-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
“There must be an impermeable, strictly enforced barrier between the political activism of the CTU and the foundational lessons taught to Chicago’s children. May Day was the ultimate case study of CPS letting that barrier completely collapse, choosing to look the other way while hiding behind a convenient veil of plausible deniability.”
“So the mayor put a bid in six months ago, $3.3 billion, for parking meters that we don’t have the money for, didn’t disclose that to anybody in the City Council, and then agreed to a non-disclosure agreement, did not have to talk about said agreements, and now is unwilling to share all this information,” Ald. Matt O’Shea said. “I’m guessing someone on the fifth floor is listening right now, and I think we need to get someone down here to answer some of these questions.”
Kalshi’s federal lawsuit, filed in Chicago, seeks an injunction against the transaction taxes ranging from 1.75 to 3.5 percent that state lawmakers voted to slap on every “exchange wager” beginning next month on the prediction markets that have exploded in popularity. But Kalshi — and the Trump administration’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission — maintain that the “event contracts” traded on their markets don’t constitute gambling and can only be regulated by the federal government.
The DHS secretary said Illinois has failed in 29 facilities to have adequate medical or dental care. “They have one doctor per 1,875 detainees. We have one per thousand,” Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
“The biggest issue is that in the last few years, only 20-25 percent of the homicides committed in Chicago have resulted in a timely prosecution. Chicago is an outlier here.”
Fingerprint records allegedly linked Leonel Mercado Jaimes to a 2011 federal drug trafficking conviction in Chicago and a 2012 Illinois conviction for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Authorities also determined that he had been deported in 2015 as an inadmissible immigrant, according to the complaint.
“That argument had a certain Chicago logic. The products were already being sold. Consumers were already buying them. The ordinary sales tax already applied. A separate hemp levy would have recognized the reality of the market while extracting revenue from it. … But (Mayor Brandon) Johnson’s tax plan had a weakness. It looked like City Hall was monetizing a public health concern before proving it could control it.”
In the city’s current year budget, youth employment was allocated $49 million, with participants between the ages of 14-24 being given a roughly $2,000 stipend for summer work.
The data shows Illinois made errors on 14.7 percent of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments in federal fiscal year 2025. That includes 13.3 percent of all payments being higher than they should have been. The error rate is higher than the 11.6 percent rate of the previous fiscal year.
The minimum age for a driving test will be raised from 79 to 87, although drivers 79 and older will still be required to take a vision test, and if they have a driving violation, a written test. The 2025 law also creates a process for immediate family members to report cognitive or physical health declines to the state for review.
Teacher contracts expire this year in at least 60 school districts with educators represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers. IFT is the state affiliate of CTU and embraces the tactics CTU uses to try to further its political goals. But the CTU’s control of IFT became more concrete when CTU President Stacy Davis Gates took the reins at IFT as well.
“Since (Gov. JB) Pritzker took office in 2019, Illinois’ real gross domestic product has grown just 8.2 percent through 2025, ranking 46th among states. Meanwhile, the U.S. grew 17.7 percent. That difference translates to missing jobs, investment and tax revenue. In this light, pausing a policy that leverages our existing assets seems particularly self-defeating.”
The city’s main operating fund faces at least a $680 million structural deficit in 2027.
This plan could increase the income eligibility threshold for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). “The reality is this is another rate increase on the people who are middle income and all the way up,” said Rep. CD Davidsmeyer. “If we’re talking about affordability, frankly, we can’t afford it.”
Jim Dey: “Union leaders failed to win unemployment benefits for striking workers after spending two weeks on the picket line and substantial increases in pension benefits for Tier 2 public employees (those hired on or after Jan 1, 2011). Gov. JB Pritzker also drew their ire for his two-year suspension of state tax credits for new data centers whose construction would provide lots of jobs for union workers.”
“A chatty CTA planner told Skokie officials, according to an account in Pioneer Press: ‘NITA is unlocking so much money for us, and so much opportunity for us to think about how we can evolve the transit service.’ … While the CTA plans for static fares and expanded services, despite ridership below pre-pandemic levels, I-Pass owners (most tollway users) will find it will cost more to travel on some of the 294 miles of tollways across a dozen northern Illinois counties.”
Audio and summary linked here.
“This is all part of a pay-to-play operation. The unions fund Democratic campaigns and then Democratic politicians fund bloated union contracts. Teachers then cycle some of this money back into Democratic campaigns in a self-perpetuating machine. The only losers are the taxpayers and, more importantly, the children.”
Matthew Brewer, previously the interim CEO and board chair of the CHA, declared his candidacy in the 2027 mayoral race, the latest addition to a widening pool of contenders. He is also a partner at Bartlit Beck LLP; founder of the Grasshopper Club, the city’s first Black-owned weed dispensary; and co-owner of Wiener’s Circle, the Lincoln Park hot dog joint known for its foul-mouthed waiters and signs.