Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago worst among 15 major cities grappling with pensions
Chicago is not alone among major cities grappling with under-funded city employee pensions, but is clearly in the worst shape among the nation’s fifteen largest cities, a Wall Street rating agency concluded Wednesday.
Standard & Poor’s surveyed pension obligations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, San Antonio, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Dallas, Houston, Columbus, Indianapolis and Austin.
News-Gazette: A failing state
The public’s instincts are right on the money about the state of the state.
As Democratic and Republican legislators try to hammer out a budget and economic reform package in Springfield, it would be helpful if they took into consideration the dramatic change state residents have indicated is necessary to right our flagging ship of state.
A new poll, which was conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates on behalf of the free-market-based Illinois Policy Institutes, shows the depth of concern — and contempt — people have for the way Illinois has been run over the past 20 years.
Chicago Tribune: Rauner compares state government to last-place 2013 Cubs
Gov. Bruce Rauner drew a comparison between Springfield and the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, saying state government needs to follow the team’s footsteps and rebuild itself.
Rauner’s comments came in a Facebook Live event with Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts. Rauner commended Ricketts for turning a team with one of the worst records in baseball into World Series champions.
Chicago Sun-Times: Rauner says Dems trying to create crisis; they say, do your job
Gov. Bruce Rauner and his Illinois Republican Party on Wednesday accused Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, and Comptroller Susana Mendoza of colluding to “force a government shutdown.”
The speaker’s spokesman dismissed the charge as “delusional babble,” Mendoza urged the governor to “take off the tinfoil conspiracy theory hat” and focus on a balanced budget, and the attorney general’s spokeswoman said Rauner “needs to stop the baseless finger-pointing and do his job.”
Chicago Tribune: Rauner-Emanuel dispute over $2M halts 41st Street pedestrian bridge project
In another sign of the growing friction between the Rauner administration and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the construction of a planned pedestrian bridge over Lake Shore Drive at 41st Street has been put on hold after the state balked at contributing another $2 million for the project, state and city officials said on Wednesday.
The news comes as the city plans to start repairs this summer on two crumbling Lake Shore Drive bridges at Lawrence and Wilson avenues. That work is heavily dependent on state funding, and city officials are worried that it also could be delayed.
Chicago Tribune: Fix Illinois bridges — and fix how we pay for the work
Built in 1933, the Lake Shore Drive bridge over Lawrence Avenue isn’t a pretty sight. Decades of Chicago freeze-and-thaw and ceaseless traffic have caused sections of concrete to fall away, exposing the underlying rebar. The march of time — and Chicago winters — are unforgiving.
A new study by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association categorizes that bridge as “structurally deficient.” In all, 8.4 percent of Illinois’ 26,704 bridges share that rating. Nine of the state’s 10 most-traveled bad bridges are in the Chicago area, the study says.
State Journal-Register: AG Madigan wants Supreme Court to decide if workers can be paid without budget
Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants the Illinois Supreme Court to take up the issue of whether state employees can be paid without a state budget.
Madigan filed a motion Wednesday asking the state’s high court to quickly take up the issue, bypassing a ruling from the state appellate court.
State Journal-Register: Judge sides with Mendoza in state worker pay dispute
Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Wednesday about 600 state workers will be paid “in full and on time” after a judge said she has the authority to decide which state accounts should be used to pay them.
However, the administration of Gov. Bruce Rauner issued a statement later Wednesday saying it would appeal the decision.
Chicago Tribune: Comptroller Mendoza is no independent voice
It takes a certain level of audacity to kick political opponents in the teeth the night they lose an election.
But that’s what Democratic Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza did on Nov. 8, 2016, and her aggressive, in-your-face approach hasn’t calmed in the months since. She ran promising to be an independent comptroller. But in less than four months, she has become in Springfield the most intensely partisan critic of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. She demands no such accountability of her fellow Democrats who have held majorities in the General Assembly for 15 years.
NBC 5 Chicago: Proposed Bill Could Lower Drinking Age in Illinois With Parental Consent
A proposed bill in Illinois could soon lower the state’s drinking age with parental consent.
The proposal would allow people 18 and older to be served wine or beer at restaurants with their parents’ permission.
Fox Illinois: Seat Belts on School Buses Bill Passes House Committee
A bill proposing seat belts for school buses in Illinois has passed a House Committee.
Chicago Tribune: Union wants Chicago's public teachers to consider 1-day walkout in May
The Chicago Teachers Union on Wednesday opened the door to a one-day walkout on May Day to bring attention to the “acute crisis” facing city schools, one that Chicago Public Schools officials warn could put an early end to the school year.
“If the board goes ahead with the threat of canceling three weeks of school, we would view their action as a massive violation of our contract,” CTU President Karen Lewis told reporters gathered at the union’s new headquarters in the West Town neighborhood. “And that could provoke a strike.”
Chicago Tribune: Rauner to announce plan to combat hate crimes
In response to recent local acts of anti-Semitism and reports of increased hate crimes nationwide, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday will announce a multipronged effort to boost the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes through stronger laws and better education.
Rauner will detail his four-point plan at a downtown dinner benefiting the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, according to his office. He tapped the state director of public safety and the secretary of education to help carry out the proposal.
News-Gazette: Illinois House committee OKs bill restricting energy-drink sales
A veteran state lawmaker said he’s going to try again to ban the sale of energy drinks, such as Red Bull, to people under the age of 18.
But Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, told a House committee Wednesday that his legislation needs modifications.
Rockford Register-Star: Another year, another attempt to remove state’s tax on federal Title 1 funds for education
Rockford Superintendent Ehren Jarrett was in Springfield today advocating for a change that would put nearly $60 million in federal education funds into the hands of Illinois school districts.
State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford, is the main sponsor of Senate Bill 195, a bill that would get rid of something called the “federal funds rate.” The rate is applied to federal Title 1 funds, and it forces district’s like Rockford to pay as much as 38 percent on a teacher’s salary for pension costs.
Peoria Journal-Star: Government report accuses Caterpillar of ‘deliberate’ tax fraud
A government-commissioned report possibly connected to the search warrants executed at the Caterpillar Inc. headquarters last week found the company engaged in tax and accounting fraud through a network of foreign subsidiaries.
The New York Times obtained the 85-page analysis, which has not been made public nor shared with Caterpillar, and revealed some of its contents in an article published online Tuesday.
Chicago Tribune: Preckwinkle: GOP health care plan will ravage Cook County budget
Democratic Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Wednesday acknowledged a Republican plan to replace Obamacare could blow a huge hole in the county budget, but vowed to find the money to provide health care for hundreds of thousands of residents who could lose coverage.
Preckwinkle said the bill unveiled this week by House Republicans in Washington, “is not terribly encouraging; in fact, it’s pretty discouraging.” Particularly troubling, Preckwinkle said, is the GOP proposal to roll back the Medicaid expansion in the Affordable Care Act.
Chicago Tribune: Foxx blames predecessor Alvarez for error that let man who was slain leaving jail beat murder rap
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office acknowledged Wednesday that an error by prosecutors allowed a man to beat his murder case, only to be fatally shot moments after his release from jail, but Foxx’s office blamed her predecessor for the mistake.
Cook County prosecutors dropped the murder charges in January against Kamari Belmont after mistakenly allowing too much time to elapse under the state’s speedy trial statute, according to court records and Belmont’s attorney.
WBEZ: Enforcement Of Chicago’s Winter Parking Ban Depends On The Neighborhood
Every winter Chicago residents can count on two things – snow and having to deal with the city’s overnight winter parking ban.
This year, though, the fluctuations in the weather are proving to be just as wildly unpredictable as the city’s enforcement of the parking ban.
Chicago Sun-Times: Burke proposes incorporating aviation security officers into CPD
The long-simmering City Council debate over whether to arm aviation security officers can be resolved by making them part of the Chicago Police Department, a chief proponent said Wednesday.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), whose ordinance authorizing aviation security officer to carry weapons is languishing in a committee, embraced the idea tossed out by Finance Committee Chairman Edward Burke (14th) during a recent closed-door meeting with Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Bloomington: No plan to resurrect Metro Zone
Mayor Tari Renner said Tuesday the city of Bloomington has no plans to resurrect the Metro Zone agreement with Normal, but there can be talks on jointly promoting economic development.
Normal Mayor Koos said Monday the town doesn’t consider the 30-year-old revenue-sharing deal for the west side dead despite the Bloomington City Council’s 7-2 vote last week to terminate it retroactively to Dec. 31, 2016. Koos said he hopes the cities can continue to meet privately to discuss amending the agreement.