* Subscribers were told about this yesterday. ICYMI: Pritzker sticking to proposal to fully fund pensions. Capitol News Illinois…

- Gov. JB Pritzker said he will push forward on his 2024 proposal to fully fund pensions and address other funding issues.
- Pritzker’s plan calls for fully funding pensions by 2048, rather than 90% by 2045. He also calls for devoting extra revenue to pensions and ensuring Tier 2 complies with Social Security requirements.
- The We Are One coalition, a group of unions asking lawmakers to reform Tier 2 to comply with “Safe Harbor” and make benefits more attractive to workers, said Pritzker’s continued push for his plan ignores “the growing recruitment and retention crisis driven by the inadequate Tier 2 pensions.”

* Related stories…

• Bloomberg: Pritzker Proposes Fully Funded Illinois Pensions by 2048
• Crain’s: Pritzker draws a line on pensions ahead of tight budget

************** Advertisement **************
Sponsored by the Association of Safety-Net Community Hospitals:

Our Healthcare Backbone At Risk.

Safety-net hospitals are the backbone of Chicago’s Black and Brown communities. They provide emergency and lifesaving care for families who rely on them. They also support thousands of good, local healthcare jobs, serving as economic anchors in neighborhoods that have faced decades of disinvestment.

With federal support being reduced, safetynet hospitals need more resources – not less – to avoid further strain that could irreversibly damage local health systems and weaken the essential services our communities rely on.

Now, these hospitals are under threat.
The so-called Safety Net Moonshot would close or shrink hospitals in Black and Brown communities, cutting access to care and putting thousands of healthcare workers at risk. Fewer hospitals means longer wait times, overcrowded emergency rooms, reduced services, and worse health outcomes for vulnerable patients.

This is not reform. It is a sell-off of community healthcare, driven by outsiders – not by the needs of patients, workers, or neighborhoods.

Save safety-net hospitals. Protect our care, our jobs, and our communities.

************************************************

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Daily Herald | Voting by mail? Don’t wait until the last minute: Thursday, Feb. 5, is the earliest ballots could start going out for those who have requested to vote by mail. However, some counties, including Cook and DuPage, may get theirs in the mail later. The DuPage County clerk’s office has announced that vote by mail and early voting in the county may not begin until early next week. That’s because officials are waiting for rulings on unresolved candidate objections from the appellate court. […] As a result of the postal changes, mail won’t be postmarked until it is processed, often meaning a postmark is not issued the day the mail is dropped off.

* Tribune | Illinois Rewilding Law, first in US, a step toward state wetland protection: The Illinois Rewilding Law, which took effect last month, empowers the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to pursue projects that restore land to its natural state, said Illinois Rep. Anna Moeller, an Elgin Democrat and primary sponsor of the bill. The law could encompass the reintroduction of keystone species that improve ecosystems, like beavers and bison. But officials and environmentalists say closing the federal gaps in wetland protection is their focus right now. Largely symbolic, the Rewilding Law is the first step toward enacting legislation with permitting powers, they say.

*** Statewide ***

* WCIA | Driving under influence of marijuana ‘still a DUI,’ IL Sheriff’s Association reminds: “Impaired is impaired, but too often drivers under the influence of cannabis are making a selfish choice that puts them, their passengers, and the public at tremendous risk,” said Jim Kaitschuk, ISA executive director. “Our message is simple: if you’re impaired from cannabis and need to get somewhere, call an Uber, call a friend, call your mom, but do not get behind the wheel if you’re under the influence.”

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Herald | GOP state House candidate says he’s not a Holocaust denier: “Let me be unequivocally clear: I have never denied the Holocaust. The Holocaust is a historical fact and one of the most horrific acts of genocide in human history. Any attempt to deny, minimize or exploit such an horrific event is truly reprehensible,” he said in a statement. […] When she asked him whether he thinks it’s a false claim that six million Jews were killed, he replied, “I think the number is exaggerated,” adding, “Not saying that people weren’t wrongly killed or injustice didn’t happen.”

* The Daily Northwestern | Ruttenberg takes slight fundraising lead over Hanley in state senate race: Hanley’s campaign held a steady lead for most of those months, raising $124,808 to Ruttenberg’s $91,415 prior to October. But between then and December, Ruttenberg doubled her amount of cash on hand and pulled ahead of Hanley.

* Farm Week | Profitability top priority for IFB: While lawmakers opted to omit farmer economic support and a year-round E15 provision from a federal spending package in late January, Illinois Farm Bureau continues to push for solutions as farm operations remain caught between high operating costs and low commodity prices. The farm economy is the No. 1 issue Illinois farmers bring up to IFB President Philip Nelson.

*** Chicago ***

* Tribune | Chicago schools, transit, public housing remain rudderless under Mayor Brandon Johnson: Chicago’s schools, its train and bus system and its public housing agency have all been without permanent leaders for at least a year now under Mayor Brandon Johnson, complicating their mission to deliver essential services without someone setting clear goals and funding priorities at the top. As Johnson is about to reach the three-year mark in his first term, he has not named heads of the Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Housing Authority or Chicago Transit Authority, amid political challenges and sea changes in governance structures.

* Center Square | Chicago mayor defends ICE order, calls for progressive revenue from state taxpayers: Johnson said he was looking at all forms of progressive revenue, even after several ballot measures failed. “In the meantime, we’re going to be focused in on our efforts in Springfield to draw more progressive revenue so that we can continue to make the necessary investments to build safe and affordable communities,” Johnson said.

* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson defends executive order aimed at holding ICE accountable for alleged abuses: Johnson said the executive order he outlined last weekend is “not something we thought we would have to do as a local municipality.” Under normal circumstances, Johnson said the federal government would “hold itself accountable” by investigating agents carrying out the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign.

* CBS Chicago | South Shore Line plans $2.75 million in safety improvements after Chicago journalist’s death: After Bentkowski’s death, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District — which operates the South Shore Line — installed yellow warning signs reading: “See tracks? Think train.” But the family said that was not enough. South Shore Line said more changes are coming. “Twelve, 14 months, I think, is a reasonable time frame to get this all installed,” said Michael Noland, president and CEO of the South Shore Line. He said gates, lights, and bells are part of a $2.75 million project coming to the Hegewisch Station.

* Capitol News Illinois | ‘My own government attempted to execute me,’ Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol testifies: Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen and Chicago resident, was shot Oct. 4 during a confrontation with Customs and Border Patrol agents in Brighton Park in southwest Chicago. Court documents state that Martinez’s vehicle collided with a federal agent’s, although it is undetermined which vehicle initiated the collision. Martinez’s lawyers maintained she was not at fault for the accident and never intentionally hit the CBP agent’s vehicle. But the Department of Homeland Security quickly spun the incident as an “ambush” on federal agents, and Martinez was charged with assault — a charge that a judge has since dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled.

* Sun-Times | Marimar Martinez goes to Washington, says she wants Trump officials to admit she’s not a ‘domestic terrorist’: A Homeland Security spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times this week that it “stands by our press releases and statements. The facts of what happened did not change.” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also released a statement Tuesday complaining about the politicians who held Tuesday’s forum. She said there’s been an increase in violence against federal agents.

* Mediaite | Congressman Reads Texts From Border Agent Who Bragged About Shooting Chicago Woman: ‘5 Shots, 7 Holes’: “After being at the hospital for less than three hours, I was discharged from the hospital into custody of the FBI. As we left the hospital, I was escorted out through the back in a wheelchair. I observed over dozens of Border Patrol agents waiting outside the hospital,” Martinez said. “One of the agents came up to me with his cell phone and took a photograph of me. It was the same agent who had previously kept coming in and out [of my hospital] room, and I had to repeatedly tell him to leave.”

* Crain’s | Chicago’s quantum park lands another global player: Quantum Machines is the sixth tenant that has said it expects to set up shop at the 138-acre research park under construction on the former U.S. Steel South Works along Lake Michigan near the Indiana border. Quantum Machines makes software that’s used to control quantum computers and interact with traditional systems. The company, headquartered in Tel Aviv, says its technology is used by more than half the companies developing quantum computers.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Cook County Assessor Kaegi accuses his opponent of taking money from a Trump donor “whose family cheered when ICE killed Alex Pretti”…

My opponent, Pat Hynes, took $25,000 from a MAGA Trump donor whose family cheered when ICE killed Alex Pretti.

The Loquercios has given $372,000+ to Trump, McConnell, Graham, and others.

Democrats shouldn't take money from MAGA donors or people who celebrate murder. Return it. pic.twitter.com/t3nVcd8SH3

— Fritz Kaegi (@fritz4assessor) February 3, 2026

Kaegi appears to be referring to social media posts by Tony Loquercio, the brother of donor Bob Loquercio. Tony Loquercio did not contribute to Hynes’ campaign.

The Hynes campaign…

“Fritz Kaegi’s incompetence on both the campaign trail and the Assessor’s Office is on full display. While Fritz Kaegi lowered Trump’s property assessment by $6 million in 2024, Pat Hynes was working as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee to keep MAGA candidates from getting onto our school and library boards. And now Kaegi is leveraging the murder of Alex Pretti to gain cheap political points because he’s desperate and flailing. It’s disgusting.”

* Daily Herald | ‘Indiana is moving fast’: Arlington Heights group rallies to keep Bears in Illinois: Touchdown Arlington, the coalition of business owners who support the team’s move to town, announced Tuesday plans for a public event “to show broad, visible community support” for tax break legislation that would bring a stadium and mixed-use district to the Arlington Park property. They’re cohosting it with Meet Chicago Northwest, the convention and visitors bureau covering the Northwest suburbs. Dubbed “Springfield Kickoff: Bring the Bears to Arlington Heights,” the event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 11, at the DoubleTree Arlington Heights hotel.

* Daily Southtown | Orland Park Village Board member questions ethics surrounding approval of Amazon retail plan: William Healy raised concerns about a social media post made by Inform Orland Park, a political action committee, before the village Plan Commission voted in favor of the Amazon development, prompting outrage from other board members. Healy presented a copy of what he said was posted by Inform Orland Park Jan. 2, that the committee was “excited to share that an Amazon facility is coming to the corner 159th Street and LaGrange Road.”

* Daily Southtown | More than 200 turn out for premiere of Park Forest documentary ‘Revisiting Utopia’: More than 200 current and former Park Forest residents crowded their way into the village’s Freedom Hall auditorium Saturday to view a 90-minute documentary about the community’s integration efforts. Produced by former resident Phil Rockrohr, “Revisiting Utopia” tracked the village’s efforts from its first Black resident to a sometimes contentious merger of students from Park Forest and Chicago Heights to the success of an “integration maintenance” program.

* ABC Chicago | Retired CFD firefighter thanks Niles paramedics who saved his life: “I found out today I stopped breathing, and they did CPR. They did their job, thank God for them,” O’Connor said. And O’Connor had the chance to thank them in-person. The firefighters and paramedics were honored at a ceremony at their firehouse.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | Decatur City Council hopes to bring jobs, money & industry with proposed power plant: It was standing room only as city council members voted six to one at Monday’s meeting in favor of letting Broadwing Energy construct a gas-fired, electricity and steam producing processor near the Archer Daniel Midland campus. Some in attendance pushed back and said there are too many risks involved with moving forward. […] “Everybody’s getting away from fossil fuels and getting what they’re adapting to,” said Jaquay Owens, who was one of the first speakers during public comment. “What’s going on 20, 30 years from now. That’s just what it’s going to be. So, let’s add that.”

* WCIA | Springfield Green initiative returns as city prepares for busy tourism year: Buscher announced the program’s return on Monday, stating the focus will be on litter cleanup and beautification. Priority will be given to the downtown area, which is home to many of the city’s historic sites. The 100th anniversary of Route 66 and America’s 250th birthday are also expected to help bring in a record-breaking number of tourists to the capitol city in 2026.

* SJ-R | Lobbyist for motorcycle rights organization weighs in on Egan sentencing: A lobbyist [Josh Witkowski] for a motorcycle rights organization said a sentence given on Jan. 30 to a retired Springfield Police sergeant who caused a 2024 collision that seriously injured a motorcyclist and a passenger near Lake Springfield was insufficient.

* BND | Education Matters: Optimists raise thousands to help cover Belleville school costs: The Optimist Club of Belleville recently presented Belleville School District 118 with $8,000 it raised through its recent holiday movie partnership with Lincoln Theater. The money will help teachers purchase additional supplies to enhance their curriculum that are not covered in the district’s budget. Often, teachers use their own money to foot those costs.

* BND | New plans, grand opening date unveiled for Belle-Clair Speedway’s comeback:
County Board Chairman Mark Kern said the goal is to have the first races on the new track in July, during the 2026 St. Clair County Fair. The event is scheduled to take place July 30-Aug. 1 at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, 200 South Belt East. “They’re already pouring the footings, and it’s moving along,” Kern said of the track’s construction in a late January interview.

*** National ***

* AP | Immigration agents draw guns and arrest activists following them in Minneapolis: “There’s less smoke on the ground,” Gov. Tim Walz said, referring to tear gas and other irritants used by officers against protesters, “but I think it’s more chilling than it was last week because of the shift to the schools, the shift to the children.” At least one person who had an anti-ICE message on clothing was handcuffed while face-down on the ground. An Associated Press photographer witnessed the arrests.

* WaPo | Several states move to ban local cooperation in immigration arrests: At least eight other states have already either prohibited or set restrictions against local police and sheriff’s offices entering into what are known as 287(g) partnerships, which enable those agencies to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement take into custody people they say are in the country illegally. New Mexico, New York, Hawaii and Virginia are considering similar bans during their 2026 state legislative sessions.

* AP | X offices raided in France as prosecutors investigate child abuse images and deepfakes: The French investigation was opened in January last year by the prosecutors’ cybercrime unit, the Paris prosecutors’ office said in a statement. It’s looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.

* ARS Technica | Newborn dies after mother drinks raw milk during pregnancy: A newborn baby has died in New Mexico from a Listeria infection that state health officials say was likely contracted from raw (unpasteurized) milk that the baby’s mother drank during pregnancy. In a news release Tuesday, officials warned people not to consume any raw dairy, highlighting that it can be teeming with a variety of pathogens. Those germs are especially dangerous to pregnant women, as well as young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.