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Chicago Tribune: Embattled Illinois auditor general's campaign spending under scrutiny at hearing
An Illinois State Board of Elections hearing officer is expected to issue a recommendation next month regarding allegations that Auditor General Frank Mautino violated campaign finance disclosure laws during his time as a Democratic state representative.
On Thursday, hours of testimony were heard on the issue of whether Mautino’s now-defunct campaign committee must update spending reports to provide additional details about how money was spent.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago's 'menu' program for aldermen: 50 ways to waste your money
We can’t think of a worse way to spend a too-small pool of tax money than to split it into 50 equal parts and let 50 people decide how to use it.
That’s what Chicago does every year with $66 million in aldermanic “menu” dollars, allotting each of the city’s aldermen $1.32 million for residential infrastructure needs in their wards. The money is meant for neighborhood improvements such as street and alley repairs and for lighting and sidewalks — and the Chicago Department of Transportation has an endless list of such projects from which the aldermen are allowed to choose. Naturally, this has become a cherished perk.
Chicago Tribune: Standard & Poor's downgrades NEIU, SIU and University of Illinois
For the second time this week, a major credit agency has downgraded the ratings for several Illinois public universities, citing the 22-month-long budget impasse that has disrupted state support for higher education.
Standard & Poor’s announced Thursday it was downgrading Northeastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois, and putting all three schools on “negative” watch. The agency maintained its rating for Illinois State University but also put the school on watch, saying its finances had a negative outlook.
News-Gazette: Can Illinois handle truth?
Here’s another warning that seems certain to be ignored.
Everyone who’s paying attention knows that Illinois’ finances are in terrible shape. But, really, how bad are they?
Well, according to Truth in Accounting, it’s even worse than the worst pessimists among the citizenry think it is.
News-Gazette: Progressive rates flatten taxpayers
Let the great tax-rate debate begin.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker wasted no time laying out one of his key campaign themes Monday when he visited Champaign-Urbana, embracing a position on taxes that puts him and his fellow Democrats sharply at odds with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Pritzker favors amending the Illinois Constitution to eliminate the flat income tax mandate in favor of a progressive income tax. Under a progressive tax, individuals and families pay ever-higher rates as their taxable income climbs.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel's latest campaign report adds $20,000 to his legal spending tally
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s campaign has spent $89,000 on legal fees since a pair of open records lawsuits were filed against him in the fall of 2015, including $20,000 he spent in the first two months of this year, campaign records show.
The mayor’s most recent quarterly campaign finance report showed him paying $20,000 to Forde Law Offices, where his personal attorney Michael K. Forde is a partner. Emanuel has spent a total of $80,000 with Forde since the lawsuits were filed and another $9,000 with Mayer Brown.
WBEZ: How Chicago Public Schools Could Avoid Closing Early
Chicago Public Schools has a giant teacher pension bill to pay on June 30 — but says it can’t make it without an infusion of state cash. Absent a favorable court ruling next week, CPS is threatening to end the school year three weeks early.
Is ending school early on June 1 the best option for the district? Is there anything under the district’s metaphorical couch cushions to help it make this payment and avoid lopping 13 school days off the CPS calendar? Experts say CPS probably could scrape the money together, but that takes the pressure off the state and only leaves the district worse off in the long run.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago aldermen revolt at watchdog's idea to take away street paving money
City Hall’s top watchdog on Thursday took aim at a program treasured by aldermen, recommending the city stop letting each of them control $1.3 million a year spent on construction projects in their wards, but the idea was swiftly rejected by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and City Council members.
Instead of allowing the 50 aldermen to decide how to spend the so-called “menu money,” the Chicago Department of Transportation should determine which street, alley, sidewalk, street light and bike path projects are needed, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson concluded in his audit of the program.
Chicago Sun-Times: Top mayoral aide embraces crackdown on texting while driving
A top mayoral aide on Thursday embraced an aldermanic plan to use technology to crack down on a deadly epidemic: texting while driving.
Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld said texting while driving is “one of the most common distracted driving issues” and one of the “top five causes of traffic crashes,” killing hundreds of people a year and seriously injuring thousands.
Chicago Tribune: After United dragging case, Chicago aldermen float changes for aviation police
Chicago aldermen on Wednesday unveiled plans in response to the United Airlines passenger-dragging fiasco, with one proposing that the aviation police force be rolled into the Chicago Police Department and another calling for banning city workers from getting on planes unless a crime has been committed or there’s a medical emergency.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, a former skycap at Midway Airport, wants to combine the 305-strong Aviation Department force with the much larger Police Department. Powerful Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, and Aviation Committee Chairman Michael Zalewski, 23rd, introduced an ordinance to not allow city workers to board planes.
Chicago Tribune: Airport security official left Tollway post amid sex-for-favors allegations
The city official overseeing Chicago’s airport security was hired last year even though the Illinois Tollway had fired him after a female employee alleged he sought sex and money in exchange for work-related favors, Tollway documents show.
Jeffrey Redding, who is a point person in the investigation of the United Airlines passenger-dragging fiasco at O’Hare International Airport, told the Tribune he had a relationship with the woman, a toll collector, but it was consensual and not the reason he was terminated. He emphatically denied the employee’s allegations about coercion.
WBEZ: Southern Illinois County Suing Manufacturers Of Opioid Painkillers
A downstate county has filed a lawsuit against Chicago-area Abbott Laboratories for allegedly pushing prescriptions pain pills despite knowing the drugs posed serious health risks.
St. Clair County, which covers East St. Louis, claims it is in the center of an opioid addiction epidemic that has plagued the Midwest, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in state court.
Belleville News-Democrat: Free parking could end at MidAmerica Airport; commissioners to review options
The St. Clair County Public Building Commission on Thursday began preliminary discussions on whether to charge for parking at MidAmerica Airport, by seeking proposals for parking and revenue-control systems.
“What we’re dealing with is the demand for parking seems to be challenging to satisfy,” Commissioner Jim Nations said. “The financial cost of that is becoming significant. What we’re trying to discover (whether) there is a reasonable way for us to gain revenue that will allow us to keep up with the demand for more parking. We don’t know the answer yet, but we do believe we’re optimistic the demands are going to continue to be there.”