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García is one of the most influential Latino politicians in the country and made the 2015 mayoral runoff. But some of his supporters lined up behind Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson instead.
He said, “Now, 38 states have ratified the Equal Rights Amendment in the past half century. The most recent [being] Virginia in 2020. Thirty-eight is the exact number needed to certify an Amendment to the Constitution. The only thing standing in the way of an Equal Rights Amendment is an arbitrary deadline that Congress included in the preamble… when the amendment passed in 1972.”
Cook County public guardian Charles Golbert told a federal judge that kids spent the night in office space 516 times last year, four times as many in 2020. The average length of stay for office placements last year was three nights, according to the public guardian.
A Macon County judge has declared Illinois’ gun ban and registry unconstitutional, setting up a direct appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. The move means the law is not enforceable statewide pending appeal, according to attorney Jerry Stocks, who represents state Rep. Dan Caulkins in his challenge to the ban.
Funds could be used for signing bonuses, housing stipends, down-payment assistance and providing residencies or apprenticeships, among other hiring incentives.
In response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting the ability of people to recover damages in federal court for certain discrimination claims, Democrats in the Illinois House are pushing a bill to allow the recovery of those damages in state court.
On top of village property owners receiving a 100% refund of the village taxes late last year, Bradley residents — whether homeowners or renters — can receive up to a $120 gift card as the village will rebate up to $693,000. “This is another way of giving back to our residents to share in our financial success,” Mayor Mike Watson said.
Jim Dey: “Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to frame his trades of appointments to state posts and grant money for campaign cash as perfectly legal politics as usual. Former Gov. George Ryan sought to dismiss his misdeeds while governor and secretary of state as traditionally legal you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours favor-trading…Now it’s just about time for the co-stars in the Madigan saga to perform the ‘it’s just politics’ song and dance and find out if jurors will applaud.”
The Illinois Education Association’s State of Education report makes special note of staffing shortages in schools across the state. Its poll shows 87% of Illinoisans are worried about teacher shortages, while 79% are worried about a shortage of school support personnel, such as teaching assistants. The poll, which surveyed 1,000 residents, showed Illinoisans ranked having a good public education system higher than lowering taxes, economic growth, balancing the state budget and pension reform.
Sales of recreational marijuana to out-of-state residents dropped 10% in February from the same period a year ago, even as overall cannabis sales rose 6%, according to new state data. Missouri dispensaries started recreational marijuana last month. Missouri has much lower cannabis taxes at 6%, compared with 20% to 25% in Illinois. (Local taxes and the general state sales tax can push the total rate in Illinois to about 40%.)
“Over the next few years, large transit agencies in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington, and a handful of other major metropolitan areas that account for the vast majority of nationwide transit trips will have completely spent down their pandemic funding windfalls. Absent large ridership increases, addressing future shortfalls will require some combination of fare increases, service cuts, state and local tax increases, and additional federal subsidies.”
Illinois’ budget and pension stabilization funds would receive automatic deposits when the state hits revenue growth and bill payment triggers under legislation that cleared a House committee this week. With a series of infusions over the last two fiscal years, the state’s once-depleted rainy-day fund remains on track to hit $1.9 billion by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30, but more is needed to reach a healthy level on par with other states, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza told the House’s State Government Administration Committee.
Overall attendance has tracked fairly closely to last year’s, though the district avoided the massive drop during the omicron surge in January 2022. The average rate has remained well below the 95% goal the district had long set for its campuses before COVID struck.
In the 10-year period between tax years 2010 and 2019, the effective tax rates for residential property decreased in all of the selected municipalities in Cook County, except for properties in Evanston, Chicago, Barrington and Chicago Heights. For commercial properties, the only municipalities whose effective tax rates increased were Chicago and Harvey.
The small business network Alignable surveyed thousands of business owners from across the country and found that 35% of small businesses in Illinois couldn’t afford their rent last month.
A package of anti-corruption bills introduced in the Illinois Senate by state Sen. Andrew Chesney: one prohibits lawmakers from using campaign money to pay for legal defense, another fines felonious politicians $100,000 and one takes away their specialty license plates.
“When the assets run out, Lightfoot is going to be super-happy to know she lost last Tuesday’s race…Maybe she thought the state would run to her rescue. The contributions have been extremely inadequate.”
He said, in part, “We have to rebuild that trust in government, again, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, we want to increase transparency. Lobbyist registration reports, everything within our office to help increase transparency will be, I think, positive. We’re also as I mentioned, our libraries will be a huge focus of what we do, and just in general, eliminating the time tax that people pay for government services.”
Legislation to lower the retirement age at which teachers can begin to collect their pensions is currently moving through the Illinois Senate.
Frank Chapman, an organizer with the Empowering Communities for Public Safety coalition, said the candidates their organization helped weren’t all directly involved in progressive politics or activism, but do come from the community and have direct experience with being policed. “They’re going to make decisions that fit their interests. And that’s what this law was passed for.”
“Chicago’s crime increase forced the mayoral race to focus intensely on public safety, but it was far from the only recent blue city race to hinge almost exclusively on how Democratic candidates pledged to restore law and order.”
Lori Lightfoot faced serious struggles as an incumbent who managed the city during one of its toughest times, and many of the challenges that helped bring her down have also tested Democrats in the country’s biggest, bluest strongholds.
The CivicLab is a Chicago based Black-led nonprofit “do tank” to advance work in government accountability, civic engagement, and social justice.
The new legislation would amend the state’s school code to make it illegal for school personnel to involve police to issue students citations for incidents that can be addressed through a school’s disciplinary process. “We have to close that loophole and end school-based ticketing,” said Rep. La Shawn Ford. “There is no place for this type of system to be in our schools.”
David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “The two finalists clearly are ready to play hardball, not beanbag, over the next four weeks. ‘We’re about to get real,’ Johnson told jubilant supporters Tuesday night, as he launched into an indictment of Vallas’ track record. His opponent resumed campaigning Wednesday by responding in kind. If that’s the way this contest plays out — and if Vallas and Johnson can stick to the issues — Chicago will be better for it.”
Here’s a good litmus test for where Chicago’s two mayoral candidates stand on K-12 education: Do they support Chicago Public Schools featuring the “How Can We Win? video on its official webpage?
Ted joined Jeff Daly of WZUS Decatur to talk about the results of the Chicago mayoral election, why the rest of Illinois needs Chicago, the fact that Illinois students can’t read in 30 Illinois schools, and the need for more parents to get involved in education statewide, and more.
Chicago is guaranteed a new mayor after voters rejected incumbent Lori Lightfoot’s bid for a second term. With the looming leadership change, investors want to know whether the city will keep up recent financial momentum or return to old bad habits.
A coalition led by the Illinois Manufacturers Association, Illinois Trucking Association, Illinois Health Care Association and others is urging immediate action by lawmakers to change BIPA.
It also argues the term “arms” refers to weapons and not “accessories,” and that large capacity magazines are therefore not protected under the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.
A proposed 1,300-mile pipeline to carry concentrated carbon dioxide that would run through 13 Illinois counties is being met with pushback from residents of central Illinois.
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“Vallas’ comments on critical race theory came from a November 2021 podcast episode from the conservative Wirepoints news outlet. Midway through an interview, the host asks Vallas to talk about ‘critical race theory — or call it whatever you want, woke-ism, anti-racism.'”
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