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And with the holiday season approaching, both mayor and governor are threatening harsher restrictions if the situation doesn’t improved.
“Here’s the problem. Voters aren’t actually voting to implement Pritzker’s specific tax numbers. They are, in fact, just voting to grant lawmakers the authority to set graduated tax rates. It just so happens that Pritzker and lawmakers have this particular plan that will be implemented should the vote pass. But those numbers aren’t going to be set in stone in the constitution.”
The SBA’s regional administrator for the Great Lakes states, including Illinois, said Monday, “Could we have done a better job? Yeah. But the goal of the program was to get the money out as fast as possible — save as many businesses and jobs as fast as possible. We were flying the plane and building it at the same time.”
“The pols simply haven’t done the hard but fundamental work of reforming how governments here do business. As virtually every company in the private sector reduces expenses to match revenues, the officials elected to run our public sector refuse to consider serious spending economies.”
In a memo to the council, Evanston’s economic development division manager Paul Zalmezak wrote that Northwestern’s undergraduate student body of about 8,000 and an estimated 10,000 full-time and part-time faculty and staff “creates a dynamic that is arguably underappreciated by local residents.”
The two leaders have quietly disagreed over a variety of issues over the past year, from pension reform to fiscal policy and authorizing a Chicago casino to canceling the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. But what’s sparking the new and more open exchange was Pritzker’s decision earlier Tuesday to suspend indoor restaurant service.
That decision was at odds with Lightfoot’s earlier move to end indoor service at bars only. It appears the mayor, who has argued that restaurants are particularly important to the city’s economy, did not take kindly to Pritzker’s move.
“You would think any conscientious elected official would be looking for ways to reduce their reliance on this source of revenue, which often inflicts hardship on those least able to afford it. But Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is doing just the opposite.”
“If the governor’s order goes into effect, it’s really effectively shutting down a significant portion of our economy at a time when those same businesses are really hanging on by a thread,” she said. “So we’re going to try to continue our engagement with the governor and his team, but it’s not looking good.
FoxFire attorney Kevin Nelson said it’s about following the Illinois Public Health Act. “And in there every restaurant, every business is afforded due process, and if you’re going to shut them down you’ve got to get them advanced notice and ultimately the decider of that is a local judge.”
“One party like the police cannot be judge, jury and deliberator,” said Amy Campanelli, the Cook County Public Defender. “When that happens, you get people pleading guilty that shouldn’t be pleading guilty.”
Niles-based Logos Baptist Ministries and Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church will file a petition for cert asking the Supreme Court to review the case in the federal lawsuit against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker alleging unconstitutional executive orders discriminating against churches.
In all, more than 94,000 Chicago residents have been diagnosed with coronavirus since the pandemic began. Of those residents, 88% have recovered, while a reported 3,037, or 3% of those infected, have died.
“There is no other state that, when a candidate self-funds or contributes a certain amount to their campaign, all the caps get blown,” said Alisa Kaplan, Executive Director for Reform for Illinois, who authored a report on the best ways to fix the loophole.
A republication of our Wirepoints article.
As for restaurants that have been putting up igloos, tents, bubbles, or other temporary structures to expand outdoor dining in the winter, Arwady said city officials have been evaluating all of the designs to make sure they have proper air ventilation, fire safety measures, and proper entries and exits. “I have every confidence that the structures that are being put up are COVID-appropriate, and generally good for use.”
Michael Hurt’s new role focuses on expanding and improving diversity and inclusion in Bloomington, including the workforce. He holds a degree in Social Justice from the University of Illinois, Springfield.
There are 33 states now on the order.
Kane County Judge Kevin Busch granted a restraining, blocking officials from enforcing the indoor-service ban order, Monday afternoon, saying he believes the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act — which Pritzker has pointed to as the legal authority for issuing consecutive disaster proclamations — gives the governor no such authority.
“I don’t believe the schools are disinfected or clean, and because my son is always sick, his life is at higher risk,” Maria Carrasco, the parent of a Corkery Elementary School cluster program student who has both Down syndrome and leukemia. “I think CPS is seeing our children as numbers, but for us as parents, we see our children as life. They are our life.”
Multiple aldermen panned the proposed new fine during a nine-hour public hearing on Monday, saying it could punish the residents who can least afford it.
Starting Wednesday, six of Illinois’ 11 regions, including the suburbs in Cook County, will be under what Gov. JB Pritzker has dubbed “enhanced mitigations.” And Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said the city could bring back its own Phase 3 restrictions even before Pritzker imposes the state’s stricter rules.
The progressive income tax amendment would carry a hidden cost of $1,800 a year in lost home value for 3.2 million homeowners if Illinois sees the same impact as Connecticut. (There’s also a calculator for readers’ use.)
“While the district is doing everything in its power to plan for all possible scenarios, the CTU refuses to even discuss a return to in-person learning,” district spokeswoman Emily Bolton said.
“All the progress we’ve made over the last two months is out the door now, and we have to start back from zero,” said Arnie Krause, owner of The Claim Company restaurant in Northbrook.
The mayor said Chicago’s huge-but-ailing travel- and tourism-related businesses are showing some signs of new life. “I think there’s less planes flying, but the ones that are flying are full. And both O’Hare and Midway seem to be seeing an uptick in traffic.”
Amy Korte, vice president of policy for the Illinois Policy Institute: “Initially, state lawmakers saw the potential for city taxes to spread and included language in the amendment proposal that prohibited them. That changed by the time they approved the ballot question, and the current progressive-tax amendment offers no protection against local-income-tax hikes.”
It’s beggar-thy-neighbor policy at its stupidest. Instead of banning it, the state participates in it through its EDGE program.
Here’s something you don’t see every day: A politician providing excruciating details on tax increases.
“If the city’s final budget and management’s plans to address potential pressures beyond 2021 don’t make sufficient progress to return to structural balance, the rating will be pressured further,” according the report from Standard & Poor’s. “The city’s ability to absorb the additional pension expenditures and stay on a course to structural balance will be critical to maintaining the rating.”
“There’s no reason to set up a lengthy process, pay millions of dollars to a consultant to handle it and then blame local governments for why it’s not being used,” Cole said, referring to the program’s administration through Oakbrook Terrace-based Crowe LLP.
The Tribune analyzed 2019-2020 city crash report data available online, and found that fatal crashes blamed specifically on people driving recklessly, over the speed limit, too fast for conditions or too fast to avoid a crash are up by one — from 19 to 20.
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