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This is an effort to avoid a deficit in the general fund.
“Make no mistake who is most impacted by the degradation of the police and the failure to remove and keep violent offenders off the street. What is indisputable in the analysis of the crime statistics is the epidemic of “black on black” crime that is escalating and ignored by activists. A surge in black-on-black crime is terrorizing black residents and blighting inner city neighborhoods, driving what remains of the middle class out of the city.”
No resignations had been handed in to the mayor’s office as of Monday afternoon, but a source close to the board confirmed conversations are ongoing about the makeup of the board for the next few months. In the case of resignations, the mayor would suddenly have a clear path to appointing new board members who would likely follow his orders to fire CEO Pedro Martinez, make a contract deal with the CTU and take out a loan.
“I didn’t ask anybody to do anything. I didn’t ask anybody to do anything,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “The only thing that I’m requiring in this moment is leadership that’s prepared to invest in our children, and the strategy is ultimately about what’s best for our children.”
Asked about the advisory question for the millionaire surcharge Thursday, Gov. JB Pritzker said “it might be one that’s popular among people. But as far as I’m concerned, the graduated income tax is the way to go.”
Banking and credit union groups have filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, seeking to block the ban on applying interchange fees to sales taxes and tips. The lawsuit alleges that Illinois is interfering with the federal government’s exclusive regulatory authority over various federally-chartered financial institutions.
U.S. Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia voted against a bill that would deport foreign nationals convicted of domestic violence and sex offenses, then introduced legislation that would give immigrants a path to U.S. citizenship.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said his bill will give states more flexibility in administering existing unemployment benefits so that Americans can find a good-paying job. The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 4.2 percent, while Illinois’ unemployment rate is 5.3 percent, one of the highest in the country.
Budget Director Annette Guzman repeated that “everything is on the table” to make ends meet, including layoffs or furloughs and even a property tax increase, which Johnson has previously vowed to avoid. “We don’t control all of the levers as it relates to our revenue and creating new revenues,” Guzman said. “We have a slate of options that are going to require difficult choices and difficult votes.”
“I should be in a good mood. My Illini just won and I had a nice weekend with my family, but to be real honest, I’m frustrated,” Jared Gregg, a seventh-generation farmer from Piatt County, said earlier this month. “I’d like to see the government put forward as much effort as American farmers are putting forward. Watching them play politics is a tough pill to swallow when prices are down and expenses are up.”
Reported thefts had declined from 1,636 in 2018 to 997 in 2021. But thefts increased by 29 percent from 2021 to 2023. The 1,283 thefts reported last year cost victims an average of $634. And this year, 891 thefts had been reported through Aug. 17, which is 13 percent more than had been reported through the same date in 2023.
“The funding from the federal government has had such a positive impact, and to have it taken away with no plans to replace or supplement means we will halt the incredible growth our students have made since bouncing back from COVID,” said Benito Juarez Community Academy teacher Lilliana Hogan.
Manufacturing employment is down in Illinois this year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state dropped from 581,900 manufacturing jobs in December 2023 to 577,500 in August 2024.
Jim Dey: “So the GOP is an afterthought in the Land of Lincoln, but apparently enough of an afterthought that ’24-7 Wall St. Insights’ decided to look further into the state of Illinois’ flagging Republican Party. While acknowledging Illinois is a lock for the Ds in November, it wrote that ‘Illinois’ status as a blue state is an oversimplification that belies a much more nuanced reality.'”
“The grandiosity of the bill’s backers was based on the predictions by experts who felt they could divine the future. But, as the Chicago Tribune recently wrote, ‘Just three years later, it appears, the alarmists were right, and Pritzker and the green lobby were wrong.’ Illinoisans, thanks to the reality that this state consumes more energy than it produces, faces higher, shortage-driven utility costs.”
“There’s been massive migration all throughout the world, people literally moving from one country to another. And that began to increase significantly over the last four years. So it’s natural, of course, that you adapt your policies to meet the moment,” Pritzker said.
The ages of the victims range from 2 to 58.
“Our schools have always been underfunded, because they, like our highways and former public housing, are intertwined with the project of segregation in the city.”
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