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Chicago Tribune: Nearly 90,000 Cook County teens, young adults not in school or working, report says
“I think what people should know is any obstacle in your life, you can overcome it,” Gomez said.
A new report is a reminder that those obstacles can be numerous. According to the report by the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the good news is the percentages of young people in Chicago and Cook County who aren’t in school or working are slowly decreasing after hitting highs during the last recession. Yet in 2015, nearly 90,000 teens and young adults, ages 16 to 24, in Cook County and Chicago remained out of work and out of school.
Wirepoints: Why You Shouldn't Believe The Illinois Budget Deficit Numbers Released This Week
“Illinois end of year budget deficit to top $6 billion.” That and similar headlines were very common across Illinois over the past week.
Uh-uh. The real deficit Illinois faces is clearly well over twice that and might easily be over three times that.
HuffPost: Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund: Nearly $200 in Payouts for Every $1 Earnings
In 2016, Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF) paid out $1.5 billion in benefits while earning only $7.8 million on investments. Yes, the fund disbursed nearly $200 in benefits for every $1 in investment earnings. Red ink created by decades of fiscal mismanagement threatens students and taxpayers. And the shortfall calls into questions whether CTPF can support the 30,910 current Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers when they retire.
What would happen to a business if they were spending more than they were making for multiple years in a row? The business, unable to pay their employees among other expenses, would be forced to close. Similarly, shortfalls in the pension fund force Chicago Public Schools to divert money from business operations (teaching students) to pension payments—payments which should have been made from investment earnings.
State Journal-Register: Purvis: Rauner likes 90% of school funding reform bill but will veto
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s education adviser, Beth Purvis, said the governor supports 90 percent of the education funding reform bill that was passed by the legislature this spring, but would still veto it because it is too generous to Chicago Public Schools.
A key proponent of the bill, state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, fired back at the governor’s office, saying, “Most rational people would take 90 percent and call it a win.”
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois income growth worst in nation, yet lawmakers want more
The playbook is being followed, pretty much like Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner predicted.
The Illinois House wouldn’t even bring a budget bill to a vote before they adjourned May 31. Rauner said House Democrats would spend the summer holding press conferences and “sham” hearings with those hurt by the budget. Democratic state Reps. Jay Hoffman and LaToya Greenwood followed the plan and did just that Wednesday.
Peoria Journal-Star: State-run media service seen as $3 million--a-year necessity
With the state in financial turmoil, it still pays $3 million annually for a media service that transmits Illinois news statewide.
Some say it’s a service Illinois can’t afford to cut.
Crain's Chicago Business: Springfield seeks a cure for dying College Illinois
College Illinois remains on a course to insolvency in less than a decade, and state officials are at last getting ready to do something about it. After a fifth straight year of dismal sales of new “prepaid tuition” contracts, the administrators of the program will present lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner with some options at hearings planned for this summer.
Expected to be considered is the closure of the college savings plan to new contract purchasers. And on the other side of the spectrum: providing a statutory guarantee that the state will make beneficiaries whole if the investment fund supporting College Illinois runs dry.
Northwest Herald: New McHenry Township trustees send message of change at first meeting
A group of newly seated conservative McHenry Township trustees who were elected on a tax revolt slate made it clear at the board’s first meeting that they intend to make sweeping changes despite opposition.
The first McHenry Township meeting with newly elected trustees, including a longtime advocate of township consolidations or eliminations, got heated Thursday night over disagreements about prevailing wages, stipends, talk of abolishing townships and concerns from senior citizens who want to keep the services the township provides.
Northwest Herald: Cary trustees consider awarding $15,000 in grants to 4 nonprofits
The Cary Village Board is set to give out $15,000 through its Community Grant Program this year, but a projected deficit for the next budget year could mean this is the last year for the program, Cary Village Administrator Jake Rife said.
The mission of the program is to fund nonprofit grant requests that provide cultural, recreational and youth or senior services that contribute to the quality of life in Cary, according to village documents.
Northwest Herald: McHenry County Board to vote on referendum to abolish recorder's office
The McHenry County Board will decide later this month whether voters will be asked in March whether they want to abolish the elected office of county recorder.
In a 6-0 vote Friday, the County Board’s Ad Hoc Committee on Government Consolidation advanced the proposed binding referendum to the full board at its June 20 voting meeting. Should members approve it, voters will be asked the question on the March 20 primary ballot.
Bloomington Pantagraph: TIF district proposed for former high school building
An Iowa developer is seeking tax increment financing assistance from the city to convert the upper floors of the former Bloomington High School near downtown into apartments for low-income elderly residents.
“We’re going to be proposing on Monday night not only a redevelopment agreement with the developer, but also begin creating a new TIF district around the property,” said Bloomington Economic Development Coordinator Austin Grammer.