Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Credit agency warns of 'long-term damage' in Illinois if no budget deal by May 31
A credit ratings agency is again raising the alarm over Illinois’ historic budget impasse, saying a failure to put in place a complete spending plan by the end of the spring session could result in Illinois defaulting on loans, cutting pension contributions and “long-term damage” to universities and social service providers.
In a report issued Thursday, Moody’s Investors Service contends the state’s financial pressures are the result of a “lack of political will” between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the General Assembly rather “than a recession or other factors beyond the government’s control.”
Wirepoints: ‘The Privilege Tax’: Illinois House, Senate Bills Would Destroy the State’s Financial Sector. Really.
Yes, I know. Stupid bills sometimes are introduced just so a sponsor can beat his chest for this or that constituency or keep some lobbyist happy.
But a pair of bills now pending in the Illinois General Assembly are so breathtakingly dumb — and have gotten so much traction — that serious questions have to be asked: What kind of legislator would even put his name on them? What kinds of policies are they trying to appetize voters for? Worse, based on how far they’ve gotten, these two bills appear to be serious.
News-Gazette: Graduated tax in progressive Democrats' 'vision' for state
A group of about 20 self-described progressive Democrats on Wednesday introduced what they called an “Illinois Comeback Agenda,” wrapped around a package of bills that includes one to overturn Illinois’ nearly 50-year-old flat income tax.
Saying they were frustrated with the lack of progress on numerous issues, including a budget, the Democrats, including state Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, said their initial package of bills included a constitutional amendment for a graduated income tax and voluntary public financing of elections.
Chicago Sun-Times: Governing gives way to campaign theatrics as Illinois tumbles
The political paralysis that’s killing Illinois has been good for the travel industry, if nothing else.
One resident leaves the state about every 4.6 minutes. The Chicago metropolitan area, we learned this month, has lost population two years in a row, and the move out is picking up.
Chicago Sun-Times: Gov. Bruce Rauner in statewide TV ads a year before primary
With the 2018 primary still a year away, Gov. Bruce Rauner is already on television screens throughout the state, targeting Democrats for using “duct tape” to fix the state’s financial problems.
That’s because an arm of the Republican Governors Association has purchased a total of $1.05 million worth of TV time to air 15- and 30-second advertisements featuring Rauner in five TV markets statewide: Chicago, Champaign-Springfield, Rockford, Quad-Cities and Peoria-Bloomington, records show. The ads began running on Tuesday and will continue through April 9.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois governor candidates scramble to raise money before today's deadline
Today marks the end of the first quarter of the political campaign finance calendar, and the candidates for Illinois governor are taking note as fundraising emails accelerate.
In a recent email to supporters, Ameya Pawar, a Northwest Side alderman, sought donations and noted the deadline: “At this point in the race, it’s basically our first public ‘report card’ showing our progress to victory.”
News-Gazette: One sweet payday for public officials
State public officials might take umbrage at the suggestion that they’re flush with cash. Nonetheless, it’s true.
After going seven months without a check, legislators represented by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s lawyer/consigliere Michael Kasper prevailed upon a Chicago judge to order they be paid, leapfrogging state vendors who are owed $12 billion-plus.
State Journal-Register: $2.2M more in budget cuts could be coming to SIU medical school
The $2.2 million in additional cuts that are being considered for Southern Illinois University School of Medicine related to the ongoing state budget crisis could lead to an undetermined number of layoffs, the medical school’s dean says.
“We’re really going to try to avoid anything massive,” dean and provost Dr. Jerry Kruse said Thursday.
Chicago Tribune: Medical marijuana companies now can give to Illinois politicians — but will they?
Illinois’ medical marijuana companies, operating in a nascent industry fraught with rules, now have one less regulation they must follow.
A federal judge ruled last week that a provision preventing cannabis companies from making campaign contributions in Illinois was unconstitutional. The ruling came in response a lawsuit filed in 2015 by two Libertarian Party candidates who sought contributions from the medical marijuana world.
Chicago Sun-Times: Rauner to consolidate Human Rights Commission within department
Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to sign an executive order on Friday to consolidate the Human Rights Commission into the state’s Department of Human Rights — a move his administration says will help to expedite discrimination complaints.
Rauner’s administration says there are more than 1,000 cases pending at the Human Rights Commission, which adjudicates complaints of civil rights violations based on protected classes in employment, real estate transactions, financial credit, public accommodations and education.
Associated Press: Illinois moves to implement internet privacy safeguards
Democratic lawmakers in Illinois are considering implementing their own internet safeguards at the state level after Republicans in Washington voted to roll back Obama-era internet privacy protections that were to take effect later this year.
An Illinois House committee on Thursday endorsed two online privacy measures, including one that would allow people to find out what information companies such as Google and Facebook have collected on them, and which third parties they share it with. California enacted a similar measure in 2005.
NPR Illinois: Illinois Lawmakers Debate Proposals Aimed at Young Voters
Yesterday’s “I voted” sticker is today’s ballot selfie. But some voters last fall found out Illinois makes it illegal to take a selfie with your ballot. Lawmakers are trying to change that, inspired by the young people who simply wanted to share their fulfillment of their civic duty on social media.
Amanda Sunley is a sophomore at New Berlin High School. She says she probably wouldn’t take a selfie at the voting booth.
Chicago Tribune: Conservative Michigan college backs pitch for Chicago charter school
A group seeking to open a taxpayer-financed charter school in the South Loop is getting support from a conservative Michigan college that aims to build on President Donald Trump’s school choice agenda.
Hillsdale College, which refuses federal funds in order to maintain its independence from government oversight, has helped open 17 schools in states including Texas, Florida and Indiana through its Barney Charter School Initiative.
Chicago Sun-Times: Noble disciplined 7 staffers for postcards, then gave one a raise
Three more high-level Noble Network of Charter Schools staffers have been disciplined for their roles in using student data improperly obtained from the Chicago Public Schools to send out recruitment mailers — including one who was promoted to a higher-paying job within weeks of the reprimand, documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.
A total of seven Noble employees now have been disciplined over the postcards that were sent, using CPS’ internal list of students citywide, to recruit for Noble’s 18 Chicago campuses.
Chicago Sun-Times: Rahm Emanuel email takes center stage in retiree health care case
A private email written by Mayor Rahm Emanuel bragging about the now-completed, three-year phase-out of health care coverage for city retirees is taking center stage in the ongoing legal battle to restore the program and a 55 percent city subsidy.
The retirees’ attorney, Clint Krislov, highlighted the mayor’s cavalier reply to an October 2015 email from venture capitalist Henry Feinberg in an Illinois Appellate Court brief filed this week.
Chicago Tribune: Ethics Board flexes muscle against independent contractors
Chicago’s reinvigorated Board of Ethics is flexing its muscle again—this time by threatening hefty fines against “independent contractors” employed by aldermen who fail to file statements of financial interest.
South Side Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) was so incensed by the March 1 edict, she has introduced an ordinance that would change the definition of “city employee” and “City Council employee” to exclude independent contractors.
Chicago Sun-Times: Injured alderman seeking revenge against squirrels
Four months after suffering severe facial injuries when a squirrel jumped in front of his bike, South Side Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) is apparently seeking revenge.
Brookins wants Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams to appear before the City Council and outline “options for procuring stronger garbage carts” more resistant to squirrels.
Chicago Sun-Times: Alderman wants Uber, Lyft vehicles to have illuminated signs
Ride-hailing vehicles on Chicago streets would need illuminated signs “visible from 50 feet away” under a crackdown proposed this week to ease downtown congestion and improve public safety.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said he’s trying to ease major traffic jams caused by Uber and Lyft drivers who pull up at the Michigan Avenue entrances to downtown hotels and block traffic lanes while waiting for passengers to come out.
Crain's Chicago Business: Northwestern Memorial workers rally in rain for $15 an hour
Standing with ponchos and umbrellas on a rainy corner in Streeterville today, workers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital demanded that the health system implement a minimum wage of $15 an hour.
A group of employees represented by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois rallied alongside Chicago aldermen and community leaders. Currently, union employees start off at $11.50 an hour, according to SEIU Healthcare. The union represents 1,250 Northwestern employees, which include custodians, patient transport technicians, patient care technicians, dietary/food service and environmental service workers. The union’s contract with the not-for-profit hospital expired on March 29th.
DNA Info: Spend $25 Million Now To Prevent Violence This Summer, Munoz Tells Rahm
Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) failed last month to convince his fellow aldermen to buck Mayor Rahm Emanuel and spend an unclaimed pot of money on violence prevention programs designed to combat escalating crime on the West and South sides.
This week, Munoz took another shot at preventing a bloody summer after Treasurer Kurt Summers announced that the city’s investment fund performed better than officials expected and generated an unexpected $57 million.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Park District to pay up to $12 million over 4 years for police patrols
With the high-traffic summer season approaching, the Chicago Park District will pay more to the Chicago police to provide a beefed-up presence along the lakefront and in other parks.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance at this week’s City Council meeting that puts the Park District on the hook to pay up to $12 million over three years to the Police Department for the increased patrols, which began last summer amid the city’s surge in crime.