Capitol Briefs: Biden designates Springfield 1908 Race Riot Monument
A sign for a Springfield walking tour commemorates the city’s 1908 race riot, just blocks away from the Capitol. On Friday, President Joe Biden designated part of the riot location a national monument. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Financial institutions sue credit card fee law; Mendoza withholds payments to embattled village
By JERRY NOWICKI
& ANDREW ADAMS
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com
President Joe Biden signed a proclamation on Friday to designate the “Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument” on the 116th anniversary of the deadly riot in the state capital.
“We're allowing history to be written – what happened – so our children, our grandchildren, everybody understands what happened and what could still happen,” Biden said at an Oval Office ceremony to designate the monument.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch – the first Black man to hold that position in Illinois –said he became emotional while attending the White House ceremony upon an invite from Biden’s staff.
“That race riot led to the creation of the NAACP, which led to Thurgood Marshall, which led to Brown versus Board of Education, and so many big victories in this country when it comes to race relations,” Welch said in a phone interview. “You have to say that it was this that led to the creation of opportunities for people like me to become the first Black speaker.”
In August 1908, a white mob lynched two Black men, Scott Burton and William K. Donnegan, and burned down homes and businesses in the city’s Black community. The riots were spurred by the mob seeking to lynch two men held in the Sangamon County Jail, Joe James and George Richardson. James had been accused and was later convicted in the county of murdering a white man, while Richardson was accused of sexually assaulting a white woman who later signed a statement saying she had falsified the allegation.
Biden’s proclamation said the deadly event was “emblematic of the racism, intimidation, violence, and lynchings that Black Americans experienced in communities across the country in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.”
The monument will be located between N. 9th and 11th streets, and between E. Mason and E. Madison streets.
Welch said it’s important to emphasize history to avoid repeating it, and he mentioned the July 6 killing of Sonya Massey, a Black woman, by a white police officer.
“We have a party in this country right now that would love to erase history. They want us to forget a lot of the things that make America, America,” he said. “And I think it's important that we continue to recognize the significance of these events and make sure folks remember what occurred in this country.”
Lawsuit challenges credit card fee law
Financial institutions filed a long-promised legal challenge Thursday to a new state law that would prohibit them from charging fees on the tip and tax portions of debit or credit card transactions.
An “interchange fee” is a standard charge applied over 150 billion times annually across the U.S. when a credit or debit card is swiped. While it usually applies to a full purchase price, the Illinois law would exempt the portion that goes to tips and state and local taxes.
No other state has enacted such a limitation on interchange fees.
The provision – dubbed the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act – was included in the budgeting process to appease the state’s retailers, because the governor and Democratic lawmakers capped an existing tax discount claimed by retailers to fill a budget gap.
But the move drew swift backlash from financial industry advocacy groups. The Illinois Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, America’s Credit Unions and the Illinois Credit Union League filed a joint lawsuit after weeks of public advocacy against the change.
The change is not slated to take effect until July 1, 2025. The plaintiffs argue it would “upend the intricate and carefully calibrated global systems for debit and credit card purchases.” Specifically, they say the state action “usurps the federal government’s sole regulatory authority” of certain banks and credit unions.
The lawsuit also argues the fees are necessary for the financial institutions to offset risks such as the purchaser defaulting or the purchase being fraudulent.
Institutions “do not have the capabilities, systems, or processes to comply” with the law by July 1, the lawsuit argues, and they’d have to invest “potentially hundreds of millions of dollars” depending on the institution to put systems in place.
The lawsuit asked the courts to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1 and declare it invalid.
Proponents of the IFPA say it should be easily implemented because institutions are already prohibited from charging fees on purchases made through government programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the tax and tip portion of charges is already separated in financial systems.
State cuts funds to village of Dolton
Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced Thursday her office will withhold roughly $135,000 from a village in Chicago’s south suburbs for failing to file required annual financial reports with the state.
The village of Dolton, led by controversial Mayor Tiffany Henyard, has failed to file its annual financial report, a financial audit and three Tax Increment Financing district reports for two years, according to the comptroller’s office.
The money being withheld are the village’s “offset” funds, which is money held by the state from people who owe traffic tickets or other money to municipalities like Dolton.
Mendoza’s office also threatened to impose a fine of over $78,000 on the village if its leaders don’t address the problem. She said her office works with municipalities if they fall behind on reports, but that “Dolton is different.”
“The Mayor’s office has refused to communicate with us or address the problem,” Mendoza said in a statement. “If Mayor Henyard refuses to follow state law, my office will use the tools at our disposal to safeguard the interests of Dolton’s citizens.”
Henyard has drawn significant criticism in recent years for alleged corruption, misuse of public funds and personal battles with others in Dolton government. Her behavior sparked a change in state law earlier this year.
Federal investigators have served several subpoenas on the village, seeking, among other things, all expense reimbursements and credit card expenditures for Henyard, according to reporting from FOX 32.
The village’s board of trustees also hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot – who worked on federal corruption investigations as a prosecutor in the late 1990s – to investigate Henyard earlier this year.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
Jerry Nowicki
Jerry has more than five years of experience in and around state government and nearly 10 years of experience in news. He grew up in south suburban Evergreen Park and received a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and a master’s degree online from Purdue University.
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