Category: JB Pritzker
Pritzker sides with criminals once again, signing controversial ‘Clean Slate’ bill into law
Despite an appalling violent crime problem in Chicago, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a bill protecting convicts, making it easier for them to get past hiring filters and find jobs in Illinois.
On Saturday, Pritzker signed the Clean Slate Act, which will enable officials to seal non-violent criminal records for over 1.7 million people in Illinois, Fox 32 Chicago reported.
Just last month, Gov. Pritzker fortified the state’s sanctuary laws.
The new law will require eligible records to be sealed by 2029.
The law applies only to non-violent convictions and dismissed or reversed charges and arrests. More serious crimes, such as sexual violence, DUI, or any crimes that require sex offender registration, are not eligible for automatic sealing.
While this particular law excludes violent felonies, it comes at a time when violent incidents on Chicago trains are making national headlines.
Moreover Pritzker has a long history of siding with suspected law-breakers over victims. In 2023, cashless bail became the law of the state, thanks to the SAFE-T Act he signed previously. Just last month, he fortified the state’s sanctuary laws, prohibiting federal immigration agents from conducting operations near courthouses, hospitals, university campuses, and day-care centers.
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John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The Clean Slate Act is celebrated by the Democrats as a jobs initiative, since many businesses use background checks to filter out candidates with prior convictions. Once the records are sealed, that traditional filter will be less robust, allowing potential former convicts to remain in the running.
“There is no reasonable public safety justification for making it hard for returning citizens to get a job or housing or an education,” Pritzker said, according to Fox 32. “It’s a policy guided by punishment rather than rehabilitation.”
The Clean Slate Initiative lists Pennsylvania, Utah, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware, Virginia, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota, and New York as states that have passed legislation that meets their criteria for Clean Slate laws. Washington, D.C., is also listed.
The criteria include automation of record sealing, including arrest and misdemeanor records. The Clean Slate Initiative also includes a “strong recommendation for laws to include eligibility of at least one felony record.”
Sheena Meade, CEO of the Clean Slate Initiative, stated: “Our coalition partners — including Live Free Illinois, the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, the Workers Center for Racial Justice, Impact for Equity, and Code for America — and bill sponsors Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth and Sen. Elgie Sims have shown the resolve, persistence, and heart needed to drive real change.”
The new law will take effect June 1.
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Blue-state ‘Grinches’ are stealing your tax relief, says Treasury Secretary Bessent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mocked blue-state leaders as “the Grinches Who Stole Christmas” for blocking tax relief for Americans.
On Wednesday, Bessent posted an AI-generated image of Democrat Governors Kathy Hochul of New York, Jared Polis of Colorado, and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois as grinches.
‘This partisan stonewalling is a direct assault on the very families and workers liberal politicians claim to champion.’
“Thanks to @POTUS, ’tis the season to be jolly — unless you’re a taxpayer in New York, Colorado, Illinois, or the District of Columbia,” Bessent wrote. “For millions of hardworking Americans, @GovKathyHochul, @GovofCO @jaredpolis, and @GovPritzker are The Grinches Who Stole Christmas.”
“Courtesy of their Scrooge-like tendencies, America’s seniors, along with all workers who would benefit from No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime, will be robbed of the tax relief they deserve,” Bessent continued. “The Christmas season should be a time of great cheer. But due to the Trump Derangement Syndrome of these Governors and other radical leftists, too many low- and middle-income households will receive nothing but coal in their state tax stockings.”
President Donald Trump’s July 4 bill eliminates taxes on tips for service-industry workers and on overtime for linemen and factory workers. It also provides a tax deduction for seniors receiving Social Security.
A Wednesday press release from the Treasury Department accused the Democrat leaders of “political obstructionism” for “deliberately blocking their own residents from receiving these historic benefits at the state level.”
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J.B. Pritzker, Kathy Hochul. Photo: Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“This partisan stonewalling is a direct assault on the very families and workers liberal politicians claim to champion. By denying their residents access to these important tax cuts, these governors and legislators are forcing hardworking Americans to shoulder higher state tax burdens, robbing them of the relief they deserve and exacerbating the financial squeeze on low- and middle-income households,” the department’s press release read.
States are not required to adhere to all federal tax provisions. New York is introducing new codes to its tax form, requiring residents to pay taxes on tips and overtime. Colorado plans to require residents to report the amount of overtime pay that was deducted federally and then add it back for state tax purposes. Illinois is expected to adopt similar updates to its tax form to add pay deducted federally.
New York has been ranked the worst state in the country for taxes. The state’s overall tax burden is estimated at 12.02%, while Illinois’ is 9.67% and Colorado’s is 8.42%.
Jared Polis. Photo by Hyoung Chang/Denver Post/Getty Images
Polis responded to Bessent’s comments in a post on X, claiming that Colorado has reduced taxes.
“Colorado has cut our income tax three times, and unlike these measures in Trump’s law, those cuts are permanent,” Polis wrote. “While the Secretary is supporting Trump’s tariff taxes, we are delivering real relief through the most generous child tax credit in the nation and cutting poverty. Spend less time talking about tips, which Colorado conforms to and won’t be subject to state or federal income tax up to the level designated in HR1 and instead focus on lowering interest rates, costs and bringing down the price of goods ahead of Christmas by eliminating these draconian tariffs. Happy holidays, Secretary — may your stockings be full of facts, not coal.”
In response to Bessent’s post, Hochul wrote, “Remarkable that an office once held by Alexander Hamilton is now tweeting Grinch fanfic at governors.”
Pritzker’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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Judicial Watch Sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker for Records on ‘Safe Haven’ for Texas Democrat Lawmakers
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) for records on the state’s role in providing refuge to Texas Democrat legislators, who fled their state in an attempt to deny quorum and block a redistricting vote (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Office of the […]
The post Judicial Watch Sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker for Records on ‘Safe Haven’ for Texas Democrat Lawmakers appeared first on Judicial Watch.
‘Here’s What Should Happen’: Tom Homan Knows A Way To Stop Pritzker And Johnson From Opposing ICE
‘They’re doing it exactly as they were trained to do’
