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The move would mark a significant step in Griffin’s years-long effort to depart Chicago after the billionaire financier relocated his businesses and family to Miami in 2022. Citadel has expanded its offices in the Florida city and in New York, where Griffin plans to build a 62-story office tower.
“Some of the Democratic Party machine’s biggest contributors are lawyers who sue the city and those who are hired by the city to settle lawsuits. They also include firms retained by the city to handle these cases. Between the lawyers, well-funded criminal justice reform advocates, and universities conducting client-directed research to validate reforms, there is big money in criminal justice reform.”
The African American HIV/AIDS Response Act, signed by the governor in 2021, earmarked $15 million for Black-led organizations assisting individuals affected by HIV/AIDS, with $5 million expected to be distributed annually. However, advocates claim that the Illinois Department of Public Health disbursed only $1 million in 2022 and less than $2 million in both 2023 and 2024.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s corruption trial is approaching the four month mark. Jurors began deliberating on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and have deliberated each weekday since that afternoon.
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour said taxpayers can’t afford to pay for illegal immigrants living in sanctuary jurisdictions. “The withholding (of) funds is the only thing that’s gonna get those folks’ attention,” Wilhour said. “This is really easy. We can solve this tomorrow. End the sanctuary state status.”
Federal Judge Virginia Kendall of the Northern District of Illinois issued a preliminary injunction in December preventing the law, once it takes effect, from applying to federally chartered banks. But on Thursday she declined to extend the injunction to credit unions and state-chartered banks. Her ruling did extend the injunction to out-of-state banks that operate in Illinois.
One fiscal reform the alliance is proposing would change the ratio for how much of transit agencies’ operating revenue must come from passenger fares, a far more onerous requirement for Chicagoland’s public transportation system than in other peer cities.
The proposal from Illinois State Rep. Bob Morgan would require any team to have a winning record in at least three of its past five regular seasons before it would be eligible for public financing to build a new stadium or renovate an existing stadium. However, the Bears haven’t had a winning season since 2018, and the White Sox have had only two winning seasons in the past five, most recently setting the Major League record for losses in 2024, so under Morgan’s proposal, neither would qualify for public financing from the state.
State Sen. Willie Preston proposed an essentially identical bill last year, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support but was not called for a vote House. However, this year’s bill comes amid renewed national attention on the issue of food additives. In the past six months, the Food and Drug Administration has moved to ban two of the four substances that Preston’s bill proposes banning in Illinois.
Among the challenged provisions are state laws that prohibit Illinois law enforcement officials from engaging with federal officials on enforcement of civil immigration laws. State law, however, still requires Illinois officials to work with federal officials on enforcement of criminal laws.
It reads, in part, “The primary responsibility of any government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. By not aligning with federal immigration enforcement efforts, our local jurisdictions are inadvertently allowing undocumented individuals who have committed crimes to remain on our streets. This not only endangers our residents but also undermines the rule of law.”
“CTU may want to rethink walking out on students to get its demands met. With 60 percent of Chicagoans having an unfavorable opinion of the union, going on strike would jeopardize the union’s reputation with the mere 29 percent who do approve.”
“The paper once known as ‘The Bright One’ is reminiscent of an ornery restaurant owner who makes menu choices — bad ones — simply because he wants to only cook the food he enjoys. And if his diners do not like the menu offerings, then of course it is the customers’ fault because they are too stupid to know better. It is an attitude. Restaurants like that always fail.”
“We’re simply saying that we need more, and there is an unfair tax structure in this country, where those who have keep more and those who have less have to give more. That system, in and of itself, is inequitable,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
“Pritzker’s obsession with building his national profile and preparing for a 2028 presidential run puts the Prairie State at serious risk. … His relentless attacks on the Trump administration have alienated federal partners, jeopardized critical funding opportunities and left Illinois taxpayers holding the bag. Pritzker’s refusal to cooperate with Washington has turned Illinois into a battleground for his selfish political ambitions.”
Despite some promise of economic revival for South Chicago, opportunities for jobs for high school graduates in the industry are limited, a reality that’s mismatched with the jobs needed in South Chicago where the majority of people have less than a bachelor’s degree and work in health care and retail for an annual income of about $23,000. And community members worry that if they don’t qualify for the good paying jobs, they won’t be able to afford to live in their neighborhoods after new high tech businesses and the talent they actually hire moves in.
Jim Dey: “Champaign City Council member Davion Williams said he wanted to spark a “conversation” when he posted a swastika on his social media site. … Who’s responsible for the Williams show? … Williams got elected in 2021, defeating incumbent Clarissa Nickerson Fourman, in one of those municipal elections where hardly any eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot. Williams picked up 122 votes, Fourman 99, Azark Cobbs 32.”
“Elon’s secret servants are asking millions of federal employees to give up their legal rights, agree to a vague severance, and just hope for the best – it’s insulting,” Pritzker said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “I urge federal employees who live or work in Illinois to proceed with caution.” The federal government is the second largest single employer in Illinois behind the state’s government. Illinois is also the second-largest employer of federal workers in the Midwest.
From New Illinois advocates: “New Illinois isn’t trying to split off just Southern Illinois, or Southern and Central Illinois, to be a new state. We are talking about all 101 counties outside of Cook. We have committees in each of the collar counties.”
It looks like the next attempt at an Illinois tax hike may well be on its way given Gov. Pritzker’s recent walk-back of his “no tax increase” comments. In case you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a quick summary of why the governor and lawmakers might attempt another hike.
“What we have to do is be far more proactive and dare to be bold and audacious and not just this obsequious type of response where we are responding as if we are in servitude to this administration. Proactive. Organize. Tell the story of the people,” Johnson said.
Jim Dey: “With two of the state’s three major revenue sources limping along, Illinois is finding itself on a financial precipice as it faces the new budget year beginning July 1. … A recent report indicate that Illinois revenues increased by $65 million (1.4 percent) in January compared with the same month last year. Unfortunately, that growth was attributable to a $139 million boost in federal aid, not state sources.”
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