IVCA Provides Updates for State Legislative Issues – 03/27/2024
Illinois Venture Capital Association Illinois Legislative Report
David Stricklin / Stricklin & Associates
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
LEGISLATURE ON SPRING BREAK
Illinois lawmakers are not in the Capitol this week. The House returns next week with a deadline of next Friday to move bills out of committee. The Senate is out of session this week and next week.
VOTES STILL BEING COUNTED FOR STATE’S ATTORNEY
As of the end of the day Tuesday March 26th the race for Cook County State’s Attorney favored Eileen Burke by 1,643 votes for Clayton Harris. On election night it appeared to be a clear victory for Burke, however mail in and other ballots which needed to be counted narrowed the race significantly. The contest is seen as a barometer of voter sentiment about living in Chicago and Cook County.
DECISION IS IN FOR BCH
The other important outcome of note was the loss of the Bring Chicago Home measure which is also being viewed as secondarily as a referendum on Mayor Johnson.
VOTERS LEAN LEFT IN NORTHSIDE SENATE RACE
While the mayor and the Chicago Teachers Union were handed a defeat in the Bring Chicago Home question, they scored a victory on primary night when CTU member Graciela Guzman defeated CTU member and incumbent, appointed State Senator Natalie Toro. Sen. Toro was installed by local political leaders against the will of most of the other legislators, organizers, and voters in the district. Illinois Senate President Don Harmon supported Toro with over $2M in campaign money, which is an incredible amount of money for a state senate district race. Guzman, who was clearly the more “progressive” CTU member, easily won the nomination over Toro.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS TAKE OUT – A HOUSE DEMOCRAT
Illinois House Democrats worked to defeat a member of their own caucus on election day by supporting Michael Crawford over Rep. Mary Flowers. Rep. Flowers has served since 1985, which did not prevent the speaker and some of his members from going all out to defeat her in the primary.
Newcomer Crawford, 41, had the backing of Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch. In an unusual move that was a test of his own political muscle, Welch threw his support and money behind Crawford in the primary and helped him defeat an incumbent politician who first took office when Harold Washington was mayor of Chicago. The race became a proxy for Welch’s power to control his own members.
Welch and Democratic-supporting unions backed Crawford, raising a whopping $1.7 million. That’s more than Flowers raised in total over the last 30 years.
TREASURER TAKES IVF ISSUE TO HEART
IVCA members interact frequently with Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs in his role as the state’s chief investment officer and the steward of investments from the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund. The treasurer is also in the news currently for his outspoken support for IVF procedures which are very personally meaningful: