-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/KOK2S54IA5ABJMJGIJCGFBC7VE.jpg)
The county’s Bureau of Economic Development planned to provide $71 million in grants paired with one-on-one business advising to historically excluded businesses — including those owned by entrepreneurs of color, women, veterans, LGBQT+ and persons with a disability — to close racial wealth and opportunity gaps. “We decided to rescind, restructure and refine the program to try to get the money out to small business as quickly as possible … rather than trying to litigate it,” President Toni Preckwinkle said.
Summary and audio linked here.
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.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER