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“Worse, Chicago Democrats’ political base consists of its black citizens—and they are growing outraged as the city ignores them in favor of illegals. What these black citizens have worked so hard for is being freely handed over to people they see as invaders.”
The White Sox pay rent to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns Guaranteed Rate Field. But the extra ticket fee to the state is only triggered once Sox attendance reaches 1.93 million. Currently, Sox attendance is 1.45 million with 11 home games remaining.
“Thanks to the leadership of Mayor Brandon Johnson and his team, we have recently engaged in positive and productive discussions with the city of Chicago,” ears President and CEO Kevin Warren’s statement said.
Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran said Senate Republicans are committed to making the program permanent during the veto session.
The new mayor’s “multi-faceted approach” to closing the gap calls for “expenditure review, revenue enhancement measures and potential reallocation of resources,” the press release stated. The press release doesn’t mention his plan to ask the City Council to repeal the automatic escalator. It simply emphasizes his focus on “minimizing the impact on vital public services and ensuring that the burden of closing the budget gap is borne as fairly as possible.”
He said, “A better, stronger, safer future is one where our youth and our communities have access to the tools and resources they need to thrive. My administration is committed to advancing innovative, whole-of-government approaches to address these inequities.”
Some law enforcement agencies said they have been going line by line through the law to make sure they comply. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said his department will continue to watch crime rates and try to track individuals that they believe would have been detained.
The indicted individuals, all current or former United States Postal Service employees, have been charged with wire fraud.
A large empty lot that was once Jewel-Osco will house up to 1,400 migrants, sources say. Neighbors said the community is already in a crisis and adding migrants into their neighborhood would make things worse. “I’m one who loves to help people, but you’re going to impact on something that already needs help,” said resident Lisa Cordova. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Sabrina Sibby decided to move her four sons into the Invest in Kids program after they told her about not feeling safe in the Chicago Public Schools’ setting. Since switching to a private school, Sibby said her child’s grades have improved. “He was more aware of his educational setting as opposed to having to worry if he was safe or not.”
Madeleine Behr with the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation said that under the Pretrial Fairness Act portion of the SAFE-T Act, victims will be notified that they can file for protective orders. “So we really think the impact is going to be now that victims are more aware of their right and ability to get a protective order they will likely seek that. There’s more remedies and more ways to be safe.”
“Gang of Eight, four Democrats, four Republicans, wrote a comprehensive immigration reform bill which I still think in whole can be still used as a template for where we need to go,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said. The measure he referenced from a decade ago was criticized as bringing about amnesty. Republicans are looking for the border to be closed.
“This new mayor, the current occupant, Brandon Johnson, is a fool who prattles on about skin color because he has nothing else. So he casts himself as victim in his overwrought racial drama, with the city dying just offstage for the lack of a competent manager…’BTW, the last Mayor of Chicago was 1) Black 2) a woman, and 3) a lesbian and even she didn’t play the victim card this quickly,’ said my friend Tom Bevan, president and co-founder of Real Clear Politics and longtime observer of the bloody knuckle racial politics played in Chicago.”
David Greising and Clare Zhang, of the Better Government Association.”Today, the pension clause (of the Illinois Constitution) is a key factor constraining Illinois’ ability to creatively repair its deeply underfunded pension system. The restriction has left Illinois stuck in place even as states across the country are experimenting and innovating, saving billions while still dealing fairly with retired workers.”
“Democrats, bless their hearts, have been just about as stubborn on this issue as their donkey mascot in failing to listen to their own constituents, many of whom like the idea. Vouchers, which already are available in some districts around the country, can grant parents the freedom they too often have been denied — the freedom to shop around and choose for themselves where their education dollar can best be spent.”
In January 2023, the Illinois Legislature passed and Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a bill allowing the Illinois Department of Human Services to extend the amount of time mentally unfit inmates are allowed to remain in jails from 20 days to 60 days, with the ability for DHS to renew the hold every 30 days. In Sangamon County, since January 1, 2023, Sheriff Jack Campbell said 26 inmates have remained in custody beyond the 60-day requirement, accumulating 1,302 total days in custody.
Panelists address the problems faced by Chicago and New York – not just the influx of migrants, but also rising crime and failing schools.
The size of the deficit will complicate Johnson’s efforts to fulfill campaign promises to use the city’s financial resources to invest in working-class Chicagoans. “The projected budget gap paints a realistic picture of our city’s financial condition, which will require careful consideration and strategic action,” he said. “In the coming weeks, we will be taking a much closer look at the challenges we face, and how we will address those challenges reasonably and responsibly, and not on the backs of workers and working families.”
According to the release, checks worth up to $5,000 will automatically be mailed to more than 66,000 people who are owed money but have not claimed it. Prior to the changes, the automatic payment cap was $2,000. The enhancement, part of the state’s “Money Match” program, crossmatches state data with the treasurer’s unclaimed property database, the release said.
“Our agricultural reach goes far beyond our state,” said Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello. “In 2022, Illinois exports of corn and soybeans to the world totaled over $3.5 billion.”
Chicago teachers know the value of private schools, with 39% of them making that choice for their own children – nearly double the rate for teachers nationwide and for regular Chicagoans, one study found.
State of Illinois tax incentives exceeding half a billion dollars are a comparatively small part of taxpayer money that will go to Gotion, Inc. for an electric vehicle (EV) battery factory in Illinois. Through federal tax credits alone, which so far are going mostly unreported, Gotion will be paid billions more than its construction costs.
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