PolitiFact
Fact-checking Illinois politicians, written by the Better Government Association.
The BGA could find no language in either White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s statements or in the Department of Health and Human Services guidance that encourages children to take “chemical castration drugs” or undergo gender reassignment surgery.
The annual Equal Pay Day Coalition study does not separate out white women, and does not examine the same professions nor the qualifications of either gender. The U.S. senator joins a growing number of Democratic politicians who have incorrectly cited the national study of the gender pay gap to include an analysis of men and women in the same job.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Illinois Republicans didn’t make any effort to get an independent group to redraw Illinois’ legislative districts. But that ignores legislation proposed and promoted by the GOP.
“The idea that there is opposition to this, it is super-minority opposition,” said state Sen. Robert Martwick, a Northwest Side Democrat who has pushed for a fully elected board for years. “It’s just a couple of loud voices.”
While Chicago is unique when it comes to its number of known lead service lines, experts told us it’s tough to determine the accuracy of Durbin’s statistic because no national inventory exists.
The law — dubbed the “American Rescue Plan” by President Joe Biden — is more flexible than previous aid packages in how money can be spent, experts told us. But it’s also not a free-for-all.
We found Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statement was supported by one metric measured over a few days but glossed over an otherwise spotty vaccination record.
The Illinois Republican Party said Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Hierarchy of Vaccine Priorities” puts prisoners, politicians, and college students ahead of “individuals with high-risk health factors, and everyone else.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Republican elected officials, propaganda sites and radio hosts were sharing a story that falsely claimed a picture showed his teenage daughter violating COVID rules. The governor is correct.
In the past, Pritzker’s statements about Illinois’ supremacy in Census spending have at times been less ambiguous. In a Dec. 4 statement, he left little doubt he thought Illinois ranked No. 1 — a claim that has never been true.
While Underwood does not directly condemn “rioting and looting” during that appearance, taken in the full context of her remarks it is a stretch to suggest her praise of “beautiful protests” extends to looting and rioting.
Corporations would see an increase in their flat-rate income tax under the plan that takes effect if the amendment is approved. But only a wealthy subset of small businesses, which generally pass their profits to shareholders, would be affected — and data suggests that portion would be small.
Asked repeatedly to provide records, studies or any other support to back up the claim, Sen. Dick Durbin’s staff did not respond.
Yes, nearly 20,000 fake driver’s licenses were seized at O’Hare in the first half of the year, but the Facebook post was misleading in suggesting that they are all linked to registered voters who are Democrats. There’s no hint of any connection between the confiscated fake IDs and Democrats or voter fraud.
“It’s not even breaking even on its annual expenses and its annual income,” said G. William Hoagland, a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and former Republican staff director for the Senate Budget Committee. “I don’t know how anybody could say they have a surplus.”
Experts told us it was fair for Pritzker to highlight those early spikes given the unique challenges state unemployment systems faced in processing claims because of the sudden health crisis sweeping the nation.
The Facebook post comes from a blog post about an Illinois statute that prohibits carrying a firearm while wearing a face covering. But the Illinois State Police said that law does not apply to lawful concealed weapon permit holders who abide by the state’s COVID-19 mask requirements.
Illinois Rising Action, a nonprofit launched in March by America Rising Squared, is out with an ad accusing Pritzker of putting the interests of politicians above those of working families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I believe someone was in cahoots for some reason, and I think it just got a little bit out of control and spread a whole lot further than they anticipated,” Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford said. But to leading experts, the research is clear: The genetic structure of the virus shows it could not have been created in a lab — or be “man-made.”
It’s common for residents outside of the Chicago area to refer to the significantly larger and more populous northeastern region collectively as “Chicago,” according to state political experts. But they said the inaccuracy reinforces regional stereotypes.
As the state’s chief executive, Bruce Rauner played a starring role in the showdown that caused the budget crisis. But he had plenty of co-stars among Democrats, including longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan.
PolitiFact and other fact checkers have debunked numerous claims contending Pelosi alone was responsible for Capitol security. Davis’ claim pointed to the speaker’s role in directing Capitol security leaders, rather than all of Capitol security. But it’s still highly misleading.
At the time Pritzker misspoke during the July 21 interview, many other states had used or were planning to use American Rescue Plan Act money to replenish unemployment funds. Illinois currently owes the federal government $4.2 billion in unemployment advances.
State Sen. Terri Bryant drew a false comparison. No U.S. citizens would be barred from Medicaid unless their income was too high to qualify. And the beneficiaries of the Illinois plan who are in the U.S. illegally would also have to fall below the same income restrictions.
Last year, Cook County did suspend jury trials amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrary to what Lightfoot claimed, however, the county’s criminal courts have continued their other operations over the past 15 months, and jury trials started up again this March.
Experts cite multiple ways to evaluate which coal plants are the “cleanest” beyond total CO2 emissions. Prairie State ranks nowhere near the top based on any of the yardsticks.
The mayor was partly right and partly wrong when she said Illinois was testing at a rate that put it behind all its neighbors as well as in the “bottom tier” nationwide.
Claims that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is halting alcohol sales originated on a prank page that is being shared on social media.
Illinois was one of three states that allowed voting to continue as scheduled on March 17, even after Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed schools, barred restaurants from serving dine-in customers and prohibited mass gatherings.
Rush Darwish’s claim contains some truth in citing Rep. Dan Lipinski’s vote against the DREAM Act, but it gives a misleading impression overall of the congressman’s current stance on key immigration issues.
The research on millionaire migration in California after the state’s top tax rate in 2012 is mixed. For instance, a Stanford report highlighted by the Vote Yes for Fairness campaign found a small number of millionaires did leave after the tax increased. However, it also notes the net migration of millionaires to the state remains positive.
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