Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner's pivot on Senate budget plan provides political breathing room
Gov. Bruce Rauner attempted to inject a dose of optimism into his budget speech last week, heaping praise on the “tremendous leadership” in the Senate, which is laboring over a much-hyped attempt to strike a “grand bargain” to end the historic state government impasse.
What the governor left unsaid, however, was that the Senate bid has struggled to gain traction, even in its current form that relies heavily on major tax hikes and less on difficult budget cuts and tough-to-pass pro-business changes.
Fox Illinois: New Deadline For Grand Bargain
Minority Leader Christine Radogno told a Chicago radio station Thursday, that she wants to vote on the Senate’s grand bargain by the end of the month.
The Senate isn’t in session next week, and the next time they’re back is February 28.
Chicago Sun-Times: Former Gov. Ryan urges quick resolution to budget mess
He is hesitant to say anything, feels it’s not his job to give advice.
But former Republican Gov. George Ryan, who had a reputation for being an effective governor and a clever negotiator, is still scratching his head over the state’s budget nightmare.
News-Gazette: Rauner in '18 depends on his political muscle mass
That’s going to be some gubernatorial race in Illinois next year — you know, the one featuring Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Michael Madigan.
The donnybrook will feature two hugely unpopular figures in Illinois, each accusing the other of being the equivalent of Lucifer himself.
Chicago Tribune: Madigan: Lawmakers will consider Rauner's plan to sell the Thompson Center
Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan said Friday that lawmakers will consider a plan backed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to sell the hulking, glass paneled Thompson Center that houses state offices in Chicago’s Loop.
The move could be interpreted as Madigan extending an olive branch to his chief political rival, though skeptical Republicans might note the speaker’s propensity for using the legislative process to kill ideas pushed by Rauner.
Associated Press: Bustos, other Dems demand Rauner pay domestic violence money
Illinois’ 11 Democratic congressmen have signed a letter to Gov. Bruce Rauner demanding that he restore funding to domestic violence shelters.
Rep. Cheri Bustos initiated the letter sent Friday.
Chicago Tribune: NFL union squawks its demands in Springfield
Add professional football players to the list of special-interest groups barking their demands under the Capitol dome in Springfield. The union representing National Football League players recently inserted itself into negotiations on a workers’ compensation proposal.
As it stands now under Illinois law, a professional athlete can retire in his or her 20s after working only a few years and still receive up to $55,900 annually in workers’ comp payouts from his or her employer until age 67. The system puts professional athletes on par with construction workers, bricklayers and factory workers, who earn far less and, on average, work far longer.
Chicago Sun-Times: Mendoza finds money for $32,000 used car for her office
The state budget impasse didn’t stop newly elected Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza from purchasing a $32,000 used SUV as part of her department’s fleet — paid in full by public dollars to a central Illinois dealership.
Mendoza campaigned on a pledge to prioritize state payments, but her office said the money for the SUV came from an office fund with no connection to the state’s massive bill backlog.
The Southern: Schimpf, Fowler co-sponsor 'Blue Lives Matter' hate-crime bill
Making good on campaign promises, Southern Illinois Sens. Dale Fowler and Paul Schimpf are co-sponsoring a bill in the General Assembly that seeks to add law enforcement, correctional officers and emergency services personnel to the list of protected classes under Illinois’ hate crime statute.
Under the legislation — coined the Blue Lives Matter bill — Schimpf said that “if somebody decides to target a police officer because they are wanting to terrorize or intimidate law enforcement personnel, that crime could be punished as a hate crime.” Schimpf, an attorney, acknowledged that there are other laws already on the books that increase penalties for people who commit crimes against first responders while they are serving in their official capacity.
Chicago Tribune: Prosecutors allege Dorothy Brown took $15K bribe, but her lawyer calls it loan
Federal prosecutors alleged for the first time on Friday that Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown took a $15,000 bribe disguised as a business loan from a man seeking a job with her office.
An attorney for Brown, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, said the payment was a legitimate loan, not a bribe.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Urban League settles lawsuit with state over school funding
A tentative settlement agreement has been reached in a long-standing lawsuit that alleged inequities and discrimination in Illinois’ education funding system, forcing the state to stop “prorating” state aid dollars to schools when money is short.
The practice, pervasive during the state’s budget crisis, cut state aid to districts by a certain percentage across the board, hurting disadvantaged districts more than affluent ones and creating disparities considered discriminatory, according to the terms of the settlement.
Chicago Sun-Times: Top aide defends Emanuel plan to spend unclaimed rebate money
A top mayoral aide on Friday defended Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to spend $17 million left unclaimed after a token property tax rebate as essential to public safety.
Planting trees, improving parks, renovating vacant homes, creating a West Side small business incubator and a South Side call center may sound like it has little to do with stopping the bloodshed on Chicago streets.
Chicago Tribune: Food carts get a push from City Hall
Before Chicago passed an ordinance making food carts legal in the city, the purveyors of hot dogs, tacos and other neighborhood fare spent their days dodging the police who ran them off or wrote them $500 tickets.
Not much has changed. Before the 2015 ordinance, there were as many as 2,000 carts operating illegally in the city. Since the ordinance took effect, only five businesses have obtained licenses to operate their carts. That means the friendly entrepreneur who tends your favorite elotes wagon is very likely a scofflaw.
Chicago Tribune: Former CDOT supervisor set for $370,000 settlement after alleged false arrest
Chicago aldermen next week are expected to approve a $370,000 payout to a former city employee who accused police of falsely arresting him on a charge of soliciting a prostitute.
Charges against former Chicago Department of Transportation supervisor Hugo Holmes ultimately were dropped, but the arrest triggered the impoundment of his car, a suspension from his job and “public humiliation (and) exposure to hate mail,” according to the lawsuit Holmes filed in federal court.
Chicago Sun-Times: Aldermen mull $250,000 payout in suit against No. 2 CPD official
Chicago taxpayers will spend $250,000 to compensate a drag-racing motorcycle driver injured in a 2011 collision with a police vehicle driven by First Deputy Police Superintendent Kevin Navarro.
The settlement to Carlos Russian is on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee, along with a $370,000 payout involving a lawsuit that a city worker brought against the Chicago Police Department over a prostitution arrest.
State Journal-Register: Mayor wants defeated tax increases reconsidered
Aldermen seemed unconvinced after Mayor Jim Langfelder presented them with either-or options for how to pass a balanced spending plan after the Springfield City Council voted down three of his four proposed tax hikes.
In an email late Friday, Langfelder asked aldermen to pass a budget for the fiscal year than begins March 1 that cuts $541,000 more in spending and uses $3 million worth of the city’s reserves, or reconsider the quarter-percentage point jump in the sales tax and two percentage increase in the telecommunications tax that the mayor wanted.