A viral budget grab: Does the mayor’s COVID-19 executive order put her on light footing? – Chicago Reader

Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman and longtime professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says the city routinely shifts funds within its budget multiple times per year—as revenue and cost projections butt up against reality. "We move money every year from some departments to other departments—and a fairly significant sum of money," Simpson says. "And the City Council does approve those. So that's the standard procedure." But during the pandemic emergency, "a major shortfall or a major expenditure" might mean that the mayor can't wait for council approval.