Join Sen. Kimberly Lightford for a town hall with the Illinois Sierra Club and Faith in Place to learn about the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act workforce and contractor development programs this Wednesday, December 15, from 5:00-6:00pm. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act will create the Illinois Climate Works Apprenticeship Program and Clean Energy Prime Contractor Accelerator Programs to train and mentor workers for clean energy construction and building trades careers. This act is historic for Illinois and will jumpstart more sustainable, diverse energy jobs. Go here to register for this free virtual event.

 We’re happy to report that nearly $490 was raised selling tickets for the sold-out play Fannie.  By all accounts, it was heart-warming, inspirational, and a real treat to experience live theater once again. Thank you Beverly Graham for organizing the event. In LWV OPRFs first-time participation in #GivingTuesday, friends and members generously contributed nearly $370.  We are honored that you chose to support the League with so many inspirational and worthy groups to choose from. Thank you Mary Ann Porucznik for the great idea.

Remember to mark your calendars for these three virtual trainings from LWV IL in January.

Observer Training-Thursday, January 6, 7:00-8:00pm

Illinois Voter Guide-Tuesday, January 11, 10:00-11:00am(registration pending)

Moderator Training-Thursday, January 27, 10:00-11:00am(registration pending)

A federal judge on December 6 upheld provisions in a new Illinois law that bans cities and counties in the state from renting out beds in their jails to detain immigrants in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. In an eight-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard of the Northern District of Illinois said the Illinois Way Forward Act, which Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed this summer, was an appropriate use of the state’s constitutional power to prohibit counties from participating in federal regulatory programs such as immigration detention.  “States are sovereigns. Counties are not,” Reinhard wrote in his decision granting the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. “The State of Illinois, by legislative act, has decided that its political subdivisions may not enter or remain in such agreements.”

The decision means McHenry and Kankakee counties, which had sued to stop the Illinois Way Forward Act from going into effect, will have to give up their lucrative ICE detention contracts by the end of January, barring a successful appeal.