rampaged against blacks for almost two months.
Of note is governor number twenty-one, John Riley Tanner 1897-1901. The Spanish–American War was looming and he was the only governor to raise and combat-equip a National Guard unit of African American soldiers led by African American officers. Tanner was the first governor in the country to be openly neutral in labor disputes. The most notable incidents of the day were at Virden (where imported armed men had fired on Illinois strikers), at Pana (racial strife between white and black coal miners, with the governor siding against the position of the white miners), and at Carterville (where unarmed African Americans were shot by white miners, an incident vehemently condemned by the governor). He had personally opposed the use of violence against both companies and laborers in labor disputes, and had favored the elevation of African Americans from an inferior social position to one of equality. One article notes that since his principles were “not actively supported by successful politicians of either party, either before or after his term as governor, it is fair to attribute the principles to him personally, and to note that he was out-of-step with his nineteenth century contemporaries.”
Governor number twenty-three, Charles S. Deneen, 1905-1913, was governor during the infamous Springfield race riot of 1908, to which he sent the state militia to restore order. As governor, Deneen supported passage of the Illinois anti-lynching law in 1905. It should be noted that whites as well as blacks had been lynched in Illinois history. Deenen had been State's Attorney in the late 1890s and in 1896 he appointed Ferdinand Lee Barnett as the first black assistant state's attorney in Illinois. Frank
Orren Lowden 1917-1921, governor number twenty-five, gained nationwide stature for his handling of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 and a simultaneous transit strike in Chicago. The rioting lasted 8 days while the Chicago Police Department often turned a blind eye or worse. The Mayor of Chicago, William Hale Thompson, refused for four days to ask Governor Lowden to send in the Illinois Army National Guard despite Lowden having ensured that the guardsmen were called up, organized in Chicago's armories and made ready to intervene. Following the riots, Governor Lowden appointed the Chicago Commission on Race Relations, which subsequently concluded that there were no immediate solutions to remedy the tensions between the racial groups and suggested that "through mutual understanding and sympathy between the races will be followed by harmony and co-operation.” About twenty years later during Dwight H. Green’s term (number thirty), 1941-1949, another interracial commission was formed to investigate racism complaints in the employment and housing sectors.
Another twenty years later, Otto Kerner Jr. 1961-1968, governor number thirty-three, achieved national fame as chair of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), which remains a milestone in America’s struggle for racial harmony. An eloquent prophet of the grave consequences of racism in America’s cities, Kerner articulated the commission’s principal finding that “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white–separate and unequal.
https://www.nga.org/governor/otto-kerner/
As chairman of the Kerner Commission, Kerner sent a number of letters to Lyndon Johnson urging him to increase the number of black officers in the United States Army, which was drastically low (Army 1.15%, Air Force 0.6%). He also sent a number of letters to Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Rosel H Hyde, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, pressing them for more effective radio equipment for the police force as well as improved riot training. The letters stressed the need to not overlook the major points of the Commission's findings but to use the lessons learned in the riots to further promote law and order across the nation.
During Governor Jim Edgar’s term, 1991-1999, Jesse White was elected Secretary of State in 1995, the first African-American to be elected to that office. Along with the election of Rod Blagojevich as governor in 2003, Senator Emil Jones was elected President of the Illinois Senate, the first African-American to hold that post.
General note: Many of Illinois governor’s accomplishments, good and not-so- good, are in areas other than those concerning slavery and race riots, which was the focus of this article. Race riots generally ensued as African-American populations increased in an area, precipitating increased competition for jobs, and whites were generally the instigators of the rioting. The issue of race in Illinois has been a long struggle and like any issue concerning the heart of man, continues to flare up from its unresolved smoldering. The following links provide additional resources one might not otherwise have discovered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slave_owners https://www.lib.niu.edu/1996/iht329602.html - The Black Codes
illinoisgenweb.org/category/historyproject/governors
by Joyce Geiler
Most readers will be somewhat familiar with the part of Illinois history that deals with the issue of slavery. The history of slavery in Illinois represents a real dichotomy because slavery was outlawed but, at the same time, was widely tolerated. In the early 1700s, slaves were brought to the area now known as Illinois by the French settlers. In the late 1700s, slavery was outlawed when the Americans took possession of the territory. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set forth the parameters for establishing states in the Northwest Territory, of which the Illinois country was a part. The Ordinance forbade slavery; however, slavery continued to be tolerated in Illinois. At least five southern counties (St. Clair, Gallatin, Randolph, Edwards and Pope), embraced slavery as an institution. https://www.lib.niu.edu/2003/ih090315.html
The first state Constitution (1818) was a compromise which allowed slavery in the salt mines near Shawneetown in Southern Illinois but nowhere else. This exception was made because the slave-operated salines contributed one-third of the new state's yearly revenue. At the time of the next Constitutional Convention in 1848, slavery was finally outlawed outright.
The purpose of this article is to examine the role of Illinois governors in the issue of slavery. Governors, having been elected by the people, are the “head of the state” and represent the state. That is not to say that everyone agrees with a particular governor but by virtue of his leadership position, the governor represents the state and sets the tone of the state. The first four Illinois governors owned slaves at some time.
Shadrach Bond was Illinois’ first governor serving from 1818-1822. Bond was a farmer in what is now Monroe County. Mr. Bond represented the “Convention party,” for introducing slavery into the State while Pierre Menard, Bond’s Lieutenant Governor, represented anti-slavery. Politically, people were not very much concerned over the issue of slavery but were more interested in “internal improvements,” as they were called, State banks and the location of the capital. Slavery was only an issue in that Illinois felt being a non-slave state enhanced its ability to enter the Union.
When the famous Missouri Compromise was adopted by the United States Congress in 1820 limiting slavery to the south of the parallel of 36° 30′ except in Missouri, it settled the slavery controversy, so far as the average public sentiment was temporarily concerned. However, slavery became an issue in the 1824 campaign for a constitutional convention in order to extend slavery.
Illinois’ second Governor serving from 1822-1826 was Edward Coles, an anti-slavery advocate throughout his adult life. He twice led political campaigns that prevented the legitimization of slavery in the new state of Illinois. Born in Virginia, Coles inherited a plantation and slaves but eventually left Virginia for the Illinois Territory in order to set his slaves free and give each head of family 160 acres of land that he had purchased near Edwardsville. Governor Coles led the opposition to a bill approving a referendum to hold another constitutional convention, recognizing it as a dishonest attempt to more clearly legalize slavery in the state. In 1824, the bill to hold the referendum passed and was slated to go before Illinois voters. Coles committed his total pay as governor ($4000) to defeat the referendum and led a committee of anti-slavery citizens, religious leaders, and legislators (who committed another $1000). On August 2, 1824, Illinois voters rejected the pro-slavery convention referendum.
Ninian Edwards served as Illinois’ third Governor from 1826 to 1830. Edwards settled in the American Bottom on land he received as a grant upon his appointment as territorial governor. Along with his family, Edwards brought a number of slaves, whom he did not free even though the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had made slavery illegal in the territory. An 1803 "Law Concerning Servants" had been promulgated for the Indiana Territory by Indiana’s then-Governor William Henry Harrison that maintained the status of people brought into the territory "under contract to serve another in any trade or occupation." The law, which remained in force in the Illinois territory, permitted slavery to persist for decades under the guise of indentured servitude. Edwards bought and sold indentured servants, rented them out for forced labor, and did not free his slaves, who worked on his Kentucky plantation.
Governor number four (1830-1834), John Reynolds owned seven slaves and emancipated them over a period of 20 years. One might think the acceptance of slavery comes from the South and that all four of these governors came to Illinois from the South, but that is not so. Bond was born and raised in Maryland. Coles was from Virginia. Edwards was born and raised in Maryland and Reynolds was raised in Tennessee.
Succeeding governors did not own slaves but race relations and tensions continued throughout Illinois’ history. Joseph Duncan was Illinois’ sixth governor when Elijah Parish Lovejoy, an abolitionist was murdered in Madison County in 1837. Joel Aldrich Matteson 1853-1857, was Illinois’ tenth governor when Illinois became first state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, in 1856.
John Wood, became Illinois’ twelfth governor upon the death of Governor Bissel, serving for less than 2 years (1860-1861). Wood considered his work to keep Illinois a free state one of his life's greatest achievements and cooperated with efforts by former Governor Edward Coles. Richard Yates, Illinois’ thirteenth governor, served during 1861-1865, the time of the Civil War. Before his governorship and during Yates' second term in the U. S. Congress, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise reignited the anti-slavery controversy. He opposed the repeal as it would open the possibility of slavery expanding into Kansas and in doing so, became identified with the new Republican Party. Illinois Democrats redrew the boundaries of his district to favor their candidate, and Yates lost his bid for a third term in Congress. Nevertheless, he still became Illinois’ thirteenth governor.
Yates supported the Emancipation Proclamation of1863, after which the Democratic-dominated Illinois legislature proved increasingly uncooperative. As governor, Yates feared that the Democrats had been infiltrated by the pro-secession Knights of the Golden Circle, and dissolved the Illinois legislature on June 10, 1863, declaring that "the past history of the Assembly hold[s] out no reasonable hope of beneficial results to the citizens of the State, or the army in the field, from its further continuance."
During the service of the fourteenth governor, Richard J. Oglesby 1865-1869, Illinois ratified the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. That legislative session also repealed the notorious “black laws,” a compilation of laws regarding Blacks that included a heavy fine on anyone bringing a free Black into the state. Any Blacks caught entering the state were subject to arrest and fine. If they could not pay the fine and the court costs, they could be required to pay with their labor. Slaveholders were also forbidden to bring slaves to Illinois for the purpose of freeing them.
John M. Palmer, Illinois’ fifteenth governor, 1869-1873 was born in Kentucky, but his family moved to Madison County, Illinois. As an Illinois senator true to the anti-slavery sentiments bred in him, he took a firm stand in opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; however, no action is recorded during his governorship. John Marshall Hamilton, eighteenth governor (1883-1885), sent the National Guard to quell the 1883 riots in St. Clair and Madison Counties in which white factory workers rampaged against blacks for almost two months.
Of note is governor number twenty-one, John Riley Tanner 1897-1901. The Spanish–American War was looming and he was the only governor to raise and combat-equip a National Guard unit of African American soldiers led by African American officers. Tanner was the first governor in the country to be openly neutral in labor disputes. The most notable incidents of the day were at Virden (where imported armed men had fired on Illinois strikers), at Pana (racial strife between white and black coal miners, with the governor siding against the position of the white miners), and at Carterville (where unarmed African Americans were shot by white miners, an incident vehemently condemned by the governor). He had personally opposed the use of violence against both companies and laborers in labor disputes, and had favored the elevation of African Americans from an inferior social position to one of equality. One article notes that since his principles were “not actively supported by successful politicians of either party, either before or after his term as governor, it is fair to attribute the principles to him personally, and to note that he was out-of-step with his nineteenth century contemporaries.”
Governor number twenty-three, Charles S. Deneen, 1905-1913, was governor during the infamous Springfield race riot of 1908, to which he sent the state militia to restore order. As governor, Deneen supported passage of the Illinois anti-lynching law in 1905. It should be noted that whites as well as blacks had been lynched in Illinois history. Deenen had been State's Attorney in the late 1890s and in 1896 he appointed Ferdinand Lee Barnett as the first black assistant state's attorney in Illinois. Frank
Orren Lowden 1917-1921, governor number twenty-five, gained nationwide stature for his handling of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 and a simultaneous transit strike in Chicago. The rioting lasted 8 days while the Chicago Police Department often turned a blind eye or worse. The Mayor of Chicago, William Hale Thompson, refused for four days to ask Governor Lowden to send in the Illinois Army National Guard despite Lowden having ensured that the guardsmen were called up, organized in Chicago's armories and made ready to intervene. Following the riots, Governor Lowden appointed the Chicago Commission on Race Relations, which subsequently concluded that there were no immediate solutions to remedy the tensions between the racial groups and suggested that "through mutual understanding and sympathy between the races will be followed by harmony and co-operation.” About twenty years later during Dwight H. Green’s term (number thirty), 1941-1949, another interracial commission was formed to investigate racism complaints in the employment and housing sectors.
Another twenty years later, Otto Kerner Jr. 1961-1968, governor number thirty-three, achieved national fame as chair of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), which remains a milestone in America’s struggle for racial harmony. An eloquent prophet of the grave consequences of racism in America’s cities, Kerner articulated the commission’s principal finding that “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white–separate and unequal.
https://www.nga.org/governor/otto-kerner/
As chairman of the Kerner Commission, Kerner sent a number of letters to Lyndon Johnson urging him to increase the number of black officers in the United States Army, which was drastically low (Army 1.15%, Air Force 0.6%). He also sent a number of letters to Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Rosel H Hyde, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, pressing them for more effective radio equipment for the police force as well as improved riot training. The letters stressed the need to not overlook the major points of the Commission's findings but to use the lessons learned in the riots to further promote law and order across the nation.
During Governor Jim Edgar’s term, 1991-1999, Jesse White was elected Secretary of State in 1995, the first African-American to be elected to that office. Along with the election of Rod Blagojevich as governor in 2003, Senator Emil Jones was elected President of the Illinois Senate, the first African-American to hold that post.
General note: Many of Illinois governor’s accomplishments, good and not-so- good, are in areas other than those concerning slavery and race riots, which was the focus of this article. Race riots generally ensued as African-American populations increased in an area, precipitating increased competition for jobs, and whites were generally the instigators of the rioting. The issue of race in Illinois has been a long struggle and like any issue concerning the heart of man, continues to flare up from its unresolved smoldering. The following links provide additional resources one might not otherwise have discovered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_slave_owners https://www.lib.niu.edu/1996/iht329602.html - The Black Codes
illinoisgenweb.org/category/historyproject/governors
The Civil Realm and Overstepping Authority
by Joyce Geiler
Governor’s Authoritarian Hand Challenged Wednesday Afternoon, May 20, 2020
The digital news reported Wednesday afternoon (May 20) that after legislators were bombarded with phone calls opposing an emergency rule filed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that made it a misdemeanor for businesses to reopen ahead of the governor's COVID-19 reopening plan, public health officials said Wednesday the rule would be repealed.
Pritzker’s Illinois Department of Public Health filed the emergency rule late Friday. The rule said any person who violates the stay-at-home order to keep certain businesses closed would be subject to a Class A misdemeanor. It would have applied to restaurants that allow dine-in service, nonessential retailers that go beyond curbside sales, and salons and gyms that reopen. A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
The 12 Illinois lawmakers on the Pritzker-appointed Joint Commission of Administrative Rules were inundated by calls and emails from constituents asking that they rescind Pritzker’s rule. More than 20,000 Illinoisans contacted JCAR members through illinoispolicy.org in the 48 hours leading up to the vote. Pritzker’s withdrawal of the rule means he likely did not have the votes to avoid public rejection from lawmakers – let alone their constituents. Pritzker downplayed the significance of the rule. He said it was a less punitive measure than revoking a business license. The issue of the Governor’s overreach is not settled yet. Pritzker said he will ask the Legislature to do the same thing by statute and pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago.
Summary of the Governor’s new Extended Executive Orders
Here is a short summary of what the Governor’s proposed new extended Executive Orders would include, which would be added to the State’s Public Health Laws under the current Emergency Provisions section and titled “PANDEMIC OR EPIDEMIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE”. The Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR) met to block or adopt these new extended rules at a meeting on Wednesday, May 20. If these new rules were not blocked, they would be in effect for 150 days! Only rule 1 has been taken off the table - for now. Pritzker’s 5 phase plan would still be intact WITH the following extensions of power. The Chicago Tribune publishes a daily schedule of the current phase of the various Illinois regions as well as helpful graphs depicting the progress of the state’s readiness to handle the virus. (1)
1. State Police could ARREST anyone violating the Governor’s orders and charge them with a Class A Misdemeanor, which could have a jail sentence of two years.
2. Pritzker could also REVOKE state business licenses and could also WITHHOLD any local tax funding upon his discretion, should any violators show reckless conduct.
3. Restaurants can not have dine-in. (Note that on May 22 some restaurants and bars will be allowed outdoor seating)
4. Certain retail (again upon his discretion) can only do “curbside” sales.
5. Gyms, salons, barber shops, tattoo parlors, hobby shops and stores/shops, deemed non-essential are to remain closed.
6. These orders would remain in effect for 5 months from passage of the orders. This would basically give him unlimited powers and would likely be challenged in court.
Of the 12 members of the committee, 5 are Republican. Apparently, Illinois citizens spoke loudly enough that the Governor pulled back on Rule number 1 - for now.
Citizen Pushback
The pushback is ever-increasing against Governor Pritzker’s ever-increasing overreach in mandating rules for Illinois citizens and businesses during the COVID -19 pandemic. While the state’s testing rate for COVID-19 is greatly improved and hospitalizations are at their lowest point this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker continued to preach patience saying Illinois is not ready to fully open yet. Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate. But that number is a dramatic overcount. The metrics include deaths that have nothing to do with the virus. The problem is even worse as the Centers for Disease Control over-counts even some of these cases and the federal government has created financial incentives for this misreporting. Relying on these flawed numbers is destroying businesses and jobs and costing lives. (2)
The most serious legal threat to Governor Pritzker’s stay-at-home order came as a Republican lawmaker state Rep. John Cabello filed a lawsuit designed to potentially free all Illinoisans from the governor’s restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. For now, Cabello said he won’t seek a temporary restraining order as long as he sees an effort begin to put the General Assembly back to work. A fellow Republican, state Rep. Darren Bailey, secured such an order earlier. But it applied only to Bailey, while Cabello’s could apply more broadly.
Local sheriffs said they will not take action against the “offenders” unless directed by a judge.
• The Northwest Municipal Conference representing 43 Chicago suburbs, said the board sent a letter to the governor asking the state to separate them from the Chicago region in the 'Restore Illinois' plan because their cities do not have the same issues as Chicago.
• The five Republicans in Illinois’ 18-member congressional delegation, who largely represent downstate areas, sent Pritzker a letter urging him to adopt a phased plan to reopen the state’s economy.
• A church pastor from rural northwest Illinois sued the governor in federal court, alleging that his actions have demonstrated “illegal and discriminatory hostility to religious practice, churches, and people of faith.”
• The Madison County Board voted to reopen the county in defiance of Governor Pritzker's statewide stay-at-home order.
• The Christian County Board in a special virtual meeting voted 12 to 3 to send a proclamation to Governor Pritzker asking him to re-open Christian County and downstate Illinois.
• Trustees in Orland Park could vote Monday to seek legal action against the state if businesses and "civic life" aren't reopened in Illinois by June 1.
More than 100,000 small businesses in America have permanently shuttered within just two months as pandemic lockdowns devastated the nation’s economy landing 36 million Americans out of work, according to a new survey this week. A team of researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard University, Harvard Business School and University of Chicago discovered at least 2 percent of the nation’s small businesses are now gone after conducting a representative survey of more than 5,800 enterprises between May 9-11. (3)
Governor Pritzker backed companies profiting from COVID-19 (4)
Governor Pritzker said the state is focusing on expanding the number of tests performed each day — an effort he said is critical to reopening the state’s economy. Pritzker said Illinois now has 251 sites that offer free testing, including seven drive-thru locations in Markham, Bloomington, Harwood Heights, Rockford, Aurora, Waukegan and East St. Louis. Illinois is now routinely processing more than 20,000 tests per day. It appears that Pritzker has an interest in testing that goes beyond the concern for the health of Illinois.
• Chicago and Los Angeles-based Pritzker Group is run and owned by brothers Tony and JB Pritzker. Note that Pritzker Group is not the only group benefitting but his group is most definitely benefitting from Pritzker’s insistence on testing.
• Pritzker owns a company that makes and sells the tests. Cue Health was awarded a $13 million government contract to develop portable, point-of-care COVID-19 test. The funding was awarded by BARDA, part of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (5)
• Pritzker owns a second huge company, Path Group, that does the testing. (6)
• He owns a third company, Mingle Health, that does the billing for the doctors for the testing. (7)
• He owns a company, Fierce Pharma, that provides the digital messaging about Covid-19 to patients at doctor’s offices and pharmacies. (8)
• His Pritzker Group investment partner leads a non-profit that oversees fifty private equity firms which represent 400 healthcare portfolio companies like hospital groups. (9)
End Notes:
1. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-viz-region-status-reopen-illinois-plan-20200520-crs7jzzejng67c2supwcn2trkm-htmlstory.html
2.https://townhall.com/columnists/johnrlottjr/2020/05/16/the-us-is-dramatically-overcounting-coronavirus-deaths-n2568925
3. https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/15/100000-businesses-have-permanently-collapsed-under-pandemic-lockdowns/
4. https://www.mom-at-arms.com/post/illinois-governor-pritzker-backed-companies-profiting-off-of-covid-19
5. https://www.pritzkergroup.com/cue-health-awarded-13-million-government-contract-to-develop-portable-point-of-care-covid-19-test/
6. http://www.pathgroup.com/category/news/
7. https://minglehealth.com/blog/covid-19-and-mingle-health/
8. https://www.fiercepharma.com/
9. https://www.pritzkergroup.com/pritzker-group-investment-partner-named-president-healthcare-private-equity-association/
by Joyce Geiler
Governor’s Authoritarian Hand Challenged Wednesday Afternoon, May 20, 2020
The digital news reported Wednesday afternoon (May 20) that after legislators were bombarded with phone calls opposing an emergency rule filed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that made it a misdemeanor for businesses to reopen ahead of the governor's COVID-19 reopening plan, public health officials said Wednesday the rule would be repealed.
Pritzker’s Illinois Department of Public Health filed the emergency rule late Friday. The rule said any person who violates the stay-at-home order to keep certain businesses closed would be subject to a Class A misdemeanor. It would have applied to restaurants that allow dine-in service, nonessential retailers that go beyond curbside sales, and salons and gyms that reopen. A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
The 12 Illinois lawmakers on the Pritzker-appointed Joint Commission of Administrative Rules were inundated by calls and emails from constituents asking that they rescind Pritzker’s rule. More than 20,000 Illinoisans contacted JCAR members through illinoispolicy.org in the 48 hours leading up to the vote. Pritzker’s withdrawal of the rule means he likely did not have the votes to avoid public rejection from lawmakers – let alone their constituents. Pritzker downplayed the significance of the rule. He said it was a less punitive measure than revoking a business license. The issue of the Governor’s overreach is not settled yet. Pritzker said he will ask the Legislature to do the same thing by statute and pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago.
Summary of the Governor’s new Extended Executive Orders
Here is a short summary of what the Governor’s proposed new extended Executive Orders would include, which would be added to the State’s Public Health Laws under the current Emergency Provisions section and titled “PANDEMIC OR EPIDEMIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE”. The Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR) met to block or adopt these new extended rules at a meeting on Wednesday, May 20. If these new rules were not blocked, they would be in effect for 150 days! Only rule 1 has been taken off the table - for now. Pritzker’s 5 phase plan would still be intact WITH the following extensions of power. The Chicago Tribune publishes a daily schedule of the current phase of the various Illinois regions as well as helpful graphs depicting the progress of the state’s readiness to handle the virus. (1)
1. State Police could ARREST anyone violating the Governor’s orders and charge them with a Class A Misdemeanor, which could have a jail sentence of two years.
2. Pritzker could also REVOKE state business licenses and could also WITHHOLD any local tax funding upon his discretion, should any violators show reckless conduct.
3. Restaurants can not have dine-in. (Note that on May 22 some restaurants and bars will be allowed outdoor seating)
4. Certain retail (again upon his discretion) can only do “curbside” sales.
5. Gyms, salons, barber shops, tattoo parlors, hobby shops and stores/shops, deemed non-essential are to remain closed.
6. These orders would remain in effect for 5 months from passage of the orders. This would basically give him unlimited powers and would likely be challenged in court.
Of the 12 members of the committee, 5 are Republican. Apparently, Illinois citizens spoke loudly enough that the Governor pulled back on Rule number 1 - for now.
Citizen Pushback
The pushback is ever-increasing against Governor Pritzker’s ever-increasing overreach in mandating rules for Illinois citizens and businesses during the COVID -19 pandemic. While the state’s testing rate for COVID-19 is greatly improved and hospitalizations are at their lowest point this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker continued to preach patience saying Illinois is not ready to fully open yet. Over 86,500 people have reportedly died in the United States from the Coronavirus, and the fear generated by those deaths is driving the public policy debate. But that number is a dramatic overcount. The metrics include deaths that have nothing to do with the virus. The problem is even worse as the Centers for Disease Control over-counts even some of these cases and the federal government has created financial incentives for this misreporting. Relying on these flawed numbers is destroying businesses and jobs and costing lives. (2)
The most serious legal threat to Governor Pritzker’s stay-at-home order came as a Republican lawmaker state Rep. John Cabello filed a lawsuit designed to potentially free all Illinoisans from the governor’s restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic. For now, Cabello said he won’t seek a temporary restraining order as long as he sees an effort begin to put the General Assembly back to work. A fellow Republican, state Rep. Darren Bailey, secured such an order earlier. But it applied only to Bailey, while Cabello’s could apply more broadly.
Local sheriffs said they will not take action against the “offenders” unless directed by a judge.
• The Northwest Municipal Conference representing 43 Chicago suburbs, said the board sent a letter to the governor asking the state to separate them from the Chicago region in the 'Restore Illinois' plan because their cities do not have the same issues as Chicago.
• The five Republicans in Illinois’ 18-member congressional delegation, who largely represent downstate areas, sent Pritzker a letter urging him to adopt a phased plan to reopen the state’s economy.
• A church pastor from rural northwest Illinois sued the governor in federal court, alleging that his actions have demonstrated “illegal and discriminatory hostility to religious practice, churches, and people of faith.”
• The Madison County Board voted to reopen the county in defiance of Governor Pritzker's statewide stay-at-home order.
• The Christian County Board in a special virtual meeting voted 12 to 3 to send a proclamation to Governor Pritzker asking him to re-open Christian County and downstate Illinois.
• Trustees in Orland Park could vote Monday to seek legal action against the state if businesses and "civic life" aren't reopened in Illinois by June 1.
More than 100,000 small businesses in America have permanently shuttered within just two months as pandemic lockdowns devastated the nation’s economy landing 36 million Americans out of work, according to a new survey this week. A team of researchers at the University of Illinois, Harvard University, Harvard Business School and University of Chicago discovered at least 2 percent of the nation’s small businesses are now gone after conducting a representative survey of more than 5,800 enterprises between May 9-11. (3)
Governor Pritzker backed companies profiting from COVID-19 (4)
Governor Pritzker said the state is focusing on expanding the number of tests performed each day — an effort he said is critical to reopening the state’s economy. Pritzker said Illinois now has 251 sites that offer free testing, including seven drive-thru locations in Markham, Bloomington, Harwood Heights, Rockford, Aurora, Waukegan and East St. Louis. Illinois is now routinely processing more than 20,000 tests per day. It appears that Pritzker has an interest in testing that goes beyond the concern for the health of Illinois.
• Chicago and Los Angeles-based Pritzker Group is run and owned by brothers Tony and JB Pritzker. Note that Pritzker Group is not the only group benefitting but his group is most definitely benefitting from Pritzker’s insistence on testing.
• Pritzker owns a company that makes and sells the tests. Cue Health was awarded a $13 million government contract to develop portable, point-of-care COVID-19 test. The funding was awarded by BARDA, part of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (5)
• Pritzker owns a second huge company, Path Group, that does the testing. (6)
• He owns a third company, Mingle Health, that does the billing for the doctors for the testing. (7)
• He owns a company, Fierce Pharma, that provides the digital messaging about Covid-19 to patients at doctor’s offices and pharmacies. (8)
• His Pritzker Group investment partner leads a non-profit that oversees fifty private equity firms which represent 400 healthcare portfolio companies like hospital groups. (9)
End Notes:
1. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-viz-region-status-reopen-illinois-plan-20200520-crs7jzzejng67c2supwcn2trkm-htmlstory.html
2.https://townhall.com/columnists/johnrlottjr/2020/05/16/the-us-is-dramatically-overcounting-coronavirus-deaths-n2568925
3. https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/15/100000-businesses-have-permanently-collapsed-under-pandemic-lockdowns/
4. https://www.mom-at-arms.com/post/illinois-governor-pritzker-backed-companies-profiting-off-of-covid-19
5. https://www.pritzkergroup.com/cue-health-awarded-13-million-government-contract-to-develop-portable-point-of-care-covid-19-test/
6. http://www.pathgroup.com/category/news/
7. https://minglehealth.com/blog/covid-19-and-mingle-health/
8. https://www.fiercepharma.com/
9. https://www.pritzkergroup.com/pritzker-group-investment-partner-named-president-healthcare-private-equity-association/
Reopen Illinois - When and How?
by Joyce Geiler
Since the March Stay-at-Home order by Governor Pritzker, anything considered non-essential by the Governor has been closed, small and large businesses, religious gatherings, schools and universities, dentist offices. Even hospitals were not to perform non-emergency procedures or surgeries. The purpose of these measures was said to be the limiting of the number of Covid-19 cases so our hospitals and resources would not be overwhelmed. In the meantime, the economy is faltering badly.
This Monday, May 4, our Governor reported the fewest daily deaths related to the coronavirus in more than two weeks, and also announced fewer people were hospitalized with COVID-19 than a week earlier. But he cautioned against reading too much into those small positive signs. It is likely true that Covid-19 cases could increase as states “open up” but it is also likely true that “herd immunity” will more quickly the overall impact of the virus. Nevertheless, the Governor’s most recent plan shows he is hearing Illinois citizens’ cry that Illinois is a diverse state and the virus impact varies in different regions.
Mid-week, Governor Pritzker detailed his five-step plan to begin reopening the state and followed that with details of how that will be applied in different parts of the state. Instead of a whole-state approach to reopening, this will allow certain parts of the state to open at faster rates than other parts, given COVID-19 cases, testing and hospital availability. The Illinois Department of Public Health already has 11 “Emergency Medical Services Regions” it uses. The state will use those and combine them into four overall regions: Northeast Illinois, North-Central Illinois, Central Illinois and Southern Illinois. Illinois health officials said this initial plan can and will be updated as research and new information develops. The state also said health data will determine when a region can move to the next phase and also whether an area needs to return to a prior phase. (1) Could this be progress at last? It has come after some Illinois citizens have made their voices known.
One opinion article expressed it this way: “The experts told us that by sacrificing the jobs of 30 million people (and still counting) we would “flatten the curve” on new infections and thus keep our hospital system from being overwhelmed. The “experts” and their models have been proven wrong time and again throughout this debacle. The expected tidal wave never struck the hospital system as a whole. Point of fact, because of deferred procedures put off in order to free up bed space for the expected surge, many hospitals have laid of staff and some have shut their doors…permanently. The United States is now exporting ventilators. (2)
Leading up to the Current Plan
The Governor has repeatedly said that massive testing is the key to reopening the state. Increased testing has been accomplished is revealing increased numbers of infections without reporting the percentage of disease cases related to the number of tests. Are there more cases or just more tests so there appear to be more? The large percentage of previously undiscovered infections and recoveries tells us that the mortality of COVID-19 is only slightly more than the common flu. It also suggests that a major resurgence of the infections is unlikely if stay-at-home orders are lifted.
The Governor pushed for increased antibody testing to determine what percentage of recovered and presumably immune people are in our population. Recently, just as highly important information on antibody testing has started to come in from other states, he de-prioritized antibody testing. He is also withholding results collected so far in Illinois. (3) Some areas are reporting the number of recovered cases. Are we getting that information in Illinois? Perhaps the Governor had good reason for these decisions but they don’t generate trust in the populace.
Illinoisans Express Their Eagerness for “Freedom”
On April 27, a judge in southern Illinois ruled that Governor Pritzker's stay-at-home order exceeds his emergency authority and violates individual civil rights. Republican Representative Darren Bailey sought a temporary restraining order against Governor Pritzker’s far-reaching executive order charging that the Governor has relied on an April 2 statewide disaster declaration as authority to close schools, shut down nonessential businesses and limit movement by individuals from their homes because of the potentially deadly COVID-19. However, the Illinois Constitution does not specify that a disaster declaration extends the Governor’s emergency power for longer than 30 days. Clay County Circuit Judge Michael McHaney granted the restraining order. Since then Representative Darren Bailey has asked a state appellate court to withdraw the order so that he may file a new complaint using additional information.
The Governor promised “swift” action to overturn the judge's order, which applies only to Representative Bailey but allows other individuals and groups to challenge the order. (4)
Residents in at least five states, including Illinois, have held protests demanding their governors open up their states. ‘Liberty rallies” assembled outside the Thompson Center in Chicago May 1 to demand that Governor Pritzker lift his coronavirus restrictions, and reopen the state’s economy. Hundreds of protesters also simultaneously gathered at the state capitol in Springfield. (4) At his coronavirus briefing later that day the Governor increased restrictions and announced that everyone over age 2 must now wear masks in public. The Illinois Department of Public Health spells out in great detail when to wear a mask. (5)
A small evangelical church in northern Illinois, which filed a federal lawsuit, is taking credit for the change that permits people “to engage in the free exercise of religion”. The lawsuit filed by a church in Lena, 130 miles northwest of Chicago, argues that the stay-at-home order violates the First Amendment right to free religious practice. Subsequently, the Governor, while still encouraging the use of online and drive-up services, did allow congregational meetings of no more than 10 people who observe social distancing of 6 feet. (7)
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel has been keeping track of such things particularly regarding religious freedom. He says that the public is witnessing a clear difference between the burdensome restrictions imposed by Democratic leadership – either at the state or local level – as compared to Republican-led states. “The states that are opening up their restrictions, they're going to be Red states – and the Blue states are going to lag behind," he contends. "It's going to be the Blue states that are going to continue to impose these restrictions for some time." (8) Illinois with its Democrat governor and Democrat majority in the House and Senate is a blue state.
In Mid-April, a bipartisan group of governors of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky announced that they will work in close coordination to reopen the Midwest regional economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Illinois is the most Democratic state of this group. Neither Iowa or Missouri, being west of the Mississippi are part of this group. Notice that Missouri, a strongly Republican state has been the most lenient in its reopening. (9)
USA Today details the “open” orders of all states as of May 4. (10) For comparison, information is included below for Illinois and the states surrounding Illinois.
In Illinois, Governor Pritzker's modified stay-at-home order took effect May, 1 and continues through May 30. Masks are mandatory for all residents above the age of 2 in public spaces. Individual regions of the state that successfully meet certain thresholds over the next few weeks will be allowed to enter the third phase of the Governor’s plan for opening the state, in which state parks and nonessential businesses can reopen and public gatherings of no more than 10 people can resume. Some state parks will begin to open, while continuing social distancing. Retail stores not previously deemed essential will be allowed to fill orders for delivery or pick-up. And Illinoisans forced to postpone surgeries and medical tests may begin rescheduling some of them. Churches may hold worship services with no more than ten people in attendance.
In most counties in neighboring Indiana, those 65 and older or high-risk should remain at home as much as possible and social gatherings can increase to 25 people. Restaurants can open at 50% capacity starting May 11. Essential travel restrictions will be lifted. Remaining manufacturers that were not considered essential will be able to open. Retail and commercial businesses will open at 50% capacity. Routine care is reopened including dental offices, abortion clinics, dermatology offices and veterinary clinics.
In neighboring Iowa, select businesses in 77 of the state’s 99 counties may resume operating, with limited capacity, including restaurants, fitness centers and retail stores, which must obey 50% limitations on normal operating capacity. Social, community, recreational and leisure sporting events can open with limits to 10 people and spiritual and religious gatherings must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Malls can also open at 50% operating capacity but must keep play areas and other common seating areas, such as food courts, closed. Elective surgeries and farmers markets may open with some restrictions
Wisconsin is allowing businesses that can offer services "free of contact with customers" like dog groomers, upholsterers and lawnmower repair shops to open. On May 1, 34 state parks and forests were allowed to open under special conditions of attendance limits and reduced daily hours, while facilities like public restrooms, shelters and playgrounds remain closed. Outdoor recreational vehicle rentals like those who deal with boats, golf carts, kayaks and ATVs can open as well as automatic or self-service car washes. Every business can do things like deliveries, mailings, curbside pick-up and drop-off, but most nonessential businesses are closed in-store until May 26. On May 1, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to decide whether to keep in place Wisconsin’s Governor's stay-at-home order following a challenge from Republican lawmakers.
Much of Missouri reopened May 4 under relatively lenient statewide orders, but local governments can impose stricter rules if they want. The state's stay-at-home order expired May 3 at midnight, but St. Louis and Kansas City, for example, remain under stay-at-home orders. Statewide through May 31, people must stay 6 feet away from non-family members in public unless they’re doing a job that makes that impossible; schools remain closed; retail businesses must limit the number of customers and restaurants can reopen dine-in services if they employ social distancing measures.
End Notes
1. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/illinois-reopen-plan-regions-phases/63-11fe67f2-3998-48fd-9e08-948f2d28a9ad
2. https://www.redstate.com/darth641/2020/05/03/opinion-we-wrecked-our-economy-for-nothing/?utm_source=rsafternoonbriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&bcid=12e3abdf5faacf45b481b10458f58f63
3. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/05/thorneringold-pritzker-scrubs-hands-and-crucial-covid-testing-data.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
4. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2020-04-27/gop-leaders-want-details-on-inmates-released-during-pandemic
5. https://wgntv.com/chicago-news/protest-against-illinois-stay-at-home-order-planned-in-chicago-loop-today/
6. http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/community-guidance/mask-use
7. https://onenewsnow.com/ap/united-states/illinois-order-revised-to-allow-small-safe-worship-services
8. https://onenewsnow.com/church/2020/05/04/staver-blue-states-tend-to-be-more-restrictive-when-reopening
9. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/midwest-governors-reopening-pact/index.html
10. https://news.yahoo.com/us-reopening-states-relaxing-social-125225568.html
by Joyce Geiler
Since the March Stay-at-Home order by Governor Pritzker, anything considered non-essential by the Governor has been closed, small and large businesses, religious gatherings, schools and universities, dentist offices. Even hospitals were not to perform non-emergency procedures or surgeries. The purpose of these measures was said to be the limiting of the number of Covid-19 cases so our hospitals and resources would not be overwhelmed. In the meantime, the economy is faltering badly.
This Monday, May 4, our Governor reported the fewest daily deaths related to the coronavirus in more than two weeks, and also announced fewer people were hospitalized with COVID-19 than a week earlier. But he cautioned against reading too much into those small positive signs. It is likely true that Covid-19 cases could increase as states “open up” but it is also likely true that “herd immunity” will more quickly the overall impact of the virus. Nevertheless, the Governor’s most recent plan shows he is hearing Illinois citizens’ cry that Illinois is a diverse state and the virus impact varies in different regions.
Mid-week, Governor Pritzker detailed his five-step plan to begin reopening the state and followed that with details of how that will be applied in different parts of the state. Instead of a whole-state approach to reopening, this will allow certain parts of the state to open at faster rates than other parts, given COVID-19 cases, testing and hospital availability. The Illinois Department of Public Health already has 11 “Emergency Medical Services Regions” it uses. The state will use those and combine them into four overall regions: Northeast Illinois, North-Central Illinois, Central Illinois and Southern Illinois. Illinois health officials said this initial plan can and will be updated as research and new information develops. The state also said health data will determine when a region can move to the next phase and also whether an area needs to return to a prior phase. (1) Could this be progress at last? It has come after some Illinois citizens have made their voices known.
One opinion article expressed it this way: “The experts told us that by sacrificing the jobs of 30 million people (and still counting) we would “flatten the curve” on new infections and thus keep our hospital system from being overwhelmed. The “experts” and their models have been proven wrong time and again throughout this debacle. The expected tidal wave never struck the hospital system as a whole. Point of fact, because of deferred procedures put off in order to free up bed space for the expected surge, many hospitals have laid of staff and some have shut their doors…permanently. The United States is now exporting ventilators. (2)
Leading up to the Current Plan
The Governor has repeatedly said that massive testing is the key to reopening the state. Increased testing has been accomplished is revealing increased numbers of infections without reporting the percentage of disease cases related to the number of tests. Are there more cases or just more tests so there appear to be more? The large percentage of previously undiscovered infections and recoveries tells us that the mortality of COVID-19 is only slightly more than the common flu. It also suggests that a major resurgence of the infections is unlikely if stay-at-home orders are lifted.
The Governor pushed for increased antibody testing to determine what percentage of recovered and presumably immune people are in our population. Recently, just as highly important information on antibody testing has started to come in from other states, he de-prioritized antibody testing. He is also withholding results collected so far in Illinois. (3) Some areas are reporting the number of recovered cases. Are we getting that information in Illinois? Perhaps the Governor had good reason for these decisions but they don’t generate trust in the populace.
Illinoisans Express Their Eagerness for “Freedom”
On April 27, a judge in southern Illinois ruled that Governor Pritzker's stay-at-home order exceeds his emergency authority and violates individual civil rights. Republican Representative Darren Bailey sought a temporary restraining order against Governor Pritzker’s far-reaching executive order charging that the Governor has relied on an April 2 statewide disaster declaration as authority to close schools, shut down nonessential businesses and limit movement by individuals from their homes because of the potentially deadly COVID-19. However, the Illinois Constitution does not specify that a disaster declaration extends the Governor’s emergency power for longer than 30 days. Clay County Circuit Judge Michael McHaney granted the restraining order. Since then Representative Darren Bailey has asked a state appellate court to withdraw the order so that he may file a new complaint using additional information.
The Governor promised “swift” action to overturn the judge's order, which applies only to Representative Bailey but allows other individuals and groups to challenge the order. (4)
Residents in at least five states, including Illinois, have held protests demanding their governors open up their states. ‘Liberty rallies” assembled outside the Thompson Center in Chicago May 1 to demand that Governor Pritzker lift his coronavirus restrictions, and reopen the state’s economy. Hundreds of protesters also simultaneously gathered at the state capitol in Springfield. (4) At his coronavirus briefing later that day the Governor increased restrictions and announced that everyone over age 2 must now wear masks in public. The Illinois Department of Public Health spells out in great detail when to wear a mask. (5)
A small evangelical church in northern Illinois, which filed a federal lawsuit, is taking credit for the change that permits people “to engage in the free exercise of religion”. The lawsuit filed by a church in Lena, 130 miles northwest of Chicago, argues that the stay-at-home order violates the First Amendment right to free religious practice. Subsequently, the Governor, while still encouraging the use of online and drive-up services, did allow congregational meetings of no more than 10 people who observe social distancing of 6 feet. (7)
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel has been keeping track of such things particularly regarding religious freedom. He says that the public is witnessing a clear difference between the burdensome restrictions imposed by Democratic leadership – either at the state or local level – as compared to Republican-led states. “The states that are opening up their restrictions, they're going to be Red states – and the Blue states are going to lag behind," he contends. "It's going to be the Blue states that are going to continue to impose these restrictions for some time." (8) Illinois with its Democrat governor and Democrat majority in the House and Senate is a blue state.
In Mid-April, a bipartisan group of governors of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky announced that they will work in close coordination to reopen the Midwest regional economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Illinois is the most Democratic state of this group. Neither Iowa or Missouri, being west of the Mississippi are part of this group. Notice that Missouri, a strongly Republican state has been the most lenient in its reopening. (9)
USA Today details the “open” orders of all states as of May 4. (10) For comparison, information is included below for Illinois and the states surrounding Illinois.
In Illinois, Governor Pritzker's modified stay-at-home order took effect May, 1 and continues through May 30. Masks are mandatory for all residents above the age of 2 in public spaces. Individual regions of the state that successfully meet certain thresholds over the next few weeks will be allowed to enter the third phase of the Governor’s plan for opening the state, in which state parks and nonessential businesses can reopen and public gatherings of no more than 10 people can resume. Some state parks will begin to open, while continuing social distancing. Retail stores not previously deemed essential will be allowed to fill orders for delivery or pick-up. And Illinoisans forced to postpone surgeries and medical tests may begin rescheduling some of them. Churches may hold worship services with no more than ten people in attendance.
In most counties in neighboring Indiana, those 65 and older or high-risk should remain at home as much as possible and social gatherings can increase to 25 people. Restaurants can open at 50% capacity starting May 11. Essential travel restrictions will be lifted. Remaining manufacturers that were not considered essential will be able to open. Retail and commercial businesses will open at 50% capacity. Routine care is reopened including dental offices, abortion clinics, dermatology offices and veterinary clinics.
In neighboring Iowa, select businesses in 77 of the state’s 99 counties may resume operating, with limited capacity, including restaurants, fitness centers and retail stores, which must obey 50% limitations on normal operating capacity. Social, community, recreational and leisure sporting events can open with limits to 10 people and spiritual and religious gatherings must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Malls can also open at 50% operating capacity but must keep play areas and other common seating areas, such as food courts, closed. Elective surgeries and farmers markets may open with some restrictions
Wisconsin is allowing businesses that can offer services "free of contact with customers" like dog groomers, upholsterers and lawnmower repair shops to open. On May 1, 34 state parks and forests were allowed to open under special conditions of attendance limits and reduced daily hours, while facilities like public restrooms, shelters and playgrounds remain closed. Outdoor recreational vehicle rentals like those who deal with boats, golf carts, kayaks and ATVs can open as well as automatic or self-service car washes. Every business can do things like deliveries, mailings, curbside pick-up and drop-off, but most nonessential businesses are closed in-store until May 26. On May 1, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to decide whether to keep in place Wisconsin’s Governor's stay-at-home order following a challenge from Republican lawmakers.
Much of Missouri reopened May 4 under relatively lenient statewide orders, but local governments can impose stricter rules if they want. The state's stay-at-home order expired May 3 at midnight, but St. Louis and Kansas City, for example, remain under stay-at-home orders. Statewide through May 31, people must stay 6 feet away from non-family members in public unless they’re doing a job that makes that impossible; schools remain closed; retail businesses must limit the number of customers and restaurants can reopen dine-in services if they employ social distancing measures.
End Notes
1. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/illinois-reopen-plan-regions-phases/63-11fe67f2-3998-48fd-9e08-948f2d28a9ad
2. https://www.redstate.com/darth641/2020/05/03/opinion-we-wrecked-our-economy-for-nothing/?utm_source=rsafternoonbriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&bcid=12e3abdf5faacf45b481b10458f58f63
3. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/05/thorneringold-pritzker-scrubs-hands-and-crucial-covid-testing-data.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
4. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2020-04-27/gop-leaders-want-details-on-inmates-released-during-pandemic
5. https://wgntv.com/chicago-news/protest-against-illinois-stay-at-home-order-planned-in-chicago-loop-today/
6. http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/community-guidance/mask-use
7. https://onenewsnow.com/ap/united-states/illinois-order-revised-to-allow-small-safe-worship-services
8. https://onenewsnow.com/church/2020/05/04/staver-blue-states-tend-to-be-more-restrictive-when-reopening
9. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/midwest-governors-reopening-pact/index.html
10. https://news.yahoo.com/us-reopening-states-relaxing-social-125225568.html
How is Illinois Meeting the Challenge of Coronavirus? by Joyce Geiler
Last issue was full of statistics siting the occurrences and death rates for coronavirus/COVID 19 in Illinois. Statistics continue to accumulate; the number of people and the number of deaths continue to increase. However, one should note that testing for the virus has increased naturally increasing the number of cases, and the methodology for accounting numbers has changed making comparisons inaccurate. In this issue we will investigate the response of Illinois in meeting the unprecedented challenges of this pandemic. You will find information on Governor Pritzker’s acquisition of COVID 19 supplies and Chicago’s stash as well as an accounting of what the federal government has sent. Far reaching economic impacts are also briefly covered.
Information released by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation was the standard for predicting the spread and estimated response needed to combat the virus. So far, their estimates have been much larger than actual facts have substantiated. Now Sandford University has released new studies that give a different perspective. Having not walked this way before, the federal government and state governments used University of Washington and World Health Organization estimates to attempt to contain the spread and plan for intensive treatment.
In March, Governor Pritzker issued a state-wide stay-at-home order. Now on April 22, Governor Pritzker is saying the new coronavirus pandemic may not peak in Illinois until mid-May, Previous projections had put the virus’ peak in mid-to late April. But Governor Pritzker told national news outlets this week that the date has been pushed back to mid-May or later in part because people have been adhering to his stay-at-home order. (1) Does that make sense? The stay-at-home order has slowed the rise of the virus so we have to stay at home longer?
Illinois Efforts to Procure Supplies
Funding and securing supplies have been the focus of much attention on both federal and state levels. Governor Pritzker has said that Illinois has been slighted in the distribution of federal assistance. On March 23, it was announced that the governor had created an Essential Equipment Task Force, which was designed to secure medical supplies needed by state health care workers and first responders. Governor Pritzker said he made a request for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the federal government on March 6, and the state received its “first and only shipment” six days later. Rather than the 1.2 million masks the governor requested, the state received just 123,000 – some 10%. (2) In the meantime, Illinois manufactures, like those in other states began production of PPE and ventilators.
About April 15, Chicago Sun Times reported “Gov. J.B. Pritzker is planning to obtain millions of masks and gloves from China and bring those supplies back to Illinois on charter jets — but he’s keeping the details secret out of fear the Trump administration might seize the cargo for the federal stockpile.” Illinois state Comptroller Susana Mendoza said that the state has spent more than $174 million on purchases related to COVID 19, including supplies such as ventilators, masks, gloves, gowns, protective eyewear and hand sanitizer. Among the list of expenditures: two invoices, each for $888,275, to FedEx Trade Networks Transport for “aircraft charter flight to Shanghai, China for COVID-19 response. ... Prepayment required.” (3)
The masks purchased from China are the KN95 masks, which the Center for Disease Control said earlier this month were an acceptable alternative to the United States approved N95 masks. However, now the Illinois Department of Health and comparable departments in other states are advising hospital staff not to use the KN95 masks during higher-risk environments but to rely on N95 masks instead. (4)
Chicago Crain's reported on a 3.9 million N95 masks stash in Chicago: “The city so far has drawn down and sent out 501,000 of the very hard-to-find N95 masks. An additional 720,000 have been reserved for possible use in the emergency hospital facility at McCormick Place. That still leaves more than half of the city’s original stock of 3.9 million as the pandemic continues to unfold.” (5)
As of April 21, 64.85% of available hospital beds in Illinois are in use with less than 25% of those being used for COVID patients. Of the 70.8% of ICU beds being used, just slightly more than half are being used for COVID patients. Of about 3250 ventilators available, COVID patients using about 70% of the 1233 ventilators in use. (6)
Late last week, Illinois state Senate President Don Harmon sent a letter to Congress requesting more than $40 billion in relief from the federal government because of the coronavirus. The request included $10 billion to help bail out the pension fund since state revenue is being decreased by the stay-at-home order, a $15 billion grant to “stabilize the state’s budget,” $9.6 billion in direct aid to Illinois’s cities, $6 billion for the state’s unemployment insurance fund, and hardship money for hospitals and nursing homes, among other things. Governor Pritzker said he did not know about the letter. (7)
Funding and Supplies from the Federal Government
The White House, provoked by the governor’s claims of being slighted, provided receipts to verify what has been sent to Illinois. President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13. Illinois followed suit on March 24.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased hospital capacity in the Chicago by more than 4,000 beds. The Defense Logistics Agency sent a decontamination system to Chicago. As of last week, according to the White House, 1.1 million N95 facemasks, 4.3 million surgical masks, 1.9 million surgical gowns, and 65 million surgical gloves had been airlifted to Chicago. There was also money. The Centers for Disease Control funneled $23.7 million to Illinois -- $12.2 million to Chicago specifically. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded another $51.6 million to 45 hospitals across the state. Another $1.2 billion followed. As of April 17, Illinois ranked seventh in the nation for confirmed cases of coronavirus. One could wonder whether testing ranks so high with the Governor, so we will rank higher and receive more funding.
In addition, Illinois farmers and food banks will receive funding from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, though specific amounts for Illinois were not found. (8)
Other State Activities Related to Coronavirus
Nationwide, a New York Times report last week documented at least 6,900 COVID-19 deaths tied to nursing homes, about a fifth of all deaths. That same trend appears to be happening in Illinois, with about 23% of coronavirus deaths tied to nursing homes. At least 186 long-term care facilities in 22 counties have reported at least one case. In all, at least 1,860 cases can be tied to nursing homes, with 286 deaths. On April 20, Gov. Pritzker pledged to ramp up testing at places that have yet to report a case and for all staff at long-term care facilities where there’s already been one. (9)
Without prior public notice or debate, Illinois’ Workers Compensation Commission decided during an emergency meeting that Illinois businesses deemed "essential" by Governor Pritzker's executive order concerning COVID 19 will now need to pay workers compensation claims if their employees acquire COVID19. Not surprisingly, Illinois business groups are pursuing a Temporary Restraining Order of the Commission’s policy change saying the emergency rule will result in undermining Illinois’ long standing application of the law’s doctrine of “increased risk” that states a workers’ compensation claimant must show that they were at greater risk of injury than the public because of the requirements of their job. (10)
Small businesses were not the only ones to benefit from the Federal government’s loans. The banks handled the government's $349 billion loan program acting essentially as middlemen, sending clients' loan applications to the SBA. SBA was given the authority to approve the loan applications and, for their effort gained, more than $10 billion in fees nationally. Figures specifically for Illinois were not found. (11) Per Governor Pritzker’s request, prisoners are being released as the coronavirus continues to spread in the state’s prisons. Some inmates have been released for other reasons and some have had their sentences commuted by the Governor, including several who had been convicted of murder. Transparency in these releases and commutations seems to be lacking. (12)
A growing list of Democratic governors are freezing state worker pay to manage state budgets amid the COVID-19 crisis, but so far governor Pritzker is not among them. At this point, the state is still slated to automatically increase the pay of thousands of state workers in the state’s largest bargaining unit, which is represented by AFSCME Council 31, at a cost to the state of $261 million. The governor’s emergency power does give him authority to delay the increase. (13)
Illinois hospitals are losing $1.4 billion a month as coronavirus cancels surgeries (14) but Planned Parenthood remains open collecting revenue from abortions. The Governor is insisting that he will continue to pursue his agenda for progressive income tax in spite of the unemployment and financial challenges magnified by the coronavirus. (15) Also, during this time in which attention is on the coronavirus, the Governor has signed legislation that ends waiting periods and ultrasound requirements before abortion and forces all businesses to allow transgender persons to use the bathrooms of their choice. (16)
End Notes:
1. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-peak-pritzker-20200421-wkf3uakc2bb7ph6iy6okfkyjqa-story.html
2. https://news.wttw.com/2020/03/23/pritzker-launches-task-force-secure-medical-supplies-covid-19-cases-rise
3. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/04/pritzker-hiding-millions-of-masks-secretly-buying-more-from-china.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
4. https://wgntv.com/news/coronavirus/illinois-spent-17-million-on-masks-that-are-now-being-recalled-in-other-states/
5. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/04/pritzker-hiding-millions-of-masks-secretly-buying-more-from-china.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
6. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/pritzker-stands-firm-you-still-have-stay-home-0?utm_source=crain-s-coronavirus-update&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200423&utm_content=article7-headline
7. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/04/18/wh_counters_pritzkers_claim_of_stinginess_with_covid_aid_142979.html
8. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/business/dealbook/illinois-pension-coronavirus.html
9. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-nursing-home-data-20200419-wrh22wdtxzblblf2xsz5j5nhdy-story.html
10. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/04/workers-comp-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
11. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/22/840678984/small-business-rescue-earned-banks-10-billion-in-fees
12. https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/pritzker-criticized-over-quiet-commutations-not-releasing-medically-vulnerable/article_5253e0ba-801b-11ea-bd2d-1391fa60ea35.html
13. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-moves-closer-to-becoming-first-junk-state-with-negative-credit-outlook/
14. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-hospitals-financial-damage-furloughs-20200417-w3mzywqx2vdprb5bj33h57clba-story.html
15. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzker-doubles-down-on-progressive-income-tax-says-illinois-needs-3-7b-tax-hike-now-more-than-ever/
16. [email protected]
Last issue was full of statistics siting the occurrences and death rates for coronavirus/COVID 19 in Illinois. Statistics continue to accumulate; the number of people and the number of deaths continue to increase. However, one should note that testing for the virus has increased naturally increasing the number of cases, and the methodology for accounting numbers has changed making comparisons inaccurate. In this issue we will investigate the response of Illinois in meeting the unprecedented challenges of this pandemic. You will find information on Governor Pritzker’s acquisition of COVID 19 supplies and Chicago’s stash as well as an accounting of what the federal government has sent. Far reaching economic impacts are also briefly covered.
Information released by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation was the standard for predicting the spread and estimated response needed to combat the virus. So far, their estimates have been much larger than actual facts have substantiated. Now Sandford University has released new studies that give a different perspective. Having not walked this way before, the federal government and state governments used University of Washington and World Health Organization estimates to attempt to contain the spread and plan for intensive treatment.
In March, Governor Pritzker issued a state-wide stay-at-home order. Now on April 22, Governor Pritzker is saying the new coronavirus pandemic may not peak in Illinois until mid-May, Previous projections had put the virus’ peak in mid-to late April. But Governor Pritzker told national news outlets this week that the date has been pushed back to mid-May or later in part because people have been adhering to his stay-at-home order. (1) Does that make sense? The stay-at-home order has slowed the rise of the virus so we have to stay at home longer?
Illinois Efforts to Procure Supplies
Funding and securing supplies have been the focus of much attention on both federal and state levels. Governor Pritzker has said that Illinois has been slighted in the distribution of federal assistance. On March 23, it was announced that the governor had created an Essential Equipment Task Force, which was designed to secure medical supplies needed by state health care workers and first responders. Governor Pritzker said he made a request for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the federal government on March 6, and the state received its “first and only shipment” six days later. Rather than the 1.2 million masks the governor requested, the state received just 123,000 – some 10%. (2) In the meantime, Illinois manufactures, like those in other states began production of PPE and ventilators.
About April 15, Chicago Sun Times reported “Gov. J.B. Pritzker is planning to obtain millions of masks and gloves from China and bring those supplies back to Illinois on charter jets — but he’s keeping the details secret out of fear the Trump administration might seize the cargo for the federal stockpile.” Illinois state Comptroller Susana Mendoza said that the state has spent more than $174 million on purchases related to COVID 19, including supplies such as ventilators, masks, gloves, gowns, protective eyewear and hand sanitizer. Among the list of expenditures: two invoices, each for $888,275, to FedEx Trade Networks Transport for “aircraft charter flight to Shanghai, China for COVID-19 response. ... Prepayment required.” (3)
The masks purchased from China are the KN95 masks, which the Center for Disease Control said earlier this month were an acceptable alternative to the United States approved N95 masks. However, now the Illinois Department of Health and comparable departments in other states are advising hospital staff not to use the KN95 masks during higher-risk environments but to rely on N95 masks instead. (4)
Chicago Crain's reported on a 3.9 million N95 masks stash in Chicago: “The city so far has drawn down and sent out 501,000 of the very hard-to-find N95 masks. An additional 720,000 have been reserved for possible use in the emergency hospital facility at McCormick Place. That still leaves more than half of the city’s original stock of 3.9 million as the pandemic continues to unfold.” (5)
As of April 21, 64.85% of available hospital beds in Illinois are in use with less than 25% of those being used for COVID patients. Of the 70.8% of ICU beds being used, just slightly more than half are being used for COVID patients. Of about 3250 ventilators available, COVID patients using about 70% of the 1233 ventilators in use. (6)
Late last week, Illinois state Senate President Don Harmon sent a letter to Congress requesting more than $40 billion in relief from the federal government because of the coronavirus. The request included $10 billion to help bail out the pension fund since state revenue is being decreased by the stay-at-home order, a $15 billion grant to “stabilize the state’s budget,” $9.6 billion in direct aid to Illinois’s cities, $6 billion for the state’s unemployment insurance fund, and hardship money for hospitals and nursing homes, among other things. Governor Pritzker said he did not know about the letter. (7)
Funding and Supplies from the Federal Government
The White House, provoked by the governor’s claims of being slighted, provided receipts to verify what has been sent to Illinois. President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13. Illinois followed suit on March 24.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased hospital capacity in the Chicago by more than 4,000 beds. The Defense Logistics Agency sent a decontamination system to Chicago. As of last week, according to the White House, 1.1 million N95 facemasks, 4.3 million surgical masks, 1.9 million surgical gowns, and 65 million surgical gloves had been airlifted to Chicago. There was also money. The Centers for Disease Control funneled $23.7 million to Illinois -- $12.2 million to Chicago specifically. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded another $51.6 million to 45 hospitals across the state. Another $1.2 billion followed. As of April 17, Illinois ranked seventh in the nation for confirmed cases of coronavirus. One could wonder whether testing ranks so high with the Governor, so we will rank higher and receive more funding.
In addition, Illinois farmers and food banks will receive funding from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, though specific amounts for Illinois were not found. (8)
Other State Activities Related to Coronavirus
Nationwide, a New York Times report last week documented at least 6,900 COVID-19 deaths tied to nursing homes, about a fifth of all deaths. That same trend appears to be happening in Illinois, with about 23% of coronavirus deaths tied to nursing homes. At least 186 long-term care facilities in 22 counties have reported at least one case. In all, at least 1,860 cases can be tied to nursing homes, with 286 deaths. On April 20, Gov. Pritzker pledged to ramp up testing at places that have yet to report a case and for all staff at long-term care facilities where there’s already been one. (9)
Without prior public notice or debate, Illinois’ Workers Compensation Commission decided during an emergency meeting that Illinois businesses deemed "essential" by Governor Pritzker's executive order concerning COVID 19 will now need to pay workers compensation claims if their employees acquire COVID19. Not surprisingly, Illinois business groups are pursuing a Temporary Restraining Order of the Commission’s policy change saying the emergency rule will result in undermining Illinois’ long standing application of the law’s doctrine of “increased risk” that states a workers’ compensation claimant must show that they were at greater risk of injury than the public because of the requirements of their job. (10)
Small businesses were not the only ones to benefit from the Federal government’s loans. The banks handled the government's $349 billion loan program acting essentially as middlemen, sending clients' loan applications to the SBA. SBA was given the authority to approve the loan applications and, for their effort gained, more than $10 billion in fees nationally. Figures specifically for Illinois were not found. (11) Per Governor Pritzker’s request, prisoners are being released as the coronavirus continues to spread in the state’s prisons. Some inmates have been released for other reasons and some have had their sentences commuted by the Governor, including several who had been convicted of murder. Transparency in these releases and commutations seems to be lacking. (12)
A growing list of Democratic governors are freezing state worker pay to manage state budgets amid the COVID-19 crisis, but so far governor Pritzker is not among them. At this point, the state is still slated to automatically increase the pay of thousands of state workers in the state’s largest bargaining unit, which is represented by AFSCME Council 31, at a cost to the state of $261 million. The governor’s emergency power does give him authority to delay the increase. (13)
Illinois hospitals are losing $1.4 billion a month as coronavirus cancels surgeries (14) but Planned Parenthood remains open collecting revenue from abortions. The Governor is insisting that he will continue to pursue his agenda for progressive income tax in spite of the unemployment and financial challenges magnified by the coronavirus. (15) Also, during this time in which attention is on the coronavirus, the Governor has signed legislation that ends waiting periods and ultrasound requirements before abortion and forces all businesses to allow transgender persons to use the bathrooms of their choice. (16)
End Notes:
1. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-peak-pritzker-20200421-wkf3uakc2bb7ph6iy6okfkyjqa-story.html
2. https://news.wttw.com/2020/03/23/pritzker-launches-task-force-secure-medical-supplies-covid-19-cases-rise
3. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/04/pritzker-hiding-millions-of-masks-secretly-buying-more-from-china.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
4. https://wgntv.com/news/coronavirus/illinois-spent-17-million-on-masks-that-are-now-being-recalled-in-other-states/
5. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/04/pritzker-hiding-millions-of-masks-secretly-buying-more-from-china.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
6. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/greg-hinz-politics/pritzker-stands-firm-you-still-have-stay-home-0?utm_source=crain-s-coronavirus-update&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200423&utm_content=article7-headline
7. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/04/18/wh_counters_pritzkers_claim_of_stinginess_with_covid_aid_142979.html
8. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/business/dealbook/illinois-pension-coronavirus.html
9. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-nursing-home-data-20200419-wrh22wdtxzblblf2xsz5j5nhdy-story.html
10. https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2020/04/workers-comp-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29
11. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/22/840678984/small-business-rescue-earned-banks-10-billion-in-fees
12. https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/pritzker-criticized-over-quiet-commutations-not-releasing-medically-vulnerable/article_5253e0ba-801b-11ea-bd2d-1391fa60ea35.html
13. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-moves-closer-to-becoming-first-junk-state-with-negative-credit-outlook/
14. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-hospitals-financial-damage-furloughs-20200417-w3mzywqx2vdprb5bj33h57clba-story.html
15. https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzker-doubles-down-on-progressive-income-tax-says-illinois-needs-3-7b-tax-hike-now-more-than-ever/
16. [email protected]
COVID-19 in Illinois by Joyce Geiler
The news is inundated with information about the coronavirus, but exactly what is 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)? The disease has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused by a novel (or new) coronavirus not previously seen in humans. COVID-19 was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, that has spread around the world, including the United States and all 50 states.
This is the first pandemic known to be caused by a new coronavirus. In the past century, there have been four pandemics caused by the emergence of new influenza viruses. As a result, most research and guidance around pandemics is specific to influenza, but the same premises can be applied to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was reported January 21, 2020. Information and statistics specific to the progression of Covid-19 in Illinois can be found at
http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19
True to news reports, the slope of the graphed curve of new cases in Illinois began slowly enough for a couple of weeks after the first reported case, then began to show accelerated increase. Governor Pritzker, like other officials speaks of "sheltering-in-place" to limit the spread of the disease to "flatten the curve.' In other words, the goal is to slow the increase in cases as quickly as possible and get to a leveling-off time and then to hopefully see the decrease come rapidly. Illinois remains on the increasing side of the curve.
January 24, 2020 the first confirmed case in Illinois was announced January 24 (a Chicago resident).
On February 11, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported it “is now able to conduct testing for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), making Illinois the first state to be able to do testing in state” contrasted to relying on federal testing.
On February 15 IDPH announced “Our two Illinois residents with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 have recovered from their illnesses and there has been no further spread of the virus from these two cases,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “The risk to the general public remains low and we are continuing to use every tool at our disposal to keep our community safe.”
A February 26 posting by the IDPH reported that “while COVID-19 is not spreading in communities in Illinois or the U.S., there is evidence of community spread in several countries.”
On March 11, the first cases outside Chicago and Cook County were reported in Kane and McHenry Counties and on March 14, the IDPH announced the first cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in central and southern Illinois. A Woodford County resident and a Cumberland County resident both tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, two St. Clair County residents have tested positive.
March 21, Governor Pritzker’s shelter-in-place order took effect and has now been extended to the end of April.
March 22, the IDPH began daily reporting indicating there were 226 new cases and three deaths making a total of 1,040 cases in 30 of Illinois’ 102 counties.
March 23, a total of 1,285 cases in 31 counties.
March 24, a total of 1,535 cases in 32 counties. March 25, a total of 1,865 cases in 35 counties; including the first incarcerated people and correctional officers.
March 26, a total of 2,538 cases, including 26 deaths, in 37 counties were reported. March 27, a total of 3,026 cases, including 34 deaths, in 40 counties. March 28, a total of 3,491 cases, including 47 deaths, in 43 counties. March 29, a 4,596 cases, including 65 deaths, in 47 counties. March 30, IDPH is reporting a total of 5,057 cases, including 73 deaths, in 52 counties; twelve men who were incarcerated at Stateville are now hospitalized, including several requiring ventilators. There are 77 more incarcerated individuals with symptoms who are isolated at the facility. Eleven staff are also being isolated.
March 31, IDPH is reporting a total of 5,994 cases, including 99 deaths, in 54 counties. April 1, a total of 6,980 cases, including 141 deaths, in 56 counties. April 2, a total of 7,695 cases, including 157 deaths, in 61 counties. April 3, a total of 8,904 cases, including 210 deaths, in 64 counties. April 4, a total of 10,357 cases, including 243 deaths, in 68 counties. April 5, a total of 11,256 cases, including 274 deaths, in 71 counties. April 6, a total of 12,262 cases, including 307 deaths, in 73 counties. April 7, a total of 13,549 cases, including 380 deaths, in 77 counties.
A listing of statistics can be terribly boring unless one considers that every number listed here represents a person living in the state of Illinois. The effect of this pandemic goes far beyond those affected by the disease. very other citizen of this state is involved in caring for the victims, protecting others from exposure to the virus, and extending mercy to the vulnerable while having to make adjustments in everyday life for the drastically changed time in which we are living.
While an early mapping of COVID-19 cases showed involvement of counties mostly along a diagonal line from Chicago through Springfield to the St. Louis Metro East, an updated map shows only a few more than 20 counties without cases. View Map
As of this writing Governor Pritzker has issued at least nineteen Executive Orders related to COVID-19 as well as issuing a Disaster Proclamation that give him powers to ensure public health and safety issues. Read More Many aspects of Illinois’ citizens daily lives are curtailed in cooperation with the goal of limiting the spread of this disease. Provisions to increase the number of health care workers and provisions for their protection have been issued. Many types of license renewal dates have been extended. Cannabis application deadlines have been extended. Elective surgeries are to be postponed.
The news is inundated with information about the coronavirus, but exactly what is 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)? The disease has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”). There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused by a novel (or new) coronavirus not previously seen in humans. COVID-19 was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China, that has spread around the world, including the United States and all 50 states.
This is the first pandemic known to be caused by a new coronavirus. In the past century, there have been four pandemics caused by the emergence of new influenza viruses. As a result, most research and guidance around pandemics is specific to influenza, but the same premises can be applied to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was reported January 21, 2020. Information and statistics specific to the progression of Covid-19 in Illinois can be found at
http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19
True to news reports, the slope of the graphed curve of new cases in Illinois began slowly enough for a couple of weeks after the first reported case, then began to show accelerated increase. Governor Pritzker, like other officials speaks of "sheltering-in-place" to limit the spread of the disease to "flatten the curve.' In other words, the goal is to slow the increase in cases as quickly as possible and get to a leveling-off time and then to hopefully see the decrease come rapidly. Illinois remains on the increasing side of the curve.
January 24, 2020 the first confirmed case in Illinois was announced January 24 (a Chicago resident).
On February 11, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported it “is now able to conduct testing for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), making Illinois the first state to be able to do testing in state” contrasted to relying on federal testing.
On February 15 IDPH announced “Our two Illinois residents with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 have recovered from their illnesses and there has been no further spread of the virus from these two cases,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “The risk to the general public remains low and we are continuing to use every tool at our disposal to keep our community safe.”
A February 26 posting by the IDPH reported that “while COVID-19 is not spreading in communities in Illinois or the U.S., there is evidence of community spread in several countries.”
On March 11, the first cases outside Chicago and Cook County were reported in Kane and McHenry Counties and on March 14, the IDPH announced the first cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in central and southern Illinois. A Woodford County resident and a Cumberland County resident both tested positive for COVID-19. Additionally, two St. Clair County residents have tested positive.
March 21, Governor Pritzker’s shelter-in-place order took effect and has now been extended to the end of April.
March 22, the IDPH began daily reporting indicating there were 226 new cases and three deaths making a total of 1,040 cases in 30 of Illinois’ 102 counties.
March 23, a total of 1,285 cases in 31 counties.
March 24, a total of 1,535 cases in 32 counties. March 25, a total of 1,865 cases in 35 counties; including the first incarcerated people and correctional officers.
March 26, a total of 2,538 cases, including 26 deaths, in 37 counties were reported. March 27, a total of 3,026 cases, including 34 deaths, in 40 counties. March 28, a total of 3,491 cases, including 47 deaths, in 43 counties. March 29, a 4,596 cases, including 65 deaths, in 47 counties. March 30, IDPH is reporting a total of 5,057 cases, including 73 deaths, in 52 counties; twelve men who were incarcerated at Stateville are now hospitalized, including several requiring ventilators. There are 77 more incarcerated individuals with symptoms who are isolated at the facility. Eleven staff are also being isolated.
March 31, IDPH is reporting a total of 5,994 cases, including 99 deaths, in 54 counties. April 1, a total of 6,980 cases, including 141 deaths, in 56 counties. April 2, a total of 7,695 cases, including 157 deaths, in 61 counties. April 3, a total of 8,904 cases, including 210 deaths, in 64 counties. April 4, a total of 10,357 cases, including 243 deaths, in 68 counties. April 5, a total of 11,256 cases, including 274 deaths, in 71 counties. April 6, a total of 12,262 cases, including 307 deaths, in 73 counties. April 7, a total of 13,549 cases, including 380 deaths, in 77 counties.
A listing of statistics can be terribly boring unless one considers that every number listed here represents a person living in the state of Illinois. The effect of this pandemic goes far beyond those affected by the disease. very other citizen of this state is involved in caring for the victims, protecting others from exposure to the virus, and extending mercy to the vulnerable while having to make adjustments in everyday life for the drastically changed time in which we are living.
While an early mapping of COVID-19 cases showed involvement of counties mostly along a diagonal line from Chicago through Springfield to the St. Louis Metro East, an updated map shows only a few more than 20 counties without cases. View Map
As of this writing Governor Pritzker has issued at least nineteen Executive Orders related to COVID-19 as well as issuing a Disaster Proclamation that give him powers to ensure public health and safety issues. Read More Many aspects of Illinois’ citizens daily lives are curtailed in cooperation with the goal of limiting the spread of this disease. Provisions to increase the number of health care workers and provisions for their protection have been issued. Many types of license renewal dates have been extended. Cannabis application deadlines have been extended. Elective surgeries are to be postponed.
History of the Pilgrims by Joyce Geiler
In this issue we begin a series of three articles about the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock. The year 2020 marks 400 years since the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in New England. First to be discussed is the background history of the development of the Puritans. The group we know as Pilgrims were Puritans. We will explore how this particular group of Puritans became “Pilgrims.” In the second article the voyage of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, their initial settlement and relationship with the Indians will be recounted. In the final article the three covenant documents that guided the life of the Pilgrims will be examined.
Puritans
The Puritans were members of a religious reform movement known as Puritanism that arose within the Church of England in the late 16th century. They believed the Church of England was too similar to the Roman Catholic Church and should eliminate ceremonies and practices not rooted in the Bible. Puritans felt that they had a direct covenant with God to enact these reforms.
The roots of Puritanism are to be found in the beginnings of the English Reformation. The name “Puritans” (they were sometimes called “precisionists”) was a term of contempt assigned to the movement by its enemies. Although the epithet first emerged in the 1560s, the movement began in the 1530s, when King Henry VIII repudiated papal authority and transformed the Church of Rome into a state Church of England. To Puritans, the Church of England retained too much of the liturgy and ritual of Roman Catholicism.
Through the reigns of the Protestant King Edward VI (1547-1553) who introduced the first vernacular prayer book, and the Catholic Queen Mary (1553-1558) who sent some dissenting clergymen to their deaths and others into exile, the Puritan movement–whether tolerated or suppressed–continued to grow. Some Puritans were content to remain within the structure of the national church but set themselves against Catholic and episcopal authority. They called themselves “non-separating congregationalists,” by which they meant that they had not repudiated the Church of England as a false church; but they acted very similar to the separatists in practice.
Some Puritans broke from the national church (separatists) and developed non-hierarchical forms of church government. The Presbyterian form of church organization is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery. Read More
Other, more radical Puritans began to claim autonomy for individual congregations. The term applied to self-governing churches is “Congregationalism.” They are so called because the local congregation is free to govern itself without interference from any other ecclesiastical body or authority. Membership in a Congregational church is based upon “owning the Covenant.” Read More
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), an uneasy peace prevailed within English religious life as the struggle over the tone and purpose of the church continued. Life was changing with the beginnings of a market economy. Subsistence farmers were called upon to enter the world of production for profit. Under the rule of primogeniture in which the exclusive right of inheritance belonged to the first-born son, younger sons tended to enter the professions (especially law) with increasing frequency and seek their livelihood in the burgeoning cities. The English countryside was plagued by scavengers, highwaymen and vagabonds–a newly visible class of the poor who strained the ancient charity laws and pressed upon the townsfolk new questions of social responsibility. The Puritan attack on the established church gained popular strength, especially in East Anglia (an area northeast of London) as well as among the lawyers and merchants of London. The movement found wide support among these new professional classes, who saw in it as mirroring their growing discontent with economic restraints.
In the early decades of the 17th century, some groups of worshipers began to separate themselves from the main body of their local parish church where preaching was inadequate and to engage an energetic “lecturer” style preaching, which was steeped in reform theology. Some congregations went further, declared themselves separated from the national church, and remade themselves into communities of “visible saints” withdrawn from the English City of Man into a self-proclaimed City of God.
Pilgrims
The core of the group called "the Pilgrims" were brought together around 1605 when they quit the church of England to form Separatist congregations in the north of England, led by John Robinson, Richard Clyfton, and John Smyth. Their congregations held Brownist beliefs, which were dogmas taught by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, and Henry Barrow and which embraced that true churches were voluntary, democratic communities, not whole Christian nations. As separatists, they held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be independent of the trappings, traditions, and organization of a central church. Under the Act of Uniformity 1559, it became illegal not to attend official Church of England services, with a fine of one shilling for each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties included imprisonment and larger fines for conducting unofficial services. When a more severe purging of Separatists as well as Catholics began, Puritan congregations left England.
William Brewster arranged for the congregation, which later became the Pilgrims, to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house in England. Services were held beginning in 1606 with Richard Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, and Brewster as the presiding elder. Because of the persecution, the group moved to Leiden, Holland (the Netherlands) in 1607/08. The Netherlands, however, was a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine, and their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained.
There were many uncertainties about moving to such a place as America, as stories had come back about failed colonies. There were fears that the native people would be violent, that there would be no source of food or water, that they might be exposed to unknown diseases, and that travel by sea was always hazardous. Virginia was an attractive destination because the presence of the older colony might offer better security and trade opportunities; however, they also felt that they should not settle too near, since that might inadvertently duplicate the political environment back in England. Preparations to emigrate complicated and changed several times but eventually the group decided that the initial settlement should be undertaken primarily by younger and stronger members. The remainder agreed to follow if and when they could. Robinson would remain in Leiden with the larger portion of the congregation, and Brewster was to lead the American congregation.
The Pilgrims procured supplies and a small ship named the Speedwell, which was to bring some passengers from the Netherlands to England and then on to America. The ship would be kept for the fishing business, with a crew hired for support services during the first year. The larger ship Mayflower was leased for transport and exploration services. The Speedwell reached Southampton, Hampshire and met with the Mayflower and the additional colonists, who had been hired by the investors. With final arrangements made, the two vessels set out in August. The Speedwell became disabled and was scrapped at Plymouth, Devon. Of the 120 combined passengers, 102 were chosen to travel on the Mayflower with the supplies consolidated. Of these, about half had come by way of Leiden, and about 28 of the adults were members of the congregation. The reduced party finally sailed successfully in September 1620.
The Pilgrim congregation as well as the ensuing Puritan migration was overwhelmingly a migration of families (unlike other migrations to early America, which were composed largely of young unattached men). As recorded in the many surviving diaries, sermon notes, poems, and letters, the literacy rate was high and the intensity of devotional life was seldom to be matched in American life.
In the next chapter of this amazing story the details of how the voyage was financed, the makeup of the passengers, the details of how they came to land at Plymouth Rock instead of nearer to Virginia and how they made treaty with the Indians will be revealed. (Note that information has been gathered from multiple sources.)
In this issue we begin a series of three articles about the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock. The year 2020 marks 400 years since the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in New England. First to be discussed is the background history of the development of the Puritans. The group we know as Pilgrims were Puritans. We will explore how this particular group of Puritans became “Pilgrims.” In the second article the voyage of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, their initial settlement and relationship with the Indians will be recounted. In the final article the three covenant documents that guided the life of the Pilgrims will be examined.
Puritans
The Puritans were members of a religious reform movement known as Puritanism that arose within the Church of England in the late 16th century. They believed the Church of England was too similar to the Roman Catholic Church and should eliminate ceremonies and practices not rooted in the Bible. Puritans felt that they had a direct covenant with God to enact these reforms.
The roots of Puritanism are to be found in the beginnings of the English Reformation. The name “Puritans” (they were sometimes called “precisionists”) was a term of contempt assigned to the movement by its enemies. Although the epithet first emerged in the 1560s, the movement began in the 1530s, when King Henry VIII repudiated papal authority and transformed the Church of Rome into a state Church of England. To Puritans, the Church of England retained too much of the liturgy and ritual of Roman Catholicism.
Through the reigns of the Protestant King Edward VI (1547-1553) who introduced the first vernacular prayer book, and the Catholic Queen Mary (1553-1558) who sent some dissenting clergymen to their deaths and others into exile, the Puritan movement–whether tolerated or suppressed–continued to grow. Some Puritans were content to remain within the structure of the national church but set themselves against Catholic and episcopal authority. They called themselves “non-separating congregationalists,” by which they meant that they had not repudiated the Church of England as a false church; but they acted very similar to the separatists in practice.
Some Puritans broke from the national church (separatists) and developed non-hierarchical forms of church government. The Presbyterian form of church organization is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery. Read More
Other, more radical Puritans began to claim autonomy for individual congregations. The term applied to self-governing churches is “Congregationalism.” They are so called because the local congregation is free to govern itself without interference from any other ecclesiastical body or authority. Membership in a Congregational church is based upon “owning the Covenant.” Read More
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), an uneasy peace prevailed within English religious life as the struggle over the tone and purpose of the church continued. Life was changing with the beginnings of a market economy. Subsistence farmers were called upon to enter the world of production for profit. Under the rule of primogeniture in which the exclusive right of inheritance belonged to the first-born son, younger sons tended to enter the professions (especially law) with increasing frequency and seek their livelihood in the burgeoning cities. The English countryside was plagued by scavengers, highwaymen and vagabonds–a newly visible class of the poor who strained the ancient charity laws and pressed upon the townsfolk new questions of social responsibility. The Puritan attack on the established church gained popular strength, especially in East Anglia (an area northeast of London) as well as among the lawyers and merchants of London. The movement found wide support among these new professional classes, who saw in it as mirroring their growing discontent with economic restraints.
In the early decades of the 17th century, some groups of worshipers began to separate themselves from the main body of their local parish church where preaching was inadequate and to engage an energetic “lecturer” style preaching, which was steeped in reform theology. Some congregations went further, declared themselves separated from the national church, and remade themselves into communities of “visible saints” withdrawn from the English City of Man into a self-proclaimed City of God.
Pilgrims
The core of the group called "the Pilgrims" were brought together around 1605 when they quit the church of England to form Separatist congregations in the north of England, led by John Robinson, Richard Clyfton, and John Smyth. Their congregations held Brownist beliefs, which were dogmas taught by Robert Browne, John Greenwood, and Henry Barrow and which embraced that true churches were voluntary, democratic communities, not whole Christian nations. As separatists, they held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be independent of the trappings, traditions, and organization of a central church. Under the Act of Uniformity 1559, it became illegal not to attend official Church of England services, with a fine of one shilling for each missed Sunday and holy day. The penalties included imprisonment and larger fines for conducting unofficial services. When a more severe purging of Separatists as well as Catholics began, Puritan congregations left England.
William Brewster arranged for the congregation, which later became the Pilgrims, to meet privately at the Scrooby manor house in England. Services were held beginning in 1606 with Richard Clyfton as pastor, John Robinson as teacher, and Brewster as the presiding elder. Because of the persecution, the group moved to Leiden, Holland (the Netherlands) in 1607/08. The Netherlands, however, was a land whose culture and language were strange and difficult for the English congregation to understand or learn. They found the Dutch morals much too libertine, and their children were becoming more and more Dutch as the years passed. The congregation came to believe that they faced eventual extinction if they remained.
There were many uncertainties about moving to such a place as America, as stories had come back about failed colonies. There were fears that the native people would be violent, that there would be no source of food or water, that they might be exposed to unknown diseases, and that travel by sea was always hazardous. Virginia was an attractive destination because the presence of the older colony might offer better security and trade opportunities; however, they also felt that they should not settle too near, since that might inadvertently duplicate the political environment back in England. Preparations to emigrate complicated and changed several times but eventually the group decided that the initial settlement should be undertaken primarily by younger and stronger members. The remainder agreed to follow if and when they could. Robinson would remain in Leiden with the larger portion of the congregation, and Brewster was to lead the American congregation.
The Pilgrims procured supplies and a small ship named the Speedwell, which was to bring some passengers from the Netherlands to England and then on to America. The ship would be kept for the fishing business, with a crew hired for support services during the first year. The larger ship Mayflower was leased for transport and exploration services. The Speedwell reached Southampton, Hampshire and met with the Mayflower and the additional colonists, who had been hired by the investors. With final arrangements made, the two vessels set out in August. The Speedwell became disabled and was scrapped at Plymouth, Devon. Of the 120 combined passengers, 102 were chosen to travel on the Mayflower with the supplies consolidated. Of these, about half had come by way of Leiden, and about 28 of the adults were members of the congregation. The reduced party finally sailed successfully in September 1620.
The Pilgrim congregation as well as the ensuing Puritan migration was overwhelmingly a migration of families (unlike other migrations to early America, which were composed largely of young unattached men). As recorded in the many surviving diaries, sermon notes, poems, and letters, the literacy rate was high and the intensity of devotional life was seldom to be matched in American life.
In the next chapter of this amazing story the details of how the voyage was financed, the makeup of the passengers, the details of how they came to land at Plymouth Rock instead of nearer to Virginia and how they made treaty with the Indians will be revealed. (Note that information has been gathered from multiple sources.)
Illinois, the Nations’ Corruption Capitol by Joyce Geiler
Polling released this month, commissioned by the Illinois Education Association, shows that more than two-thirds of respondents, 69%, ranked “cleaning up corruption in state government” as a perfect 10, with 85% ranking it as an 8, 9 or 10. (On a scale of 0-10, 0 means not a priority at all and 10 means it is a top priority.) Those were higher marks than “having high quality public schools,” “reducing crime,” “balancing the state budget” and “lowering taxes.”
Investigators at ABC 7 Chicago found Illinois has seen 891 federal corruption convictions since the year 2000, which is more than any other state in the nation. The Illinois Policy Institute’s corruption tracker shows that in the last year alone, a wide-ranging federal investigation has resulted in more than 30 Illinois lawmakers, businesses or political figures questioned, investigated, indicted or convicted on corruption charges.
Earlier this month, former Governor Rod Blagojevich was released from prison four years ahead of schedule. He originally received a 14-year prison sentence after being found guilty on 18 felony charges, including wire fraud, extortion, bribery and conspiracy. Blagojevich was charged with attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat, as well as extorting the CEO of a children’s hospital and owners of a racetrack.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker released a statement condemning Blagojevich’s sentence commutation, saying “Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated.” It should be noted however, that in 2017, the Chicago Tribune published politically damaging recordings from FBI wiretaps showing Pritzker sought appointment to the state treasurer’s office from Blagojevich. From 2002 to 2006, Pritzker and his wife donated at least $140,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign, according to the Chicago Tribune. Read More
In a previous issue, we reported on investigations by the FBI into corruption in Illinois. The FBI has not always done such investigating; and, in fact, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, admitted in 1951 that a national organized crime syndicate did exist and that the FBI had done little about it. This admission came after the Kefauver Committee, a special U.S. Senate Committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce, submitted its report. In response to the request from many cities and states who called for federal help in dealing with organized crime, the Senate-created committee carried out hearings in 14 major cities in the country throughout 1950 and 1951. Several local "crime commissions" in major cities and states had uncovered extensive corruption of the political process by organized crime yet federal law provided few tools for the U.S. government to act. In particular, many cities and states were concerned with the way organized crime had infiltrated interstate commerce, and how it threatened to hold the American economy hostage through labor racketeering.
The Kefauver Committee’s work resulted in an awakened awareness of the extent of organized crime. Legislative proposals and state ballot referenda legalizing gambling went down to defeat over the next few years due to revelations of organized crime's involvement in the gambling industry, and more than 70 "crime commissions" were established at the state and local level to build on the Kefauver Committee's work. The Kefauver Committee was the first to suggest that civil law be expanded and used to combat organized crime. Congress responded to the call, and in 1970 passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act as a direct response to the committee's recommendation. Read More
What does this history lesson have to do with Illinois? The 14 cities where hearings were held included Chicago and St. Louis (which included East St. Louis). East St. Louis gangsters coordinated with the Chicago-Capone Syndicate in all manner of gambling. In the St. Louis-Southern Illinois area there had been 64 unsolved gang murders between 1930 and 1950 in a plan to gain control of gambling and vice. Similar events were noted in Chicago, Peoria and the Quad Cities area. Eventually gangsters grew more sophisticated in their dealings, utilizing corruption practices rather than outright killings. When one reads this part of Illinois history, it does not seem quite so surprising that the Feds are still investigating corruption in Illinois.
Polling released this month, commissioned by the Illinois Education Association, shows that more than two-thirds of respondents, 69%, ranked “cleaning up corruption in state government” as a perfect 10, with 85% ranking it as an 8, 9 or 10. (On a scale of 0-10, 0 means not a priority at all and 10 means it is a top priority.) Those were higher marks than “having high quality public schools,” “reducing crime,” “balancing the state budget” and “lowering taxes.”
Investigators at ABC 7 Chicago found Illinois has seen 891 federal corruption convictions since the year 2000, which is more than any other state in the nation. The Illinois Policy Institute’s corruption tracker shows that in the last year alone, a wide-ranging federal investigation has resulted in more than 30 Illinois lawmakers, businesses or political figures questioned, investigated, indicted or convicted on corruption charges.
Earlier this month, former Governor Rod Blagojevich was released from prison four years ahead of schedule. He originally received a 14-year prison sentence after being found guilty on 18 felony charges, including wire fraud, extortion, bribery and conspiracy. Blagojevich was charged with attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat, as well as extorting the CEO of a children’s hospital and owners of a racetrack.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker released a statement condemning Blagojevich’s sentence commutation, saying “Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated.” It should be noted however, that in 2017, the Chicago Tribune published politically damaging recordings from FBI wiretaps showing Pritzker sought appointment to the state treasurer’s office from Blagojevich. From 2002 to 2006, Pritzker and his wife donated at least $140,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign, according to the Chicago Tribune. Read More
In a previous issue, we reported on investigations by the FBI into corruption in Illinois. The FBI has not always done such investigating; and, in fact, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, admitted in 1951 that a national organized crime syndicate did exist and that the FBI had done little about it. This admission came after the Kefauver Committee, a special U.S. Senate Committee to investigate crime in interstate commerce, submitted its report. In response to the request from many cities and states who called for federal help in dealing with organized crime, the Senate-created committee carried out hearings in 14 major cities in the country throughout 1950 and 1951. Several local "crime commissions" in major cities and states had uncovered extensive corruption of the political process by organized crime yet federal law provided few tools for the U.S. government to act. In particular, many cities and states were concerned with the way organized crime had infiltrated interstate commerce, and how it threatened to hold the American economy hostage through labor racketeering.
The Kefauver Committee’s work resulted in an awakened awareness of the extent of organized crime. Legislative proposals and state ballot referenda legalizing gambling went down to defeat over the next few years due to revelations of organized crime's involvement in the gambling industry, and more than 70 "crime commissions" were established at the state and local level to build on the Kefauver Committee's work. The Kefauver Committee was the first to suggest that civil law be expanded and used to combat organized crime. Congress responded to the call, and in 1970 passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act as a direct response to the committee's recommendation. Read More
What does this history lesson have to do with Illinois? The 14 cities where hearings were held included Chicago and St. Louis (which included East St. Louis). East St. Louis gangsters coordinated with the Chicago-Capone Syndicate in all manner of gambling. In the St. Louis-Southern Illinois area there had been 64 unsolved gang murders between 1930 and 1950 in a plan to gain control of gambling and vice. Similar events were noted in Chicago, Peoria and the Quad Cities area. Eventually gangsters grew more sophisticated in their dealings, utilizing corruption practices rather than outright killings. When one reads this part of Illinois history, it does not seem quite so surprising that the Feds are still investigating corruption in Illinois.
Federal Investigations in Illinois by Joyce Geiler
Red-light Camera Scrutiny
In 2015, state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, filed legislation in the House of Representatives that would ban non-home rule municipalities from installing red-light cameras in their communities. (Non-home rule communities — generally those with fewer than 25,000 residents — have more limited powers under state law.) At that time, the ban passed the House with broad bipartisan support. However, it stalled in the state Senate when it was sent to then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s Transportation Committee. As he’d done with other bills, Sandoval sent it to the Subcommittee on Special Issues, a panel that rarely had any members. Although the bill passed the House with 79 affirmative votes it was killed in the Senate by Sen. Sandoval (D), effectively stopping the ban legislation.
After Sandoval resigned from the Senate effective January 1, 2020, and was no longer present to stop ban legislation, Rep. McSweeney re-filed the legislation which would ban the cameras in non-home rule communities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, Madison and St. Clair counties. A House committee unanimously approved the proposed legislation sending it now to the full House for approval. Red-light cameras have not only been under federal scrutiny, but others have questioned their efficacy when it comes to making intersections safer. The “value” of red-light cameras appears to be in raising revenue and not in improving safety. Studies have shown that they actually increase rear-end collisions. Read More
Sandoval pleaded guilty in January this year to a charge of taking $70,000 in bribes in exchange for being the “protector” of red-light camera operators. “Protection” by Sandoval included, among other things, ensuring the proposed ban on red-light cameras would not come for a vote in the Senate. As part of a plea agreement in this case, Sandoval agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in other investigations including the asphalt investigation discussed later in this article. The investigation and federal probe involving Sandoval's influence and SafeSpeed (the red-light camera provider) has already led to the resignation of Oak Brook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci on January 20. Ragucci is just one of several elected officials involved in the federal probe of red-light camera firm SafeSpeed. Read More
In light of the on-going federal investigation, Illinois’ comptroller Susan Mendoza has said her office will no longer assist municipalities in collection efforts for fines for red-light camera tickets, a system that is both unfair to low-income Illinoisans and the subject of a federal corruption probe. Starting in 2012, the General Assembly allowed municipalities and other local governments to use the Comptroller’s offset system to help collect debts, such as court fines, administrative judgments, traffic tickets, etc., generally through withholding of state income tax refunds or other state payments. The Comptroller’s office collected a $20 administrative fee per red-light ticket, which last year amounted to $1 million in revenue for that office from 60 Chicago suburbs. When Mendoza was a state representative in 2012, she and 100 other Illinois politicians, received campaign contributions from and voted for the red-light legislation. Mendoza says those campaign contributions have not affected her willingness to stop collecting the fines. Read More
Reclaimed Asphalt Investigation
The red-light camera investigation and plea from Sandoval has brought attention to the controversial use of recycled material in highway pavement. Former Illinois State Senator Sandoval, who has pleaded guilty to charges of bribery in the red-light camera issue and filing false tax returns, is now cooperating with federal prosecutors in an ongoing corruption investigation that involves construction companies and the use of recycled material in highway pavement projects.
Illinois roads have, for decades, been resurfaced with a mix that includes new asphalt and ground-up old pavement. But in 2010, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) decided to allow recycled roof shingles into the asphalt mix. In 2013, IDOT contractors bought more than 12 times as many shingle grounds as they had in 2011 — the vast majority in metro Chicago and supplied by shingle recycling magnate Michael Vondra of Southwind RAS. (RAS is an industry acronym for reclaimed asphalt shingles.) Sandoval collected more than $50,000 in political contributions from firms tied to Vondra since 2010, the same year Vondra’s recycler, Southwind RAS, was created.
As Southwind RAS expanded and opened more shingle-recycling plants, Sandoval was a sponsor of a 2013 measure, Senate bill 2226, that helped stock the plants. After SB2226 became law in January 2014, it forbade dumping shingles in any landfill within 25 miles of a shingle-recycling facility (read that Southwind RAS and affiliates.) Some of the projects that employed RAS were sections of Interstate 88, Interstate 90, Interstate 355, and Interstate 294. Another project, at O'Hare International Airport, used the material as a base layer under concrete for runways, taxiways and other roads. The Federal Aviation Administration said the 9,500 tons of RAS used in the 2014 O'Hare work was the first use of RAS in a U.S. airport.
However, in 2014, Illinois' apparent preference for recycled asphalt shingles as a building material for roads began to end. The political pressure applied by Sandoval and possibly others to both approve the use of recycled asphalt shingles in road projects and to require shingle recycling by demolition contractors for use on road projects is being questioned in light of premature road surface cracking on some projects. IDOT and federal officials began to investigate early cracking in new pavement projects that had used RAS. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ultimately threatened to withhold funding for Illinois projects if IDOT didn't ease up on the recycled material's use or test it more effectively. A federal agency subsequently revised rules for the material's use after the cracking was observed in many states beyond the Midwest. Sandoval, still a senator at the time, went into “protection” mode, criticizing IDOT and threatening to hold hearings and open an ethics investigation.
Four U.S. House members from Illinois: Chicago area representatives Dan Lipinski (D), and Mike Quigley (D), Moline and the Quad Cities area representative Cheri Bustos (D), and a downstate district representative Rodney Davis (R) criticized the federal crackdown on recycled asphalt shingles in road projects. In a letter, they warned that the Illinois FHWA office's actions could hinder "the expansion of proven green technologies in the transportation industry." It is unknown at this time whether these Representatives have connections with Sandoval or the asphalt recycler. Read More
To summarize: As the investigations continue, it becomes abundantly clear that these corrupt practices involve an ever-expanding network of persons cooperating in and promoting corruption for gaining power and wealth at the expense of Illinois citizens.
Red-light Camera Scrutiny
In 2015, state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, filed legislation in the House of Representatives that would ban non-home rule municipalities from installing red-light cameras in their communities. (Non-home rule communities — generally those with fewer than 25,000 residents — have more limited powers under state law.) At that time, the ban passed the House with broad bipartisan support. However, it stalled in the state Senate when it was sent to then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval’s Transportation Committee. As he’d done with other bills, Sandoval sent it to the Subcommittee on Special Issues, a panel that rarely had any members. Although the bill passed the House with 79 affirmative votes it was killed in the Senate by Sen. Sandoval (D), effectively stopping the ban legislation.
After Sandoval resigned from the Senate effective January 1, 2020, and was no longer present to stop ban legislation, Rep. McSweeney re-filed the legislation which would ban the cameras in non-home rule communities in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, Madison and St. Clair counties. A House committee unanimously approved the proposed legislation sending it now to the full House for approval. Red-light cameras have not only been under federal scrutiny, but others have questioned their efficacy when it comes to making intersections safer. The “value” of red-light cameras appears to be in raising revenue and not in improving safety. Studies have shown that they actually increase rear-end collisions. Read More
Sandoval pleaded guilty in January this year to a charge of taking $70,000 in bribes in exchange for being the “protector” of red-light camera operators. “Protection” by Sandoval included, among other things, ensuring the proposed ban on red-light cameras would not come for a vote in the Senate. As part of a plea agreement in this case, Sandoval agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in other investigations including the asphalt investigation discussed later in this article. The investigation and federal probe involving Sandoval's influence and SafeSpeed (the red-light camera provider) has already led to the resignation of Oak Brook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci on January 20. Ragucci is just one of several elected officials involved in the federal probe of red-light camera firm SafeSpeed. Read More
In light of the on-going federal investigation, Illinois’ comptroller Susan Mendoza has said her office will no longer assist municipalities in collection efforts for fines for red-light camera tickets, a system that is both unfair to low-income Illinoisans and the subject of a federal corruption probe. Starting in 2012, the General Assembly allowed municipalities and other local governments to use the Comptroller’s offset system to help collect debts, such as court fines, administrative judgments, traffic tickets, etc., generally through withholding of state income tax refunds or other state payments. The Comptroller’s office collected a $20 administrative fee per red-light ticket, which last year amounted to $1 million in revenue for that office from 60 Chicago suburbs. When Mendoza was a state representative in 2012, she and 100 other Illinois politicians, received campaign contributions from and voted for the red-light legislation. Mendoza says those campaign contributions have not affected her willingness to stop collecting the fines. Read More
Reclaimed Asphalt Investigation
The red-light camera investigation and plea from Sandoval has brought attention to the controversial use of recycled material in highway pavement. Former Illinois State Senator Sandoval, who has pleaded guilty to charges of bribery in the red-light camera issue and filing false tax returns, is now cooperating with federal prosecutors in an ongoing corruption investigation that involves construction companies and the use of recycled material in highway pavement projects.
Illinois roads have, for decades, been resurfaced with a mix that includes new asphalt and ground-up old pavement. But in 2010, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) decided to allow recycled roof shingles into the asphalt mix. In 2013, IDOT contractors bought more than 12 times as many shingle grounds as they had in 2011 — the vast majority in metro Chicago and supplied by shingle recycling magnate Michael Vondra of Southwind RAS. (RAS is an industry acronym for reclaimed asphalt shingles.) Sandoval collected more than $50,000 in political contributions from firms tied to Vondra since 2010, the same year Vondra’s recycler, Southwind RAS, was created.
As Southwind RAS expanded and opened more shingle-recycling plants, Sandoval was a sponsor of a 2013 measure, Senate bill 2226, that helped stock the plants. After SB2226 became law in January 2014, it forbade dumping shingles in any landfill within 25 miles of a shingle-recycling facility (read that Southwind RAS and affiliates.) Some of the projects that employed RAS were sections of Interstate 88, Interstate 90, Interstate 355, and Interstate 294. Another project, at O'Hare International Airport, used the material as a base layer under concrete for runways, taxiways and other roads. The Federal Aviation Administration said the 9,500 tons of RAS used in the 2014 O'Hare work was the first use of RAS in a U.S. airport.
However, in 2014, Illinois' apparent preference for recycled asphalt shingles as a building material for roads began to end. The political pressure applied by Sandoval and possibly others to both approve the use of recycled asphalt shingles in road projects and to require shingle recycling by demolition contractors for use on road projects is being questioned in light of premature road surface cracking on some projects. IDOT and federal officials began to investigate early cracking in new pavement projects that had used RAS. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ultimately threatened to withhold funding for Illinois projects if IDOT didn't ease up on the recycled material's use or test it more effectively. A federal agency subsequently revised rules for the material's use after the cracking was observed in many states beyond the Midwest. Sandoval, still a senator at the time, went into “protection” mode, criticizing IDOT and threatening to hold hearings and open an ethics investigation.
Four U.S. House members from Illinois: Chicago area representatives Dan Lipinski (D), and Mike Quigley (D), Moline and the Quad Cities area representative Cheri Bustos (D), and a downstate district representative Rodney Davis (R) criticized the federal crackdown on recycled asphalt shingles in road projects. In a letter, they warned that the Illinois FHWA office's actions could hinder "the expansion of proven green technologies in the transportation industry." It is unknown at this time whether these Representatives have connections with Sandoval or the asphalt recycler. Read More
To summarize: As the investigations continue, it becomes abundantly clear that these corrupt practices involve an ever-expanding network of persons cooperating in and promoting corruption for gaining power and wealth at the expense of Illinois citizens.
The Moral Implications of Recreational Marijuana by Joyce Geiler
A pro-marijuana website touts the beneficial effects of legalizing marijuana including more tax revenues for government, more jobs created in agriculture, sales and retail jobs, increased funding in medical marijuana research, easier access to medical marijuana, proper regulation of marijuana production, and defunding criminal organizations. The website states “More and more parts of the world are accepting the recreational and medical uses of marijuana.” Read More Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? There is, of course, another side to the story.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse speaks to the negative side. Several studies have linked heavy marijuana use to lower income, greater welfare dependence, unemployment, criminal behavior, and lower life satisfaction. Significant differences were found in educational attainment: Fewer of those who engaged in heavy cannabis use completed college, and more had yearly household incomes of less than $30,000. When asked how marijuana affected their cognitive abilities, career achievements, social lives, and physical and mental health, the majority of those who used heavily reported that marijuana had negative effects in all these areas of their lives.
Research has shown that marijuana’s negative effects on attention, memory, and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off, depending on the person’s history with the drug. Consequently, someone who smokes marijuana daily may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level most or all of the time. Studies have also suggested specific links between marijuana use and adverse consequences in the workplace, such as increased risk for injury or accidents. One study among postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana on a pre-employment urine drug test had 55 percent more industrial accidents, 85 percent more injuries, and 75 percent greater absenteeism compared with those who tested negative for marijuana use. Reference here: Read More
Human research has shown that some babies born to women who used marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli, increased trembling, and a high-pitched cry, which could indicate problems with neurological development. In school, marijuana-exposed children are more likely to show gaps in problem-solving skills, memory, and the ability to remain attentive. More research is needed, however, to disentangle marijuana-specific effects from those of other environmental factors that could be associated with a mother's marijuana use, such as an impoverished home environment or the mother's use of other drugs. Reference here: Read More
Effects on Drivers
While many suggest that marijuana use impairs brain function, increases psychiatric disorders and is involved in fatal car crashes, studies to support or disprove these claims are inconclusive since it is difficult to separate out the concurrent effects of alcohol which is often used simultaneously with marijuana. However, a new study suggests that, even when sober, some heavy marijuana users are dangerous drivers. The bad driving appears to be isolated to those who started using pot before age 16, researchers reported this January 2020 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The theory is that early marijuana use changes the brain, leaving people more impulsive and more apt to make rash decisions. During a simulated driving test, cannabis users were more likely than non-users to speed, hit a pedestrian, cross the center line, miss stop signs and cruise through red lights. The cannabis users were also more likely to score high in impulse behavior. Read about the study here: Read More
CBS Chicago reports that drivers under the influence of marijuana are up to twice as likely to crash, according to a AAA report. In a 30-day period, more than 14 million American drivers got behind the wheel within an hour of lighting up according to the new AAA report. Pot affects reaction time and judgment, and the report claims those 14 million drivers were twice as likely to crash.
But the question remains: How will police test for marijuana impairment while driving? When it comes to marijuana DUIs, there is no breathalyzer, no one-leg stand, no magic bullet. A blood test is used, and five nanograms of THC in the blood stream is considered illegal in Illinois. Legalization doesn’t change that it is illegal to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“It’s always going to be problematic until law enforcement and employers are willing to adopt a test that measures impairment versus presence because once they use it, it stays in their system for up to 28 days,” said attorney Larry Mishkin with Hoban Law Group. The legalization law in Illinois created a DUI task force through Illinois State Police, the goal of which is to find better roadside testing methods.
The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association expressed their extreme disappointment and concern regarding the passage of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (HB 1438). Currently, no validated roadside tests are available for use by law enforcement in Illinois. The current process for proving level of impairment would be to perform a blood test.
Illinois State Police had this to say about enforcement: “If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe the person was under the influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, intoxicating compound or compounds, or any combination thereof, the law enforcement officer shall request a chemical test or tests which shall be administered at the direction of the arresting officer. When a person submits to a blood test at the request of a law enforcement officer, only certain qualified persons may draw the blood” so it is not as simple as a police-administered breathalyzer test for alcohol. Article here: Read More
The Unexpected Side Effects of Legalizing Weed was reported in June 2015, by Newsweek. The report followed a small town in Colorado that chose to allow growing and sales of cannabis for the hoped-for economic benefits. Critical matters beyond fees and licensing criteria were overlooked, including agricultural issues such as pesticide use and the impact of outdoor growing facilities on other crops. As in Illinois, agriculture is a dominant economic driver in most of Colorado's small towns. Some farmers expressed alarm over the potential of marijuana growing operations in close proximity to established crops. For instance, peach growers were worried about the potential spread of pests, molds and fungi from cannabis to their established orchards. The agricultural implications of the cannabis industry, it seems, were not a consideration at the time it became a legal crop.
With cannabis still illegal under federal law, there is a lack of information about what pests attack cannabis and what pesticides can be used safely on the plants, which has resulted in confusion and, in some cases, dangerous growing practices. Plants at several growing facilities in the Denver area had to be quarantined because of the misuse of "pesticides." The pesticides, it turns out, were improvised concoctions of chemicals, including some unidentifiable mixtures. Cannabis growers have been left to improvise since no commercial pesticides are labeled for legal use on cannabis plants.
Law-enforcement issues, such as marijuana-intoxicated driving and the illegal movement of vast amounts of cannabis product into other states, are among unforeseen challenges. Other symptoms of Colorado's pot culture include increased use among teens, resulting in educational problems in middle schools and high schools, a spike in "edibles"-related emergency room visits, consumption by children and pets resulting in illness and death and regulatory confusion surrounding public consumption and enforcement.
Towns where cannabis replaces traditional means of income, imperil themselves by staking the future on a substance that is still illegal in most states. The cost of increased law enforcement, drugged-driving incidents, fatal crashes, loss of productivity and a huge spike in gang-related crime bring into question the cost-benefit of those dollars. Denver's homeless population has exploded since the legalization of recreational marijuana. And there are indications that finite tourist dollars are going more to pot and less to Colorado's iconic natural wonders. Bottom line for Colorado is that its “Cannabis-Industrial Complex” may not be able to sustain a complex economy traditionally built on natural resources, agriculture, innovation and family-friendly tourism. Article here: Read More
Statistics
Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute scoured 2017 data and calculated that Coloradans spend $4.57 for every $1 in tax revenue legal marijuana generates. Long term health consequences were not figured in but, like tobacco, commercial marijuana is likely to have health consequences that cannot be determined for decades. Read More
Current Compliance reports that in states with medical marijuana laws, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims rose 9.9% post legalization. While statistical evidence is not yet available, data suggests that workers’ compensation claims increase in states post-medical marijuana legalization.
While typically courts have been in favor of employers’ rights, 2017 saw multiple courts across the country rule in favor of employees who had taken employers to court over marijuana use in the workplace. As this becomes more common, what will litigation cost small businesses over the next 5 years? Almost 25% of cases that go to court for judgement cost the defendant (in this case, the employer), an average of $500,000. Read More
Involvement of Banking
The marijuana industry and its promoters are pushing a bill granting increased investment into the industry. The banking industry is now ramping up lobbying on Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. who recently announced his committee, the Senate Banking Committee, will take up legislation supported by the pot industry, disingenuously named the “SAFE Banking Act.”
The legislation, which would create an exception to U.S. banking law to allow lenders to make loans to marijuana firms even though it remains against federal law, is part of an aggressive effort to commercialize today’s new super-potent pot. This would give pot shops and their corporate parent companies access to more investment capital despite the fact, or rather because of the fact, that marijuana is being used increasingly by young people in the form of flavored pot vapes and marijuana vape oils account for more than 80% of the cases of recent mysterious lung illnesses. Read More
A pro-marijuana website touts the beneficial effects of legalizing marijuana including more tax revenues for government, more jobs created in agriculture, sales and retail jobs, increased funding in medical marijuana research, easier access to medical marijuana, proper regulation of marijuana production, and defunding criminal organizations. The website states “More and more parts of the world are accepting the recreational and medical uses of marijuana.” Read More Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? There is, of course, another side to the story.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse speaks to the negative side. Several studies have linked heavy marijuana use to lower income, greater welfare dependence, unemployment, criminal behavior, and lower life satisfaction. Significant differences were found in educational attainment: Fewer of those who engaged in heavy cannabis use completed college, and more had yearly household incomes of less than $30,000. When asked how marijuana affected their cognitive abilities, career achievements, social lives, and physical and mental health, the majority of those who used heavily reported that marijuana had negative effects in all these areas of their lives.
Research has shown that marijuana’s negative effects on attention, memory, and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off, depending on the person’s history with the drug. Consequently, someone who smokes marijuana daily may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level most or all of the time. Studies have also suggested specific links between marijuana use and adverse consequences in the workplace, such as increased risk for injury or accidents. One study among postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana on a pre-employment urine drug test had 55 percent more industrial accidents, 85 percent more injuries, and 75 percent greater absenteeism compared with those who tested negative for marijuana use. Reference here: Read More
Human research has shown that some babies born to women who used marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual stimuli, increased trembling, and a high-pitched cry, which could indicate problems with neurological development. In school, marijuana-exposed children are more likely to show gaps in problem-solving skills, memory, and the ability to remain attentive. More research is needed, however, to disentangle marijuana-specific effects from those of other environmental factors that could be associated with a mother's marijuana use, such as an impoverished home environment or the mother's use of other drugs. Reference here: Read More
Effects on Drivers
While many suggest that marijuana use impairs brain function, increases psychiatric disorders and is involved in fatal car crashes, studies to support or disprove these claims are inconclusive since it is difficult to separate out the concurrent effects of alcohol which is often used simultaneously with marijuana. However, a new study suggests that, even when sober, some heavy marijuana users are dangerous drivers. The bad driving appears to be isolated to those who started using pot before age 16, researchers reported this January 2020 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The theory is that early marijuana use changes the brain, leaving people more impulsive and more apt to make rash decisions. During a simulated driving test, cannabis users were more likely than non-users to speed, hit a pedestrian, cross the center line, miss stop signs and cruise through red lights. The cannabis users were also more likely to score high in impulse behavior. Read about the study here: Read More
CBS Chicago reports that drivers under the influence of marijuana are up to twice as likely to crash, according to a AAA report. In a 30-day period, more than 14 million American drivers got behind the wheel within an hour of lighting up according to the new AAA report. Pot affects reaction time and judgment, and the report claims those 14 million drivers were twice as likely to crash.
But the question remains: How will police test for marijuana impairment while driving? When it comes to marijuana DUIs, there is no breathalyzer, no one-leg stand, no magic bullet. A blood test is used, and five nanograms of THC in the blood stream is considered illegal in Illinois. Legalization doesn’t change that it is illegal to drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“It’s always going to be problematic until law enforcement and employers are willing to adopt a test that measures impairment versus presence because once they use it, it stays in their system for up to 28 days,” said attorney Larry Mishkin with Hoban Law Group. The legalization law in Illinois created a DUI task force through Illinois State Police, the goal of which is to find better roadside testing methods.
The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association expressed their extreme disappointment and concern regarding the passage of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (HB 1438). Currently, no validated roadside tests are available for use by law enforcement in Illinois. The current process for proving level of impairment would be to perform a blood test.
Illinois State Police had this to say about enforcement: “If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe the person was under the influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, intoxicating compound or compounds, or any combination thereof, the law enforcement officer shall request a chemical test or tests which shall be administered at the direction of the arresting officer. When a person submits to a blood test at the request of a law enforcement officer, only certain qualified persons may draw the blood” so it is not as simple as a police-administered breathalyzer test for alcohol. Article here: Read More
The Unexpected Side Effects of Legalizing Weed was reported in June 2015, by Newsweek. The report followed a small town in Colorado that chose to allow growing and sales of cannabis for the hoped-for economic benefits. Critical matters beyond fees and licensing criteria were overlooked, including agricultural issues such as pesticide use and the impact of outdoor growing facilities on other crops. As in Illinois, agriculture is a dominant economic driver in most of Colorado's small towns. Some farmers expressed alarm over the potential of marijuana growing operations in close proximity to established crops. For instance, peach growers were worried about the potential spread of pests, molds and fungi from cannabis to their established orchards. The agricultural implications of the cannabis industry, it seems, were not a consideration at the time it became a legal crop.
With cannabis still illegal under federal law, there is a lack of information about what pests attack cannabis and what pesticides can be used safely on the plants, which has resulted in confusion and, in some cases, dangerous growing practices. Plants at several growing facilities in the Denver area had to be quarantined because of the misuse of "pesticides." The pesticides, it turns out, were improvised concoctions of chemicals, including some unidentifiable mixtures. Cannabis growers have been left to improvise since no commercial pesticides are labeled for legal use on cannabis plants.
Law-enforcement issues, such as marijuana-intoxicated driving and the illegal movement of vast amounts of cannabis product into other states, are among unforeseen challenges. Other symptoms of Colorado's pot culture include increased use among teens, resulting in educational problems in middle schools and high schools, a spike in "edibles"-related emergency room visits, consumption by children and pets resulting in illness and death and regulatory confusion surrounding public consumption and enforcement.
Towns where cannabis replaces traditional means of income, imperil themselves by staking the future on a substance that is still illegal in most states. The cost of increased law enforcement, drugged-driving incidents, fatal crashes, loss of productivity and a huge spike in gang-related crime bring into question the cost-benefit of those dollars. Denver's homeless population has exploded since the legalization of recreational marijuana. And there are indications that finite tourist dollars are going more to pot and less to Colorado's iconic natural wonders. Bottom line for Colorado is that its “Cannabis-Industrial Complex” may not be able to sustain a complex economy traditionally built on natural resources, agriculture, innovation and family-friendly tourism. Article here: Read More
Statistics
Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute scoured 2017 data and calculated that Coloradans spend $4.57 for every $1 in tax revenue legal marijuana generates. Long term health consequences were not figured in but, like tobacco, commercial marijuana is likely to have health consequences that cannot be determined for decades. Read More
Current Compliance reports that in states with medical marijuana laws, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims rose 9.9% post legalization. While statistical evidence is not yet available, data suggests that workers’ compensation claims increase in states post-medical marijuana legalization.
While typically courts have been in favor of employers’ rights, 2017 saw multiple courts across the country rule in favor of employees who had taken employers to court over marijuana use in the workplace. As this becomes more common, what will litigation cost small businesses over the next 5 years? Almost 25% of cases that go to court for judgement cost the defendant (in this case, the employer), an average of $500,000. Read More
Involvement of Banking
The marijuana industry and its promoters are pushing a bill granting increased investment into the industry. The banking industry is now ramping up lobbying on Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. who recently announced his committee, the Senate Banking Committee, will take up legislation supported by the pot industry, disingenuously named the “SAFE Banking Act.”
The legislation, which would create an exception to U.S. banking law to allow lenders to make loans to marijuana firms even though it remains against federal law, is part of an aggressive effort to commercialize today’s new super-potent pot. This would give pot shops and their corporate parent companies access to more investment capital despite the fact, or rather because of the fact, that marijuana is being used increasingly by young people in the form of flavored pot vapes and marijuana vape oils account for more than 80% of the cases of recent mysterious lung illnesses. Read More
Time for Marijuana? by Joyce Geiler
Thirty-three states have legalized medical marijuana. January 1, 2020 Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana. Except for Colorado, most of the states legalizing recreational marijuana are on the east and west coast. Michigan, which legalized recreational marijuana December 1, 2019 and Illinois are the only two mid-western states to legalize recreational marijuana. Read More
Illinois is the first state where lawmakers passed legislation legalizing recreational cannabis. Voters in the other states and the District of Columbia passed ballot measures, that is, they allowed the voters to determine whether they wanted to legalize recreational marijuana. In Illinois, our legislators decided.
Although recreational marijuana is now legal in Illinois, at least eighteen municipalities have banned its sale. Approximately twenty-nine municipalities are allowing sales with some of them already setting a 3 % municipal sales tax. Read More
Tax Revenue from Marijuana Sales in Illinois
Thirty-seven dispensaries started selling recreational “weed” in Illinois on January 1. The governor’s cannabis control leader, former state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said there were 77,128 transactions (purchases of marijuana products) on the first day amounting to $3,176,256.71 in sales. If the average tax on Illinois’ recreational cannabis is 35 percent, based off the first day of sales, taxpayers paid more than $1.1 million for the privilege. The tax rates depend on the potency of the marijuana being sold, but could average around 35 percent when including the state sales tax and the cultivation privilege and cannabis excise taxes. Starting July 1, cities that approved local sales taxes on cannabis purchases could tack on another three percent. The total tax rate could be more than 40 percent when someone purchases the highest grade of cannabis.
The taxes are to be distributed to different funds. The state’s General Revenue Fund gets 35 percent. The Recover, Reinvest and Renew Program meant to invest in community nonprofit groups gets 25 percent. Programs addressing preventive substance abuse and mental health services will get 20 percent of the state’s cannabis revenue. Ten percent goes to the state’s multi-billion-dollar bill backlog, which as of this writing, was $6.3 billion. Eight percent of the state’s cannabis revenue goes to law enforcement through the Local Government Distributive Fund and two percent goes to public education and safety campaigns.
The sale of marijuana is a strictly state-controlled market. Hutchinson said the strict control on licenses is by design “to actually incentivize equity applicants, people who are from communities and most impacted by the prohibition of the activity that we just made legal.” In other words, through control of licensing the state decides what regions or municipalities sell marijuana. May 1 the state expects to announce as many as 75 new dispensaries. Read More
The nearly $3.2 million made in more than 77,000 purchases at dispensaries in Illinois on the first day of recreational marijuana sales, marked one of the strongest showings of any state in the history of pot legalization. Only Oregon had a comparable first-day performance. Gov. Pritzker’s Involvement just hours before the prohibition on recreational cannabis was lifted in Illinois, Gov. Pritzker announced he was granting pardons to 11,017 people convicted of low-level marijuana crimes involving fewer than 30 grams of weed.
Gov. Pritzker is quoted in the Chicago Tribune: “When Illinois’ first adult-use cannabis shops open their doors tomorrow, we must all remember that the purpose of this legislation is not to immediately make cannabis widely available or to maximize product on the shelves, that’s not the main purpose, that will come with time,” Pritzker said. “But instead the defining purpose of legalization is to maximize equity for generations to come.” That equity would seem to mean that anyone, especially those with non-violent criminal records, will have to opportunity to dispense and use recreational marijuana.
What About Federal Marijuana Laws?
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, specifically, the Controlled Substances Act. Found at Title 21, Section 811 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), the law makes illegal to use, possess, grow and sell marijuana. It does not recognize medical marijuana.
Many states have passed laws legalizing medical and/or recreational marijuana use in recent years. However, it should be noted that if there is a conflict between federal and state law, federal law always prevails. The federal penalties for marijuana-related crimes can be severe. In August of 2013, during the Obama administration, the Department of Justice released a memo which stated that the federal government essentially would not interfere with states in which laws had been passed to legalize marijuana, medical or otherwise. Read More
How is the Ekklesia to Function Regarding Marijuana?
Recently Barbara Beker, an intercessor from North Dakota had a dream about Illinois in which she saw what appeared to be a headline in old time newspaper and heard the Voice of the Spirit release the sound of a decree that sounded like a trumpet. The words of the decree that were being written in the headline of the newspaper were, “It is time for Illinois to come out of her insurrection, bitterness and pain. The Lord is healing her sorrows”.
The dictionary defines “insurrection” as an organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country, usually by violence. Synonyms of insurrection are rebellion and revolt. Read More Illinois and other states are rebelling against the laws of the federal government, not necessarily with violence but certainly with determination. They are rebelling against the laws of God, which are intended to bring life and wholeness to families and communities. Barbara Becker’s dream, as well as prophetic words from Dutch Sheets and others, are encouraging the Body of Christ that “It’s time.” Time for the principles of the Kingdom of God to permeate our culture.
At the celebration of Illinois’ 200th anniversary of statehood December 2018, it was revealed that we have entered a “Timed Gate” where God has predetermined things that were unable to be accomplished in times past, will now be accomplished. With the recent celebration of the New Year, there is again an awareness of time, a new year and a new decade. What comes to mind when someone says this is the year 2020, is 2020 vision. One does not have to be prophetic for that thought to arise. With 2020 vision, one sees clearly. May we see clearly the plan of a good God for our state and declare it is manifesting even as we utilize the provision of our Constitution to vote for elected officials who will work for godly principles and even as we involve ourselves in local, regional and state decisions.
Thirty-three states have legalized medical marijuana. January 1, 2020 Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana. Except for Colorado, most of the states legalizing recreational marijuana are on the east and west coast. Michigan, which legalized recreational marijuana December 1, 2019 and Illinois are the only two mid-western states to legalize recreational marijuana. Read More
Illinois is the first state where lawmakers passed legislation legalizing recreational cannabis. Voters in the other states and the District of Columbia passed ballot measures, that is, they allowed the voters to determine whether they wanted to legalize recreational marijuana. In Illinois, our legislators decided.
Although recreational marijuana is now legal in Illinois, at least eighteen municipalities have banned its sale. Approximately twenty-nine municipalities are allowing sales with some of them already setting a 3 % municipal sales tax. Read More
Tax Revenue from Marijuana Sales in Illinois
Thirty-seven dispensaries started selling recreational “weed” in Illinois on January 1. The governor’s cannabis control leader, former state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said there were 77,128 transactions (purchases of marijuana products) on the first day amounting to $3,176,256.71 in sales. If the average tax on Illinois’ recreational cannabis is 35 percent, based off the first day of sales, taxpayers paid more than $1.1 million for the privilege. The tax rates depend on the potency of the marijuana being sold, but could average around 35 percent when including the state sales tax and the cultivation privilege and cannabis excise taxes. Starting July 1, cities that approved local sales taxes on cannabis purchases could tack on another three percent. The total tax rate could be more than 40 percent when someone purchases the highest grade of cannabis.
The taxes are to be distributed to different funds. The state’s General Revenue Fund gets 35 percent. The Recover, Reinvest and Renew Program meant to invest in community nonprofit groups gets 25 percent. Programs addressing preventive substance abuse and mental health services will get 20 percent of the state’s cannabis revenue. Ten percent goes to the state’s multi-billion-dollar bill backlog, which as of this writing, was $6.3 billion. Eight percent of the state’s cannabis revenue goes to law enforcement through the Local Government Distributive Fund and two percent goes to public education and safety campaigns.
The sale of marijuana is a strictly state-controlled market. Hutchinson said the strict control on licenses is by design “to actually incentivize equity applicants, people who are from communities and most impacted by the prohibition of the activity that we just made legal.” In other words, through control of licensing the state decides what regions or municipalities sell marijuana. May 1 the state expects to announce as many as 75 new dispensaries. Read More
The nearly $3.2 million made in more than 77,000 purchases at dispensaries in Illinois on the first day of recreational marijuana sales, marked one of the strongest showings of any state in the history of pot legalization. Only Oregon had a comparable first-day performance. Gov. Pritzker’s Involvement just hours before the prohibition on recreational cannabis was lifted in Illinois, Gov. Pritzker announced he was granting pardons to 11,017 people convicted of low-level marijuana crimes involving fewer than 30 grams of weed.
Gov. Pritzker is quoted in the Chicago Tribune: “When Illinois’ first adult-use cannabis shops open their doors tomorrow, we must all remember that the purpose of this legislation is not to immediately make cannabis widely available or to maximize product on the shelves, that’s not the main purpose, that will come with time,” Pritzker said. “But instead the defining purpose of legalization is to maximize equity for generations to come.” That equity would seem to mean that anyone, especially those with non-violent criminal records, will have to opportunity to dispense and use recreational marijuana.
What About Federal Marijuana Laws?
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, specifically, the Controlled Substances Act. Found at Title 21, Section 811 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), the law makes illegal to use, possess, grow and sell marijuana. It does not recognize medical marijuana.
Many states have passed laws legalizing medical and/or recreational marijuana use in recent years. However, it should be noted that if there is a conflict between federal and state law, federal law always prevails. The federal penalties for marijuana-related crimes can be severe. In August of 2013, during the Obama administration, the Department of Justice released a memo which stated that the federal government essentially would not interfere with states in which laws had been passed to legalize marijuana, medical or otherwise. Read More
How is the Ekklesia to Function Regarding Marijuana?
Recently Barbara Beker, an intercessor from North Dakota had a dream about Illinois in which she saw what appeared to be a headline in old time newspaper and heard the Voice of the Spirit release the sound of a decree that sounded like a trumpet. The words of the decree that were being written in the headline of the newspaper were, “It is time for Illinois to come out of her insurrection, bitterness and pain. The Lord is healing her sorrows”.
The dictionary defines “insurrection” as an organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country, usually by violence. Synonyms of insurrection are rebellion and revolt. Read More Illinois and other states are rebelling against the laws of the federal government, not necessarily with violence but certainly with determination. They are rebelling against the laws of God, which are intended to bring life and wholeness to families and communities. Barbara Becker’s dream, as well as prophetic words from Dutch Sheets and others, are encouraging the Body of Christ that “It’s time.” Time for the principles of the Kingdom of God to permeate our culture.
At the celebration of Illinois’ 200th anniversary of statehood December 2018, it was revealed that we have entered a “Timed Gate” where God has predetermined things that were unable to be accomplished in times past, will now be accomplished. With the recent celebration of the New Year, there is again an awareness of time, a new year and a new decade. What comes to mind when someone says this is the year 2020, is 2020 vision. One does not have to be prophetic for that thought to arise. With 2020 vision, one sees clearly. May we see clearly the plan of a good God for our state and declare it is manifesting even as we utilize the provision of our Constitution to vote for elected officials who will work for godly principles and even as we involve ourselves in local, regional and state decisions.
What is the Coalition of Apostolic Alliances? by Joyce Geiler
It has only been in recent years that the Church has begun to see the restoration of the prophetic and apostolic giftings of the five-fold ministry Paul mentions in Ephesians 4:11-13. “ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” In general, the church has visualized the gift of Apostle through the eyes of the church as we know it in these days. Often, the Apostle is simply a title given to one who is an overseer of pastors, a sort of head pastor at the top of the pyramid of pastors or maybe one who directs others in what they should be doing.
Even more recently, the church has begun to recognize such a thing as “ekklesia” and is still sorting out what that means. The “maturing of the body of Christ” of which Paul spoke involves the maturing of the apostolic as well as the ekklesia. Just as “ekklesia” is more than a gathering of Christians who make decrees, the apostle is more than a “chief of pastors.” The Coalition of Apostolic Alliances is the working out of the understanding of the functioning of both the apostolic and the ekklesia in Illinois.
The Coalition of Apostolic Alliances began because of the December 2018 celebration of the 200th anniversary of Illinois’ statehood in Springfield. God said if we would meet at that pivotal time in history, at that Timed Gate, He would download the government of the Kingdom and overlay it over the government of Illinois. The call was issued by Dr. Patti Amsden and apostles, prophets, intercessors, and people who care about Illinois responded. Rick Curry was the keynote speaker. Rick was the one to whom God gave the prophetic dream of the Appeal to Heaven flag that Dutch Sheets has made famous in his Appeal to Heaven conferences all across America. Rick was present when revival started a few miles from the old Cane Ridge, Kentucky meeting house as Mt. Carmel Christian Church was celebrating its 200th anniversary in late spring of 2018.
Read more at this site. Rick felt God directed him to celebrate Illinois’ 200th anniversary with those called to the celebration and at the end of the meetings, he gave Dr. Patti his worn Appeal to Heaven flag to fly in Illinois.
The Coalition of Apostolic Alliances began with an inaugural meeting in March 2019 at Sycamore where apostles and other leaders gathered to discuss and discover God’s work in Illinois. The seven thrones of iniquity first identified by Chuck Pierce were marked on an Illinois map. These thrones of iniquity were intended by God to become Freedom Outposts. They are Marion, Granite City, Springfield, Peoria, Champaign, Rockford and Chicago. The pastor from the Quad Cities asked to be included as an eighth Freedom Outpost creating a figure 8 over Illinois as was visualized at a meeting with Chuck Pierce in Moline. A second Coalition meeting was held in Chicago.
From these meetings the picture of the five-fold Apostle is developing. This apostle is not one at the top of a pyramid of pastors or churches directing the activities of those under him but he is one who undergirds the church. He is one who seeks to see the giftings developed within the local church taken out of the church building into the mountains of culture. He looks to the prophetic to identify the giftings and to the pastor and teacher to develop the giftings and then takes the people with the matured giftings to the world outside of the church. This apostle is a facilitator, helping the local church identify areas where it can impact culture and encouraging the mature sons to function in the community and territory. This apostle facilitates the development of the ekklesia in the territory to identify where and how God would have them function. The ekklesia is the called out spiritually governing body of a territory.
To that end, Dr. Patti has met with apostolic leaders in several cities to facilitate their development of their local ekklesia councils. Throughout this last year, apostolic alliances have started in Marion, Champaign, Rockford, Moline and Madison-St. Clair County (where Granite City is located.) Apostolic giftings have been identified and supported as they develop strategies for their territory. Chicago and Peoria are still being formed. Dr. Patti will be going to Springfield to facilitate their start in January.
December 9, leaders from these alliances will meet together as a coalition in Sycamore to grow together in developing the apostolic mantles in their respective territories. As the apostolic facilitates local ekklesia gatherings to function with authority in their territories, we will see more of Illinois rise up into its apostolic calling. The government of the Kingdom will begin to overlay the government of Illinois.
It has only been in recent years that the Church has begun to see the restoration of the prophetic and apostolic giftings of the five-fold ministry Paul mentions in Ephesians 4:11-13. “ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” In general, the church has visualized the gift of Apostle through the eyes of the church as we know it in these days. Often, the Apostle is simply a title given to one who is an overseer of pastors, a sort of head pastor at the top of the pyramid of pastors or maybe one who directs others in what they should be doing.
Even more recently, the church has begun to recognize such a thing as “ekklesia” and is still sorting out what that means. The “maturing of the body of Christ” of which Paul spoke involves the maturing of the apostolic as well as the ekklesia. Just as “ekklesia” is more than a gathering of Christians who make decrees, the apostle is more than a “chief of pastors.” The Coalition of Apostolic Alliances is the working out of the understanding of the functioning of both the apostolic and the ekklesia in Illinois.
The Coalition of Apostolic Alliances began because of the December 2018 celebration of the 200th anniversary of Illinois’ statehood in Springfield. God said if we would meet at that pivotal time in history, at that Timed Gate, He would download the government of the Kingdom and overlay it over the government of Illinois. The call was issued by Dr. Patti Amsden and apostles, prophets, intercessors, and people who care about Illinois responded. Rick Curry was the keynote speaker. Rick was the one to whom God gave the prophetic dream of the Appeal to Heaven flag that Dutch Sheets has made famous in his Appeal to Heaven conferences all across America. Rick was present when revival started a few miles from the old Cane Ridge, Kentucky meeting house as Mt. Carmel Christian Church was celebrating its 200th anniversary in late spring of 2018.
Read more at this site. Rick felt God directed him to celebrate Illinois’ 200th anniversary with those called to the celebration and at the end of the meetings, he gave Dr. Patti his worn Appeal to Heaven flag to fly in Illinois.
The Coalition of Apostolic Alliances began with an inaugural meeting in March 2019 at Sycamore where apostles and other leaders gathered to discuss and discover God’s work in Illinois. The seven thrones of iniquity first identified by Chuck Pierce were marked on an Illinois map. These thrones of iniquity were intended by God to become Freedom Outposts. They are Marion, Granite City, Springfield, Peoria, Champaign, Rockford and Chicago. The pastor from the Quad Cities asked to be included as an eighth Freedom Outpost creating a figure 8 over Illinois as was visualized at a meeting with Chuck Pierce in Moline. A second Coalition meeting was held in Chicago.
From these meetings the picture of the five-fold Apostle is developing. This apostle is not one at the top of a pyramid of pastors or churches directing the activities of those under him but he is one who undergirds the church. He is one who seeks to see the giftings developed within the local church taken out of the church building into the mountains of culture. He looks to the prophetic to identify the giftings and to the pastor and teacher to develop the giftings and then takes the people with the matured giftings to the world outside of the church. This apostle is a facilitator, helping the local church identify areas where it can impact culture and encouraging the mature sons to function in the community and territory. This apostle facilitates the development of the ekklesia in the territory to identify where and how God would have them function. The ekklesia is the called out spiritually governing body of a territory.
To that end, Dr. Patti has met with apostolic leaders in several cities to facilitate their development of their local ekklesia councils. Throughout this last year, apostolic alliances have started in Marion, Champaign, Rockford, Moline and Madison-St. Clair County (where Granite City is located.) Apostolic giftings have been identified and supported as they develop strategies for their territory. Chicago and Peoria are still being formed. Dr. Patti will be going to Springfield to facilitate their start in January.
December 9, leaders from these alliances will meet together as a coalition in Sycamore to grow together in developing the apostolic mantles in their respective territories. As the apostolic facilitates local ekklesia gatherings to function with authority in their territories, we will see more of Illinois rise up into its apostolic calling. The government of the Kingdom will begin to overlay the government of Illinois.
Gatekeepers for Illinois by Joyce Geiler
The highest authority in Illinois’ state government is the governor. As such, the governor sets the tone for the state. Governor Pritzker has set a tone of unrighteousness and death. At the very beginning of 2019, January 22, Governor Pritzker signed an executive order aimed at ensuring the state is properly enforcing a politically divisive law that allows for the taxpayer funding of abortions — saying he was “concerned” former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration wasn’t “making sure that it was enforced for state government employees.”
The Governor signed the executive order at a Planned Parenthood of Illinois office in Chicago, while also commemorating the 46th anniversary of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which effectively legalized abortion across the nation. Pritzker said his order will instruct the Illinois Department of Central Management and Services to make sure all state insurance plans are fully compliant with the law by July 1. It also instructs the department to detail coverage for abortions and identify where coverage doesn’t comply with the law.
“This order will make it clear that state employees receiving government funded health insurance have the same rights to control their bodies and make their own healthcare decisions as everyone else in the state,” Pritzker said, while also vowing that Illinois “will be the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to guaranteeing women’s reproductive rights.”
Research more here.
On October 21, a ribbon cutting was held at the new, constructed-in-secret Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights. The facility began taking appointments on October 23, ten months after the Governor’s proclamation for Illinois. One of the symbolic meanings for ten is “government.” The Governor opened the gates of Illinois to increased abortions. To be clear, a Planned Parenthood facility already existed in Fairview heights, but it offered medical abortions only. The new location is a 18,000-square-foot building and located only 13 miles from Missouri's last remaining facility, which is in St. Louis. Since August 2018, Planned Parenthood has used a shell company to construct the facility, leaving no public records that the former medical office would become one of the largest of the organization's facilities in the country.
Illinois lawmakers have expanded abortion access and loosened restrictions. Earlier this year, lawmakers in Springfield passed the "Reproductive Health Act," legislation that establishes access to abortion as a fundamental right. Women from across the Midwest seeking abortions have flocked to Illinois, turning it into "the abortion capital of the Midwest." Since 2017, the number of women crossing the border into Illinois for an abortion has doubled, according to data compiled by the Associated Press. At the Hope Clinic, a Granite City, Illinois-based abortion provider about 10-miles away from St. Louis, about 55% of patients seeking abortions are from Missouri.
On a recent day at Planned Parenthood's already existing facility in Belleville, just two miles from Planned Parenthood's new facility, every patient was from Missouri. This small Planned Parenthood used to provide services beyond just abortion, like birth control and cancer screenings. But in 2018, Missouri's abortion clinics stopped offering medication abortion — commonly known as a pill abortion — and referred patients seeking that method to the Belleville location. After that, the Illinois Planned Parenthood became flooded with abortion patients from Missouri. More information available here.
Illinois’ Governor has promoted abortion accessibility in this state. No doubt more finances flow into the state. Certainly, more blood is being shed in this state. Laws about abortion date to the early 1800s in Illinois, when the sale of drugs that could induce abortions was prohibited. In 1827, an Illinois judicial decision made the state to be the first state in the nation to criminalize abortion. Illinois passed a bill making abortion a criminal offense in early 1867. Around 1870, Illinois passed another law banning the sale of drugs that could cause induced abortions.
Illegal abortions in the state date back to 1888. As hospitals set up barriers restricting therapeutic abortions in the 1950s, which resulted in the number of therapeutic abortions declining. By 2010, the state had more abortion limitations in place including Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP). According to Wikipedia, the state saw a decline in abortion clinics over the years, going from 58 in 1982 to 47 in 1992 to 24 in 2014. Another source provides differing statistics. According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 40 facilities providing abortion in Illinois in 2017 with 25 of those being clinics. These numbers represent a 4% increase in clinics between 2014 and 2017, when there were 40 abortion-providing facilities overall, of which 24 were clinics.
Read more here.
Prior to May 2019, state law had not been updated since Roe v. Wade ruling that the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. On May 31, 2019, the Illinois General Assembly became the eleventh state to pass bills protecting abortion rights in the state in response to anti-abortion legislation being passed elsewhere. The bills, known as the Reproductive Health Act, provides statutory protections for abortions and rescinded previous legislation that banned some late-term abortions and the 45-year-old law that had made performing such abortions a criminal offense. Read more here.
Planned Parenthood traces its origins to New York in 1916 when Margaret Sager and two other women opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. In 1921, the clinic was organized into the American Birth Control League. Some found its title offensive and "against families", so the League began discussions for a new name; and in 1942, the League officially changed its name to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The services provided by PPFA affiliates vary by location, with just over half of all Planned Parenthood affiliates in the U.S. performing abortions. Planned Parenthood has received federal funding since 1970. On August 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from Title X funding due to a regulatory gag order stating that medical institutions that receive Title X funding cannot refer patients for abortions. More information available here.
Christians may be familiar with some of the organizations that promote life, which include Illinois Family Institute, the Eagle Forum, the Pro-Life Action League, Right to Life, and Students for Life. Some of these organizations were represented at a pro-life rally at the Fairview Heights facility that was held once the existence of that facility was made public. Especially because of the exposure of the secrecy surrounding the new facility, Christians have risen up to protest and pray against its opening. Christians might want to become familiar with pro-abortion groups listed in the Wikipedia article cited above.
Most of this article has simply provided background information about how the legal gatekeepers in our federal and state governments have opened the doors to abortion and its consequences. Ekklesia gatekeepers must arise to close those doors and open doors to “life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3) Increasingly, the church is gaining revelation of the responsibility and authority of the Ekklesia. Over the last four years, this venue has shared articles about the Ekklesia in Illinois. Books have been written about Ekklesia, including Dr. Patti Amsden’s book “Ekklesia: Kingdom government in Operation.” Be challenged to learn about the part you play in the gatekeeping Ekklesia.
The highest authority in Illinois’ state government is the governor. As such, the governor sets the tone for the state. Governor Pritzker has set a tone of unrighteousness and death. At the very beginning of 2019, January 22, Governor Pritzker signed an executive order aimed at ensuring the state is properly enforcing a politically divisive law that allows for the taxpayer funding of abortions — saying he was “concerned” former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration wasn’t “making sure that it was enforced for state government employees.”
The Governor signed the executive order at a Planned Parenthood of Illinois office in Chicago, while also commemorating the 46th anniversary of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which effectively legalized abortion across the nation. Pritzker said his order will instruct the Illinois Department of Central Management and Services to make sure all state insurance plans are fully compliant with the law by July 1. It also instructs the department to detail coverage for abortions and identify where coverage doesn’t comply with the law.
“This order will make it clear that state employees receiving government funded health insurance have the same rights to control their bodies and make their own healthcare decisions as everyone else in the state,” Pritzker said, while also vowing that Illinois “will be the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to guaranteeing women’s reproductive rights.”
Research more here.
On October 21, a ribbon cutting was held at the new, constructed-in-secret Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights. The facility began taking appointments on October 23, ten months after the Governor’s proclamation for Illinois. One of the symbolic meanings for ten is “government.” The Governor opened the gates of Illinois to increased abortions. To be clear, a Planned Parenthood facility already existed in Fairview heights, but it offered medical abortions only. The new location is a 18,000-square-foot building and located only 13 miles from Missouri's last remaining facility, which is in St. Louis. Since August 2018, Planned Parenthood has used a shell company to construct the facility, leaving no public records that the former medical office would become one of the largest of the organization's facilities in the country.
Illinois lawmakers have expanded abortion access and loosened restrictions. Earlier this year, lawmakers in Springfield passed the "Reproductive Health Act," legislation that establishes access to abortion as a fundamental right. Women from across the Midwest seeking abortions have flocked to Illinois, turning it into "the abortion capital of the Midwest." Since 2017, the number of women crossing the border into Illinois for an abortion has doubled, according to data compiled by the Associated Press. At the Hope Clinic, a Granite City, Illinois-based abortion provider about 10-miles away from St. Louis, about 55% of patients seeking abortions are from Missouri.
On a recent day at Planned Parenthood's already existing facility in Belleville, just two miles from Planned Parenthood's new facility, every patient was from Missouri. This small Planned Parenthood used to provide services beyond just abortion, like birth control and cancer screenings. But in 2018, Missouri's abortion clinics stopped offering medication abortion — commonly known as a pill abortion — and referred patients seeking that method to the Belleville location. After that, the Illinois Planned Parenthood became flooded with abortion patients from Missouri. More information available here.
Illinois’ Governor has promoted abortion accessibility in this state. No doubt more finances flow into the state. Certainly, more blood is being shed in this state. Laws about abortion date to the early 1800s in Illinois, when the sale of drugs that could induce abortions was prohibited. In 1827, an Illinois judicial decision made the state to be the first state in the nation to criminalize abortion. Illinois passed a bill making abortion a criminal offense in early 1867. Around 1870, Illinois passed another law banning the sale of drugs that could cause induced abortions.
Illegal abortions in the state date back to 1888. As hospitals set up barriers restricting therapeutic abortions in the 1950s, which resulted in the number of therapeutic abortions declining. By 2010, the state had more abortion limitations in place including Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP). According to Wikipedia, the state saw a decline in abortion clinics over the years, going from 58 in 1982 to 47 in 1992 to 24 in 2014. Another source provides differing statistics. According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 40 facilities providing abortion in Illinois in 2017 with 25 of those being clinics. These numbers represent a 4% increase in clinics between 2014 and 2017, when there were 40 abortion-providing facilities overall, of which 24 were clinics.
Read more here.
Prior to May 2019, state law had not been updated since Roe v. Wade ruling that the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. On May 31, 2019, the Illinois General Assembly became the eleventh state to pass bills protecting abortion rights in the state in response to anti-abortion legislation being passed elsewhere. The bills, known as the Reproductive Health Act, provides statutory protections for abortions and rescinded previous legislation that banned some late-term abortions and the 45-year-old law that had made performing such abortions a criminal offense. Read more here.
Planned Parenthood traces its origins to New York in 1916 when Margaret Sager and two other women opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. In 1921, the clinic was organized into the American Birth Control League. Some found its title offensive and "against families", so the League began discussions for a new name; and in 1942, the League officially changed its name to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The services provided by PPFA affiliates vary by location, with just over half of all Planned Parenthood affiliates in the U.S. performing abortions. Planned Parenthood has received federal funding since 1970. On August 19, 2019, Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from Title X funding due to a regulatory gag order stating that medical institutions that receive Title X funding cannot refer patients for abortions. More information available here.
Christians may be familiar with some of the organizations that promote life, which include Illinois Family Institute, the Eagle Forum, the Pro-Life Action League, Right to Life, and Students for Life. Some of these organizations were represented at a pro-life rally at the Fairview Heights facility that was held once the existence of that facility was made public. Especially because of the exposure of the secrecy surrounding the new facility, Christians have risen up to protest and pray against its opening. Christians might want to become familiar with pro-abortion groups listed in the Wikipedia article cited above.
Most of this article has simply provided background information about how the legal gatekeepers in our federal and state governments have opened the doors to abortion and its consequences. Ekklesia gatekeepers must arise to close those doors and open doors to “life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3) Increasingly, the church is gaining revelation of the responsibility and authority of the Ekklesia. Over the last four years, this venue has shared articles about the Ekklesia in Illinois. Books have been written about Ekklesia, including Dr. Patti Amsden’s book “Ekklesia: Kingdom government in Operation.” Be challenged to learn about the part you play in the gatekeeping Ekklesia.
Reclaiming and Releasing Historical Moves of God by Joyce Geiler
At the “Restoring Ancient Pathways: Feast of Tabernacles and Fall Conference” this past weekend by Dr. Patti Amsden, participants had the opportunity to catch a vision of the fire of revival. As participants tabernacled with God and one another, Pastor Matthew Hudson told of his journey to reclaim and release the move of God in revivals.
Pastor Matthew Hudson from Wichita, Kansas, has read everything He could find about Pentecostal healer and missionary John G. Lakes. When the opportunity came to visit the site of Lake’s Healing Rooms in Washington state, Pastor Matthew eagerly traveled there. At the gravesite, Pastor Matthew noticed the huge pine tree that lifted up Lake’s headstone as the great tree grew. Pastor Matthew desired a pinecone from the tree but was unable to reach one. So, he asked God. An unanticipated wind blew that caused the tree to blow. As a result of the wind, a limb was broken loose and fell at his feet with 13 pinecones! Thus, began the journey to revival sites where God miraculously provided Pastor Matthew with remembrances of past revivals.
A second unexpected encounter occurred when Pastor Matthew reluctantly agreed to accompany a group traveling to Europe. For four months the group met weekly for prayer, seeking God for prophetic words regarding the trip. Pastor Hudson’s word from God was the same every week: “you’re going to bring back more than you are taking. You are going to get more than what you are bringing.” The trip took them first to Germany where they visited Herrnhut, a village built on land given to them by Count Zinzendorf. Here the Moravian people experienced a great revival beginning in 1727, and they subsequently set up a watch of continuous prayer that ran uninterrupted, 24 hours a day, for 107 years. The Moravians sent out more missionaries than all other churches combined, with some believers even selling themselves into slavery in order to have entrance into other countries, including North America.
Next, the group went to Whales to Moriah Chapel in the town of the birthplace of Evan Roberts, who was the spark for the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905 that triggered revivals in several other countries. The Chapel was locked but God sent the caretaker, named Ebenezer, who pulled the keys from his pocket and opened the Chapel to them. He told the stories of the revival not recorded in books. Ebenezer’s father led worship for Evan Roberts and he also knew Roberts personally. There were 12 original Welsh songbooks in the Chapel from the revival times, and Ebenezer gave one to Pastor Matthew! As they were leaving the Chapel, a small section of the red painted wooden archway from the door of the original building fell at their feet. Ebenezer told Pastor Matthew that he could also have that artifact.
On the drive from the Chapel, they became lost. Their guide called a friend who identified exactly where they were simply by the description of a nearby farmhouse. The friend took them to a party at his home where another guest asked them if they had considered visiting the Mountain of Angles. The group told him that they had desired to visit the site but had been unable to secure a reservation. This man was the pulled out the keys and told them that he was caretaker! He took them the next morning to the Chapel built at the summit of the mountain where he told Pastor Matthew, “I’ve been waiting for you for ten years.” He told of a man who knew Evan Roberts who pulled a piece of coal from the mines where Roberts worked. The man had held the piece of coal from the time of the Welsh revival. He then gave the coal to this caretaker, telling him that God said He would send someone from America to take the fires of the revival back to America. Before the older man died, he told the caretaker to stay in Whales until the man from America comes, then he would be released to go back home to Canada. The Lord told the caretaker, Pastor Matthew is that man; so he was given the piece of coal. He said, “this represents the fire of revival that was here, a fire that swept our land. The Lord says it needs to go around the world again and again and again.” As he told this part of his story, Pastor Matthew exhorted, “we are building on the ancient pathways! We are activating those pathways so you don’t have to go back. Take it from this point and go forward. Everyone of us is important and necessary.”
Two days after returning to Wichita from Germany and Whales, Pastor Matthew went to a revival service in Oklahoma City where an older man tapped on his shoulder asking if he was the pastor from Wichita. It was Pastor Matthew’s first time at that church. He wondered how this man could know him. They went to the vestibule where the man introduced himself as Tommie Welchel. Pastor Matthew recognized the name from a book he had read written by this man: “They Told Their Stories.” Tommie Welchel is the last living connection to Azuza Street. Welchel said he goes where the Lord sends him and only prays for the ones God tells him to. He was going to Tulsa but God sent him instead to this meeting where God told him he would find the pastor from Wichita. He was sent to release the mantle on Pastor Matthew. With power, the man touched Pastor Matthew so that he lay prostrate on the floor. And Tommie Welchel left before Pastor Matthew recovered. Pastor Matthew’s wife related that the man said he just stopped in to anoint Pastor and give him the mantle for revival.
Pastor Matthew explained he didn’t immediately know what to do with the mantles. He didn’t go to get mantles, but he had all these testimonies as well as artifacts. He held all this for months until he was told he needed to understand what they are, what they represent. They were acquired miraculously. He began to read many books on revivals; and about a year ago, God spoke to him explaining that every place he visited had the common denominator of being outpourings in revival when He was shifting nations, changing people groups, changing regions. God said He gave Pastor Matthew a mantle from each of those places. God gave him tangible things to remind him that he had been there and God did something sovereignly in him. He became aware that the encounters were all about revival and about God’s fire and presence being released on the earth. God had earlier told Pastor Matthew He would bring revival to their church and it would go to the city and to the nation. God confirmed that He has equipped Pastor Matthew for this time.
Pastor Matthew’s stories, told with humility and humor, revealed that God had ordained people with first-hand recollection of great revivals to wait for the one who would come to receive mantles from those great times in history. At each place visited by Pastor Matthew, he found God waiting to release impartation for his assignment of carrying the fires of revival into our nation.
Also at the conference, Dr. Patti taught that the overarching story of the Bible is one of redemption. Previous moves of God created momentum but breaches broke the momentum. Each generation must repent for what opened the breach, what caused the destruction of the path, and then make a highway again for the move to advance. We are the repairers, and the mantle for repair and restoration is being increased. We know the seasons. It is the season to go back and get the power of yesterday and reactivate it today, bringing forward what is to come forward and leaving behind what is not helpful in this season.
Conference worship was led by Shane Raymer, also from Wichita. From the first strum on his guitar, Shane provided a platform for the release of the prophetic. Worshippers cried out for dry bones to come alive beginning with their own dry bones and then speaking life to others. There was issued a solemn invitation to align with past generations to release revival in our land. Declarations announced that we are equipped for this timed gate in history. So be it!
At the “Restoring Ancient Pathways: Feast of Tabernacles and Fall Conference” this past weekend by Dr. Patti Amsden, participants had the opportunity to catch a vision of the fire of revival. As participants tabernacled with God and one another, Pastor Matthew Hudson told of his journey to reclaim and release the move of God in revivals.
Pastor Matthew Hudson from Wichita, Kansas, has read everything He could find about Pentecostal healer and missionary John G. Lakes. When the opportunity came to visit the site of Lake’s Healing Rooms in Washington state, Pastor Matthew eagerly traveled there. At the gravesite, Pastor Matthew noticed the huge pine tree that lifted up Lake’s headstone as the great tree grew. Pastor Matthew desired a pinecone from the tree but was unable to reach one. So, he asked God. An unanticipated wind blew that caused the tree to blow. As a result of the wind, a limb was broken loose and fell at his feet with 13 pinecones! Thus, began the journey to revival sites where God miraculously provided Pastor Matthew with remembrances of past revivals.
A second unexpected encounter occurred when Pastor Matthew reluctantly agreed to accompany a group traveling to Europe. For four months the group met weekly for prayer, seeking God for prophetic words regarding the trip. Pastor Hudson’s word from God was the same every week: “you’re going to bring back more than you are taking. You are going to get more than what you are bringing.” The trip took them first to Germany where they visited Herrnhut, a village built on land given to them by Count Zinzendorf. Here the Moravian people experienced a great revival beginning in 1727, and they subsequently set up a watch of continuous prayer that ran uninterrupted, 24 hours a day, for 107 years. The Moravians sent out more missionaries than all other churches combined, with some believers even selling themselves into slavery in order to have entrance into other countries, including North America.
Next, the group went to Whales to Moriah Chapel in the town of the birthplace of Evan Roberts, who was the spark for the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905 that triggered revivals in several other countries. The Chapel was locked but God sent the caretaker, named Ebenezer, who pulled the keys from his pocket and opened the Chapel to them. He told the stories of the revival not recorded in books. Ebenezer’s father led worship for Evan Roberts and he also knew Roberts personally. There were 12 original Welsh songbooks in the Chapel from the revival times, and Ebenezer gave one to Pastor Matthew! As they were leaving the Chapel, a small section of the red painted wooden archway from the door of the original building fell at their feet. Ebenezer told Pastor Matthew that he could also have that artifact.
On the drive from the Chapel, they became lost. Their guide called a friend who identified exactly where they were simply by the description of a nearby farmhouse. The friend took them to a party at his home where another guest asked them if they had considered visiting the Mountain of Angles. The group told him that they had desired to visit the site but had been unable to secure a reservation. This man was the pulled out the keys and told them that he was caretaker! He took them the next morning to the Chapel built at the summit of the mountain where he told Pastor Matthew, “I’ve been waiting for you for ten years.” He told of a man who knew Evan Roberts who pulled a piece of coal from the mines where Roberts worked. The man had held the piece of coal from the time of the Welsh revival. He then gave the coal to this caretaker, telling him that God said He would send someone from America to take the fires of the revival back to America. Before the older man died, he told the caretaker to stay in Whales until the man from America comes, then he would be released to go back home to Canada. The Lord told the caretaker, Pastor Matthew is that man; so he was given the piece of coal. He said, “this represents the fire of revival that was here, a fire that swept our land. The Lord says it needs to go around the world again and again and again.” As he told this part of his story, Pastor Matthew exhorted, “we are building on the ancient pathways! We are activating those pathways so you don’t have to go back. Take it from this point and go forward. Everyone of us is important and necessary.”
Two days after returning to Wichita from Germany and Whales, Pastor Matthew went to a revival service in Oklahoma City where an older man tapped on his shoulder asking if he was the pastor from Wichita. It was Pastor Matthew’s first time at that church. He wondered how this man could know him. They went to the vestibule where the man introduced himself as Tommie Welchel. Pastor Matthew recognized the name from a book he had read written by this man: “They Told Their Stories.” Tommie Welchel is the last living connection to Azuza Street. Welchel said he goes where the Lord sends him and only prays for the ones God tells him to. He was going to Tulsa but God sent him instead to this meeting where God told him he would find the pastor from Wichita. He was sent to release the mantle on Pastor Matthew. With power, the man touched Pastor Matthew so that he lay prostrate on the floor. And Tommie Welchel left before Pastor Matthew recovered. Pastor Matthew’s wife related that the man said he just stopped in to anoint Pastor and give him the mantle for revival.
Pastor Matthew explained he didn’t immediately know what to do with the mantles. He didn’t go to get mantles, but he had all these testimonies as well as artifacts. He held all this for months until he was told he needed to understand what they are, what they represent. They were acquired miraculously. He began to read many books on revivals; and about a year ago, God spoke to him explaining that every place he visited had the common denominator of being outpourings in revival when He was shifting nations, changing people groups, changing regions. God said He gave Pastor Matthew a mantle from each of those places. God gave him tangible things to remind him that he had been there and God did something sovereignly in him. He became aware that the encounters were all about revival and about God’s fire and presence being released on the earth. God had earlier told Pastor Matthew He would bring revival to their church and it would go to the city and to the nation. God confirmed that He has equipped Pastor Matthew for this time.
Pastor Matthew’s stories, told with humility and humor, revealed that God had ordained people with first-hand recollection of great revivals to wait for the one who would come to receive mantles from those great times in history. At each place visited by Pastor Matthew, he found God waiting to release impartation for his assignment of carrying the fires of revival into our nation.
Also at the conference, Dr. Patti taught that the overarching story of the Bible is one of redemption. Previous moves of God created momentum but breaches broke the momentum. Each generation must repent for what opened the breach, what caused the destruction of the path, and then make a highway again for the move to advance. We are the repairers, and the mantle for repair and restoration is being increased. We know the seasons. It is the season to go back and get the power of yesterday and reactivate it today, bringing forward what is to come forward and leaving behind what is not helpful in this season.
Conference worship was led by Shane Raymer, also from Wichita. From the first strum on his guitar, Shane provided a platform for the release of the prophetic. Worshippers cried out for dry bones to come alive beginning with their own dry bones and then speaking life to others. There was issued a solemn invitation to align with past generations to release revival in our land. Declarations announced that we are equipped for this timed gate in history. So be it!
"Restoring Ancient Pathways" by Joyce Geiler
On October 7-19, Dr. Patti is hosting a conference entitled “Restoring Ancient Pathways.” This series of meetings is being held in conjunction with the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles. The Double Tree Inn on highway 159 in Collinsville, IL has been rented and speakers are coming from Wichita, Kansas and locally from Granite City to minister a now word about reclaiming the power and presence of past moves of God. Times of worship, personal ministry, and meals have been set. You are invited to join Dr. Patti and her guest to celebrate the feast and to tabernacle together in God’s presence. Please note the information attached below to this email or go on the website to obtain more information and to register for the conference at:
https://www.pattiamsden.org/conference-2019.html
Chuck Pierce gave Dutch Sheets a prophetic word on Passover 2019. The following is a partial transcript of that word:
"The Lord says, 'I commission you to start wakjubg tge kabdm searching for the ancient paths. They will lead to the coming of the covenant plan.' The Lord says, 'I'm rallying the troops. I'm filling the quivers and I will have them ready when the time to advance in this land occurs. The months ahead are key. Watch, listen, get ready, for the unlocking in this land is coming. There will be a transfer of authority to My kingdom people. The land will reform! The key belongs to you to bring the kingdom down. Get ready! 'There is coming a new path,' says the Lord. 'It is ancient, but has never been unlocked before. Watch. Have the key ready. I have ordained the time. It will be in the journey that is going on.' This Passover began the unlocking of an ancient path that shakes the entire land called America.’”—Chuck Pierce.
The Alliance in Madison and St. Clair Counties has grabbed hold of this prophecy. One of our ancient paths is the Goshen road leading to the Goshen settlement. The Goshen Settlement was located in what became Madison County. In 1799, David Bagley, a Virginia Baptist minister passed through the area and determined that it was a land of such expanse and luxuriant vegetation that he compared it to the Biblical Land of Goshen.
In the early 1800’s, the path called Goshen Road became the main east/west route in Illinois allowing passage from the Cumberland Gap to the St. Louis area. As settlers crossed the Ohio River into the town now known as Old Shawneetown, they traveled in a northwest direction establishing settlements along the way. The pathway continued for 150 to 200 miles, avoiding large streams by following much of the Ohio and Mississippi River watershed divide and ending at a settlement in what is now Madison County called Goshen. From Goshen settlement, settlers could then travel by boat down the Mississippi River to St. Louis if they desired.
For twenty years Pastor Roy Boyer has carried a dream for restoring the revival in the area that coincided with the great Cane Ridge, Kentucky revivals. He has researched and compiled a vast amount of detailed information of events and happenings in the area. The Alliance of Madison-St. Clair Counties joined with Pastor Boyer as he led them to significant locations. The first journey was to “firsts:” the first church, a log cabin representing the first settlers who established a first business – blacksmithing, and the place where the first camp meetings were likely held. While the participants were at the log cabin, God impressed on them that they were on holy ground. One man saw angels when the worship began, floating over the place in brilliant, pure white robes – very angel-looking. As prayer was made, the angels all settled down in a line, one at a time and in angel “work clothes.” It was understood that a portal had existed there but over the years because it was not tended; therefore it became sealed up with dirt, stones and refuse. While the worshippers were there, the angels cleaned out and dug out that portal, completely clearing it out.
At that first journey, Pastor Boyer kept envisioning plats of land with portions for the next generation to take their assignments. That theme became more clear at the next meeting/ journey. At that second journey the group met in Granite City, one of the cities designated by Chuck Pierce as a Freedom Outpost that has been held back by a throne of iniquity. Pastor Boyer shared information about the early settlers, particularly about the Gillham family. They owned a very large parcel of land encompassing much of Madison County. Most of the businesses in Granite City and the surrounding area, both good and bad, are built on what was Gillham land.
Before traveling to our second location, we had stopped briefly at McDonald’s, and a woman was there who has harassed and attempted to release cursed upon two of the pastors who were present at the alliance’s meeting that day. Dr. Patti explained that the first to contest with Moses were the witches and warlocks that could do the things Moses could do. That was the first level of contest. Later there were levels of contest where God could do what the occult could not. We felt that the “accidental” meeting with the woman at McDonalds was the Lord’s testimony that the Metro East Apostolic Alliance was being given the mantle to spiritually govern the territory at many levels. A witch or other members of the occult may try to steal; but that day we released healing and restoration.
After the initial time at the City Part, we went to the place that was Gillham property where Mrs. Gillham and her children were kidnapped by Kickapoo Indians. We arrive at the place and felt another confirmation that the alliance was there because one job of the righteous is to take back territory and souls. Mr. Gillham had been able to track down his family after 5 years and pay $8000 to ransom them. His lost and stolen family had been restored. The second stop was the property that Mrs. Gillham had purchased with the money she was awarded for her suffering. That testimony of a ransom payment reminded us that Jesus paid the ransom for His family. The ransom makes it possible for prodigals to be restored. There was agreement that we are in a Kingdom season and we are were (an continue to be) in agreement with Kingdom advancement. In this first leg of “walking the land and searching for the ancient paths,” we are seeing and calling things forward that were released but abandoned in former days. We are restoring ancient paths. Then, we are believing that God will give us spiritual revelation to help us build on the moves of God and give us patterns to build the current move of God for the current season.
In closing, Dr. Patti noted that the day was National Voter Registration Day. We registered and functioned as the Ekklesia. We proclaim this official territorial Ekklesia established. We link together yesterday’s and today’s prayers for the release of the captives.
On October 7-19, Dr. Patti is hosting a conference entitled “Restoring Ancient Pathways.” This series of meetings is being held in conjunction with the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles. The Double Tree Inn on highway 159 in Collinsville, IL has been rented and speakers are coming from Wichita, Kansas and locally from Granite City to minister a now word about reclaiming the power and presence of past moves of God. Times of worship, personal ministry, and meals have been set. You are invited to join Dr. Patti and her guest to celebrate the feast and to tabernacle together in God’s presence. Please note the information attached below to this email or go on the website to obtain more information and to register for the conference at:
https://www.pattiamsden.org/conference-2019.html
Chuck Pierce gave Dutch Sheets a prophetic word on Passover 2019. The following is a partial transcript of that word:
"The Lord says, 'I commission you to start wakjubg tge kabdm searching for the ancient paths. They will lead to the coming of the covenant plan.' The Lord says, 'I'm rallying the troops. I'm filling the quivers and I will have them ready when the time to advance in this land occurs. The months ahead are key. Watch, listen, get ready, for the unlocking in this land is coming. There will be a transfer of authority to My kingdom people. The land will reform! The key belongs to you to bring the kingdom down. Get ready! 'There is coming a new path,' says the Lord. 'It is ancient, but has never been unlocked before. Watch. Have the key ready. I have ordained the time. It will be in the journey that is going on.' This Passover began the unlocking of an ancient path that shakes the entire land called America.’”—Chuck Pierce.
The Alliance in Madison and St. Clair Counties has grabbed hold of this prophecy. One of our ancient paths is the Goshen road leading to the Goshen settlement. The Goshen Settlement was located in what became Madison County. In 1799, David Bagley, a Virginia Baptist minister passed through the area and determined that it was a land of such expanse and luxuriant vegetation that he compared it to the Biblical Land of Goshen.
In the early 1800’s, the path called Goshen Road became the main east/west route in Illinois allowing passage from the Cumberland Gap to the St. Louis area. As settlers crossed the Ohio River into the town now known as Old Shawneetown, they traveled in a northwest direction establishing settlements along the way. The pathway continued for 150 to 200 miles, avoiding large streams by following much of the Ohio and Mississippi River watershed divide and ending at a settlement in what is now Madison County called Goshen. From Goshen settlement, settlers could then travel by boat down the Mississippi River to St. Louis if they desired.
For twenty years Pastor Roy Boyer has carried a dream for restoring the revival in the area that coincided with the great Cane Ridge, Kentucky revivals. He has researched and compiled a vast amount of detailed information of events and happenings in the area. The Alliance of Madison-St. Clair Counties joined with Pastor Boyer as he led them to significant locations. The first journey was to “firsts:” the first church, a log cabin representing the first settlers who established a first business – blacksmithing, and the place where the first camp meetings were likely held. While the participants were at the log cabin, God impressed on them that they were on holy ground. One man saw angels when the worship began, floating over the place in brilliant, pure white robes – very angel-looking. As prayer was made, the angels all settled down in a line, one at a time and in angel “work clothes.” It was understood that a portal had existed there but over the years because it was not tended; therefore it became sealed up with dirt, stones and refuse. While the worshippers were there, the angels cleaned out and dug out that portal, completely clearing it out.
At that first journey, Pastor Boyer kept envisioning plats of land with portions for the next generation to take their assignments. That theme became more clear at the next meeting/ journey. At that second journey the group met in Granite City, one of the cities designated by Chuck Pierce as a Freedom Outpost that has been held back by a throne of iniquity. Pastor Boyer shared information about the early settlers, particularly about the Gillham family. They owned a very large parcel of land encompassing much of Madison County. Most of the businesses in Granite City and the surrounding area, both good and bad, are built on what was Gillham land.
Before traveling to our second location, we had stopped briefly at McDonald’s, and a woman was there who has harassed and attempted to release cursed upon two of the pastors who were present at the alliance’s meeting that day. Dr. Patti explained that the first to contest with Moses were the witches and warlocks that could do the things Moses could do. That was the first level of contest. Later there were levels of contest where God could do what the occult could not. We felt that the “accidental” meeting with the woman at McDonalds was the Lord’s testimony that the Metro East Apostolic Alliance was being given the mantle to spiritually govern the territory at many levels. A witch or other members of the occult may try to steal; but that day we released healing and restoration.
After the initial time at the City Part, we went to the place that was Gillham property where Mrs. Gillham and her children were kidnapped by Kickapoo Indians. We arrive at the place and felt another confirmation that the alliance was there because one job of the righteous is to take back territory and souls. Mr. Gillham had been able to track down his family after 5 years and pay $8000 to ransom them. His lost and stolen family had been restored. The second stop was the property that Mrs. Gillham had purchased with the money she was awarded for her suffering. That testimony of a ransom payment reminded us that Jesus paid the ransom for His family. The ransom makes it possible for prodigals to be restored. There was agreement that we are in a Kingdom season and we are were (an continue to be) in agreement with Kingdom advancement. In this first leg of “walking the land and searching for the ancient paths,” we are seeing and calling things forward that were released but abandoned in former days. We are restoring ancient paths. Then, we are believing that God will give us spiritual revelation to help us build on the moves of God and give us patterns to build the current move of God for the current season.
In closing, Dr. Patti noted that the day was National Voter Registration Day. We registered and functioned as the Ekklesia. We proclaim this official territorial Ekklesia established. We link together yesterday’s and today’s prayers for the release of the captives.
"Unlocking the Region for Kingdom Advancement" by Joyce Geiler
In previous issues, we began to tell the stories of Ekklesia units coming together to impact their local territory in Illinois so that the promises and blessings of God can overtake the work of the enemy. In this issue the focus is on Peoria. Peoria is one of the seven cities in Illinois that prophet Chuck Pierce called Freedom Outposts. He also noted that each of the seven Freedom Outposts had thrones of iniquity that were strong enough that the Freedom Outposts were not rising to their God-ordained potential to bring Kingdom liberty to their respective regions.
Like other cities in Illinois, Peoria has struggled to develop a unified Body of Believers who could impact their region. That is changing. At the “Time to Plow” meeting that Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets held in Moline, Peoria was mentioned several times. Chuck said, "We almost had revival in Peoria; but something shifted, and they all went another way. But this time Peoria has crossed over!" On the local level in Peoria, Steve Morey had a dream that since Peoria was the first European city planted in IL, it had to go first. He felt that once a Freedom Outpost started in Peoria, others would follow.
Apostle Pat McManus from Aurora met with Peoria Pastors Joe and Angela Hawkins and felt they were key to a move in the region. Having talked with Chuck Pierce regarding Peoria, Apostle Pat felt Ann Tate from Glory of Zion should come to unlock the region. On August 23 and 24, Ann Tate and Pat McManus held the conference for “Unlocking the Region for Kingdom Empowerment” in Peoria. About 100 people were in attendance over the two days, including people who have interceded for revival in Peoria over the past four or five decades and have kept the flame of praise and worship going. Leaders in the Assembly of God denomination, intercessors and pastors, as well as key people in the business sphere were among those coming together to worship and seek God.
The business sphere has been highlighted several times in Peoria and seems to have a place of importance in what God will be doing in that city. During the Plumbline Journey led by Apostle James Nesbit and Dr. Patti Amsden in July 2018, it was prophesied that “God is giving keys to business leaders and entrepreneurs to unlock the glory and wealth of the territory, which in past days had been squandered by rulers with self-centered or sinful motives. The redemptive purpose for Peoria is to be a crowning glory in Illinois.” Those in market place ministry, those who work in the business sector, those stewarding multi-generational wealth were called forward and each person had a large key symbolizing a stewardship key placed in their open hands. Then just this last July, Cesar Nieto, a speaker at the Hawkins’ Oasis Church, prophesied into the Business Mountain even before he released the healing he had come to minister. Key people in the Business sphere participated in the August 23-24 Unlocking conference.
Joe and Angela Hawkins and Steve and Laura Morey were specifically identified as key people in building and establishing a Freedom Outpost in Peoria. They were exhorted to lead by pressing into worship, pursuing the presence of God, and inviting angelic assistance that will be needed.
In previous issues, we began to tell the stories of Ekklesia units coming together to impact their local territory in Illinois so that the promises and blessings of God can overtake the work of the enemy. In this issue the focus is on Peoria. Peoria is one of the seven cities in Illinois that prophet Chuck Pierce called Freedom Outposts. He also noted that each of the seven Freedom Outposts had thrones of iniquity that were strong enough that the Freedom Outposts were not rising to their God-ordained potential to bring Kingdom liberty to their respective regions.
Like other cities in Illinois, Peoria has struggled to develop a unified Body of Believers who could impact their region. That is changing. At the “Time to Plow” meeting that Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets held in Moline, Peoria was mentioned several times. Chuck said, "We almost had revival in Peoria; but something shifted, and they all went another way. But this time Peoria has crossed over!" On the local level in Peoria, Steve Morey had a dream that since Peoria was the first European city planted in IL, it had to go first. He felt that once a Freedom Outpost started in Peoria, others would follow.
Apostle Pat McManus from Aurora met with Peoria Pastors Joe and Angela Hawkins and felt they were key to a move in the region. Having talked with Chuck Pierce regarding Peoria, Apostle Pat felt Ann Tate from Glory of Zion should come to unlock the region. On August 23 and 24, Ann Tate and Pat McManus held the conference for “Unlocking the Region for Kingdom Empowerment” in Peoria. About 100 people were in attendance over the two days, including people who have interceded for revival in Peoria over the past four or five decades and have kept the flame of praise and worship going. Leaders in the Assembly of God denomination, intercessors and pastors, as well as key people in the business sphere were among those coming together to worship and seek God.
The business sphere has been highlighted several times in Peoria and seems to have a place of importance in what God will be doing in that city. During the Plumbline Journey led by Apostle James Nesbit and Dr. Patti Amsden in July 2018, it was prophesied that “God is giving keys to business leaders and entrepreneurs to unlock the glory and wealth of the territory, which in past days had been squandered by rulers with self-centered or sinful motives. The redemptive purpose for Peoria is to be a crowning glory in Illinois.” Those in market place ministry, those who work in the business sector, those stewarding multi-generational wealth were called forward and each person had a large key symbolizing a stewardship key placed in their open hands. Then just this last July, Cesar Nieto, a speaker at the Hawkins’ Oasis Church, prophesied into the Business Mountain even before he released the healing he had come to minister. Key people in the Business sphere participated in the August 23-24 Unlocking conference.
Joe and Angela Hawkins and Steve and Laura Morey were specifically identified as key people in building and establishing a Freedom Outpost in Peoria. They were exhorted to lead by pressing into worship, pursuing the presence of God, and inviting angelic assistance that will be needed.
"Ekklesia Awakening in Illinois" by Joyce Geiler
Christians are grabbing hold of the idea that they can work together in local Ekklesia units to impact their local territories so that the promises and blessings of God can overtake the work of the enemy of God in our state. Illinois can find the pathway to walk in spiritual and natural health. The reports that were given at the meeting of the Illinois Coalition of Apostolic Alliances CAA) held Monday, August 5 in Chicago were intriguing, exciting, challenging. This was only the second meeting of the Coalition, yet already experiences of God-breathed progress were reported.
Before recounting the stories, let us begin with the CAA backstory. Most reading this article are familiar with the 2003 fifty-state tour done by Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets in which they proclaimed that Illinois is an apostolic state and a prototype. That prophecy has been prayed into by many people and great effort has been expended to understand how to bring Illinois into the fullness of the prophecy. The formation of the Coalition is one of those efforts. The history specific to the formation of the Illinois Coalition begins with the 200th anniversary of Illinois’ statehood. Noting that no particular celebration was scheduled in the state capital of Springfield on the anniversary date of December 3, 2018, Dr. Patti Amsden began to ask what should be done. She felt that God commissioned her to host a gathering when God said to her: “If you will appear at the Timed Gate, I will overlay the government of the Kingdom on the government of Illinois.”
The day hosted celebrations of worship and speakers from around the state. The closing speaker, Rick Curry, told of his vision of the Appeal to Heaven flag and told of the current Kentucky awakening of which he was a part. He then entrusted the travel-worn Appeal to Heaven flag to Dr. Amsden saying “awaken Illinois.”
The agenda was given. Yet, the question remained: What do we do as a governing Ekklesia council to guide the state of Illinois into awakening? The call went out and those with an ear to hear gathered at Sycamore, Illinois on March 4 and 5, 2019. It was recognized that intercessors have held the words of the prophets in their spiritual wombs, and now it’s time for the apostolic leadership to take its place. On a large Illinois map were marked the seven cities with thrones of iniquity identified by Chuck Pierce. These are to be converted to Freedom Outposts. Another prophecy called for eight apostles to arise in Illinois. As the group discussed and sought wisdom, it became apparent that the fulfillment of this prophecy would be found in recognizing territories from which God would begin to move throughout the state to build apostolic councils beginning with eight and then multiplying to 16 and on to 64. Some of the attendees grabbed hold of the vision and returned to their respective territories to begin grassroots, organic gatherings of local people who could look beyond their own particular churches and ministries to cooperate and coordinate with others in building the Kingdom of God locally.
Here are some of the stories from those territories with thrones of iniquity destined to be overturned and become Freedom Outposts.
Rockford: Apostle Roxie Elliott and Apostle Don Lyons gathered ten to twelve apostolic, emerging apostolic and intercessory people who were excited to identify strongholds in their area and to strategize. They decided to begin with the city of Woodstock where they identified several strongholds including the prominent Buddhist temple in the city. They prayed over the Kishwaukee River at its headwaters and at Sycamore before going back to Woodstock to release worship in the park. Afterward, Apostle Roxie’s son dreamed that he was standing in the clear waters of the Kishwaukee River.
Several take-aways were seen in this story. Apostle Don Lyons has raised up a powerful people, in that area. They also noted the wisdom of utilizing their local giftings rather than frequently seeking help from other places. “Don’t worry about the people you don’t have; let God begin with what you do have.”
Marion: Beth Swartzendruber and Apostle Cheryl Weaver invited people they knew from the Southern Illinois area for a strategic meeting; about fifty came. Dr. Patti Amsden shared the vision of the impact possible by a local Ekklesia but many participants were hesitant; because in the beginning days of rising awareness and functioning of the current-day apostolic movement, many had experienced abuse and disillusionment. Therefore, the CAA meeting was conducted in such a way as to give anyone who wished a chance to express their uneasiness. Then collectively, those in attendance discussed a more healthy view of the apostolic, one in which the apostle is not at the top of some hierarchical pyramid but rather gathers together, equips and undergirds as the Body of Christ to function together and to function locally. A local jurisdiction knows their enemy and history and has the best interest of their territory at heart.
Jeff McCluskie was identified as one who had carried a heart for the territory for many years. Along with Beth, Jeff and his wife, Tina, prayed and made a list for a smaller task force to plan a larger meeting. Each town in their region has intercessors but people have been clannish with no vision to work together. They now are beginning to communicate with each other. By virtue of stepping into the grace for this day of the Ekklesia, things they’ve prayed about for years are now coming to life. For example, they were given permission to go into one of the grade schools and pray.
The story of the developing work in Southern Illinois illustrates several principles. Ownership and love of territory can bring the Ekklesia together. Alignment with the apostolic sets an order; then comes the download and fruitfulness. The level of yoke determines the level of unity. Holy Spirit presence, authority and involvement work with us identify what God is doing and how it can be partnered with.
Granite City: This area has held three meetings led by Dr. Patti and Apostle Dennis Amsden. One of those attending was Pastor Roy Boyer, who pastor’s a church in Granite City where Chuck Pierce released the word about Illinois cities that were thrones of iniquities. Pastor Boyer is carries a strong vision for the area. His research fills a large notebook with articles and information about the overflow of the Cane Ridge, Kentucky Revival into the Goshen settlement camp meeting. Pastor Roy has held it in his heart for twenty years believing there would come a people who would share his vision to re-dig the wells and bring awakening to this area. That would certainly overthrow the throne of iniquity at Granite City and establish it as the Freedom Outpost of God’s intention! The developing Ekklesia in this region now is planning worship at the Goshen settlement site.
The take-away from this territory was expressed by Dr. Patti. She recounted from scripture where Moses told Joshua to go into the land, which was a set territory with set boundaries. Moses also told the Israelites that there would be assets in the territory that they had not build but that they would be able to use as they took possession and built a kingdom expression in that promised land. Today, we would say our assets are ministry gifts and spiritual assets of the territory as well as the land itself. Possession of the Granite City territory, which includes Cahokia Mounds, has been given by God to the local Ekklesia. They are aware of the iniquity. Now they are discovering the assets, the rich spiritual history, and will build altars of worship.
One final testimony: At the Coalition meeting in Chicago, Apostle Rodney Williams testified that God is moving in Peoria and that the CAA members might look to undergird those who labor in that city. As there were no apostolic leaders from Peoria present at the meeting, the collective wisdom decided that Apostle Rod would inquire of Peoria’s local people and see if they would want the CAA to undergird them and how we could best serve them as they seek God for their area.
Note:
The seven cities that were identified as having thrones of iniquity are:
Granite City
Springfield
Peoria
Chicago
Campaign
Rockford
Marion
Currently apostolic alliances are already formed or are forming in all the cities except Springfield. Although there are doubtless good works and unified endeavors going on in the capital city, no one group or one apostolic leader has yet joined with the CAA. This city is important in fulfilling the prophetic word released through Chuck Pierce. Please be in prayer for Springfield to be joined with the network of apostolic alliances. Also, Moline and the Quad Cities were designated as one of the eight freedom outpost cities. Pastor Scott Reece from Moline was present in Chicago at the CAA gathering.
Christians are grabbing hold of the idea that they can work together in local Ekklesia units to impact their local territories so that the promises and blessings of God can overtake the work of the enemy of God in our state. Illinois can find the pathway to walk in spiritual and natural health. The reports that were given at the meeting of the Illinois Coalition of Apostolic Alliances CAA) held Monday, August 5 in Chicago were intriguing, exciting, challenging. This was only the second meeting of the Coalition, yet already experiences of God-breathed progress were reported.
Before recounting the stories, let us begin with the CAA backstory. Most reading this article are familiar with the 2003 fifty-state tour done by Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets in which they proclaimed that Illinois is an apostolic state and a prototype. That prophecy has been prayed into by many people and great effort has been expended to understand how to bring Illinois into the fullness of the prophecy. The formation of the Coalition is one of those efforts. The history specific to the formation of the Illinois Coalition begins with the 200th anniversary of Illinois’ statehood. Noting that no particular celebration was scheduled in the state capital of Springfield on the anniversary date of December 3, 2018, Dr. Patti Amsden began to ask what should be done. She felt that God commissioned her to host a gathering when God said to her: “If you will appear at the Timed Gate, I will overlay the government of the Kingdom on the government of Illinois.”
The day hosted celebrations of worship and speakers from around the state. The closing speaker, Rick Curry, told of his vision of the Appeal to Heaven flag and told of the current Kentucky awakening of which he was a part. He then entrusted the travel-worn Appeal to Heaven flag to Dr. Amsden saying “awaken Illinois.”
The agenda was given. Yet, the question remained: What do we do as a governing Ekklesia council to guide the state of Illinois into awakening? The call went out and those with an ear to hear gathered at Sycamore, Illinois on March 4 and 5, 2019. It was recognized that intercessors have held the words of the prophets in their spiritual wombs, and now it’s time for the apostolic leadership to take its place. On a large Illinois map were marked the seven cities with thrones of iniquity identified by Chuck Pierce. These are to be converted to Freedom Outposts. Another prophecy called for eight apostles to arise in Illinois. As the group discussed and sought wisdom, it became apparent that the fulfillment of this prophecy would be found in recognizing territories from which God would begin to move throughout the state to build apostolic councils beginning with eight and then multiplying to 16 and on to 64. Some of the attendees grabbed hold of the vision and returned to their respective territories to begin grassroots, organic gatherings of local people who could look beyond their own particular churches and ministries to cooperate and coordinate with others in building the Kingdom of God locally.
Here are some of the stories from those territories with thrones of iniquity destined to be overturned and become Freedom Outposts.
Rockford: Apostle Roxie Elliott and Apostle Don Lyons gathered ten to twelve apostolic, emerging apostolic and intercessory people who were excited to identify strongholds in their area and to strategize. They decided to begin with the city of Woodstock where they identified several strongholds including the prominent Buddhist temple in the city. They prayed over the Kishwaukee River at its headwaters and at Sycamore before going back to Woodstock to release worship in the park. Afterward, Apostle Roxie’s son dreamed that he was standing in the clear waters of the Kishwaukee River.
Several take-aways were seen in this story. Apostle Don Lyons has raised up a powerful people, in that area. They also noted the wisdom of utilizing their local giftings rather than frequently seeking help from other places. “Don’t worry about the people you don’t have; let God begin with what you do have.”
Marion: Beth Swartzendruber and Apostle Cheryl Weaver invited people they knew from the Southern Illinois area for a strategic meeting; about fifty came. Dr. Patti Amsden shared the vision of the impact possible by a local Ekklesia but many participants were hesitant; because in the beginning days of rising awareness and functioning of the current-day apostolic movement, many had experienced abuse and disillusionment. Therefore, the CAA meeting was conducted in such a way as to give anyone who wished a chance to express their uneasiness. Then collectively, those in attendance discussed a more healthy view of the apostolic, one in which the apostle is not at the top of some hierarchical pyramid but rather gathers together, equips and undergirds as the Body of Christ to function together and to function locally. A local jurisdiction knows their enemy and history and has the best interest of their territory at heart.
Jeff McCluskie was identified as one who had carried a heart for the territory for many years. Along with Beth, Jeff and his wife, Tina, prayed and made a list for a smaller task force to plan a larger meeting. Each town in their region has intercessors but people have been clannish with no vision to work together. They now are beginning to communicate with each other. By virtue of stepping into the grace for this day of the Ekklesia, things they’ve prayed about for years are now coming to life. For example, they were given permission to go into one of the grade schools and pray.
The story of the developing work in Southern Illinois illustrates several principles. Ownership and love of territory can bring the Ekklesia together. Alignment with the apostolic sets an order; then comes the download and fruitfulness. The level of yoke determines the level of unity. Holy Spirit presence, authority and involvement work with us identify what God is doing and how it can be partnered with.
Granite City: This area has held three meetings led by Dr. Patti and Apostle Dennis Amsden. One of those attending was Pastor Roy Boyer, who pastor’s a church in Granite City where Chuck Pierce released the word about Illinois cities that were thrones of iniquities. Pastor Boyer is carries a strong vision for the area. His research fills a large notebook with articles and information about the overflow of the Cane Ridge, Kentucky Revival into the Goshen settlement camp meeting. Pastor Roy has held it in his heart for twenty years believing there would come a people who would share his vision to re-dig the wells and bring awakening to this area. That would certainly overthrow the throne of iniquity at Granite City and establish it as the Freedom Outpost of God’s intention! The developing Ekklesia in this region now is planning worship at the Goshen settlement site.
The take-away from this territory was expressed by Dr. Patti. She recounted from scripture where Moses told Joshua to go into the land, which was a set territory with set boundaries. Moses also told the Israelites that there would be assets in the territory that they had not build but that they would be able to use as they took possession and built a kingdom expression in that promised land. Today, we would say our assets are ministry gifts and spiritual assets of the territory as well as the land itself. Possession of the Granite City territory, which includes Cahokia Mounds, has been given by God to the local Ekklesia. They are aware of the iniquity. Now they are discovering the assets, the rich spiritual history, and will build altars of worship.
One final testimony: At the Coalition meeting in Chicago, Apostle Rodney Williams testified that God is moving in Peoria and that the CAA members might look to undergird those who labor in that city. As there were no apostolic leaders from Peoria present at the meeting, the collective wisdom decided that Apostle Rod would inquire of Peoria’s local people and see if they would want the CAA to undergird them and how we could best serve them as they seek God for their area.
Note:
The seven cities that were identified as having thrones of iniquity are:
Granite City
Springfield
Peoria
Chicago
Campaign
Rockford
Marion
Currently apostolic alliances are already formed or are forming in all the cities except Springfield. Although there are doubtless good works and unified endeavors going on in the capital city, no one group or one apostolic leader has yet joined with the CAA. This city is important in fulfilling the prophetic word released through Chuck Pierce. Please be in prayer for Springfield to be joined with the network of apostolic alliances. Also, Moline and the Quad Cities were designated as one of the eight freedom outpost cities. Pastor Scott Reece from Moline was present in Chicago at the CAA gathering.
"Praying Over Illinois Rivers" by Joyce Geiler
The western, southern and southeastern boundaries of Illinois are delineated by rivers and another fifty or so rivers plus creeks and branches network throughout the state.
See documentation here.
The early exploration and settling of Illinois was accomplished via river transportation. Even after the building of railroads and paved highways, rivers continue to be important in commercial transportation and for recreation. Illinois can count its rivers among its God-given natural resources along with its rich soil, coal, oil, gas, minerals and timber.
Man’s activities have caused pollution of Illinois resources, both physically and spiritually. Agricultural run-off, manufacturing wastes and sewage, among other things, have contributed to the polluting of the rivers. The invasion of Asian carp in some of Illinois’ rivers are destroying native species. Spiritual pollution has occurred where rivers have been used for illegal commerce and where deaths have occurred. One river in Illinois has a history of being the site of suicides.
So, when the request came from prayer leaders in Illinois to pray over the state’s rivers, intercessors throughout the state stepped up. It began with an invitation from James Nesbit, who is associated with the
Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network.
James invited people to “join us somewhere along the Father of Waters (which is the Choctaw name for the Mississippi River) between June 20th and June 29th for the Justice in the Waters Journey.” James and his team worshipped and prayed at sites along the Mississippi from its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth at New Orleans. Worshippers and intercessors joined his team at various stops along the journey.
At each stop, participants released forgiveness to the waters and prayed blessings for the waters to carry out God’s original intent free from pollution and contamination from sin. The sound of worship and praise to the Creator and Savior was released over the waters so the water molecules could carry that sound as they move through the rivers and oceans, becoming part of the natural water cycle through evaporation, condensation and precipitation. This was James Nesbit’s fourth worship journey along the Mississippi and he reported sensing it was the most “weighty.”
Stops along the part of the Mississippi bordering Illinois included Davenport, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Nauvoo, Illinois; Hannibal, Missouri; St. Peters, Missouri; Wickliffe, Kentucky and Cairo, Illinois. The place of worship at each of these stops was usually at a high point overlooking the river where the adjacent state could be seen across the river. As the team traveled back and forth across the Mighty Mississippi, it was as though the states were being tied or connected together rather than being divided by the river. At the Wickliffe stop, worship was released from the base of a 90-foot cross locals have erected from which three states (Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois) can be seen and as well as the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
In conjunction with the Justice in the Waters released along the Mississippi, people in individual states were encouraged to worship and pray over their rivers. Illinois intercessors answered the call. Mary Serandos, HAPN leader for Illinois states that “for years we have been doing these kinds of things, divorcing Baal and resetting covenant with God at all the Masonic lodges, Islamic centers and mosques, abortion clinics, universities and colleges, Indian mounds, and whatever we know to do in our state and region. Repenting for the sin that has brought a curse on the land, idolatry, bloodshed, and breaking covenant and asking God to redeem it back to original intent.” So, it was natural to join in this initiative to worship and pray over Illinois’ rivers. Intercessors prepared for this assignment with a series of teachings regarding the spiritual importance of the waters presented by Dr. Yolanda McCune, Dr. Vanessa Battle and James Nesbit.
Any of the worshipping intercessors who prayed at the rivers in Illinois has a story to tell. At each place, God manifested His presence in ways unique to that particular river. A team from the Collinsville area in Southern Illinois sought a spot to pray along the Saline River. On a day with a heat index over 100 degrees they found a tree shaded spot on the obviously recently flooded bank. As they stood on the bank, they became aware of a somber, mourning atmosphere. The Saline River area is the only place in Illinois where slaves were once legally used to mine and extract salt. Salt was a precious commodity at that time and was available on this government-owned land. On a nearby hill still sets the mansion of a man who became rich from the salt mining process and from capturing free Blacks and selling them into slavery.
At this location of such injustice, the prayer team could imagine the plaintive sound of the songs of the slaves reaching up to God. The team spoke forgiveness to the waters that heard the sounds of injustice there and released the sound of worship to be carried by the waters flowing past. Remembering how Moses was instructed to throw a tree in to the bitter waters and the waters were made sweet, the team members each took a stick and threw it into the river, declaring the cross of Christ has paid the price to bring sweet justice to these waters. The worshippers sensed a change in the atmosphere; and as they prepared to leave, a dog appeared at this deserted site, seeming to demonstrate that man’s best friend came to investigate the changed atmosphere.
As of this writing, at least 24 of the fifty-some rivers in Illinois, along with an aquifer and some lakes, have been worshipped and prayed over as part of this initiative. All those participating in this assignment have felt the weightiness, the importance and effectiveness, of what God is doing. He has given Illinois such wonderful resources. Illinoisans are privileged to be stewards of the land and natural resources as well as the spiritual resources of this great state.
The western, southern and southeastern boundaries of Illinois are delineated by rivers and another fifty or so rivers plus creeks and branches network throughout the state.
See documentation here.
The early exploration and settling of Illinois was accomplished via river transportation. Even after the building of railroads and paved highways, rivers continue to be important in commercial transportation and for recreation. Illinois can count its rivers among its God-given natural resources along with its rich soil, coal, oil, gas, minerals and timber.
Man’s activities have caused pollution of Illinois resources, both physically and spiritually. Agricultural run-off, manufacturing wastes and sewage, among other things, have contributed to the polluting of the rivers. The invasion of Asian carp in some of Illinois’ rivers are destroying native species. Spiritual pollution has occurred where rivers have been used for illegal commerce and where deaths have occurred. One river in Illinois has a history of being the site of suicides.
So, when the request came from prayer leaders in Illinois to pray over the state’s rivers, intercessors throughout the state stepped up. It began with an invitation from James Nesbit, who is associated with the
Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network.
James invited people to “join us somewhere along the Father of Waters (which is the Choctaw name for the Mississippi River) between June 20th and June 29th for the Justice in the Waters Journey.” James and his team worshipped and prayed at sites along the Mississippi from its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth at New Orleans. Worshippers and intercessors joined his team at various stops along the journey.
At each stop, participants released forgiveness to the waters and prayed blessings for the waters to carry out God’s original intent free from pollution and contamination from sin. The sound of worship and praise to the Creator and Savior was released over the waters so the water molecules could carry that sound as they move through the rivers and oceans, becoming part of the natural water cycle through evaporation, condensation and precipitation. This was James Nesbit’s fourth worship journey along the Mississippi and he reported sensing it was the most “weighty.”
Stops along the part of the Mississippi bordering Illinois included Davenport, Iowa; Rock Island, Illinois; Nauvoo, Illinois; Hannibal, Missouri; St. Peters, Missouri; Wickliffe, Kentucky and Cairo, Illinois. The place of worship at each of these stops was usually at a high point overlooking the river where the adjacent state could be seen across the river. As the team traveled back and forth across the Mighty Mississippi, it was as though the states were being tied or connected together rather than being divided by the river. At the Wickliffe stop, worship was released from the base of a 90-foot cross locals have erected from which three states (Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois) can be seen and as well as the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
In conjunction with the Justice in the Waters released along the Mississippi, people in individual states were encouraged to worship and pray over their rivers. Illinois intercessors answered the call. Mary Serandos, HAPN leader for Illinois states that “for years we have been doing these kinds of things, divorcing Baal and resetting covenant with God at all the Masonic lodges, Islamic centers and mosques, abortion clinics, universities and colleges, Indian mounds, and whatever we know to do in our state and region. Repenting for the sin that has brought a curse on the land, idolatry, bloodshed, and breaking covenant and asking God to redeem it back to original intent.” So, it was natural to join in this initiative to worship and pray over Illinois’ rivers. Intercessors prepared for this assignment with a series of teachings regarding the spiritual importance of the waters presented by Dr. Yolanda McCune, Dr. Vanessa Battle and James Nesbit.
Any of the worshipping intercessors who prayed at the rivers in Illinois has a story to tell. At each place, God manifested His presence in ways unique to that particular river. A team from the Collinsville area in Southern Illinois sought a spot to pray along the Saline River. On a day with a heat index over 100 degrees they found a tree shaded spot on the obviously recently flooded bank. As they stood on the bank, they became aware of a somber, mourning atmosphere. The Saline River area is the only place in Illinois where slaves were once legally used to mine and extract salt. Salt was a precious commodity at that time and was available on this government-owned land. On a nearby hill still sets the mansion of a man who became rich from the salt mining process and from capturing free Blacks and selling them into slavery.
At this location of such injustice, the prayer team could imagine the plaintive sound of the songs of the slaves reaching up to God. The team spoke forgiveness to the waters that heard the sounds of injustice there and released the sound of worship to be carried by the waters flowing past. Remembering how Moses was instructed to throw a tree in to the bitter waters and the waters were made sweet, the team members each took a stick and threw it into the river, declaring the cross of Christ has paid the price to bring sweet justice to these waters. The worshippers sensed a change in the atmosphere; and as they prepared to leave, a dog appeared at this deserted site, seeming to demonstrate that man’s best friend came to investigate the changed atmosphere.
As of this writing, at least 24 of the fifty-some rivers in Illinois, along with an aquifer and some lakes, have been worshipped and prayed over as part of this initiative. All those participating in this assignment have felt the weightiness, the importance and effectiveness, of what God is doing. He has given Illinois such wonderful resources. Illinoisans are privileged to be stewards of the land and natural resources as well as the spiritual resources of this great state.
