PolitiFact

Fact-checking Illinois politicians, written by the Better Government Association.

While Chicago’s gun laws may be more strict than some states, Abbott’s statement ignores how regulations have been weakened after federal court reversals of the city’s once-tougher restrictions. He also ignores how the majority of firearms in Chicago are coming from neighboring states where gun laws more reflect those of his own state.
In his bid for Congress, Mayor Keith Pekau is touting the downward turn in reported crimes during his tenure. While the statistics bear him out, there was a spike in violent crime his first year in office.
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.
Irvin chose to compare the two years that reflect the largest downturn in homicides. Six were committed in Aurora in 2017 and four in 2018. Overall, however, homicides have fluctuated under his tenure. Using his math, the homicide rate during his second year in office jumped by 200%, from four in 2018 to 12 in 2019.
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour said there is absolutely no observed or clinical data that indicates any benefit to masking K-12 students in schools. Clinical studies cannot be conducted because of the risk they would pose to unprotected children, but observational data shows masks are beneficial in reducing transmissions in schools.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh pointed out that Illinois has vaccinated more people than its nearby states: Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky and Michigan. But the Midwest is bigger than just those states contiguous to Illinois.
Chicago’s unemployment rate in 2021 was consistently worse than other comparable cities, with the exception of only New York and Los Angeles. Even accepting the clarification from Lightfoot’s office that she meant only the four largest cities, the statement is still wrong.
Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller claimed the migrant caravan that set off from the southern Mexico city of Tapachula is “the population of Minneapolis.” Minneapolis has nearly 430,000 residents, while the highest estimate we could find for the group leaving Tapachula was just under 1% of that total.
We contacted polling experts, surveyed news coverage and reviewed state data but found no evidence to back up state Sen. Terri Bryant’s claim that 75% of Illinois Republicans have been vaccinated. We also left multiple messages with the senator’s office seeking comment, which she did not return.
It wasn’t the deadliest domestic tragedy prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as Rep. Sean Casten asserted in arguing for more climate change action.
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.
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.”