Get the latest news from around Illinois.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: Question of Balance: Analysts Talk State Budget, Pension Reform
Illinois has a balanced budget and a path to fully fund pensions over time. That’s what Gov. J.B. Pritzker and lawmakers claimed after passing and signing into law a new state budget earlier this month.
Although the governor claims the $40.1 billion spending plan will also generate $150 million in surplus, Illinois still faces a series of financial hurdles. Among them: $134 billion in unfunded pension liabilities and more than $7 billion in outstanding bills.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker touts ‘rational, pragmatic, progressive’ approach in speech to Chicago business elite
After winning passage of a state budget and an infrastructure plan that rely on hundreds of millions of dollars in increased taxes and fees, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday made the case to a group of business leaders that his “rational, pragmatic, progressive agenda” is good for Illinois’ economy.
Pritzker, an investor and billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune, rankled many in the business community when he began his term by signing into law a statewide minimum wage increase and proposing a host of taxes to fill the state’s gaping budget hole. The new governor’s signature policy initiative — shifting the state from its constitutionally mandated flat-rate income tax to a graduated rate structure — also has received strong pushback from pro-business groups.
Champaign News-Gazette: Greener pastures are a big draw
Sometimes it’s easier — and smarter — just to pack up and go.
A 2016 poll by Southern Illinois University revealed vast unhappiness by the people of Illinois with the state of Illinois. Nearly half of the state’s residents would like to live in another state.
Three years later, Illinois has a new governor, a supermajority Democratic Legislature and a souped-up version of state government committed to great spending and heavier taxation.
Chicago Sun-Times: FBI agents raid ward office of Ald. Carrie Austin
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) was praising the Lord at a school event Wednesday morning, saying “today is a day truly that God has made because he made us the star of the show,” when federal agents a few miles away were thrusting her center stage into Chicago’s hottest criminal investigation.
While Austin was talking about a school mentoring program, alongside Mayor Lori Lightfoot at Percy Julian High School, FBI agents were raiding her ward office as part of the ongoing political corruption investigations of Chicago aldermen.
Crain's Chicago Business: What are the feds looking for in Carrie Austin's office? Some clues emerge.
According to a knowledgeable source close to the matter, the feds are not looking at alleged official misuse of the office as they were with Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, who has been accused of racketeering and extortion of builders and others. Rather, the current probe relates to use of campaign money, of which Austin had plenty as (until recently) chairwoman of the powerful City Council Budget Committee.
WBEZ: Up To $7 Billion Still Needed To Properly Fund Illinois Schools
The Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday said it could take as much as $7 billion to properly fund all public schools in the state.
The state is required to contribute $350 million annually to boost kindergarten through high school funding under a 2017 law that changed Illinois’ education funding formula. The latest state budget — and the first under new Gov. JB Pritzker — approved $375 million for this “evidence-based” funding formula.
Northwest Herald: More money, mandates coming for public schools in Illinois
Public schools in Illinois will have a lot of new money to work with in the upcoming fiscal year, along with a host of new laws to implement.
That was the news the Illinois State Board of Education heard Wednesday when it received its annual legislative and budget updates.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot won’t rule out broadening sales tax umbrella to include professional services
Is the sales tax on services — buried years ago after being branded the “Rahm tax” — about to be resurrected?
Will it someday be known as the “Lori levy”?
Mayor Lori Lightfoot isn’t saying. But she’s also not ruling it out.
Chicago Tribune: Lincoln Yards opponents ask judge to stop city from spending any money on the megaproject
Foes of the massive Lincoln Yards development on Wednesday asked a judge to stop the city from spending or borrowing any money for the $6 billion project slated for 55 acres just west of Lincoln Park.
The request by the public sector union-backed Grassroots Collaborative and Raise Your Hand education advocacy group is an attempt to keep the money spigot turned off while its lawsuit to toss out the record-high tax subsidy is heard.
Chicago Tribune: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says county’s facing ‘very modest’ budget shortfall
Cook County is facing its smallest budget deficit since Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle took office, although there is a projected gap of $18.7 million, according to her administration.
The county will offset the anticipated budget hole without introducing new fees or taxes, Preckwinkle said. Cook County has benefited from additional millions of dollars of revenue generated from sales taxes but also saved money by eliminating open positions and slowing down contracting for planned projects, officials said.
Crain's Chicago Business: Preckwinkle promises no-tax-hike 2020 budget
At a briefing last evening that was embargoed until today, Preckwinkle attributed the good news to “tough decisions” made in the past—including deep budget cuts, a penny-on-the-dollar hike in the county’s sales tax, and an abortive effort to tax soda pop and other sugared drinks that collapsed amid a storm of opposition and which forced hundreds of employee layoffs.
Chicago Sun-Times: Cook County Assessor’s Office asks commissioners to lend staff — and is told, yeah, we’re pretty busy
The Cook County Assessor’s Office is asking county commissioners to loan out staff members to help field an expected rush of calls from taxpayers with questions about the second installment of property tax bills.
In a letter addressed to commissioners, Sarah Garza Resnick, the chief deputy assessor, said the office is preparing to “serve a high volume of taxpayers at our office.”
Northwest Herald: Woodstock OKs potential TIF resolution, loan for new bar and eminent domain process
The Woodstock City Council voted Tuesday to authorize a potential tax increment finance district agreement and a loan for a whiskey and wine bar.
A handful of property owners want TIF money to make site improvements at the corner of 301 E. Calhoun St. and 330 E. Jackson St., the Old Feed Mill property, according to city documents.
State Journal-Register: Council approves $4.4 million loan for new fire, police equipment
With no debate, the Springfield City Council unanimously approved a $4.4 million loan Tuesday evening that will pay for new equipment for the city’s police, fire and public works departments.
Among the highlights of the equipment purchases are two new fire engines for about $1.2 million, the refurbishment of a third fire engine for $300,000, about $1.2 million for 26 new marked Springfield police patrol cars and $180,000 for unmarked police cars.