* Crain’s…

Gov. JB Pritzker says the Trump administration’s widely reported plans to slash funding and staff at the Department of Education, or eliminate it altogether, could cost the state’s schools billions. […]

Federal funding accounts for roughly 10% of budgets for K-12 schools, he said. […]

Pritzker also noted the importance of federal support for special-education funding.

“To get rid of special education is to harm the most vulnerable children in our state,” he said.

* CBS Chicago…

Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at making it easier for relatives to become a child’s foster parents.

The Kinship in Demand (KIND) Act would allow the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services more flexibility in certifying grandparents and other relatives as foster parents for children in their family. […]

Currently, relative caregivers must go through the same certification process as traditional licensed foster parents who may be total strangers to a child, making it difficult for them to take in a related child as their own. […]

The KIND Act also makes sure related foster parents would get the same financial benefits as traditional licensed foster caregivers to help them pay for the care and supervision of a child in their care.

…Adding… This will cause a stir…

WHAT: Press conference introducing legislation to restore protections for peaceful advocacy in
Illinois by repealing the state’s 2015 anti-boycott law targeting advocates for Palestinian freedom.

WHO: State Representative Rashid
State Senator Porfirio
Advocates representing the Illinois Coalition for Human Rights, a diverse multifaith coalition of local advocates including, Rabbi Brant Rosen, Lesley Williams, Deanna Othman, Sheri Maali

WHEN: Wednesday, February 5, 2025 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM

WHERE: Blue Room Illinois State Capitol Building Springfield, IL

WHY: Illinois’ 2015 anti-boycott law has had serious consequences for human rights advocacy. The most prominent example came when the state divested from Unilever after Ben & Jerry’s decided to stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories due to human rights concerns. President Trump’s latest statement—calling for the U.S. to take over Gaza—raises the alarm about the risk of wholesale ethnic cleansing, making the repeal of this law even more urgent. Illinois must not be complicit in shielding human rights abuses from accountability or suppressing peaceful advocacy.

VISUALS: Coalition of diverse faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and community members gathering to support legislation protecting constitutional rights, including the right to advocate for Palestinian freedom.

* A little session update…

Apparently, folks are tiring of the Illinois Freedom Caucus speeches during what's so far been a nothing-burger legislative week https://t.co/X4iCkntctb

— Capitol Fax (@capitolfax) February 5, 2025

…Adding… After two Democrats spoke in debate, the House Republicans called for a caucus of between an hour and an hour and a half.

* Equality Illinois…

Equality Illinois Boards of Directors launches an open search process to identify the next CEO for the statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization

Brian C. Johnson, the CEO of Equality Illinois since 2016, announced today that he will transition out of the role on June 30th after nine years helping to grow the statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization into a multi-issue and high-impact advocacy organization.  He will focus his energies in the interim on fighting back against the hate-filled agenda flowing from Washington DC, making Illinois the first state in the country to protect the lives of sex workers by fully decriminalizing adult consensual sex work, and providing for a smooth leadership transition.

“It has been a privilege of a lifetime serving the half a million LGBTQ+ Illinoisans over these past nine years,” Johnson said.  “I have served during three Presidents, worked with two Governors, and partnered with three Chicago mayors.  We have even survived a global pandemic and shutdown together.  But now is the right time to hand the baton over to the next leader who will direct the important work ahead.  I plan to spend this next year discerning how I can continue to serve Chicago, Illinois, and our country while spending some more intentional time as a husband and father; my two favorite roles.” […]

Commenting on the transition during this time, Johnson said “I know these are tough times.  We are under attack like we haven’t been in my lifetime.  This is why we are planning a thoughtful extended transition.”  Johnson added, “Until then, I am all in. I am comforted to know that Equality Illinois has never been better poised to meet this moment.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Tribune | Illinois attorney general says state will protect gender-affirming care, despite Trump executive order: After a week of uncertainty for Illinois hospitals and clinics over an executive order seeking to end gender-affirming care for minors, the Illinois attorney general issued a statement Wednesday saying the state will protect such care. The statement, from Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the attorneys general of 14 other states, says that federal dollars remain available to institutions that provide gender-affirming care despite the executive order, and that Illinois and the other states will take legal action if that funding is halted.

* Click here for some background…

While we wait for a Madigan verdict, here’s a development in the case against Illinois Sen. Emil Jones III.

Prosecutors say there’s talk of resolving the case short of trial, and a decision is expected by Monday: pic.twitter.com/iNqQTXOkZ1

— Jon Seidel (@SeidelContent) February 5, 2025

* The Triibe | Social justice organizations push to automate expungement and record sealing in Illinois: The Clean Slate Illinois Coalition (CSIC), which is leading the effort, aims to streamline expungement and record sealing statewide. Advocates say the economic impact is projected to restore up to $4.7 billion in lost income to the Illinois economy, as people with sealed records could see an estimated 20% wage increase, according to CSIC. For many impacted by the criminal justice system, the stigma of a conviction doesn’t end once their sentence is complete. A criminal record creates barriers to housing, jobs, and more, according to Antonio Lightfoot, who’s among those lobbying for the Clean Slate Act.

* Crain’s | 2nd bill in Springfield aims to get rid of single-family zoning: The bill, HB 1814, calls for small municipalities in Illinois to let builders put up multi-unit structures on most lots that are now zoned for single-family residential. It complements a bill introduced a year ago that would do the same in large municipalities, including Chicago.

* WAND | Amy Meek to serve as Deputy Director of the Illinois Department of Human Rights: Meek is a civil rights attorney. The announcement comes alongside Alex Bautista’s transition from IDHR after nearly 8 years of service to work on special projects with the Governor’s Office of New Americans. “Alex Bautista has been an essential advisor for the last 6 years. He was thoughtful, deliberate, and collaborative,” said IDHR Director Jim Bennett. “I am confident that Amy Meek will rise to the occasion in her new role as she leads our efforts to secure freedom from unlawful discrimination for all individuals in Illinois.”

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Following budget strife, Mayor Brandon Johnson says passing a spending plan is ‘City Council’s responsibility’: At an inaugural “Lakeside Chat” community engagement event to tout Johnson’s 2025 budget, the mayor and his budget director Annette Guzman sought to appeal directly to constituents after a bruising road to securing enough City Council votes for the $17.1 billion 2025 spending plan two weeks before the Dec. 31 deadline. But the event at Harold Washington Library, originally billed for 300 guests, saw only a few dozen attendees.

* Crain’s | City asks judge to reconsider ruling on how TIF dollars are awarded: Cook County Circuit Judge Cecilia Horan ruled last month that an internal city committee that reviews funding requests for the city’s tax-increment financing districts met the definition of a public body and violated the Open Meetings Act by not holding public meetings or making committee agendas available, nor taking notes or audio recordings of the nearly monthly meetings. In a motion filed yesterday asking Horan to reconsider the ruling, the city argues the decision would have the “unintended consequence of chilling communications of high level officials that are necessary to do the business of the residents of the city of Chicago.”

* FYI…

Mayor Brandon Johnson is accepting an invitation to testify on Chicago's sanctuary city status as part of a GOP House probe. pic.twitter.com/jS6xSXEBAn

— Alice Yin (@byaliceyin) February 5, 2025

* More City Council drama…

City Clerk Anna Valencia accuses a member of the mayor's staff "improperly" asked that a video of a public meeting be edited & that an employee of the clerk's office took down the video before Valencia ordered it restored: https://t.co/5pDB5iHbEn

— Heather Cherone (@HeatherCherone) February 5, 2025

* WTTW | Lawsuit Filed by Man Who Spent More Than 29 Years in Prison After Being Tortured, Wrongfully Convicted Set for Trial: The police detectives who tortured James Gibson were directly supervised by Jon Burge, a disgraced former Chicago police commander. Dozens of lawsuits and complaints alleging physical abuse have been filed against detectives trained by Burge, who city officials admit tortured and beat more than 100 Black men during his career. Although no physical evidence or eyewitness ever linked Gibson to the murders of 61-year-old Lloyd Benjamin and 56-year-old Hunter Wash in an Englewood garage in December 1989, the then 23-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison after telling police he was in the garage when the two men were killed.

* Block Club | Chicago Fire’s Near West Side $80 Million Training Center Opening Next Month: The new “world-class” center includes two and a half hybrid grass/turf pitches, three synthetic turf pitches, a 10,000-square-foot inflatable dome and a 56,000-square-foot performance center containing the soccer club’s athletic and medical facilities. Construction is nearly done and the soccer club expects its professional team to start training at the Near West Side center before the Major League Soccer season begins in late February. Plans call for the center to officially open in March.

* Crain’s | Citadel nears deal to shrink, move Chicago office: More than two and a half years after Citadel uprooted its headquarters from Chicago, the hedge fund is poised to slash its office footprint in the city and move out of its namesake Loop tower. Citadel is in advanced talks to lease about 55,000 square feet on two floors in the office building at 353 N. Clark St., according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The new office space in the 45-story River North tower would be a fraction of the 315,000 square feet it leases today at 131 S. Dearborn St., known as Citadel Center.

* NBC Chicago | Here’s the timing of when icy roads could impact Chicago-area travel: A winter weather advisory will take effect Wednesday afternoon across all of northern Illinois and parts of northwest Indiana, as up to one-tenth of an inch of ice could coat untreated roadways and sidewalks, along with power lines and tree branches. The advisory will first take effect across areas south of Interstate 80, including LaSalle, Grundy and Kankakee counties in Illinois, along with Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. The advisory will take effect at 6 p.m. in the rest of northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, and remain in effect until Thursday morning.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Mental health advocates decry planned service cuts, layoffs at Arlington Heights hospital: Northwest suburban mental health advocates are speaking out against the planned cuts to inpatient psychiatric services and layoffs of more than 100 workers at Arlington Heights-based Northwest Community Healthcare. Arlen Gould, a board member of the North-Northwest Suburban Task Force on Supportive Housing for Individuals with Mental Illness, called the proposed cuts by corporate owner Endeavor Health “troubling” at a time when the demand for mental health treatment continues.

* Tribune | North suburban schools prepare for potential immigration raids: Kalman Resnick, a Chicago-area immigration attorney, told Pioneer Press that it’s unlikely that immigration agents will attempt to detain students in school. “I don’t think it’s a priority (for the Trump administration) right now. They’re prioritizing people who are already in the process of deportation, either because they either have an outstanding order of deportation, or they have a criminal conviction,” he said.

*** Downstate ***

* SJ-R | Springfield-based health system names new president and CEO: The health system announced Mandy Eaton will be the new president and CEO beginning April 1. Eaton will take over for Ed Curtis who is retiring at the end of March. Before coming to Memorial, Eaton served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Cone Health, a non-profit healthcare organization that includes five hospitals and numerous outpatient locations serving a five-county area in North Carolina.

* WCIA | ‘I was absolutely shocked’; Effingham teacher surprised by classroom guest: “Hello, is this Becky Wilson?” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This is Governor JB Pritzker calling, how are you?” “Illinois is among the best states in the nation on these [test] scores for eighth graders for reading and math, and it can’t happen without great teachers like you,” he went on to say.

* WAND | Peoria County now has one confirmed case of tuberculosis: The Peoria County Health Department has confirmed one tuberculosis (TB) case in the county, and the patient is now in active treatment. […] Claushayla Nunn, an epidemiologist at the health department, said when someone’s infected, they’re isolated. “The team of disease specialists will track and do Directly Observe Therapy [where they watch the patient take medication if there is an active patient,]” said Nunn.

*** National ***

* AP | President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order is put on hold by a second federal judge: A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a second nationwide pause on President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S. to someone in the country illegally, calling citizenship a “most precious right.” U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman said no court in the country has endorsed the Trump administration’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment. “This court will not be the first,” she said.

* AP | NWSL creates $5M fund for players as part of a settlement from abuse scandal in 2021: The funds will go to players who experienced abuse. The settlement also requires the league to maintain safeguards put into place following a pair of investigations released in late 2022 that found widespread misconduct that impacted multiple teams, coaches and players. It also gives the attorneys general, Kwame Raoul of Illinois, Brian L. Schwalb of Washington, D.C., and Letitia James of New York, the ability to oversee changes that the NWSL made after the scandal broke, and the ability to fine the league if it fails to uphold those changes.

* AP | Pro-Trump Arab American group changes its name after the president’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ comments: Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, said during a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the group would now be called Arab Americans for Peace. The name change came after Trump held a Tuesday press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and proposed the U.S. take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”