* Sun-Times…

When longtime Illinois Sen. Emil Jones III had dinner in Chicago with a red-light camera executive back in July 2019, Jones gave him assurances about a potentially damaging bill he’d proposed to study the cameras and other automated traffic systems, prosecutors say.

Jones told him, “I got you.” But the feds say he didn’t stop there. When SafeSpeed partner Omar Maani asked how much money he could raise for Jones, the senator allegedly told him, “You can raise me five grand. That’d be good. … But most importantly, I have an intern working in my office … and I’m trying to find him another job.”

Jones allegedly passed the intern’s resume along days later and told Maani in an email, “had a great time at dinner last week, looking forward to the many more good times my friend.” But Jones also allegedly mocked Maani in a separate text message to the intern, joking about how Maani was “trying to make sure I don’t file my red light camera bill.” […]

Now, new details have emerged about the bribery case against Jones, who is accused of agreeing to limit the study of traffic enforcement systems to Chicago in exchange for $5,000 and money for the intern. The Chicago Democrat, who remains in the state Senate more than two years after the feds leveled criminal charges against him, is set for trial April 7.

* More from the Tribune…

[P]rosecutors last month told U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood that there had been recent discussions about a potential guilty plea.

But Jones’ attorney, Victor Henderson, shot down any notion of a deal in a statement to the Tribune on Wednesday.

“There has been no suggestion by the Senator that he intends to plead guilty,” Henderson wrote. “As his lawyers, we have engaged in the typical listen and talk sessions with government lawyers that happen in virtually every case.”

Henderson also wrote the “takeaway from recent cases tells all of us that the legal landscape is changing.”

*** Pritzker’s Budget Address ***

* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker likens Trump administration actions to Nazi Germany: ‘What comes next?’: The administration cited increased tax collections due to personal income growth and a stable job market, with consumer spending rebounding in last year’s Christmas holiday season, as some of the reasons for the reversal. Still, the administration warned that economically, “forward expectations are mired in uncertainty” and that federal policy decisions driven by Trump and Republicans who control Congress could impact states “which have no means of ameliorating negative impacts.”

* WBEZ | Gov. JB Pritzker’s $55.2 billion budget has no new taxes, cuts health care for adults lacking legal status: Pritzker’s budget plan excludes funding for health care for immigrant adults who lack legal status and are between the ages of 42 and 64. Last year, the Democratic governor included $629 million to provide health care benefits to immigrants without legal status 42 and up, and seniors who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2026 budget proposal includes increases for K-12 schools and early childhood education: The plan would increase funding for the state’s K-12 schools by $350 million, early childhood education programs for low-income families by $85 million, and the state’s scholarship program for college bound students by $10 million. However, there were some parts of the proposal that kept funding flat for certain programs, such as the state’s Early Childhood Block Grant, which has helped expand public preschool.

* Crain’s | In budget address, JB Pritzker lays out an unexpected element: Breathing room: The budget situation in the coming year isn’t quite as dire as predicted but will put pressure on lawmakers to tighten their belts more than in past. That’s the overall message as Gov. JB Pritzker today introduces a $55.4 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1, up from $53.5 billion a year ago.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Streetsblog Chicago | A new Illinois bill would assert that people on bikes are “intended” users of every roadway in the state where it’s legal to ride: For people who ride bikes, the issue of tort immunity is critical because it determines whether or not a municipality can be held liable if a crash occurs due to poor road conditions, such as a pothole or an obstruction in a bike lane. By ensuring that cyclists are considered “intended users” of all roadways where biking is legal, HB2454 aims to make local governments more accountable for the safety bike riders on streets under their jurisdiction. That would be true whether or not those roads are designated as bikeways or have bike infrastructure.

* It’s just a bill…

🚨 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:
The #RoadSafetyandFairnessAct (HB 1226) passed the House Transportation Committee! This measure would increase the age Illinois drivers must take a driving test from 79 to 87 while adding procedures to allow immediate relatives to report unsafe drivers pic.twitter.com/rAQC968cFC

— Secretary Alexi Giannoulias (@ILSecOfState) February 19, 2025

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Vote on Johnson’s $830M borrowing plan delayed: The plan was criticized when it was advanced in the Finance Committee and continued to meet resistance over the repayment schedule, which would see the city make interest only payments of $47.7 million through 2044. The city would then pay $74.9 million for five years before debt service balloons to $137 million during the final six years, according to a document obtained by Crain’s.

* Tribune | Green social housing ordinance introduced at City Council meeting: The city’s vision for green social housing is mixed-income rental buildings that are built to certain energy efficiency and decarbonization standards and in which at least 30% of the units are affordable. The city would own a majority stake in the buildings, a first-of-its-kind role for the city.

* Sun-Times | Heartland Alliance Health to remain open thanks to ‘multimillion-dollar’ grant: “We are grateful to share that Heartland Alliance Health announced this morning that they will remain open,” Michael Brieschke, Heartland Alliance Union’s chairperson, told the Sun-Times. “All notices of layoffs will be rescinded, and all operations at the clinics and food pantries will continue.” Brieschke said the grant was given after Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore learned about the closures in the news and reached out to Heartland Alliance Health’s leadership to see how he could help. Moore connected the nonprofit to One Health, a Michigan-based primary care provider.

* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson escalates push for CPS to pick up pension payment, borrow more money: Bridget Early, Johnson’s deputy mayor for labor relations, emailed several top education officials a presentation dated Feb. 13 that outlines the next steps the board can take to make the controversial payment that is currently paid by the city. Solutions include borrowing and shifting responsibility to the state, which pays for all other school districts’ pension costs.

* WGN | ‘Con man scenario’: Chicago man loses thousands to tap and pay scam: It’s a new twist on an old scam. Goldie Murray thought he was donating $20 to help pay for the funeral of a young boy who was allegedly killed in Chicago. Instead, he may be on the hook for thousands of dollars. It all started last month outside a retail pharmacy in the 1500 block of East 55th Street in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Murray was approached by three men asking for a donation. He told them he didn’t have cash but, in an interesting twist, they told him they only took credit.

* Tribune | How George E. Johnson made millions in the hair care industry while following the Golden Rule: His mother nicknamed him “The Rich Man” before he actually was a rich man. He acted like one. His mother left Mississippi at 18 and arrived in Chicago as part of the Great Migration. He grew up near Bronzeville and took small jobs as early as age 6. He waited tables, washed cars, swept floors, shined shoes. After he made a little cash, he took horseback riding lessons around Hyde Park. He bought wide-legged jodhpurs and liked to walk around wearing them. He would also carry a riding crop, just because.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys acquitted of wrongdoing in ‘unprecedented’ trial: Two former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys on Wednesday were acquitted of multiple felony counts following an unusual criminal trial connected to an infamous Chicago wrongful conviction case in the 1982 killings of two on-duty police officers. Dealing a blow to special prosecutors who spent years investigating and trying the case, Judge Daniel Shanes found Nicholas Trutenko, 69, and Andrew Horvat, 49, not guilty after a bench trial that was halted for nearly a year due to a mid-trial appeal.

* Naperville Sun | Naperville D203 board faces more pushback over proposed school start time changes, block scheduling: Parents, students and teachers Tuesday continued to question Naperville District 203’s proposal to alter school start times and switch middle and high schools to a block scheduling format. Superintendent Dan Bridges said the district is listening to the feedback it has received since the tentative changes were announced last month, and no final decision has been made. Board discussions on the subject will resume March 10.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | Dismantling B-N’s homeless response system to build a more effective one: While Bloomington-Normal homeless advocates estimate more than 130 people sleep in a tent in the area on any given night, area organizations and city officials have yet to find a response system that adequately addresses the situation, which has worsened in recent years. An answer could very well be shelter villages that consist of temporary, contained dwellings raised off the ground by pallets and have all the basic amenities someone might need: a bed, electricity and space to call their own.

* WGLT | ‘So busy’: Immigration Project informs clients of rights as ICE raid concerns heighten: “We are so busy,” exclaimed Charlotte Alvarez, executive director of the Immigration Project, a nonprofit that provides legal services and other support for immigrants across downstate Illinois. Alvarez said her office has been fielding dozens of calls for help. “[They are] requesting consultations about citizenship and naturalizing within the first two weeks of the Trump presidency,” Alvarez said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.

* WCIA | Champaign Co. trying to crack down on stolen firearms: In September, Champaign County received more than $150,000 from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The program’s goal is proper gun storage and theft prevention. “If you want the responsibility of being a firearm owner, you need to take the responsibility to learn how to store it correctly and safely,” said Erin Hardway, whose husband died at the hands of a stolen firearm.

* AP | Illinois faces demanding stretch with roster fighting virus: Illinois wasn’t showing any hard feelings toward its opponent when it declined to participate in a postgame handshake. As several players deal with a virus, the Fighting Illini just wanted to make sure they didn’t spread germs while congratulating Wisconsin after losing 95-74 to the 11th-ranked Badgers on Tuesday night. “They don’t need this,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said after the game. “In 38 years (as a head coach and assistant), I’ve never seen anything like what’s gone through our team.”

*** National ***

* Rolling Stone | Eric Adams’ Lawyers Offered Trump DOJ an ‘Ever-Present Partner’: The Trump administration’s top immigration enforcer treated Adams like a half-competent intern on national television, and told him he expected more compliance. Eight Justice Department officials quit over what they saw as a corrupt deal. The Department’s reputation for independence — for sometimes bucking the president’s priorities, for keeping politics largely out of prosecutions — has been kicked in the gut. And Adams still isn’t off the hook; the Deputy Attorney General made sure that charges against Adams can be brought up again after the November mayoral election. The judge in his case hasn’t yet agreed to actually dismiss the case, and has ordered Adams and his lawyers to be in court at 2 p.m. Wednesday.