-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Jim Dey: “(Gov. JB) Pritzker said last week the bill ‘needs a lot more work’ before he’ll sign it. But who knows what that means, given the credibility the governor recently forfeited when he approved $11 billion in pension sweeteners for Chicago police and firefighters.”
While the Clean Slate Act establishes an automatic process for sealing certain records, it excludes serious criminal offenses ineligible for sealing or expungement under current state law.
In the action, Moody claims CPS has locked its student elementary teachers out of student teaching opportunities in Chicago public schools, allegedly violating the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom in the process. In the lawsuit, Moody specifically accuses CPS of denying Moody’s request for a waiver from the district’s policies requiring schools participating in CPS’ student teaching programs to agree to the district’s so-called “anti-discrimination” rules.
In addition, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $266.8 million to resolve nearly two and a half dozen lawsuits, exceeding the city’s annual budget to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct by nearly $185 million, city records show.
While he wasn’t off the hook, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling’s appearance before the City Council was a bit more relaxed than previous years as Snelling received praise for a continued reduction in crime numbers and clearance rates.
The governor spoke at the groundbreaking for a grocery store in the Madison County city of Venice. The project is partially funded by state taxpayers with a grant of $2.4 million through the Illinois Grocery Initiative. The governor agreed that the project was not a state-run grocery store but a “state-sponsored” business.
Since Gov. JB Pritzker took office in 2019, there have been numerous lawsuits against the agency and three different directors. The state budget has $2.5 billion from taxpayers going to the agency, an increase of $1.2 billion since fiscal year 2019, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.
Reason Foundation reviewed over 300 public pension systems and found that Illinois leads the nation with over $15,000 per capita in unfunded state and local pension liabilities.
Senior Director of Communications at Defending Education Erika Sanzi said that “requiring unlicensed people to screen asymptomatic children every year is wildly irresponsible government overreach. … This whole trend of schools tinkering in the minds of other people’s children needs to stop …”
The bill builds on an executive order Gov. JB Pritzker issued in September directing IDPH to develop vaccine guidelines. That directive came amid federal vaccine guideline changes initiated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime skeptic of vaccine safety and efficacy.
That’s after the state artificially inflated the number of students meeting standards by lowering the scores needed to be considered “proficient” in reading and math in 2025. It means many students are now reported as “proficient” but are struggling and may not receive the support they need to succeed in school.
Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, in office since 2023, was elected by a very Mamdani-like coalition of poor minorities, public employees, and hipster whites. Under Johnson’s steady misrule, schools deteriorate even as he pushes through big raises for teachers and other public employees, leaving the city with anextremely high pension debt.
The suit is now before the Supreme Court in one of the most economically important clashes in the country’s history. In arguments Wednesday, the court will consider striking down most of the tariffs Trump has imposed since taking office, potentially affecting trillions of dollars in trade.
Tirrell J. Paxton, independent inspector general of Cook County: “Staffing numbers at the Office of the Independent Inspector General have remained relatively stagnant since its creation in 2007. The county budget, conversely, ballooned by three times during that time. As a result, there is one independent inspector general office investigator for every 1,000 county employees. “
“The consequences are many: higher risk of officer fatalities, more defensive postures that hinder community policing, greater stress and burnout, and a chilling effect on recruitment and retention in an already strained public safety labor market.”
“My job, which I don’t view as partisan, is to share information that helps people feel more protected,” said Ald. Timmy Knudsen, who is a lawyer. “I always approach these alerts with a legal mind. What we shared was all publicly available information that had been shared with us by the public.”
That political pal, state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, is being investigated for misusing campaign money — the same type of offense that once sent Jackson to prison.
The transit governance changes tie into a larger, ongoing trend of the Chicago mayor’s power steadily weakening since the days of Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Democratic machine. Some of that has been at the hands of an emboldened City Council, some from Gov. JB Pritzker and other Springfield leaders.
Harvey also leads the region in both number of tax delinquent businesses and in money owed by businesses. According to the report, 662 businesses owed Harvey $9.2 million in unpaid taxes.
CPS has allowed excused absences “for circumstances that cause reasonable concern for a student’s mental, emotional, or physical well-being.” The district also said it has teams reaching out directly to families in these situations to ensure they are receiving academic and social-emotional support.
“For 2026, transit riders and frontline employees can expect no service cuts, no fare increases pending RTA Board action this Thursday, and a renewed emphasis on operational improvements to service quality and experience,” said RTA communications director Tina Fassett Smith.
“For example, the Florida Turnpike Crash of August 2025 happened when Harjinder Singh, an illegal immigrant from India, was driving a semi-truck when he allegedly made an illegal U-turn on an “Official Use Only” access point of the Florida Turnpike. A minivan carrying three people collided with the jackknifed truck’s trailer, killing all three occupants.”
“It’s really become a prison,” the judge said, noting that conditions that could be accepted for short stints should be viewed through a different lens when people are held for days on end.
“It’s an appalling way to conduct political discourse — and in front of teachers, no less,” Glennon said, adding that Pritzker’s justification that “all limits are off” with Trump is emblematic of a broader disregard for honesty and accountability in Illinois politics. The energy bill, he noted, will primarily benefit politically connected companies like Gotion, the Chinese-owned firm building a heavily subsidized battery plant in Illinois. Glennon warned that the legislation effectively guarantees further taxpayer exposure with “no caps” on future costs. “You’re adding batteries to a broken system and pretending that will fix it,” he said.
“This change pushes Illinois’ corporate tax structure even further out of line when you compare it to other states,” Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois President Maurice Scholten said. “And we understand that lawmakers were trying to balance a difficult budget, but relying on higher business taxes every time revenue falls short can create a vicious cycle that ultimately weakens Illinois’ tax base in the long run.”
What concerns Conway is the fact that the mayor’s office “thinks it’s OK to spend $50 million” on a new Greyhound station “at a time when we’re asking for more in taxes and fees amid rising costs and not implementing some of the efficiencies identified in the Ernst & Young report.”
Plaintiff Pablo Moreno Gonzales told the court he was held in a cell with an estimate of at least 150 people. There were no beds or blankets, no access to hand soap, showers or hygiene products, no access to call an attorney, the smell of human excrement and other unwashed people overwhelming for almost two days.
“Here, a powerful trifecta has emerged: grassroots mobilization, legal and judicial accountability, and local, state and municipal governments coming together in strategy to rout the xenophobic authoritarianism looking to make a permanent occupation of our neighborhoods.”
Still, questions remain about how CPS will fund the arts program that parents and students urged the school board to maintain.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER