-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“The City has sufficiently alleged that over many years, Westforth deliberately and purposely availed itself of the Illinois market, fully aware that the firearms would contribute to criminal activity in Chicago,” the appeals court said in its decision.
After pushing Chicago contractors to voluntarily reduce their prices by at least 3 percent, Mayor Brandon Johnson defended the request Tuesday as standard procedure. “This has always, long been a part of our conversation,” he said.
Board President Sean Harden on Tuesday said the memo, commissioned by the board, offers up other options besides a short-term loan. “This kills the whole narrative that borrowing is irresponsible or that it would amount to a payday loan,” he said. “It rights the ship.” Harden, who was appointed by the mayor, said he is hoping that it shifts the board to a “solutions mindset.”
The letter, signed by 28 aldermen and sent to Illinois General Assembly members Monday, expressed “deep concern” over the ongoing lack of laws governing the often-intoxicating products. The high number of signees, including six members of the aldermanic Progressive Caucus that often sides with the progressive mayor, raises questions about whether Johnson has the support to get aldermen to adopt his own guidelines.
The Sun-Times’ David Roeder said most of the cuts consist of writers and editors, many of which have decades of experience with the paper.
The $35,000 report from the consulting firm Baker Tilly, commissioned by the district, concludes there are no easy solutions to funding both a new teachers’ contract and the pension payment. It presents three possible options, noting that two—budget cuts, employee furloughs, and increasing TIF surplus funds—would be difficult to implement.
Organizers with the Democratic Party of DuPage called the protest a “Tesla takedown.” It is intended as a protest against President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. The flags of Canada and Ukraine, and the rainbow Pride flag, were seen in the crowd, along with numerous signs.
Workers in the Illinois Department of Aging’s Community Care Program are calling for higher taxes to pay for higher wages.
State Rep. Paul Jacobs introduced House Bill 1345 to repeal the Illinois TRUST act and end the state’s sanctuary status. “I would personally love to take care of every person in the world, but my responsibility right now is the people of Illinois,” Jacobs said.
State Rep. Kam Buckner has introduced House Bill 1611 that would prevent the use of no-knock warrants on drug offenders unless there is evidence that they are dealers. The measure also states that police are only able to execute the warrant between the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. unless the judge expressly authorizes execution at another time.
The measure says retailers must register with the Department of Revenue, collect the 6 percent tax, and remit it to the state, with a portion benefiting firefighter pension funds. According to the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, as of 2023, unfunded liabilities for Illinois’ downstate police and fire pension plans totaled approximately $12 billion.
For employees with 30 years of service, Tier 2 guarantees a minimum of 66 percent of their final average salary for life, with the annual pension payment growing annually. Based on this year’s pensionable salary cap, this would amount to $84,007. That is nearly two times the maximum Social Security benefit of $48,516 for an employee retiring at 67.
House Bill 2574 would require the state Board of Education to report specific information about student assessment contracts, and also to “engage with stakeholder groups,” including the committee established in Sec. 2-3.64a-5 of the Illinois School Code. The state board’s approved funds for assessments is $40 million for the current 2024-2025 school year.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who sponsored the legislation requiring the reports in the late 1990s when he was a state lawmaker, called the failure reckless. “To know that they aren’t even issuing the reports … is stunning, stunning. Just so reckless. So irresponsible,” Dart said. “You know what, we’re all busy. So don’t give me your story … I can’t conceive of any scenario where this isn’t at the front of people’s lists, you know, we have a child in our care that died.”
“Celebrating the total value of a project is becoming a troubling trend in Chicagoland. Rather than evaluate an infrastructure project based on its value to communities, local officials are evaluating projects on how much they are willing to invest in disadvantaged communities regardless of whether it is cost effective and leaves an acceptable debt burden to those same communities and the city at large.”
Yolanda Talley, who most recently served as internal affairs chief and led recruitment efforts, was previously embroiled in a bizarre incident involving a drug bust centering around her personal car and her niece.
“Patients, health care providers, and independent pharmacists will all tell you that pharmacy benefit managers — or PBMs — are driving up prices,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in his state of the state address. “They extract extra profit from patients through opaque and often predatory tactics. They are not doctors, but they work with insurance companies to deny people the drugs and treatments doctors prescribe.”
Since Fiscal Year 2019, the year Gov. JB Pritzker came into office, state funding for the Monetary Award Program, also known as MAP grants, the state’s need-based financial aid program, has increased 77 percent, to just over $710 million. Illinois has been able to increase both the number of grants it awards each year to more than 151,000 this year, as well as the maximum grant amount, which now stands at $8,604.
“It’s a story of two schools just a short distance apart on Chicago’s West Side: Manley Career Academy High School and Chicago Hope Academy. This contrast highlights much of what’s broken in the Chicago Teachers Union’s approach to education, particularly its relentless efforts to block competition and protect union jobs at the expense of students.”
The BLS just released its finalized employment numbers for 2024 so we can now do a full review of job creation under Gov. Pritzker since 2019. Illinois had fewer private sector jobs over the period, losing a total of 1,900 total jobs. It was the nation’s 5th-worst performance. Compare that to the net new private sector jobs created in Texas: 1.2 million.
Ted joined Thom Serafin and Lissa Druss to talk about why Ted decided to live in Illinois, why this state is such an extreme outlier on so many issues, why now is the best time ever to create a strong opposition, the details of the state’s education disasters, and much, much more.
“City Hall is asking contractors to cut the prices they’re charging the city by at least 3 percent for the next 12 months to help balance Chicago’s budget. … What makes it worse is that this was the plan all along. In fact, there was a specific dollar figure given for the savings the administration expected to be achieved: $8.6 million. The idea was hatched late last year during the dramatic showdown between Johnson and the City Council over the 2025 budget, according to the administration and many aldermen.”
A little-known law in Illinois requires private companies to finance the DEI industry if they wish to do business with the state—giving a lifeline to an unpopular industry that currently finds itself on the ropes as major companies across the country ditch their DEI programs and President Donald Trump works to eradicate its influence across the federal government.
State Rep. Steven Reick said the governor’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year gives a $78 million increase to address the issue. Last week on the House floor, Reick said that’s just for three of the state’s pension funds. Other plans Reick said are going to be impacted but not considered in the $78 million infusion are the judges, General Assembly or the Chicago teachers pensions fund, plus a dozen other public sector plans throughout the state.
Sources say the union is now “barreling toward an escalated conflict instead of the stability of a landed contract.” The CTU has completed the legal process and can take a vote at any time that would give 10 days notice of a strike.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER