Get the latest news from around Illinois.
WBEZ: Emails show ComEd lobbyist’s deep impact in Madigan’s inner circle
Emails obtained by WBEZ show Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s longtime top aide discussed placing political loyalists at Commonwealth Edison, the state-regulated electric company whose hiring and lobbying activities are under federal investigation.
The interest by the speaker’s organization in potential jobs for ex-Madigan staffers at Illinois’ biggest power utility came around the time ComEd and its parent, Exelon, had the speaker himself and senior aides on their side in lobbying efforts that brought big legislative gains.
Chicago Tribune: House Speaker Michael Madigan, several allies named in federal grand jury subpoenas seeking records from 2 southwest suburbs
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, his former chief of staff, his handpicked alderman and a one-time close confidant are named in a pair of federal grand jury subpoenas seeking records from southwest suburban Merrionette Park and Bridgeview.
The subpoenas request communications involving the speaker, his allies and Raymond T. Nice, a longtime precinct captain in Madigan’s vaunted 13th Ward operation. It also called for copies of state and federal tax records related to Nice.
Crain's Chicago Business: Was this PAC made to help women—or be a 'fig leaf' for Speaker Madigan?
Alaina Hampton, a former political staffer and campaign manager for House Speaker Mike Madigan and the Madigan-controlled Democratic Party of Illinois, says the PAC, People for Women’s Empowerment, is being run by people with more allegiance to Madigan than to empowering women.
The Center Square: Pritzker says wiretapped calls with Blagojevich in 2008 have ‘nothing to do with where we are today’
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday the secretly-recorded conversations he had with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2008 have no bearing on his efforts to fight corruption in Illinois.
Back in 2008, Pritzker was caught on federal wiretaps with the then-Democratic governor. During the 2018 election, former Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner used audio from those calls in campaign ads.
Chicago Sun-Times: Cook County official pleads not guilty to bribery charges stemming from work for red-light camera company
A high-ranking Cook County official pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he conspired to bribe a relative of an Oak Lawn trustee in a bid to have red-light cameras installed in the southwest suburb.
Patrick Doherty, who serves as Cook County commissioner Jeff Tobolski’s chief of staff, has worked as a paid consultant for SafeSpeed LLC, a politically-connected red-light camera company that has come under federal scrutiny in recent months. An indictment made public last week accuses Doherty of agreeing to make the under-the-table payments in 2017 as he sought to expand SafeSpeed’s reach in Oak Lawn.
The Center Square: Republicans say Illinois schools held ‘hostage’ in governor's budget plan
After Illinois state lawmakers toiled for years over changing the formula for how the state funds school districts, Republicans said Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to hold back millions unless voters approve a progressive income tax puts that in jeopardy.
Pritzker proposed his budget Wednesday. It called for spending $42 billion in state money, but $1.4 billion of that hinges on voters approving his proposed constitutional amendment for a progressive income tax. Illinois has a flat income tax where every taxpayer pays the same flat rate of 4.95 percent, regardless of income. The progressive tax would change that to require higher earners to pay higher rates.
Chicago Tribune: Former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson due a monthly pension of nearly $16,000 despite early dismissal
Eddie Johnson was unceremoniously fired in December before his planned retirement from his post as Chicago’s top cop, but he still stands to bring in a hefty pension, records show.
Johnson, 59, was fired by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who said her then-police superintendent had lied to her after a late weeknight out last fall when he was found asleep in his city-issued SUV near his South Side home. But even though the dismissal meant he was not allowed to leave on his own schedule, Johnson’s pension will entitle him to a six-figure income each year for the rest of his life, city records show.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to link education funding increase to his graduated income tax plan could leave some school districts in the lurch
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s decision to propose a budget that ties an increase in state education funding to the fate of his graduated-rate income tax plan is drawing concern from both parties, in part because it could create uncertainty for school districts statewide until the November election.
If voters reject Pritzker’s income tax plan, the state would increase its share of funding to public schools by $200 million, for the first time missing the $350 million minimum increase set by the state’s evidence-based funding formula. Under that scenario, only the highest-need schools in Illinois would receive that additional funding.
Daily Southtown: Oak Lawn mayor ‘blindsided’ by allegation that trustee’s relative took bribe from red-light camera rep; vows internal probe
Oak Lawn’s mayor said officials were “blindsided” by last week’s federal indictment of a Cook County political operative on charges he conspired to bribe the relative of a village trustee in order to secure the trustee’s assistance with the installation of red-light cameras.
In a statement released Friday, shortly after the three-count indictment against Patrick Doherty was made public, Mayor Sandra Bury said officials were “shocked and appalled” by the allegations and had opened an investigation into the matter.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Public Schools sue parking biz owned by Joe Berrios’ son-in-law for $366K
A son-in-law of former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios is being sued by the Chicago Public Schools, which says he failed to pay “no less than” $366,000 under deals that allowed his company to park cars at 10 elementary schools, mostly for baseball fans going to Cubs games last year.
According to the lawsuit filed in Cook County circuit court, James T. Weiss and his parking business stopped paying CPS last April for the right to park cars at three schools closest to Wrigley Field — but kept charging customers to park there anyway.
Northwest Herald: Investigation news leads to McHenry County Board fallout for Franks
McHenry County Board members and members of the public took County Board Chairman Jack Franks to task Tuesday over a recently disclosed Illinois State Police investigation into alleged misconduct.
Several of Franks’ political adversaries took the opportunity to call for reducing the role of the chairman in a new ethics ordinance and to question whether he should face any restrictions in light of his being banned from entering the state Capitol building without a police escort.