* Subscribers were told about this earlier today. Tribune…

State Rep. Fred Crespo, a Democrat from Hoffman Estates, was removed on Wednesday from his position as head of the House General Services Appropriations Committee, which considers budget requests for the state’s constitutional offices, according to Crespo’s office and legislative sources. A state representative since 2007, Crespo is a fiscally moderate Democrat who voted against last year’s budget, which included about $750 million in tax hikes, much of which affected the gambling industry.

Crespo was also stripped of his position as co-chair of the Legislative Audit Commission and was disinvited from internal House Democratic caucus meetings, sources said. Additionally, Brady Burden, a budget analyst for Crespo told the Tribune he was put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into his conduct. […]

Pritzker said Thursday that he had heard about Crespo’s ouster but “I don’t know a lot of the details of why that occurred.”

A source close to Welch, who spoke on a condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the situation, said every appropriation committee was given tasks that included analyzing and identifying their budgetary priorities, but that Crespo had not kept in touch with the House’s chief budget negotiator. The source said Crespo was the only appropriations committee chair to not complete these tasks.

* Capitol News Illinois…

Welch told Jak Tichenor, host of the “Illinois Lawmakers” program, that he implemented new processes for communicating with leadership about the budget this year and Crespo “chose not to be a part of those processes and to go on his own” as lawmakers work toward a May 31 deadline to pass the budget.

“The breaking point was as an appointed chair of one of my appropriations committees, not communicating with the chief of staff, not communicating with the lead budgeteer – Leader (Robyn) Gabel – (and) not communicating with me as the speaker,” Welch said. […]

Brady Burden, a staff member on the committee who was also placed on administrative leave for an undisclosed reason, told Capitol News Illinois he worked with Crespo to put together some numbers on the budget to see where the state can save money. But Welch said his decision wasn’t because of Crespo’s independent exercise.

“If we’re going to deliver things for the collective that’s good for the state of Illinois, we have to follow processes,” Welch said. “And the chairman chose not to have any conversations with anyone, despite those processes calling for that.”

* Crain’s…

State Sen. Ram Villivalam says the General Assembly is on track to get transit overhaul legislation passed during the spring session that ends May 31.

Mass transit agencies that provide rail and bus service face a funding shortfall of $771 million beginning next year, when pandemic-relief funding dries up.

“We are on track to get this done by May 31,” Villivalam said today. […]

Rep. Kam Buckner, a member of the House leadership team, says he shares Villivalam’s optimism.

*** Statewide ***

* Bloomberg | Pepsi Asks Another Illinois Court to Reject Tax Dodge Claims: Pepsi asked an Illinois appeals court Wednesday to cancel a $10.9 million tax bill just months after a sister circuit upheld another assessment after finding a subsidiary isn’t tax exempt. A state trial court ruled in January that PepsiCo Inc. should’ve included snack food subsidiary Frito-Lay North America Inc.’s income on its Illinois tax returns because Frito doesn’t operate as an exempt foreign corporation. The court upheld the Illinois Department of Revenue’s determination that Pepsi set up PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC as a shell company under Frito-Lay to exclude Frito-Lay’s earnings from its Illinois combined tax return in 2016.

*** Statehouse News ***

* WaPo | David Hogg, who has rankled DNC, makes first endorsement in open Ill. race: The DNC vice chair used his organization Leaders We Deserve to back liberal state Sen. Robert Peters in an open congressional race in Illinois. Hogg has drawn criticism over his strategy of involving himself in primaries.

* WAND | Illinois House passes bill requiring stricter police hiring practices following Sonya Massey’s murder: Police departments would not be able to make final offers of employment for probationary or law enforcement officers unless they review all past employment records, including background investigation materials, duty-related physical and psychological fitness-for-duty examinations, work performance records, arrests, convictions, and any records of criminal, civil, or administrative investigations of conduct.

* WICS | Home care workers rally for fair pay amid Illinois budget talks: Greg Kelley, president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, emphasized the urgency of the situation. “Over twenty thousand seniors in Illinois who need home care services are not receiving care,” Kelley said. “Meanwhile, frontline home care workers, who care for our family members, can’t pay rent, or afford the basics on poverty wages.”

*** Chicago ***

* WTTW | Pay $15.5M to Parking Meter Firm to Resolve Claim City Violated Deal During COVID-19 Pandemic, Lawyers Urge: The much-loathed 2008 deal requires the city make “true-up” payments to Chicago Parking Meters to compensate the firm for lost revenue when meters are removed, temporarily taken out of commission with the city’s permission or used by motorists with disabled parking permits. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced during a March 18, 2020, news conference that tickets would “only” be issued for safety reasons and specifically said that parking at an expired parking meter did not represent a public safety threat. Lightfoot told drivers they should still pay to park at meters.

* Sun-Times | Firm run by CPS school board chief interested in O’Hare concession sweepstakes, raises potential for conflict: Harden showed up at a recent bid conference for the tranche of O’Hare concession contracts, even as he works to execute Mayor Brandon Johnson’s education agenda and tries to pave the way for the mayor’s chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, to become interim CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. Although the O’Hare bids are not due until the first week in June, Harden’s dual role is raising what Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson calls “the appearance, or potential appearance, of a conflict” of interest.

* Block Club | City Adds 11 New Speed Cameras — Here’s Where They Are: The cameras went live in bunches May 1 and Thursday, the second phase of a city plan to add 50 speed cameras this year, according to a Chicago Department of Transportation news release. Drivers have a month-long warning period with the cameras where they aren’t ticketed; then, there will be a two-week “blackout” when the cameras will be turned off to give drivers time to receive their warnings in the mail, according to CDOT. Real tickets will be issued after that.

* Sun-Times | Former Lincoln Park High School administrators removed from Chicago Public Schools ‘Do Not Hire’ list: Former Principal John Thuet and Assistant Principal Michelle Brumfield were fired in 2020 over allegations that they mishandled claims of sexual misconduct — landing them on the CPS list, which bans individuals from employment in the school district. In January, an attorney representing Thuet and Brumfield filed a petition to have their names removed from the list. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez granted the petition Tuesday.

* Block Club | Dandelions Are Everywhere — And That’s Good News, Park Officials Say: If you’ve wondered why those little yellow dandelions (that many call weeds) are running wild at city parks this spring, the Park District has a short answer: It means the grass is healthy. To help protect visitors and the environment, nearly 90 percent of Chicago parks refrain from using chemical weed control products, according to a Park District press release. So each spring, dandelions grow freely throughout Chicago’s parks and public spaces.

* WBEZ | Are there fallout shelters left in Chicago? : Big, industrial cities like Chicago were considered major targets for a possible nuclear attack. Diane Addams, who grew up in the Woodlawn neighborhood during the 1950s, remembers it as an anxious time. “It was kind of scary,” she says. “People were buying and making fallout shelters, and trying to find out where we could go if there was an attack and all that kind of stuff. And they had those little signs that were saying that you go here, like in the subway, or certain other areas.”

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Tribune | Cook County to pay $15 million civil rights settlement, $28 million for medical malpractice cases: John Fulton and Anthony Mitchell sued the Chicago Police Department and the county in 2020 alleging they were railroaded as teenagers and falsely confessed in 2003 to the murder and burning of Christopher Collazo. The two men won a record $60 million each in damages from a jury this March after successfully arguing they were the victims of a bogus murder investigation by police and Cook County prosecutors. The teenagers were convicted and sentenced to 31 years in prison for the murder. Attorney Jon Loevy told reporters after the jury verdict that Fulton, then 18, spent more than 100 hours being interrogated and Mitchell, then 17, spent more than 40 hours under interrogation. He said both were coerced into false confessions that evidence didn’t support.

* Daily Herald | Going, going, almost gone: The demolition of Sears campus in Hoffman Estates is almost done: “They’ve actually done an amazingly speedy job on this,” Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said Wednesday. The 273-acre site on the west side of the village is being cleared in preparation for Dallas-based Compass Datacenters’ construction of five hyperscale data centers — each more than a quarter-million square feet. The project represents a $10 billion investment by the company and its partners.

* Crain’s | Anonymous $25 million gift will fund new Northwestern mental health institute: Northwestern University will launch the Institute for Adolescent Mental Health & Well-Being with a $25 million gift from an anonymous donor, the university announced today. The interdisciplinary research initiative will look into the psychology and mental health of young adults and is specifically meant to use its findings to benefit Northwestern students, the school said in a press release.

*** Downstate ***

* IPM News | McLean County immigrants fear dire consequences as Illinois ends medical coverage: State enrollment data shows 118 McLean County residents are among 33,000 Illinoisians who relied on this program for their health care. They will soon need to find other options. Advocates say it could be a life-or-death proposition for some.

* KWQC | Retired county employee accused of stealing $900K, money laundering: A former Rock Island County employee is facing multiple charges after officials say she stole $900,000 over 21 years. The Rock Island County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois State Police searched the home of Leisa Streeter, 62, of New Windsor, Illinois, on Wednesday. According to a joint news release from Rock Island County State’s Attorney Dora Villarreal and Sheriff Darren Hart, Streeter retired from the county as the administrative assistant in court services after 34 years.

* WSIL | Wine Trail Wilderness in southern Illinois named one of top vineyard camping experiences: Wine Trail Wilderness, a unique camping retreat in Southern Illinois, has earned a spot among the Top Vineyard Camping Experiences in the United States, according to Hipcamp. Nestled on the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail, the 37-acre property offers campers easy access to the area’s famed wineries and hiking trails. Wine Trail Wilderness is also within close walking distance of Pomona Winery and Hickory Ridge Winery.

* WICS | Scheels Sports Park dome to be raised in June, officials say: The project manager or civil engineer with Crawford Murphy Utility, Chris Stritzel, said with the concrete poured and the turf set. The inflation of the dome will start in June. Stritzel said the process of raising the dome will take six weeks.

*** National ***

* Tribune | Older people in crosshairs as government restarts Social Security garnishment on student loans: Christine Farro has cut back on the presents she sends her grandchildren on their birthdays, and she’s put off taking two cats and a dog for their shots. All her clothes come from thrift stores and most of her vegetables come from her garden. At 73, she has cut her costs as much as she can to live on a tight budget. But it’s about to get far tighter. As the Trump administration resumes collections on defaulted student loans, a surprising population has been caught in the crosshairs: Hundreds of thousands of older Americans whose decades-old debts now put them at risk of having their Social Security checks garnished.

* NYT | D.H.S. Requests 20,000 National Guard Members to Help With Immigration Crackdown: The Defense Department is reviewing the request. If approved, one official said, it would be the first time National Guard troops were used to help enforce an immigration crackdown in the country.

* AP | Walmart says it will raise prices due to tariff costs after posting solid first quarter sales: Walmart’s first-quarter profit slipped, and it said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.