* ICYMI: Trump administration blocks more than $400M in funding for Illinois health programs. Capitol News Illinois…

- Trump’s administration is pulling back $477 million from Illinois that was to be used to prevent infectious disease and treat mental health and substance abuse issues.
- IDPH’s funding for infectious disease prevention will see a “debilitating impact,” Director Sameer Vohra said in a statement.
- The $477 million being pulled from IDPH and DHS is part of roughly $1.8 billion in federal funding the state is expecting to receive but remains in limbo.

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*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Pritzker leads trade mission to Mexico: The trip to Mexico City follows a delegation to Japan last fall and comes as trade tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are worsening. The Trump administration said March 26 it will impose 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts. Mexico, which is the state’s second-largest export market with nearly $13 billion in trade in 2024, also is the largest exporter of vehicles and parts to the United States.

* Tribune | In texts, Gov. JB Pritzker expressed doubts about Mayor Brandon Johnson amid rumors United Airlines might move: “Susana. You should already know that I am on top of this as well as anyone,” Pritzker texted Mendoza on Feb. 12 after she reached out to him to raise concerns about a United move. “I have been in constant conversation with United for more than two years, and their CEO and their lobbyist have assured me that they do not intend (anytime in the foreseeable future) to leave Chicago.” Then the governor remarked: “Meanwhile, as you know the state has almost nothing to do with O’Hare so you (redacted) should make sure the Mayor doesn’t do anything to push them out.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Subscribers know a little more. WAND | ‘No Answers’: Illinois State Rep. left in limbo after water floods hotel elevator in Springfield: Illinois State Representative Joyce Mason said she and her dog were fast asleep in her 17th-floor room at the Wyndham Springfield City Centre when something felt off Thursday morning. […] That moment of intuition led her to leash up Twix and head toward the elevators—only to find none of them working. As she started to wake up, she heard water pouring down the elevator shafts and noticed the carpet beneath her feet was soaked. She decided to call the front desk.

* America’s Workforce | Tim Drea on Illinois Transit funding crisis and union unity: Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the $770 million funding shortfall for Illinois transit, the impact of federal decisions on Local Unions and the importance of union solidarity in legislative advocacy.

*** Statewide ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Despite Trump order, Illinois won’t require voter proof of citizenship: Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, said in an email Thursday that under existing federal law, known as the National Voter Registration Act, voters only need to sign a sworn statement on their voter registration application that they are a U.S. citizen. He also said Illinois does not require voters to show any type of photo ID at the polls.

* Press release | Dem County Chairs Partner with Casten to Host town halls: The Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association (IDCCA) is excited to partner with Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) to host a series of town halls throughout Illinois. Many of these areas are the hardest hit by turmoil coming from Washington D.C. and these town halls will allow voters to finally have the chance to speak to a Member of Congress. The first town hall will be in Dixon, IL on Saturday, April 12th.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Naperville | Naperville Election 2025: Council candidates split on reviving affordable housing incentives for developers: Ahead of the April 1 election, the Naperville Sun asked the eight candidates on the ballot to answer several questions about issues facing the city, including if the city should revive stalled discussions on an affordable housing incentive program. The candidates seeking the four, four-year council terms are incumbents Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, Benny White and Ian Holzhauer and challengers Ashfaq Syed, Derek McDaniel, Mary Gibson, Meghna Bansal and Nag Jaiswal.

* Daily Herald | Dispute over Ivanhoe Village proposal prompts a resignation in Mundelein: The ongoing dispute between Mundelein village leaders and area school officials over the impact of the proposed development of the Wirtz family’s land has its first political casualty. Mundelein resident, artist and author Shawn Killackey resigned from the village’s historical commission this week, publicly declaring he cannot be “part of a municipality that I don’t respect.”

* Daily Herald | Huntley village president Hoeft challenged by trustee Piwko in Tuesday’s election: During a recent endorsement interview with the Daily Herald, Hoeft pointed to successes with residential and economic projects during his first term, among them the Cornell Luxury Apartments development, the mixed-use redevelopment of the former fire station downtown and the Amazon facilities on the village’s south side.

* Daily Herald | Rolling Meadows council hits brakes on Kirchoff ‘road diet,’ orders traffic study first: A split Rolling Meadows City Council decided to temporarily halt conceptual plans for a so-called “road diet” of a key thoroughfare through the center of town so that a traffic study can be done first. Controversy over the proposal to trim down a milelong stretch of Kirchoff Road — from five lanes to three — held up adoption of the rest of a corridor planning study the elected officials said they otherwise agree with.

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | CPS is close to a deal with the teachers union — but bargaining continues: The two parties are putting the final touches on a four-year contract that will provide teachers at least 4% raises and solidify key demands of the union including a limit to class sizes and increased staffing, but they have yet to ink the deal. The union’s so-called big bargaining team met internally this evening without voting to approve a tentative agreement with the school district. They will reconvene on Monday. That vote will mark the first step in an internal union process leading to a final ratification vote among the full union.

* CBS Chicago | RTA warns of how drastic service cuts would be to CTA, Metra, Pace without bailout from state: At an RTA board meeting Thursday, two maps were shown. One shows the scale of CTA service now, while the other shows just how much service would be reduced if cuts were needed due to the lack of funding. “This is not a different CTA. This would literally be no longer CTA as we know it without the funding that we’re talking about,” said acting Chicago Transit Authority President Nora Leerhsen. “Of our eight rail lines, four of them would see service suspended across an entire branch.”

* Greg Hinz | Jenner & Block must stand strong at a moment of peril: For instance, Trump in his signed order repeatedly references Jenner’s pro bono work on behalf of the legal rights of transgender people, whom Trump has declared on numerous occasions to be only the man or woman they were declared to be at birth, regardless of what they want, what science says, or basic humanity. “Jenner engages in obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends (and) supports attacks against women and children based on a refusal to accept the biological reality of sex,” the order states.

* Tribune | ‘He is my lifeline’: Man in limbo after brother from Venezuela is detained by ICE while trying to donate kidney: His older brother, Jose Gregorio González, 43, who was denied entry to the country at the southern border, tried to enter once again hoping to donate a kidney to save his brother’s life. He managed to cross and stay in the United States under immigration supervision. After a long and complicated process to get approved for the transplant under public insurance, the brothers had an appointment in a Chicago hospital in April to go forward with more tests for the organ exchange. But on March 3rd, González was arrested by immigration authorities and now awaits deportation at Clay County Detention Center in Indiana, leaving Pacheco, once again, desperate and fighting for his life.

* Tribune | Chicago White Sox remain blacked out on Comcast for opening day: While negotiations between the nascent Chicago Sports Network and Comcast are ongoing, they have yet to reach a carriage agreement, leading to a blackout for the White Sox on opening day. Too early to invoke the time-honored Chicago sports mantra of “wait until next year,” Comcast subscribers may have to switch to another pay-TV provider, sign up for a streaming service or buy a TV antenna to watch the White Sox start the 2025 season.

* Tribune | On opening day, hope springs eternal — even on the South Side: No more wait ‘til next year. No more suffering through a long winter of cold, baseball-less discontent. Now there was something like a rebirth, even for supporters of a team that a year ago was as lifeless as any in baseball history. This was not merely opening day, an annual rite in Chicago and more of a holiday in this city than in a lot of places, but it was opening day on the South Side. Opening day for the White Sox, losers of a modern major league record 121 games a season ago; standard-bearers, now, of a new and unrivaled sort of sports misery.

*** Downstate ***

* PJ Star | Assistant state’s attorney charged with possession of stolen firearm in Woodford County: Kali Pray, 28, of Groveland was arrested along with 23-year-old Drake Tharp of Creve Coeur for possession of a stolen firearm and no FOID card after the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office found a stolen Smith & Wesson .38 caliber firearm inside a vehicle that had been stopped for speeding.

* BND | Kern-backed committee funds ‘offensive’ campaign postcards to support Belleville mayor: The postcards referred to Meyer as a “part-time city clerk,” implying that she misses work regularly. They also alleged that she’s affiliated with a political-machine-style Chicago “network.”

* WCIA | Burwell Building in Gibson City moving forward with restoration: Nearly two years ago, the Gibson City Restoration Association Board said they wanted to redevelop the Burwell Building into something special for the community. Currently, they’re still undecided on what it will turn into once completed. However, many people have expressed they’d like to see the opera house reopen along with a list of other businesses. The building is more than 140-years-old, and one board member said it has provided people in the city a lifetime of memories.

* WTVO | Seth Swinehart of Rockford has a pro boxing career that is rising rapidly: Rockford’s Seth Swinehart is probably the best combat fighter currently living in the Stateline. He’s certainly the hottest fighter in the Stateline. Next month, he’ll show off his skills at the Indoor Sports Center in one of the main events at the Stateline Rumble. Swinehart spends most of his time at Northern Illinois Combat Club & Fitness either coaching or working out. He had an impressive amateur career as a fighter. Now he’s putting together a very impressive professional career as a boxer. He’s 5-0 with five knockouts since turning pro last year.

*** National ***

* LA Times | Deadly, drug-resistant fungus CDC calls ‘urgent threat’ is spreading in hospitals: Candida auris, a type of yeast that can cause life-threatening illness, was first identified in the U.S. in 2016 with 52 infections reported across the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of cases has more than doubled annually, hitting 4,514 in 2023, the latest year the CDC has data available. During this same period, California reported 1,566 infections, more than any other state.

* NYT | Food Banks Left in the Lurch as Some Shipments Are Suspended: Food banks across the country are scrambling to make up a $500 million budget shortfall after the Trump administration froze funds for hundreds of shipments of produce, poultry and other items that states had planned to distribute to needy residents.

* Public Notice | Trump’s hopeless tariffs confusion, explained by a historian: With Trump’s tariffs promising to be a big topic of conversation ahead of next week’s “Liberation Day,” we connected with Eric Rauchway, a UC Davis distinguished history professor and an expert on early 20th century America, to better understand what exactly Trump is getting wrong. “The McKinley tariff was one of a series of laws passed in Congress in the 1890s that actually precipitated a severe economic downturn. If we had better data on it, we’d probably think of it like the Great Depression,” Rauchway told us. “There are millions of people unemployed. This is an era where you have armies of the unemployed protesting. It’s what helped give rise to the progressive movement.”

* KFF Health News | Trump Turns Homelessness Response Away From Housing, Toward Forced Treatment: “Our once-great cities have become unlivable, unsanitary nightmares,” Trump said in a presidential campaign video. “For those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them to mental institutions, where they belong, with the goal of reintegrating them back into society once they are well enough to manage.” Now that he’s in office, the assault on “Housing First” has begun.