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Chicago Tribune: Invoking the Great Depression, Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers first budget proposal amid $3.2 billion deficit
Comparing Illinois’ financial morass to the challenges the state faced during the Great Depression, Gov. J.B. Pritzker used his first budget address Wednesday to lay out the initial stages of a multiyear road map that ultimately depends upon voters approving a graduated income tax.
In a 37-minute speech, Pritzker vowed to end the days of ideological warfare that fueled a record budget impasse under his defeated predecessor, Republican Bruce Rauner. He sought both compromise and patience — asking Republicans to work with the state’s one-party Democratic rule and urging all legislators to take the long view by enacting multiyear fiscal changes to stabilize Illinois’ shaky finances.
Chicago Sun-Times: Pritzker vows ‘honest’ budget, with big push for progressive income tax
Saying the state suffered immensely because of an “ideological battle,” Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday vowed an “honest” budget plan with no “quick fix” — with an immense push for the state to enact a progressive income tax.
But Pritzker’s budget includes revenue from big-picture items that still need approval, like legalizing marijuana and sports betting. It also includes putting off pension payments — extending the state’s pension payment “ramp” by seven years to reduce short-term costs, which may worsen problems in the future.
Crain's Chicago Business: Pritzker's first budget: 'No quick fix'
In his Springfield speech—you can read the full text here—the state’s new CEO presented a fiscal 2020 spending plan that he admitted doesn’t do nearly as much as he wants right now, but will serve as “a bridge to a stable fiscal future.” And that future, in his view, includes enacting a graduated income tax—a “fair tax,” he called it—a lengthy and difficult task that will require the Legislature to approve a plan and then voters to ratify it in a November 2020 referendum.
WBEZ: ‘Constrained’ Pritzker Budget Prioritizes Education
In his first budget address as Illinois governor, JB Pritzker on Wednesday proposed boosting spending for education by more than $630 million in three main areas — early childhood, K-12 and higher education.
In a budget plan he described as “constrained,” Pritzker cast his spending plans as a response to what he described as damage done over the past four years under former Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Rockford Register-Star: Pritzker seeks $1.1B in new revenue
Gov. J.B. Pritzker used his first budget speech Wednesday to ask for $1.1 billion in new revenue — including from recreational marijuana and sports wagering — to start the state on a path toward financial stability.
In a roughly 40-minute speech, Pritzker made clear that he believes the ultimate way to that stability is to bring a graduated income tax to Illinois, an issue that was the centerpiece of his campaign for governor.
State Journal-Register: Pritzker’s budget: New taxes and revenue, and where spending would rise
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget seeks to raise $1.1 billion in new revenue. Here’s where it would come from, and what new spending would occur.
Chicago Tribune: Should an $850 bonus = $20,000 pension boost? After long legal battle, courts say no
The Illinois courts have closed the door to the creative math that allowed one western suburb’s retired police officers to use a one-time $850 bonus to boost their retirement take by as much as six figures.
The state Supreme Court allowed to stand two lower courts’ rulings that found the practice illegal in west suburban Countryside. The Supreme Court’s decision in late January led to a perfunctory order Wednesday in Cook County to officially close the case.
Chicago Tribune: Fare hikes, low gas prices mean fewer people are riding Metra
Metra saw its ridership fall by 9 percent between 2014 and 2018, a period of time in which the railway raised fares four times to help pay for new equipment.
The commuter railroad said its ridership dropped from 83.4 million trips in 2014 to 76.1 million passenger trips in 2018, which was about the same number as in 2005 and was down from a high of 86.8 million in 2008.
Daily Herald: Metra buying refurbished locomotives to save money
Metra leaders agreed Wednesday to spend $71 million on 15 refurbished locomotives to replace some of the railroad’s oldest engines.
Officials acknowledged the replacements aren’t the same as new ones, but given the agency’s cash shortfall, it was the best bang for the buck, Chief Mechanical Officer Kevin McCann said.
Chicago Tribun: Developer of Lincoln Yards, a $6 billion political football, scores TIF funds for North Side project
Developer Sterling Bay, which once envisioned a soccer stadium at Lincoln Yards before the proposed megaproject itself became a political football, has moved closer to scoring $1.3 billion in public funds to create new infrastructure around the North Side property.
The Community Development Commission’s 10-0 vote Tuesday supporting creation of the Cortland/Chicago River TIF district is the latest setback for aldermen and other opponents who have sought to put decisions about the property’s zoning and financing on hold until after the upcoming city elections.
Northwest Herald: Franks: McSweeney's proposed bill would grant McHenry County Board chairman 'too much authority'
McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks offered kudos to Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, on Tuesday for stopping the advancement of House Bill 3317, a bill that would assign greater authority to the chairman position.
“While I am a strong advocate of good government and reform, the proposals in House Bill 3317 would grant the chairman too much authority,” Franks said in a news release.
Bloomington Pantagraph: WIU enrollment down almost 14 percent at Macomb campus
New enrollment data from Western Illinois University shows the number of students attending classes this semester at the Macomb campus fell by almost 14 percent compared with a year ago.
The (Peoria) Journal Star reports that enrollment in Macomb this semester is about 5,600. That’s compared with about 6,500 last spring semester. The data also show that the number of freshman and sophomore students is down 20 percent from the previous year and graduate-student enrollment is down 16 percent.