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Chicago Sun-Times: Fact-check: Pritzker’s savings from pension fund changes don’t add up
During a recent sit-down interview at a local business forum, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker dismissed the possibility of changing the Illinois constitution to make it possible to reduce public retiree benefits.
Echoing growing calls from certain groups to ask voters next year to eliminate the clause that protects those benefits, the moderator at the event hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago asked Pritzker why he won’t promote such a plan as part of his broader push to shore up the state’s finances.
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin hired private security using taxpayer funds after CPD found there was no threat. She disagreed, saying people call her ‘the money lady.’
City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin paid $35 an hour for private security using taxpayer money after the Chicago Police Department eliminated her protective detail earlier this year because it found she was not in any danger, newly released records show.
Conyears-Ervin personally protested the department’s move to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who stood behind the decision after a contentious exchange of emails, records between the two citywide elected officials show.
Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot’s precariously-balanced budget will sail through the City Council, but how long will it last?
Mayor Lori Lightfoot deliberately dodged a City Council rebellion by steering clear of a massive property tax increase and using one-time revenues to erase nearly half the $838 million budget shortfall she inherited.
She tore up the time-honored mayoral script that calls for a big tax hike early in a four-year term to live off the money and give voters three more years to forgive and forget.