Creating an Illinois Republic: A Thought Exercise for the Land of Lincoln

I’ve wanted to write about this subject for a while and keep getting sidetracked. My goal has always been a genuine thought exercise — exploring ideas about Illinois governance without claiming to have all the answers. I’ve enlisted help refining these thoughts so I can better articulate why certain changes feel worth considering.

I’ve been using the word Republic a lot more deliberately. The U.S. Constitution guarantees every state a republican form of government. That guarantee is not just formal language; it is a commitment to representative self-rule, accountability, and government that exists for the public good. One aim of this exercise is to find ways of making Illinois a more distinctive state — a place people would actively choose to live, work, and build their futures.

We should not be proud of corruption or of functioning as a one-party state. Illinois ought to stand alongside states like California, New York, Florida, and Texas in terms of confidence and civic pride. California’s flag still proclaims “California Republic.” Texas was once an independent republic and carries that history with unmistakable pride. Both states have turned identity into energy. I want to explore what an Illinois Republic could mean — not as a name change on paper, but as an aspirational frame that strengthens representation, competition, and shared ownership of our state.

Some states have chosen a related but distinct word to express similar ideals of self-government. Four U.S. states officially refer to themselves as a Commonwealth: Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. They adopted the term during their early constitutional periods. “Commonwealth” draws from an older English tradition meaning a political community organized for the common good — the “common weal.” In practice today there is no legal difference between a commonwealth and any other state. The word was chosen to emphasize that government exists for the people rather than for a monarch or privileged few. It is a proud, historical declaration of self-governance.

Why prefer Republic for Illinois rather than Commonwealth? Both terms point toward government for the public good. Commonwealth stresses shared welfare. Republic more directly highlights elected representation, the rejection of hereditary rule, and the active role of citizens through institutions. For the Land of Lincoln — a state whose most famous son defined government as “of the people, by the people, for the people” — Republic feels like the clearer link to the constitutional tradition we already inherit and to the competitive, responsive governance this thought exercise hopes to imagine.

This series will continue as an open exploration. Some ideas will feel practical. Others may seem more ambitious. The point is to think together about how Illinois can live up more fully to its republican foundations and become a place that inspires lasting pride.

What does a stronger republican Illinois look like to you? Which aspects of our state’s identity and history should guide that vision?

The Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan Explained

 This is a link to a federal gov't about the latest effort by the "Biden-Harris" administration with regards to student loans. As you saw earlier you can have up to $20K of your student loans forgiven - $20K is if you have Federal Pell Grants, $10 for those who never held Pell Grants. This relief are for those borrowers who's income is less than $125K/year or couples who's income is less than $250K/year.

Anyway a lot more information to inform you of gov't action on this issue.

There has been a pause on Federal gov't student loans since 2020 which was the start of the pandemic scheduled to end in January 2023. So as far as whether or not you're eligible for this relief this is from the link to studentaid.gov:

What do I need to do in order to receive loan forgiveness?

• Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education.
• If the U.S. Department of Education doesn't have your income data - or if you don't know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, the Administration will launch a simple application in the coming weeks.
• The application will be available before the pause on federal student loan repayments ends on December 31st.
• If you would like to be notified by the U.S. Department of Education when the application is open, please sign up at the Department of Education subscription page.

Hopefully this will be needed relief if this affects you.

How does Illinois Governors work with Chicago Mayors

We get a bit of a history lesson Jim Edgar was Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and he had to work with Mayor Richard M. Daley during that time who was Chicago Mayor from 1989 to 2011. In Edgar's own words as far as his relationship with Daley.

Daley and Edgar had other flash points as well. Daley wanted the state to pay for a Soldier Field rehab for the Bears but Edgar refused, preferring a multi-purpose facility at McCormick Place. Daley wanted to close Meigs Field (which he eventually did after Edgar left office) but Edgar fought to keep it open. After the infamous Loop flood, Daley wanted Edgar to promise to pay half the repair costs. Not knowing what the costs were and unwilling to sign a blank check with the state practically broke, Edgar refused. And Daley wanted Edgar to sign off on a bill rushed through the statehouse limiting the power of rebellious City Treasurer Miriam Santos. Edgar again declined.

“Daley told me, I really need you to sign this bill,” Edgar said. “I said, Mayor, I got all the Hispanic leaders leaning on me. They feel like this bill is an attack against them. I got half the Hispanic votes in a close election. I felt pretty close to the Hispanic community. I vetoed the bill. He thought it was a personal slap. From then on, things were pretty tense.”

Then we have Governor Pat Quinn who served from 2009 to 2015 and his relationship with Mayor Rahm Emanuel who served from 2011 to 2019. At least in the above case we're talking about a Chicago Mayor and Illinois Governor from different parties Edgar is a Republican and Daley is a Democrat. Gov. Quinn and Mayor Emanuel are both Democrats and they didn't get along great either

Quinn had known Emanuel since 1980 but the initial meeting between Quinn as governor and Emanuel as mayor got off to a rocky start.

“I invited him to the governor’s office. He was name dropping and all that. Talking about experiences in Washington,” said Quinn. “But then he started swearing at my budget director, Jerry Stermer, with other top staff in the room. I thought that was way out of line. I told him to stop it. He was highly disrespectful. He certainly never suffered from modesty.”

In Springfield, Emanuel chose to work around Quinn rather than work with him. Often, Emanuel would run his legislative agenda through Senate president John Cullerton, a close friend.

In 2014, said Quinn, “Cullerton was having breakfast at the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield and said, 'I’m going to run a bill this week raising property taxes for Chicago. The state legislature will vote for it. It will be veto proof whether you like it or not. I’ve run it by Madigan, too. It’s going to be the law.'”

Quinn hardly wanted to raise Chicago property taxes in 2014 when he was running for re-election. “That was on a Monday. By the end of the week, the whole plan had fallen apart. That was typical of Rahm and Cullerton to try to bypass my administration. But it generally wasn’t a successful proposal. It’s a big state. I had more friends in the legislature than he did, especially as time went on,” said Quinn.

As I saw from the press reports of that period of time I got the impression they didn't get along very well. I got the idea that Mayor Daley didn't get along very well with another Democrat Governor Rod Blagojevich. If the Gov of Illinois and Mayor of Chicago are of the same party and without a "political boss" you're going to have a situation where both of those two important leaders of this state will bump heads.

Yeah the Mayor of Chicago represents the city and is himself (or in the current case herself) a very important and visible public figure not just in the state, nationally also as we are the third largest city in America. However in this state the Mayor of Chicago isn't only chief executive of a local gov't unit. In that I'm counting municipalities (cities or villages), counties, or even townships for example. In contrast there is only one Governor of this state.

As I see in the comments to the article as it was shared on CapFax this morning everyone seem to point to the Governor for anything as a fulcrum of a bigger picture or they own. The Mayor of Chicago or any city mayor for that matter have to look out for their municipality. The Governor has to look out for the whole state.

I would urge you to read this piece written by a former Chicago political reporter Derrick Blakley who goes into the relationship between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. I won't say their relationship is rocky but it's not solid either. They've also reportedly not seeing eye-to-eye on everything. I'll let you read Blakley's article to find out what he says about that.

Mr Beat: Every type of government explained

 

[VIDEO] As you may know, Mr. Beat is a social studies teacher or at least he was until he decided to do YouTube full-time. And for me as a political science major this is up my alley. Every type of government from democracies, republics, monarchies, autocracies, presidential democracies, direct democracies, parliamentary democracies, etc.

Mr. Beat presents this almost 20 minute video with David from the YouTube channel World of Antiquity to discuss the types of governments with a few historical aspects of those types. A lot of what we know about republics, democracy, or even dictatorship has a basis in ancient Greece or Rome. So these terms we've heard thrown around has a basis over thousands of years old or perhaps for those of you who are religious before the Christian era.

Here's a question. Do you think of America as a democracy or as a republic?

Governing: Who ruined Illinois?

I'm sharing this article for historical purposes. It seems we're a whole different unniverse from where Illinois had been during the 2018 election. What would Governing.com write about Illinois as we head into the 2022 election?

This article discusses at least the last five governors up to 2018. From Jim Edgar to George Ryan to Rod Blagojevich to Pat Quinn and finally Bruce Rauner who lost his bid for re-election in '18 to J.B. Pritzker. It's amazing to see the all powerful Michael Madigan who at the start of 2021 relinquished the post of Speaker of the state house, his state house seat, and chairman of the Democrat Party of Illinois. And John Cullerton left the state senate and thus he also relinquished his position as Senate President.

Also noted here is the financial position of Illinois. When Edgar left office as Governor in 1999 he left the state a more than $1 billion surplus. After Edgar Illinois suffered from recessions especially the one after the 9/11 attacks and then let's not forget the 2007-08 "great recession". And couple both of those economic crises with Edgar stating that the state "had bad luck with a couple of governors".

How many of you feel like there's more than a couple of governors we've had bad luck with?

Lt. Governor of Illinois

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton

The woman you see above is Lt. Governor of Illinois Juliana Stratton. She was formerly a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing Chicago's near south side when she had been tapped by then gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker as his running mate in the 2018 Democrat primary. Well she with Pritzker are at the top of state gov't in Illinois. She's the first Black woman to become Lt. Governor.

This great post provided by the Illinois state house caucus blog gives us a historic run down of this office. The Lt. Governor succeeds the governor in office upon death, resignation or impeachment. The most recent time this has occurred is with former Gov. Pat Quinn who succeeded to the office of Governor upon the impeachment and removal of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Before the 1970 state constitution was written the Lt. Governor like the Vice President of the United States would also preside over the upper house of the legislature. So per the federal constitution the Vice President is the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, and before 1970 the Lt. Governor presides over the Illinois Senate.

Since the 1970 constitution was enacted a Senate President is elected amongst the membership of the Illinois Senate to be presiding officer in the state's upper legislative house. So what does that leave the Lt. Governor to do? Well it's listed on the Lt. Gov's state webpage:

In this role, her portfolio includes leading the Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative, and chairing the Illinois Council on Women and Girls, the Governor’s Rural Affairs Council, the Military Economic Development Council and the Illinois River Coordinating Council. Lieutenant Governor Stratton currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Lieutenant Governors Association as the Treasurer.

Basically aside from that portfolio you can make of this office what you will if you get elected. Stratton is one of 48 people to have been elected Lt. Governor. Most recently the first woman to hold the office of Lt. Governor - Corinne Wood - has passed away.

If you want to see what Lt. Gov. Stratton is doing feel free to follow her on Twitter or IG

Mr. Beat: The Food & Drug Administration Explained

 

[VIDEO] The emergency authorization for those three coronavirus vaccines we've been hearing about  -or at least seen our fb friends showing off their cards for receiving their shots - is courtesy of the agency we commonly know as the FDA. So Mr. Beat explains the history of this agency and how it came into being.

When we go to our local pharmacist or drug store we generally have an idea of what we're ingesting especially as far as over the counter meds that we might take for say the common cold or flu. In our history that wasn't always true, perhaps our pharmacists were actually running apothecaries - and I'm guessing that's a new term for you and you didn't hear that from Mr. Beat. The apothecary basically created the medications that you might use.

Of course the 19th century had so many concoctions dedicated to your well-being that since there were no serious regulation of such products there was a possibility that they might actually be harmful. And that's what the organization that evolved to become the FDA was designed to do. It was a bit of a long drawn out process to ensure that what the public consumes especially medication is considered safe for us to use.

And just think the organization we now know as the FDA was actually created in the 1920s. Before that it was the federal Dept. of Agriculture that tried to regulate primarily food grown and raised in America.

Are you glad there is better regulation of food and drugs? Certainly are you glad there are regulations on what a doctor can prescribe to their patients?

Citywide day of action on Friday

Really got wind of this on Wednesday via an email from Mrs. Banks-Pincham forgot them got reminded in another email. A post about this will be posted at SixthWard.us in the morning but this blog will post about it first.

• Subject: ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT FOR CITYWIDE DAY OF ACTION: FRIDAY APRIL 1, 2016
  
  Below is the plan of action for Harlan.
  
  This plan is being conducted in concert with many other unions who are being effected by the political onslaught of Governor Rauner and Mayor Emanuel to dismantle the union structure in the name of "balancing the budgets"
  
  Over the next few days, you may be hearing about the actions on April 1st taking
  place across the City that emphasize the disrespect and disregard for;
  
  • Students from Pre-K to PhD by not providing a fair funding formula for all students in Illinois to the withholding of MAP grant monies to state run university students.
  • Fair wages for the workers at McDonalds,
  • Moving of jobs from the United States to Mexico (Nabisco)
  • The building and expansion of prisons instead of schools in Illinois as well selling off public education to the private sector.
  • The lack of pension funding because City and State governments did not pay their portion and used the taxes to fund those pensions with the promise to pay it back......over more than 20 years.........and never did.
  WE NEED EVERYONE TO COME OUT AND SUPPORT THIS DAY OF ACTION. IT EFFECTS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US AND WE NEED TO STAND UP NOW!!!!!
  
  The current plan for Friday April 1, 2016 is: teachers meet at 8 a.m. at Harlan to picket for an hour; at about 9 a.m. teachers who are physically able will walk to Chicago State; teachers who are unable to make the walk will drive to Chicago State at 9:30; we will converge at the Student Union Building at 10:00 a.m. for a rally at CSU; a teach in will be conducted from 10:00 a.m. until just after 12 noon; CTU, CSU faculty and community organizations (West Chesterfield, Rosemoor, etc.,)will rally at noon and march back to Harlan; Harlan teachers can get their cars and drive downtown (actually) the lot near Cermak and Wentworth is recommended with a Red Line ride to State and Lake; others may elect to catch the 95th Street Red Line with CSU faculty to go downtown; CTU and other unions will gather at the State of Illinois (Thompson) building located at Randolph and Clark.
  
  By the way, the Thompson building is a public building. There is a food court on the lower level offering a variety of foods.
  
  If you arrive a little early, grab something to eat. The food court starts shutting down around 3p.m. The downtown "Shut Down Chicago-Fund Our Schools" rally at the Thompson building will run from about 3 or 4 until around 6.
  
  All are welcome to call or email - sherry8750 @ yahoo.com - if there are questions or concerns.
  
  Sharon Banks-Pincham
  Harlen LSC Member

C-Span Student Cam 2015

[VIDEO]I'm a believer in such activities such as this. It's important that we can interest our young people in civics and having students do documentary projects on our government and public policy is as good a way as any. And consider the prizes although the competition will more benefit a school and it's teachers and students than the student themselves.

The image you see below is the theme of the 2015 competition. Want more information go to: http://www.studentcam.org/

Also, I promise to advertise this much earlier than I see to have been able to whenever I bring this competition up.

I've added some government links in the sidebar

US Capitol - Washington, DC via sierragt2k/flickr

When I was an 8th grader at Bennett School years and years and years ago I took Public Law 194 which is basically a requirement before passing beyond elementary school. What's required is a passing grade on an examination on both the US and Illinois Constitutions.

When I went to Harold Washington College & Morehouse College years ago it was taught that a constitutions is a written framework as to how a government is expected to operate.

In the 7th grade under a teacher - Mr. Albrecht - he gave us a little taste of what we'd learn when we pass into the 8th grade. However, I must admit that it didn't click until it was time to take this test and our 8th grade teacher drilled us on what we should know so that we passed the test.

In a way, I'm glad he did although he shall remain nameless for the moment. Still if it wasn't for that period of time perhaps politics would never have been my interest!

As a result lately one task for this blog was to compile some government links to the sidebar here. Hopefully a young person in school right now can use these links to gain an understanding of our system of government. I try to keep them basic because over at my other blog - The Sixth Ward - there are more links than you shall know what to do with.

All the same, yeah the links are to the many governments which are critical and under whom we live. Yeah we live in the City of Chicago and the city operates many departments that will directly affect many of us - especially the Chicago Public Schools for example. In addition to that we do live in the United States of America and the State of Illinois.

In addition to that, if you haven't taken a test yet on not only the US Constitution or Illinois Constitution there are links to those documents to be provided here. What this means is that you won't have to merely depend on the materials that your respective teachers will give you. Hopefully they will appreciate the effort you're taking to understand the material you might find yourself tested on.

Here's hoping that you will find yourself as interested in politics as I was at 14-years-old. Hopefully many of you will become our future leaders!

BTW, an example of the test 8th Graders took back in the 1950s posted here in January 2011 . Do you think you could've passed that test?

ALSO, you may be interested in who represents you both in Washington as a Representative or Senator or in Springfield as your state legislators.