Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner hits Facebook Live ahead of budget speech
Gov. Bruce Rauner once again will field a series of likely screened questions during a Facebook Live session Tuesday afternoon, with the state budget (or lack thereof) the topic du jour ahead of his annual budget address Wednesday.
Dubbed “The Gov, the budget and you,” the Facebook event could see Rauner attempt to control the message and present a positive image ahead of his speech, which is historically a time for governors to highlight their spending priorities for the year. But with the state in the middle of an unprecedented budget impasse, the Republican governor is facing the likelihood of sharp blowback from Democrats who blame the stalemate on his insistence that budget agreement also contain portions of his political and economic wish list.
Chicago Tribune: Wake up, Bruce Rauner. Bring back Illinois.
Bruce Rauner barnstormed his way to the governor’s office by promising to “shake up Springfield.” Now it seems he has a new mantra: Don’t rock the boat.
Chicago Sun-Times: Rauner: ‘Looking forward’ to meeting with Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper is going to meet with Bruce the governor.
After Gov. Bruce Rauner tweeted his congratulations to the Chicago rapper and anti-gun violence activist for his Grammy wins, Chance the Rapper tweeted back, requesting a meeting.
Chicago Tribune: Enough tax incentives, Amazon
With plans to employ up to 7,000 people at nine Chicago-area and downstate facilities, Amazon.com is well on its way to becoming a solid corporate citizen in Illinois.
You can’t beat jobs and business expansion.
Peoria Journal-Star: Cullerton reaches out to AFSCME over 'grand bargain'
Senate President John Cullerton is reaching out to the largest state employee union to convince them that the “grand bargain” will be a benefit to its members.
In a letter to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Cullerton emphasized that one bill in the package will provide $1.8 billion for state employee health insurance.
Wirepoints: Does the Grand Bargain Budget Package Violate Illinois’ Constitutional ‘Single Subject’ Rule?
I’ll ask a leading authority on Illinois’ single subject rule about it and the “grand bargain” budget solution under discussion in Springfield, but first a little background.
The single-subject clause of the Illinois Constitution is in Article I, § 8(d), paragraph 2. It provides:
Bills, except bills for appropriations and for codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be confined to one subject. Appropriation bills shall be limited to the subject of appropriations.
Chicago Tribune: How Illinois pols enable failure at Chicago State
Illinois public universities are in crisis. Colleges are slashing costs because the state’s budget stalemate has strangled cash flow to higher education. Some school officials fret that they’ll barely finish the academic year.
All of this should add urgency to an idea that we hope will percolate in Springfield: Streamline and consolidate the state’s university and community college system to increase efficiency and accountability. Right now, there are nine governing boards for 12 Illinois public colleges. That’s too many. Local control has meant expensive and redundant layers of administrative bureaucracies. Also less oversight to stop waste of school and taxpayer money on far-fetched, fiefdom-building projects.
Chicago Tribune: Critics find multiple targets at CPS budget hearings
While Chicago Public Schools officials have been trading barbs with the state over the district’s budget woes, speakers at two public hearings Monday on the district’s latest budget plan found plenty to criticize on both sides.
The hearings at CPS headquarters, which followed $104 million in spending reductions the district outlined last week, provided a forum for speakers to vent on broader issues, including Gov. Bruce Rauner and the state’s education funding formula.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lots of anger, no solutions, at CPS budget hearing
Some Chicago Public School parents from schools harshly impacted by freezes in funding used CPS’s budget hearings Monday to unleash their anger at Gov. Bruce Rauner.
And others urged CPS officials to stop waiting for the state to hand over money and take matters into their own hands.
WBEZ: Chicago Parents Blame Gov. Bruce Rauner For CPS Budget Cuts
Parents and students told Chicago Public Schools’ officials they are furious with Gov. Bruce Rauner for vetoing $215 million and forcing the cash-strapped school district to come up with an amended budget.
The feedback came during Monday hearings on the proposed new budget, which has $104 million less in expenses than the original $5.4 billion operating budget.
Northwest Herald: Illinois lawmakers propose biotechnology tax credits
Two Illinois lawmakers have proposed a plan to offer tax credits to biotechnology businesses in hopes of boosting agricultural jobs in central Illinois.
The legislation, introduced by Republican state Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet and Democratic state Sen. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill, would provide incentives to produce and sell new renewable products made from biomass and other renewable sources, the Decatur Herald & Review reported.
Chicago Tribune: Mayor Emanuel wants changes to home-sharing rules
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is seeking to ease one of the city rules imposed on Airbnb hosts, asking aldermen this week to consider removing the requirement that lists of guest names must be made available to officials on request.
Under the change, which the City Council license committee will consider Wednesday, Airbnb operators would still have to keep guests’ names for three years, but hosts only would be required to share them if officials came with a search warrant or subpoena.
Chicago Sun-Times: Emanuel waters down home-sharing rules to survive court challenge
Under fire for crossing the line into the privacy of peoples’ homes, Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to water down his plan to regulate the burgeoning home-sharing industry to bolster the city’s chances of surviving a court challenge.
On Wednesday, the City Council’s License Committee will consider the mayor’s plan to strip the ordinance, due to take effect on Feb. 28, of one of its most onerous requirements: that Chicago homeowners who supplement their income by renting out extra bedrooms or their entire homes turn over their guests lists to City Hall on demand.
NBC 5 Chicago: Emanuel Visits Washington to Discuss Chicago Crime, Infrastructure
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is visiting Washington, D.C. Monday for a series of meetings related to “priorities and issues facing the City of Chicago,” including crime and infrastructure.
“Today the Mayor will be in DC for a series of meetings with agencies and senior administration officials about our ongoing partnerships with the government,” Emanuel spokesman Matt McGrath said in an email. “Among the topics he’ll be discussing are several priority projects that would invest in Chicago’s infrastructure and put people to work.”
Chicago Tribune: Alderman calls for more transparency on Obama library planning
The Obama Foundation, the not-for-profit developing the first African-American president’s library and museum in Jackson Park, was criticized by a local alderman Monday for not sharing enough information on how South Side residents will benefit from the high-profile project.
“My primary concern is how the Obama Foundation plans to engage the community in the transformation of these neighborhoods,” Ald. Leslie Hairston, whose 5th Ward includes the library site and portions of neighboring communities, said in an open letter to the foundation. “Residents would like to know what is the plan for community outreach.”
State Journal-Register: Realtors seek $1 million in TIF funding for downtown Springfeld plaza
A nearly $2.6 million landscaped pedestrian-plaza is the latest proposal for a community gathering space in Springfield’s downtown historic district.
The city Economic Development Commission is scheduled to consider a request Tuesday from the Illinois Realtors for $1 million in funding from a tax increment financing district toward development of Bicentennial Plaza between Fifth and Sixth streets. The area owned by the association is north of the group’s headquarters at 522 S. Fifth St. A parking lot and former branch-bank building would be removed.