-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“The mayoralty of progressive Brandon Johnson has been, to say the least, a disaster. Even as he’s witnessed his rejection by Boards, Committees and the residents of Chicago, he continues to double down on failing policies.”
“Plenty of Chicagoans are already giving the mayor the side-eye because of his previous ties to the Chicago Teachers Union, where he worked before becoming mayor. But Johnson, who took a leave of absence from CPS to work for the union, still remains on leave — which means Johnson would benefit from any pay raises negotiated by CTU if he should decide someday to return to the classroom.”
The district and CTU are still arguing over pay. The teachers say the district’s 4 percent cost of living proposal is “decent” but they want guarantees the district won’t layoff or furlough workers.
In a letter sent to Robinhood officials, Illinois Congressman Sean Casten and four others say in part, “It appears that Robinhood has capitalized on election betting to expand its profits, which could come at the expense of protecting investors.” Just two weeks before the 2024 election, Robinhood launched political event contracts. Users were allowed to buy and sell those contracts, which are generally structured as options that look more like online gambling.
Opponents said the measure allows Illinois’ emergency authority to continue under Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration and gives more power while lacking proper transparency and oversight. “This, to me, feels like a power grab by the executive branch and our governor,” said state Sen. Win Stoller.
Public Act 103-0973 extends the deadline for filing a charge of discrimination in the contexts of employment, financial credit, and public services and accommodations, including educational institutions.
“This apologizing for the criminal, the person who chooses to commit crimes to the detriment of our victims, the people who don’t choose to be victims of crimes, is absolutely incredible. Crime is up 38 percent year-to-date since 2019. Crime is up everywhere,” state Sen. Steve McClure said during spring session.
During the previous lame duck session in early January 2023, legislators approved the ban on certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines. That measure continues to be challenged in the courts.
“This is our future workforce, right,” Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said. “The more kids that graduate without being able to read properly, without being able to do math properly, they’ll become dependent on government. Few of them will have good jobs, some of them will get into crime and at best some of them may be productive, but not very productive. It’s just not a good situation.”
Close to 10,000 children – or more than half of the total number of kids in the care of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services – live with family members. But more than 60 percent of those families are not eligible for monthly foster care payments, annual clothing vouchers, or foster care support groups according to the ACLU of Illinois.
Chicago gang crime declined to its lowest level in the past two decades in 2023, but the numbers may be more about gangs fracturing and police losing their gang database. Still, more than 1-in-5 homicides were suspected of being gang related.
We couldn’t have planned it this way, but our seven most-read stories in 2024 each captured a different facet of what’s wrong with Illinois. Failing schools. Murders. Closing businesses. A bloated, overpaid government sector. Election interference. Population-loss denial. And Chicago’s twisted equity priorities. 2024 was another tough year for Illinoisans, even as we put covid further in the rear view mirror.
I never once saw anything from Carter that I wouldn’t have expected from the man I met nearly fifty years ago or the man he portrayed anywhere else. He was the person you saw, always, in public and in private, as so many who knew him attest.
Ted joined Tom Miller to talk about why Illinois’ population gains in 2024 are only due to the massive wave of illegal immigration into the country, why taxpayers continue to flee the state, why it’s a bad deal to exchange residents for illegal immigrants, the new laws taking effect in 2025, and more.
Ted joined LaDonna Raeh of WVON to talk about the state’s $172 billion in official pension debts, the problem with having two classes of workers in Illinois, the need to move government workers onto 401ks instead of pensions, the crushing power of Illinois’ public unions, and more.
Andrew Biggs, who served on federally appointed oversight boards for Detroit and Puerto Rico: “City leaders may continue to ignore these warnings. If the pension fund does get close to insolvency, Chicago can most likely keep the pension checks flowing by suspending payments to bondholders. Illinois has no legal provision for Chicago to declare bankruptcy, meaning the state would be forced to rush legislation into place to prevent financial chaos.”
Illinois’ Kwame Raoul and the rest of the coalition filed an amicus brief in the case Louisiana v. Callais, supporting Louisiana and some of its voters in seeking to uphold a congressional map with two majority-Black districts. Raoul said, “As demographics shift around the state of Illinois and across the country, states should have the ability to redraw their legislative maps to ensure everyone has equal voting opportunities.”
The Cook County Sheriff’s office data showed that between 2021 and 2023, the Sheriff’s Office received about 77,000 orders of protection for both men and women victims, but only served about 19,000 of them – 25 percent.
Chicagoans won’t see their 2025 property tax bills rise to cover the cost of a city-imposed hike, but they will have to dig deeper to cover a host of tax and fee hikes that a deeply divided Chicago City Council approved to fill a massive budget gap.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER