The accusations surfaced publicly last week in Will County divorce court files unsealed at the request of WBEZ over the repeated objections from lawyers for Hastings, a veteran Democratic lawmaker from the southwest suburbs.
Magazines with a capacity of 30 rounds or more for handguns and rifles were relatively rare among civilians not long ago. Now, they’re commonplace despite local bans.
“We were in the same political family,” former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. says. “We were able to elect a county commissioner, we were able to elect state reps, senators and it all came out of that organization.”
State laws created the police, fire, laborers and municipal employees pension funds, and state lawmakers have a responsibility to consolidate, reform and fund local pension plans, says Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.
There are just two Republicans on the 17-member Cook County Board: Sean Morrison and Peter Silvestri, who is not running for re-election. Morrison knows the board is vulnerable to losing a conservative voice, which he argues serves as a check on power. “I’m very worried,” he said.