* ICYMI: Subscribers were told about this on Tuesday. Reforming Tier 2 pensions could cost the state $30 billion, actuary says. Crain’s…

- An Illinois pension reform bill would increase contributions to the state’s three largest retirement systems by nearly $30 billion through fiscal year 2045, according to a study by Segal Group.
- The bill, HB5909, is a result of the Tier 2 benefit structure’s increasing noncompliance with the “safe harbor” requirement for those who are not covered by Social Security,
- The study calculates only the impact of the benefit enhancements for the $73 billion Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System; $25.7 billion Illinois State Employees’ Retirement System; and $24.7 billion Illinois State Universities Retirement System, due to the “constraints of available data.”

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Supreme Court considers legality of law banning ‘venue shopping’ in constitutional challenges: The case before the Illinois Supreme Court was brought by Piasa Armory, an East Alton gun store. It challenged the constitutionality of an unrelated firearms regulation, the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, which was also signed into law in 2023. That law subjects firearms groups to civil penalties for violating consumer protection laws.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Parents of premature babies struggle to get help their children are entitled to: An hour before release, a physical therapist showed Heath how to help the babies gain strength by gently stretching their legs out. A nurse gave her a quick tutorial on how to use the oxygen tanks they would need for the next couple of months. And Heath gathered together basic necessities and a few mementos: diapers, pacifiers, blood pressure cuffs, and tiny hospital bands. But no one at the hospital — one of Chicago’s largest — told Heath or her husband what she felt would have been the most helpful advice in the long run: The triplets’ low birth weight alone meant they were automatically eligible for what’s known as early intervention services, which can include speech, physical, occupational, and other therapies.

* Daily Herald | Metra fare hikes, 40% service reduction looms without funding fix: The clock is ticking for transit agencies facing a crater-sized budget hole, Metra Executive Director Jim Derwinski warned at a Wednesday meeting. “If we do not see the funding gap filled through a legislative solution by June of this year, we will have to begin the arduous work of a budget process that involves both fare increases and service cuts,” Derwinski said.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Sun-Times | Consumer watchdogs launch $1M TV ad blitz against controversial Peoples Gas pipeline program: The Citizens Utility Board and other advocates hope their “unprecedented” ad buy will help slash spending on the utility’s pipeline replacement program — but Peoples Gas says the groups are “playing politics with Chicagoans’ safety.”

*** Statewide ***

* Tribune | Planned Parenthood of Illinois announces clinic closures amid statewide surge in abortion patients after the fall of Roe: The agency cited various reasons for the financial shortfall, including “rising health care costs for in-person care, increase in patient volume needing financial assistance, uncertain patient care landscape under a new national political administration and the need to create a sustainable future after the overturning of Roe v Wade.” Planned Parenthood of Illinois officials did not immediately answer Tribune questions about the amount of the financial shortfall nor did the agency give any details in their statement.

*** Chicago ***

* NBC Chicago | Illinois Child Care for All Coalition delivers 1,800 signatures to mayor calling for livable wages: “Right now, childcare in Chicago is in crisis. Parents can’t access affordable childcare and workers are struggling to get by on low wages and lack of benefits,” Toni Frazier of SEIU healthcare said. […] The group said 58% of the population in Illinois lives in an area where there aren’t enough nearby childcare providers to meet the need.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Chicago Public Schools, teachers’ union turn to arbitrator to help reach new contract: This fact-finding process involving an arbitrator has been used three times since it was established in state law in 2010. Twice, teachers still ended up going on strike. Under the timeline required by the law, the soonest a strike could now occur would be mid-April.

* Sun-Times | Chicago cop who wore extremist mask to racial justice protest faces reprimand after yearslong probe: In a statement this week, Witzburg’s office said CPD recently recommended a reprimand for failing to properly wear his uniform. He didn’t face allegations of discrediting the department or undercutting its goals — which Witzburg has urged CPD’s internal investigators to consider.

* The Athletic | New Bears coach Ben Johnson excited to take charge of ‘sleeping giant’: “I don’t think many people understand how set up for success this place is.” Johnson acknowledged that quarterback Caleb Williams is a big reason for that.“There’s no doubt Caleb played a large component in my decision,” Johnson said. “He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up-and-down rookie year. I see my role as a supporter of him. This offense will be calibrated with him in mind.”

* Sun-Times | Here are the 22 Chicago James Beard Awards 2025 semifinalist nominations: Chef Lee Wolen of Boka is nominated in the category of Outstanding Chef and, as in many years past, Chicago chefs dominated the category of Best Chef Great Lakes Region with 10 nominations. The recently Michelin-starred Cariño earned its first Beard nomination, in the category of Best New Restaurant, while Feld restaurant’s chef Jacob Potashnick earned a first-time nomination in the category of Emerging Chef.

* ABC Chicago | Governor JB Pritzker reports for jury duty in Chicago: The governor’s officer shared the following statement: “Today, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was summoned to jury duty at George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse. As instructed, he arrived prior to 9 a.m. The Governor sat with other potential jurors for a several hours while waiting for the selection process to commence. The Governor was not selected as a juror and was dismissed this afternoon.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* ABC Chicago | Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard opposes board’s appointment of interim trustee: Henyard said Wednesday that she’s “disappointed and shocked” by the action, and she claims that the clerk and attorneys didn’t follow the township code for selecting a new trustee. Trustee Chris Gonzalez said they consulted with attorneys, and Wiedeman said all the steps taken were legal.

* Naperville Sun | Censured Naperville D203 board member called out for abdicating responsibility on monthly bill review: “Essentially it’s the district’s checkbook,” Cush said. “We have the opportunity to ask questions on behalf of the community as to what the bills were, what the claims were, what each dollar basically was spent on.” Cush said he had a “major concern” that Kelley Black, who had been assigned the task, did not perform her duty. The schedule for when each board member would do the review was set in August, but Kelley Black notified the board president by email Jan. 14 to advise her she would not be doing the review this month, he said.

* Tribune | Ranked choice voting could boost election fairness, supporters say. But it faces a steep uphill climb in Cook County: While proponents hope voters in Evanston and Oak Park, or possibly other locales, will walk into voting booths as early as 2026 or 2027 and choose their candidates from a ranked choice voting ballot, their enthusiasm is facing headwinds. The Cook County clerk’s office, which runs elections in the county’s suburbs, has thrown a wrench into Evanston’s plans, leading to a court battle that is still pending.

* Naperville Sun | Say No To Coal consortium packs Naperville council meeting to fight electric contract extension: Alongside NEST, which is an official Naperville advisory body, other consortium members include the League of Women Voters of Naperville, First Congregational UCC Naperville, Accelerate Climate Solutions and Green Scene North Central College. About 18 people spoke at the meeting about Naperville’s electric utility and its contract with IMEA. All but one speaker on the matter urged the city away from renewing the deal or encouraged officials to be prudent in any contract decisions.

* Sun-Times | 3,000 hens at Matteson farm die in bird flu outbreak: The flock produced about 2,000 eggs a week for the online marketplace and has resulted in a huge financial loss, Marty Thomas said. Now the farm is under a 150-day quarantine, and the owners are seeking help to keep their farm running until they can begin selling again in June.

* Daily Herald | Arlington Heights OKs disability housing plan, but one trustee calls process ‘despicable’: The lone holdout, Trustee Scott Shirley, acknowledged he likes the changes, but criticized how developer Full Circle Communities approached the process. “It’s lousy the way this whole thing went down,” Shirley said. “And I think Full Circle — you’re going to be a terrible neighbor if you treat these people the way you did during this process. I hope you turn that around. Because this was just despicable.”

* Daily Herald | Fox Lake flip wins ‘Ugliest House of the Year’ award from national company: The house had many additions over the years, and every time another addition was put on the original house, it got another layer of siding, too. “There were five layers of siding. Now there are six,” Albrecht said, because taking off some of the old siding was too problematic.

*** Downstate ***

* WPSD | Heartland Women’s Healthcare to end privileges at Carbondale hospital: According to a Tuesday statement from Heartland Women’s Healthcare, its providers will be unable to deliver babies at the Carbondale hospital after that date. A news release from SIH said the decision was made due to the practice’s “strategic goals and operational plans.”The practice said it would continue to provide obstetric care at its offices in Carbondale, Harrisburg, and Marion offices, and at other hospitals, and encouraged patients to talk to their providers about any changes to their delivery plans.

* WICS | Injunction filed to void Chuck Redpath’s appointment to city clerk: The injunction alleges that Redpath’s appointment was unlawful and raises issues of improper influence. It requests the court to nullify Redpath’s appointment. The filing states, “By casting a vote in favor of his own appointment, Defendant Redpath effectively influenced the decision-making process in a manner that benefits him personally, disregarding the ethical standards required of public officials.”

*** National ***

* NYT | CNN Plots Major Overhaul as It Enters a New Trump Era : On Thursday, the company announced that it would eliminate about 200 jobs focused on CNN’s traditional TV operations, and add about the same number for new digital roles like data scientists and product engineers. CNN is aiming to hire 100 of those people in the first half of the year, Mr. Thompson said.