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Similar to communities like Logan, Sangamon, and Champaign counties, most of the 100-plus people at the meeting voiced their opposition to any future data center project. Their concerns include the use of power and the loss of farmland.
“I don’t run unions; I run the city of Chicago. So I don’t opine on any decision that any labor union decides of what they’re going to do with their working file,” Johnson said.
“When you consider how many students are actually showing up on a daily basis, it just goes to show that students in Illinois public schools are not being engaged effectively in a way to ensure that they’re showing up to class,” said Illinois Policy Institute Manager of Education Policy Hannah Schmid.
The goal of the bill – as said by state Senate sponsor Rachel Ventura – is to shut private equity out of homeownership in Illinois, which both Republicans and Democrats on the committee agreed at least somewhat contributed to an ongoing housing shortage.
He did not give a specific reason for stepping down seven months early, beyond saying he had promised upon election to give the job all he had and to “know when the time was right to step away.”
The budget became more complicated earlier this month when analysts for the General Assembly and Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget office lowered revenue projections for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1. The revisions by the governor’s office revealed a $149 million gap between what Pritzker proposed spending and the amount of revenue the state will have to support it — and that includes $728 million in new taxes and revenue changes proposed by the governor.
“A parental accountability ordinance is for parents who just keep allowing their 14-year-olds to be out on the streets at 3am,” Ald. Brian Hopkins said. “There’s no excuse for it.”
Prosecutors claimed that Rashad Johnson, 18, intentionally hit the officers and said his possession of an illegal 30-round MAC-10 pistol proved he is a danger to the community at large. “I want to give people the benefit of the doubt, especially to people that are young and have no criminal history,” Judge Ankur Srivastava said. “But it’s not like you didn’t know how to drive and accidentally hit the accelerator … I think you made a choice, and your choices endangered people’s lives. You have hurt a lot of people.”
Retired Police Chief Tom Weitzel: “Illinois politicians have spent years insisting violent offenders can be safely managed in the community with ankle monitors. This case proves — in blood — that they are wrong. A career criminal who had already escaped monitoring was given chance after chance. Now a Chicago police officer is dead.”
“What makes the situation particularly frustrating is that Chicago still possesses enormous strengths. It remains one of the world’s greatest cities with extraordinary architecture, culture, universities, transportation infrastructure, and economic potential. Millions of people still love this city and desperately want it to succeed. But hallmark cities can absolutely decline through prolonged bad governance. History is filled with examples of major urban centers hollowing themselves out through ideological rigidity, fiscal irresponsibility, and administrative incompetence.”
“Grifting off taxpayers via property tax schemes is a practice that goes way back for (Gov. JB) Pritzker, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’s seeking to extend these property tax breaks to other billionaires. If he gets his way, Illinois residents will be stuck paying for these sweetheart deals while billionaires get a break.”
“Abraham Lincoln, in the House Divided speech that he gave here in Springfield, gave a grim warning that the divisions in America over the issue slavery could destroy our nation,” Durbin, 81, said, from the dais of the Illinois House chamber. “We see similar divisions today. The challenge we face in the days ahead could be just as serious.”
Financial distress, as defined in the report, includes credit accounts in forbearance, deferred payment status or otherwise showing signs of trouble. Experts point to several contributing factors: stubborn inflation, uneven wage growth, high housing costs and lingering labor market uncertainty.
Johnson said the “safest cities in America have one thing in common: They invest in people.” To underscore the point, he put up a chart that showed dramatic declines in shootings and homicides in neighborhoods where the city hired the greatest number of young people.
Of the incumbent board members, only Sean Harden, the current president who was appointed by Mayor Johnson, is not running. Two current board members — Jessica Biggs and Jennifer Custer — are giving up district seats to run for president.
But Ald. Peter Chico, a former Chicago police officer, said that data would not change his firm belief that residents of his ward would be safer if a gunshot detection system covered the ward. “What about when there are no calls?”
The Illinois Revenue Alliance is made up of several organizations in the state…including labor unions like SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Chicago Teachers Union, and community and advocacy groups. Their mission is to advocate for programs to help low and moderate income families thrive. “We have to only raise taxes on the wealthiest individuals in the population,” their spokesman said.
Corbett has enlisted Carolyn Schofield of Crystal Lake to be his running mate. Schofield is a former Republican McHenry County Board member who ran for lieutenant governor in 2022 alongside former Republican State Sen. Paul Schimpf. She also recently left her job as a staff assistant for the Illinois Senate Republican caucus.
One of the clearest red flags in the budget process is the growing divide between Gov. JB Pritzker’s revenue assumptions and more cautious projections from the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) and Pritzker’s own Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (GOMB). COGFA and GOMB estimates this month predict revenue will be $720 million to $900 million short of what Pritzker has forecast.
In 2011 Illinois enacted the largest income tax hike in state history. At least some of that increase could have offset rising property taxes, but instead the state kept 100 percent of the additional money, decreasing the percentage given to local governments. Since Gov. JB Pritzker took office, total property taxes in Illinois have risen 27 percent, from $31.8 billion in 2018 to $40.37 billion in 2024.
Union leaders like to pitch “solidarity” among their members, but it’s often a political fiction. So it was last week when the rank-and-file of the ChicagoTeachers Union rejected a union ballot question seeking a dues increase. Take that, comrade.
Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach’s office said the three most common crimes for someone who’s gone AWOL while on electronic monitoring are retail theft (24 people), theft (18 people) and aggravated battery (18 people). That doesn’t include 59 people who violated restrictions on where they can go because of a domestic violence charge.
“As you know, we now are one of the best states in the country for infrastructure but that is because were are making the investments that come from the motor fuel tax that gets imposed,” Pritzker said. “I think we have enough here so we could make some sort of pause, but I think that is something the legislature is going to consider over the coming week. We will see.”
“Almost half (44 percent) describe the city’s condition as excellent or good, but just a quarter say the same about (Mayor Brandon) Johnson’s performance, and not quite half say it’s been fair or poor. That gap matters. Voters are not saying Chicago is in a doom loop. They are saying the city has potential that is not being translated into capable governance that would make their hometown flourish even more.”