While the $12 million program is “first come, first serve,” officials believe applicants who are low-income will receive their checks during the cycle. More rebates will then be released afterwards for applicants who have higher earnings.
The $23 million program is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which gave Cook County more than $1 billion in federal aid that year. Upon acceptance into the program, Cook County will cover 100% of a tenant’s rent for the first three months of a lease. For the remainder of the lease, tenants will pay 30% of their monthly income towards rent and the county will cover the rest. The program will also provide a one-time utility stipend.
In addition to the potential for “lost revenue” as a result of circuit court clerks no longer retaining a portion of bond payments, implementation of the SAFE-T Act has and will continue to have a financial impact on government agencies’ expenditures. At the state level, several State of Illinois agencies increased their budget requests in order to comply with SAFE-T Act requirements, as described in the following blog post.
The hearings last week featured stronger arguments on both sides. But many who observed the proceedings also remarked on the close collaboration among court officials. Judge Charles Beach chalked it up to “a sense of importance” that they were part of historic change. “When something changes, you start to really think about it, right?” Beach said. “The world is looking at us. It’s time to put your best people forward. To put your best arguments forward. I hope that momentum remains with us.”
“This weekend has been really tough, and it was coming off of a lot of movement as well of people out of districts and into shelters,” Anna Gomberg, a lead volunteer organizer, said.
“The armed robbery in Chicago is just out of hand,” activist Dr. Kim Tee said. “The city leaders need to step up and give more power to Chicago police so they can do their job.” The activists are seeking harsher laws and sentences for those responsible.
Indiana’s prepaid defined benefit pension plans collectively have a 89.1% funded status as of June 30. While employer and employee contributions, along with investment returns, were responsible for some of that growth, Indiana Public Retirement System Executive Director Steve Russo said a large part of it was due to the extra money the Republican-controlled General Assembly poured into Indiana’s sole pay-as-you-go pension fund for teachers hired prior to 1996.
From the five-day occupation, the Young Lords won many of their demands, including seed money for two free health clinics, funds to support the People’s Law office, which still operates today, and $650,000 to be invested by the seminary in low-income housing. The New Era Young Lords formed a few years ago as a way to honor the movement’s legacy and pick up the torch.
“CTU is eager to export its radical model across America. That agenda entails installing union leaders such as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson into elected office so unions can pull all the levers of power, including being on both sides of the table when negotiating new union contracts. Expect Johnson to repay unions handsomely for bankrolling him.”
“Now, a quiet mobilization is underway. These giants of trade, who typically spend their days outfoxing each other in the markets, are now colluding to push back against what they see as punitive policies. This new front sees them sharing data to amplify their value proposition, making it crystal clear to policymakers the vast economic benefits they bring to Chicago. “We don’t want to leave… But we cannot be disadvantaged in the world’s most competitive markets,” said Ed Tilly, the CEO of Cboe Global Markets.”
Early next month, Chicago’s City Council will move to make America’s third-largest city the latest jurisdiction to abolish the subminimum wage for tipped employees, requiring restaurants to meet the regular $15.80 minimum for bartenders, servers and more, up from $9.48 plus tips now. After a months-long public campaign that began shortly after Mayor Brandon Johnson took office in May, advocates reached a deal with industry lobbyists to phase out the tipped-minimum wage over five years.
“The fact that Mr. (Terry) Johnson, who is currently on parole and now accused of a forcible felony, will be out on the streets pending his trial illustrates a deficiency in the new law,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said. “I have been saying all along that after hearing the facts and circumstances of a case, a judge, not the legislature, is in the best position to decide if pre-trial release for a defendant is appropriate.”
Last Sunday, two DePaul students were maced and robbed in the 1200 block of West Belden, and on Sept. 9, three robberies were reported in under 30 minutes on or near the school’s campus. Those incidents prompted the university’s president to publish a long, public letter in which he acknowledged the “sad reality” of Chicago’s crime problem.
The sale continues a string of such deals throughout the country amid historically low office demand and an increased need for things such as data storage and logistics space. Although data centers bring relatively few jobs, a redevelopment by Compass would generate significant property tax revenue.
Chicago is expected to spend more than $250 million on migrants this year. “Some of that is state funds that are being spent,” said state Rep. Dan Ugaste. “We should not be spending any money without some oversight as to how it is being spent and whether it is creating the situation and providing the benefits we seek to provide when we appropriated that money.”
“[The shutdown] clearly then impacts individual tax revenue, because 80% of our individual tax revenue comes from withholdings that people get in their paycheck,” Illinois Department of Revenue Director David Harris said. “If for some reason, people aren’t working for a period of time while the government is shut down. That lowers tax revenue to the state of Illinois.”
“Wednesday, (President Joe) Biden issued an executive order picking up on the idea by creating a more modest American Climate Corps to hire more than 20,000 young adults in clean energy, conservation and climate-protecting jobs. Clearly, if Illinois doesn’t get its act together, it will leave money from that program on the table that it could use for its own CCC-style green jobs program.”
“When you’re caught bringing 10 guns, assault weapons, ghost guns, drum magazines from another state here to spread through our community. I don’t understand the debate about how that person should be walking the streets, how that person should not be locked up until trial,” Sheriff Tom Dart said.
Joe Tabor, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “Since (former House Speaker Mike) Madigan’s ouster in 2021 and the omnibus ethics bill that passed shortly after, lawmakers seem to consider the job finished. But Senate Bill 539 was a baby step toward reform that left large loopholes for bad actors to pass through easily.”
“Simply put, Illinois can’t afford to keep funding the same level of public services it provides today into the future.”
A new report from pension consultants Milliman argues that the top 100 state and local pensions in the U.S. lost another $74 billion in August. Their overall funded status dropped from 76.8% to 75.3%. In Chicago, 80% of property taxes now go to bail out public-sector pensions. Nationwide, spending on schools and teachers is being squeezed to bail out teachers’ pensions.
“(Brandon) Johnson, a man who was sort of (Cook County Board President Toni) Preckwinkle’s protégé — a Cook County Board member who served under her, and who comes out of the same Chicago Teachers Union progressive wing of the Democratic party — is now the mayor…Said Preckwinkle, ‘I’m very grateful to have a partner across the Hall, who is prepared to work with me and shares my vision for what we need in the city and in the county.'”
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In Illinois, about two-thirds of the state’s roughly 1,100 fire departments rely almost entirely on volunteers. And, with few exceptions, those departments are running out of volunteers. The alarming shortages come amid increased service demands driven by rising medical calls attributed largely to the state’s growing senior population.
Annie Gomberg, a lead volunteer organizer at the Austin District station on the West Side, is concerned about how the city’s infrastructure will be able to withstand the winter months. “It’s management. There’s interpersonal conflict, there’s crises, operational conflicts and so many logistics,” she said.
Since August of last year, city finance records show a Kansas-based company, Favorite Healthcare Staffing, has billed the city of Chicago for more than $57 million. What’s not clear is exactly how those dollars were spent.
But the Pritzker Administration opposes: “Legalizing adult-use cannabis has always been about justice, safety, and equity in Illinois. The governor is disappointed to learn that the McHenry County state’s attorney prefers focusing on spreading disinformation instead of tackling the issues that actually keep residents safe,” the Illinois Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office tells Axios.
Around 6,160 new apartment units are expected to be built across Chicago this year, down from roughly 8,970 in 2020, according to a new report.
“I can do as much as I can at the federal level and I can be the biggest cheerleader, but we’ve got to execute at the local level,” Duckworth said. “And that’s been a place that has not happened – that I didn’t see before. Both Democratic and Republican administrations, I never had the enthusiasm for growing business in Illinois and partnering with me for trying to bring businesses to Illinois the way I’ve had with JB [Pritzker].”
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