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U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall acknowledged the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has called Illinois’ law bad policy. “That may well be true,” she said. But in this case, the evidence indicates federal law doesn’t prevent Illinois from using state law to regulate interchange fees.
The draft ballot question circulated by the Illinois Policy Institute’s advocacy arm asks voters to support using privately-donated funds for tutoring, test preparation, and other academic needs – omitting that donors receive federal tax credits for donating to the program.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said, in part, “It’s unfortunate that this administration has shown so much animus towards working people. But I’m going to use every single tool that’s available to me, to protect our people in our city, to ensure that we receive our fair share in the federal government … ”
The Tourism Improvement District Ordinance would add a 1.5 percent surcharge on downtown hotel stays, generating an estimated $40 million annually and doubling the budget for Choose Chicago’s efforts to recruit more conventions and promote Chicago as a tourism destination in more international markets and in American cities.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said, in part, “This is not even about politics for me. This is about saving lives and protecting the people of Chicago. This is about establishing a precedent for the rest of the country to embrace. That’s what this moment is calling for: Real, bold, tenacious leadership that is prepared and willing to stand up to a tyrant.”
“When one jurisdiction uses three lowercase letters and another uses three uppercase letters, it creates problems,” state Sen. Sally Turner said. “This helps them all be on the same page.”
Illinois House Bill 5241, filed by state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, and Senate Bill 3638, filed by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, would require Cook County to reimburse municipalities and other taxing districts for interest lost and debts incurred because of the county’s delinquent distributions. “We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in damage done by this failed tax system,” Ald. Brendan Reilly said.
White County Treasurer Mike Baxley at the Jan. 30 sale required buyers to agree to take responsibility for returning any surplus equity if they ultimately took ownership of the property. The change mirrors a policy adopted by Rock Island County in December following multiple federal court decisions warning counties may face paying back property owners for constitutional violations.
CTU’s expansive powers under state law and Amendment 1 effectively give the union a broader scope of bargaining than government unions in any other state are allowed. The law enables labor negotiations as a tool for policy advocacy and to avoid the typical democratic process.
“The latest case in point is Johnson’s grandstanding executive order aimed at ‘laying the groundwork’ to prosecute federal immigration agents — specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection — for alleged criminal misconduct in Chicago. … It was bold. It was defiant. It was also, almost certainly, nonsense.”
Illinois was slated to receive the largest of the transportation-related grants, with $100 million provided to the state’s Environmental Protection Agency to build electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Chicago was in line to receive $7 million for research involving “adolescents, racial and ethnic minorities and men who have sex with men” being “disproportionately affected with Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).”
Alexis Williams’ 9-year-old son is the only Black student class at Portage Park Elementary School. Her son told her that other students were asked to use tape — meant to symbolize chains — to bind a classmate’s hands. According to Williams’ son, the teacher said the students with their hands bound would be shipped off in a cage.
State Rep. Sharon Chung said she supports evidence-based funding for higher education, but it would require more funding. “We want to make sure that universities are also being funded in an equitable, predictable way, but the big roadblock is trying to figure out how we’re going to fund this,” she said.
Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie called it a transparency step she argues is especially needed during late-night sessions when high-stakes issues such as the state budget are debated.
A total of 21 people were arrested that day. Witnesses said about 15 of those detained were members of the clergy. Charges were filed against the protesters who were arrested, but 19 of those cases have now been dismissed. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said despite having sufficient evidence, they are “declining to proceed.”
Illinois lawmakers are advancing legislation to prohibit taxpayer funding for conversion therapy, even as the state continues to spend public dollars on gender-affirming care resources – a contradiction critics say exposes a deeper ideological divide over government-funded counseling and healthcare.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow has tossed a lawsuit from a former top investigator for the Chicago city office responsible for investigating police misconduct claims, who had claimed he was illegally fired in retaliation for casting light on politically motivated and slanted anti-police investigations under the leadership of Andrea Kersten.
llinois is headed for job losses and a renewed population decline this year, a rare double hit that economists say will weigh on the state’s economy for several years.
Illinois state lawmakers allocated a $1.5 million grant to the Hispanic chamber of commerce for “operating expenses.” The chamber has published a guide for navigating ICE raids for business owners, and offers resources for government audits and “unexpected immigration-related challenges.”
Chief among their excuses are the delayed property tax payments from Cook County tied to the long-stalled computerized overhaul of that system by Tyler Technologies; Chicago’s share of those payments from Cook County have been trickling in slowly and are still roughly $135 million behind. Further exacerbating the problem is Johnson’s decision to declare a record $1 billion tax increment financing surplus to rescue the Chicago Public Schools and bankroll the new teachers contract.
Gov. JB Pritzker accused federal officials of “vindictive priorities,” while Federal officials pointed to Illinois’ fiscal management, suggesting the state should better prepare financially for recurring storm damage. They argued Illinois prioritizes spending on other policy areas while requesting federal assistance for storm recovery.
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