* Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson met with Gov. JB Pritzker at the governor’s office today. They started with statements…
Pritzker: Well, it’s great to be here with the mayor-elect. We had a terrific meeting. I want to be clear to everybody that we share a lot in common, our desire to lift up the people of the city of Chicago, to make sure we’re addressing the most urgent issues and growing the economy of the city, because that helps grow the economy of the state of Illinois. So job creation and entrepreneurship, small businesses. and making sure that we’re creating an avenue for success for everybody in our city. So with that, I’ll turn it over to the mayor-elect.
Johnson: As the governor indicated that the the level of compassion, as well as collaboration and the ability to demonstrate competence, these are all dynamics that we share. The City of Chicago, of course, is an amazing place to raise a family. Snd bringing people together, those who want to see our city divided, today is a very clear day and indication that those are the politics of old. And so I’m grateful that the governor has certainly reinforce outsized his commitment to make sure that the city of Chicago maintains its status as a world class city by investing in the neighborhoods, that quite frankly, have been short for too long. And so very much impressed by the governor’s compassion and love. And it’s great to have a real partner to not only rebuild our city, but to make sure that individuals who wish to be small business owners and large corporations can actually have a city that works, and an entire body of government at every single level that’s willing to work together. So thank you very much.
Please pardon all transcription errors.
* Asked about whether they’d discussed the mayor-elect’s tax plans, Pritzker said…
We did not discuss that in this meeting. And what we did discuss was, of course, making sure that the City of Chicago is able to balance its budget and the state of Illinois too, and that we share that challenge in common at all times.
* Transaction tax on electronic trades…
Pritzker: We did not discuss during this meeting. There are things that I’ve campaigned on that I think we’ll have conversations about that the mayor-elect campaigned on. I just would give, the one example that I’ll give is that, you know, obviously what we all want is a thriving financial services economy in the state and the city and it’s been that way. And I have not stood for a transaction tax, because I think it would be easy for those companies and servers to move out of the state. But, I do know that they’re, you know, the challenge of finding balance between expenditures and revenue is not lost on me. I came into a difficult situation, and I think, I know the mayor-elect similarly wants very much to serve the people of Chicago properly and balance the budget at the same time.
* Aviation fuel tax, good or bad idea?…
Pritzker: We haven’t talked about any of those issues. But I will say, the General Assembly of course is in full force. They’re in session and I know that the mayor-elect intends to have dialogue with leaders in the General Assembly to talk about those things.
* Real estate transfer tax through the General Assembly this spring?…
Johnson: The budget plan that I’ve proposed deals with the structural challenges that the City of Chicago has been facing. And, you know, the reliance upon property taxes have left a lot of families in economic turmoil and despair. But we also recognize that the governor, the governor and I are committed to making investments in communities that need it. We did not have a full conversation about the entire budget plan. And I’m very much committed to working with the General Assembly and the Office of the Governor to ensure [cross talk] that those critical investments take place.
This spring for the real estate transfer tax?…
Johnson: There’s certainly an urgency that the city of Chicago has, and we recognize that there is a process in order to get things done. Look, the bottom line is this: The Governor and I are committed to not just uniting the city of Chicago, but the state of Illinois. We both are committed to making sure that working people can live and thrive and grow in the city of Chicago. And that’s a great day for for our state and certainly a great day for our city.
* Democratic convention?…
Pritkzer: Always happy to talk about that. The best convention that anyone could have would be here in the city of Chicago. We’ve worked hard to make sure that we’re communicating that to all of the folks at the DNC as well as at the White House. I think we’ve done that and we’ve been successful at getting our points across. This is the best city in the entire country. And in the competitive back and forth between all the cities, Chicago demonstrates that we’re a city that’s, well in a state that’s pro choice, and that’s stood up for labor rights and for workers. That we’re a state that is opposed to assault weapons. And that’s not true of some of the other competitors states.
Does Johnson’s election enhance the city’s pitch to the DNC?…
Pritkzer: Absolutely, and in part because, look, he brings a real excitement to the job, I think to the people of Chicago and I think that’s being felt in Washington, DC.
* Can you comment on the two legislators expelled in Tennessee?…
Pritkzer: I will and I can. There is a threat to democracy that is occurring all across this nation and especially in states that are controlled by Republican governors and Republican majority and supermajority legislatures, and it is that they do not believe fundamentally, that when someone disagrees with them, they still have a right to have a vote on that or have a voice on that. And it’s okay with them to just expel someone from the job that they just got elected to when they disagree with them. That is something that you see in the right wing talking points of Republicans across this nation. We saw a bit of that kind of dismissal by the right wing candidates that ran for school board and library board, and some that have run for statewide office in the state of Illinois. So I want you to know that many of us and especially me, I stand with those two legislators who were expelled, with the legislator who remained and her comments about why she was able to succeed in remaining. This is a problem across the nation, but Tennessee demonstrated that there is still a tinge of racism that exists in the state of Tennessee and it was demonstrated there.
* Republicans in Wisconsin are already talking about impeaching the new Supreme Court Justice that Pritzker supported…
Pritzker: Yet another demonstration of the Republicans’ desire to simply ignore democratic values, and I’m talking about little d democracy. And the idea that they want to toss somebody out who just got elected, who trounced her opponent by 11 points in a democratic election, in a little D democratic election. I’m not shocked anymore when I hear from Republican leaders that they want to ignore the actual results of an election and promote some big lie.
* Also…
…Adding… CNN…
Key Democrats hoping to keep abortion access a central part of the 2024 campaign are looking to the 2004 playbook of an old Republican nemesis: Karl Rove.
Rove was the architect of ballot initiatives to ban gay marriage placed in swing states to boost turnout for George W. Bush. Now Democrats are pushing ballot measures and an array of other moves to try to capitalize on a backlash to last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which they say was instrumental in many of their wins in last year’s midterms.
“We should put the right to choose on every ballot across the country in 2024 — not just with the candidates we choose, but with referendum efforts to enshrine reproductive rights in states where right-wing politicians are stripping those rights away,” Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker told CNN.
With President Joe Biden expected to run for reelection and Democrats forecasting tough races for key Senate and House seats, several Democratic operatives say next year is the perfect moment to turn Rove’s wedge-issue strategy on its head and get swing voters excited about abortion rights — the same way an abortion rights ballot proposition in Michigan helped power a massive blue wave in the state last year.
