Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer
April 22, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
If the General Assembly doesn’t come up with a solution to the looming fiscal cliff facing Chicago-area transit by the end of June, agencies will have to drop everything and immediately start planning for drastic service cuts of up to 40 percent.
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
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If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
As typed by Winnetka Talking To Wilmette’s Nick Blumberg: “The proposal to merge Chicago-area transit agencies is paired with a proposed $1.5 billion new funding, which the RTA supports – though officials noted they’re “agnostic” as to sources for that new money. The authority is also asking lawmakers to eliminate the farebox recovery ratio, mandating that up to 50% of operating budgets come from passenger payments.” There it is, Chumbolones. The political animals inhabiting the RTA officially asked that the only legislative check on their spending, the farebox recovery ratio, be eliminated. Amazing when the political animals get unmuzzled, isn’t… Read more »
Really appreciate your smart input on transportation issues. Thanks.
No real talk of getting their act together to cut costs. It’s all about the power struggle to keep their organization intact and getting a lot more money to do so. Hey Kirk, check your ego at the door and realize you will never have the ridership you once did. These transit organizations did nothing during Covid to right size for the new way of doing business. START CUTTING!
It would be nice to get a break from so very many news articles on Illinois governmental offices and agencies with looming fiscal cliffs, but we are, after all, living in The Land of Fiscal Cliffs. Mismanagement generates a lot of news.