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The deal with the San Francisco-based bank is one step forward in the city’s plan to sell at least $1 billion worth of vehicular debt such as unpaid parking, speeding and red light camera tickets, in hopes of earning no less than $89.6 million. That’s roughly 9 cents on the dollar.
“Even with record spending, many of the state’s most important responsibilities remain unfinished. School transportation reimbursements continue to be significantly underfunded, shifting costs to local school districts and, ultimately, local property taxpayers. Families across downstate Illinois are also facing dramatically higher electricity costs, placing additional strain on household budgets that are already stretched thin.”
This bill ensures utility companies and contractors can access service lines on private property at no cost to property owners. It also expands who can authorize and perform the replacement.
Even if lawmakers reconvene this summer, it’s not clear how quickly any extra money would make it to school districts like CPS. School Board member Jitu Brown said board members are asking the city to release more TIF dollars, and CPS CEO Macquline King said the district is working through “different avenues” for help, including pressing the county for some relief.
In a seeming rebuke to a controversial decision handed down and supported by a group of Obama- and Biden-appointed judges, the rest of the judges on Chicago’s federal appeals court have struck down that ruling that would have allowed Chicago judges to block Florida’s Republican state attorney general from using Florida state courts to enforce a Florida state law against a national pediatrics organization for allegedly misleading the public about the safety of child gender transitions.
CTA’s interim boss Nora Leerhsen pointed to a 30 percent decline in all reported transit crime over 2025. The drop was even more dramatic on the Red Line, where Chicago police and the Cook County sheriff’s office have focused increased patrols since March after a funding threat from President Donald Trump’s administration.
In the most recent Chicago mayoral runoff, the city spent a total of $19.8 million for the extra election.
In addition to Tuesday’s letter threatening prosecution, DOJ is also suing Illinois and dozens of other states for access to the state’s complete, unredacted voter registration list, including sensitive information such as voters’ dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. The federal government has not been successful in any of those lawsuits thus far.
While the inspector general can investigate complaints against lawmakers related to their public office without approval from a majority of the eight lawmakers on the Legislative Ethics Commission, he can’t issue subpoenas and publish summary reports without the commission’s approval. That small group can block publication of any report on a party-line vote.
“In principle, lawmakers benefit from having private-sector experience outside of politics. But private industry often stands to benefit or lose from legislation working its way through Springfield. When lawmakers are tied to those industries, clear conflicts of interest can result.”
“It’s all just more blather from (Mayor Brandon) Johnson about how he is working so hard to end violence in Chicago, even as he creates another opportunity to give more high-paying jobs to his cronies. Instead of doing something substantive, like bringing back ShotSpotter or something similar — something even community activists support — he’s looking to create more government busywork.”
The large gathering brought hundreds of young people to Garfield Park. Videos of the gathering, which neighbors described as the second “teen takeover” in the area in two weeks, show attendees shooting fireworks and blocking the cul-de-sac on Maypole Avenue shortly before gunfire erupted. At least two separate shootings occurred at the event.
Dr. Garth Walker is the Chief Medical Officer for Rush Health and previously served as deputy director of the Illinois Department of Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic before serving as a White House Fellow in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration. Walker grew up in Hyde Park and is a graduate of Chicago Public Schools.
The mayor said alternative revenue proposals from aldermen, including a provision to sell city debt to collectors, have not raised a single dollar. “Their proposal to raise revenue through augmented reality and advertising on bridges and light poles have yet to raise a single dollar,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
“… (T)o fulfill its promise the SAFE-T Act needs to give judges less discretion, not more. This can be done without restoring bail but by mandating no pretrial release for certain offenses and placing the discretion and proof burden on the defense to justify waiving that requirement.”
The share of available workspace in the central business district inched down to 28% midway through the year from 28.6% at the end of the first quarter.
The Digital Asset Tax Act, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker as part of a $55.9 billion budget package, makes Illinois the first U.S. state to impose a transaction-level tax on crypto activity.
During a press briefing at City Hall, Mayor Brandon Johnson recalled that President Trump asked him to call for help with violence prevention. “Consider this a call, Mr. President. I’m calling on you to invest in building more affordable homes across this country. I’m calling on you to respond to the needs of people who cannot afford grocery and gas,” the mayor said. “If you are the big man and the big person that you claim to be, make those investments and I will put everything that I love on the fact that violence will go down across this country.”
Illinois American Water, the state’s largest private water utility, is seeking a $142 million rate increase, which would raise typical water costs for its 357,000 residential customers by around $14 per month. Aqua Illinois, the second-largest private water utility serving over 90,000 customers in the state, has asked regulators to approve a $26.5 million rate increase, which would raise average combined water treatment and supply bills by about $23 per month. But the Illinois Commerce Commission is also evaluating a proposed merger between the two water utilities’ parent companies.
“Gaps have emerged due to the regressive revenue options that members of the City Council that were more aligned with corporate interests put forward,” Johnson said. To shore up city finances, the mayor says he’ll again turn to progressive revenue. He’s already discussed the possibility of revisiting a millionaire’s tax with House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch.
Quinn was part of a renegade bloc of moderate Democrats who rejected Johnson’s corporate head tax and passed an alternative city budget with major elements Johnson opposes. Quinn’s departure will deny that rebel group one of its most reliable votes and best political tacticians.
A coalition of state officials, which also included Raoul, won a different lawsuit over similar restrictions on the same funding June 30.