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The Head of Chicago’s Federal Bureau of Investigations office, Special Agent in Charge Robert “Wes” Wheeler Jr., also said his team will continue to work with the Chicago Police Department to address the persistent presence of street crime around the city.
Several committee sessions in Chicago over the summer revealed a chance for bipartisan movement with pension reform, specifically regarding public employees hired after 2011. Republicans, however, will likely not gain traction with renewed calls for ethics reform following a guilty verdict delivered to former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s ex-chief of staff Tim Mapes in August.
Legislative leaders have already ruled out new legislation that would have provided additional state funds to Chicago to deal with the influx of asylum-seeking migrants from Venezuela. And the leaders of the Chicago Bears, who have been seeking state help with their expected stadium project in Arlington Heights, have said they will not be pursuing legislation this fall.
“The bigger issue, however, is that Chicago’s fiscal system doesn’t generate sufficient, recurring revenue to simultaneously support the mayor’s progressive agenda and continue to fund current service levels, satisfy the city’s debt obligations to both bond holders and its pension systems, fill a significant number of extant vacancies in sworn police officer positions, and deal effectively and humanely with the migrant crisis.”
Senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee said the same alderpersons who complain that “hope is not a strategy” would be the first to “reject a larger appropriation…Tell me the alderman who is standing up saying, ‘I want the city [to] pay $400 million or $500 million, and I would approve that budget.’ You can’t have it both ways. There is no appetite,” Lee said, “in the city of Chicago — nor should there be — to bear 100%
About 87 percent of the department’s $888 million budget for 2024 comes from grants.
According to the delegation, their conclusion is that the process and reality for thousands of people trying to cross into the United States is a disaster, with more money needed to be spent on humanitarian re-settlement efforts versus border patrols. “We see, for instance, cities like Topeka, Kansas looking for workers, incentivizing and even offering incentives as much as $15,000 for people to come in [and work],” Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said.
Ramirez said that she and her aide attended the event at the request of protesters, but were quickly assaulted and battered after their arrival. She said, in part, “I understand residents are fearful and have concerns about the city’s plan. I have the same concerns…I hope to continue to build bridges across the different communities in the 12th Ward as we address this crisis in a humane and compassionate way. Brighton Park should be a welcoming community to both existing residents and new arrivals.
Gov. Greg Abbott posted online saying that the state has sent over 58,000 migrants up north: nearly 21,000 to New York City, 12,500 to Washington D.C., and more than 16,000 to Chicago.
“I have said it, and I think both sides are lobbying the various folks in the General Assembly, I will support it if it comes to my desk in any form,” Pritzker said. Filing a bill to extend the measure is “where the rubber meets the road,” he said.
Phil Melin, executive director of Illinois Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, said if the law isn’t addressed during the fall veto session, Illinois businesses will suffer. “I think we are just going to see a continued explosion of BIPA lawsuits, with the possibility of insurance companies being savvy to it and not covering it,” he said. “You’re going to see some real carnage out there.”
An analysis dated September 2023 from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services website shows the program is expected to cost $831 million in FY 2024, more than $280 million beyond the allocated amount.
Since the law took effect, the Madison County Jail population has dipped below 200, Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said. That’s a close to 25% drop from last year. “Right now, the only thing they’re facing is a stiff talking-to from a judge and a promise to return,” Haine said. “Call me cynical, but I don’t think that has the kind of bite that money hanging over your head would have.”
The Illinois Governor opposes out-of-state funds, unless they’re his. Democrats might love Mr. Pritzker for his big checkbook, but the public could take a different lesson from his insincerity about out-of-state money
“It represents lawlessness, and these street takeovers are happening almost every weekend,” said Tom Weitzel, a retired police chief in suburban Riverside. “They do burnouts. The kids get wildly dangerous. The city needs to be more aggressive in impounding vehicles and making arrests.”
Fitch boosted the rating of the third-largest US city one notch to BBB+, up from BBB, and now three notches above junk, with a stable outlook. Its the second upgrade for Chicago from the rating company in the last 12 months.
Trainees will receive a minimum yearly salary of $54,000 from the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) while pursuing tracks in one of five high-need concentration areas: cybersecurity, networking, coding and database, end user computing and enterprise infrastructure. Trainees will also be offered a full-time job with DoIT after completing the program and meeting its benchmarks.
Another $86.7 million in gross investment earnings was earned for cities, villages, school districts, counties and other units of government that take part in the Illinois Funds local government investment pool operated by the State Treasurer’s Office.
“Verified ballot boxes have keys that are tamper proof that have tamper proof seals available for newly certified systems,” said ISBE Election Operations Director Brian Pryor. “We have confirmation that all memory cards or flash drives are secure and have tamper proof seals or locks available and confirm that bar codes or QR codes are one-time use codes and cannot be captured for additional use.”
The city’s current plan calls for the tents to be setup to be right across the street from a school. Protesters said they were given little to no notice about the plans, and feel they were not even considered when the plans were being made. Ald. Julia Ramirez of the 12th Ward said as she was leaving the protest, a group of protesters surrounded her and her staffer and began assaulting them.
According to PlayIllinois.com, Illinois gamblers placed over $676 million worth of sports bets in August, beating August of 2022 by a wide margin. According to a recent report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, in the fiscal year that ended in June, revenue from sports betting jumped 55% from $610 million to $949 million, bringing in $142 million in tax revenue.
Dr. Mika Tosca, a climate scientist and associate professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), issued an apology on her Instagram Wednesday for her incendiary post amid the Israel-Hamas war. “Israelis are pigs. Savages,” Tosca wrote earlier. “Very bad people. Irredeemable excrement.”
It reads, in part, “Public dollars belong in public schools – schools that are held accountable, that educate ALL students and that exist for the common good.”
Willie Wilson: “With hundreds of millions of dollars being diverted, we have a right to be heard. With parks and other resources being used to house migrants, community members should be heard.”
As Chicagoans filed over 50,000 rat complaints last year, the city’s Inspector General’s office said it would audit the bureau for being ill-prepared to handle the surge in complaints and failing to exterminate rodents efficiently. For the last two years, the bureau failed to meet its goals to handle each rat complaint within five days, according to the investigation.
Jim Nowlan: “More than ever right now, Chicago almost desperately needs downstate, the great region of our state outside the metropolis, from Rockford to Carbondale. Chicago risks destabilization by thousands of migrants from Central and South America who have been foisted upon the city unexpectedly by Southern states that feel similar pressures.”
It’s actually quite clever, from Pritzker’s perspective. By promoting himself nationally through Think Big, he will still be honoring his public promise not to challenge Joe Biden in the presidential primary. But if Biden drops out, gets pushed out or becomes incapacitated before the November 2024 election, as seems more likely each day, Pritzker’s name will be established nationally.
Federal law prohibits funding for illegals, so states like New York, California, and Illinois have decided to finance the entire cost of providing for them. Illinois began expanding Medicaid coverage to illegals during the pandemic, with an estimated 2023 price of about $223 million. But the state and its auditors wildly underestimated actual enrollment and costs; the projected bill for 2024 was $1 billion.
Ald. William Hall is among those traveling the Texas border this week, and he posted to Instagram, “This is a federal disaster.” He also mentioned federal funds sent to El Paso to help with the migrant influx and said “but what about Chicago?”
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