CC Board Condemns Hateful Acts and Discrimination Based on Immigration Status

Cook County Board of Commissioners Board and Committee Meetings - March 8, 2017

Significant Actions Taken: 

• The Board unanimously passed a Resolution to Condemn Hateful Acts of Violence and Rhetoric Directed at Jews and Muslims.  Initially sponsored by Commissioners Boykin (D, 1st) and the four Republican Commissioners, all Commissioners joined as co-sponsors.  To indicate the seriousness of the resolution, the approval was given by a “rising vote” with all Commissioners standing to express their support.
• The Board also approved the Ordinance Amendment which modified different portions of the County Code to eliminate references to “citizens” because the benefits, opportunities, and services provided by the County are not conditioned on citizenship or immigration status. (Agenda Item 17-1165)
• The Healthy Workforce and Health Care Access Amendment made  similar changes in language and specifically added that discrimination based on immigration status is prohibited unless required by Federal or State law.  As explained by Commissioner Gainer, the purpose of both these actions is to encourage people to seek health care and report crimes without fear, no matter what their immigration status is. (Agenda Item 17-1732)

Other Actions Taken:

• Approved a resolution requiring the Cook County Recorder and Clerk to submit progress reports on the transfer of all duties and responsibilities of the Recorder to the Clerk’s office by December 7, 2020.  Reports will be due in May and November in 2017 and 2018, and quarterly (January, March, July, and October) in 2019 and 2020.  Commissioners Boykin, Sims and Steele voted against the resolution, without discussion. (Agenda Item 17-2106)
• Approved a substitute ordinance that requires reports from departments in connection with an agenda item to be made available (electronically, paper, or by posting on the Legistar system) by 5 pm on the day the agenda is posted, except for items to be referred to a Committee.  The original version of this measure would have required the reports to be made available 72 hours prior to the meeting and stated that a failure to meet that deadline would result in the item being deferred to the next meeting unless there was a vote by at least 2/3’s to allow consideration then. (Agenda Item 17-0058)
• Referred to Technology a proposed contract for a Unified Communications (Voice over IP) for $24 million over 5 years to replace the County’s aging telephone infrastructure (Agenda Item 17-1942).

Other Discussion of Interest:   Cook County Health & Hospitals System (CCHHS) Issues
During the Finance Committee’s consideration of a monthly report from CCHHS:

• Comm. Gainer asked whether the nearby hospitals (U of I and Rush) were in “competition” with CCHHS.  The CCHHS CEO Dr. Shannon said that the populations served were different.  About 1/3 of CCHHS’ patients are uninsured vs. 4% to 6% at the other hospitals.  Also, while the majority of CCHHS’ patients are insured, the majority  are under Medicaid, and a large amount of these are under the expanded Medicaid coverage that is the result of the Affordable Care Act..  Only a small percentage (less than 10%) of the patients purchase insurance on the exchange.  Comm. Gainer noted, and Dr. Shannon agreed, that this means that the biggest concern for the financial health of CCHHS is whether there will be significant changes to expanded Medicaid coverage, as currently proposed in the bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
• Comm. Boykin asked for an update on CCHHS’ involvement with the gun violence consortium.  Dr. Shannon said that CCHHS is looking at the effect on the family of victims of gun violence and the researchers are finding increased stress and depression.  Another effect of the increased violence in Chicago is on the trauma staff of CCHHS:  the staff is saying that during this past winter they were contending with a level of violence that is normally only experienced in the summer.  Usually, the staff has some time during the winter months to recover from the stress of dealing with violence.​

​Observer:  Priscilla Mims                                                          Length of Board Meeting:  1 hour