* ICYMI: Chicago City Council majority says no to head tax, property tax hike to balance 2027 budget. Block Club Chicago…

- A majority of the City Council said it’s ready to work with Mayor Brandon Johnson to close a nearly $900 million budget deficit in 2027 — but only if he commits to not proposing a corporate head tax, raising property taxes or relying on state money that has yet to be approved by Springfield.
- “The City cannot balance its books on the assumption that the General Assembly will act,” the members stated in a letter. “If Springfield acts, let it bring relief in its season. We should not spend what has not yet arrived.”
- Johnson is expected to deliver a detailed budget address in mid-October, to be followed by City Council hearings on departmental spending.

* Related stories…

• Tribune: City Council majority warns Mayor Brandon Johnson against proposing head tax again
• CBS Chicago: Chicago City Council group sends 2027 budget demands to Mayor Brandon Johnson, including no corporate head tax
• Fox Chicago: Chicago City Council draws budget battle lines ahead of Dec. 30 deadline

* Gov. JB Pritzker has no public events scheduled today.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Tribune | About 9,300 immigrants in Illinois to lose Medicaid this week because of One Big Beautiful Bill: Across Illinois, about 9,300 immigrants — including lawfully present refugees, human trafficking survivors and people who’ve been granted asylum but don’t have green cards — are slated to lose their Medicaid coverage after Sept. 30 under provisions of HR1, also called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in 2025.

* Illinois Times | Nonpartisan group holds debates for Senate district and sheriff races: Sheriff Paula Crouch, a Republican, debated Democratic challenger Marc Bell, who’s been endorsed by Crouch’s primary challenger and former employee David Timm. Bell spent his career with Illinois State Police before retiring more than a decade ago. He currently serves on Springfield’s Police Community Review Commission. […] Both candidates committed to working to install the sheriff-designated calls to action from the Massey Commission, but Bell’s opening statement included him reading an expanded ethics policy he said he’d implement if elected. “It is essential that the employees of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office follow the code of ethics for the office of the sheriff,” Bell said, including a commitment to “not tolerate nor condone brutal or inhumane treatment of others by my employees, nor shall I commit or condone inhumane or brutal treatment of inmates in my care and custody,” amongst a host of other pledges.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Capitol News Illinois | Replacing Mendoza: Candidates vie to be state’s first new comptroller in a decade: “The governor does not appreciate ‘Yes’ people,” she said. “I’ve seen this as someone who’s been around this world. He surrounds himself with people who challenge him, obviously respectfully. But that’s how we get better outcomes.” Drew sees the office differently. If he wins, he views himself as an ombudsman of sorts who can act as a check on government in a state where Democrats hold the governorship and supermajorities in the legislature. He acknowledged that Mendoza “was not just a rubber stamp for the governor” on at least one or two occasions. But he said he’s better suited to be a watchdog as an outsider.

* N’Digo | Christian Mitchell – Democratic Candidate For Illinois Lt. Governor: What do you think the Democratic Party nationally should do to regain power? “We made a mistake by just focusing on Trump. What are we for? A lot of ways to make the case for Illinois are a national effort. People need to thrive, not just survive. Key issues are lowering the cost of living, not being engaged in trade wars. The Democratic Party is raising wealth, lowering costs, and focusing on future problems, not just looking at the administration of the past; people will be receptive and respond on a national level.”

* WTTW | Interim NITA Director Earning $350K Salary While Also Collecting $213K Annual City Pension, Records Show: Newly named interim Northern Illinois Transit Authority Executive Director Jamie Rhee will collect an annual city taxpayer-funded pension of more than $213,000 while earning $350,000 to run the new agency, bringing her total annual compensation to more than $563,000, according to records obtained by WTTW News. When Rhee retired in April 2025 after nearly seven years as the commissioner of the Department of Aviation, serving three mayors, she was the city of Chicago’s highest paid employee, records show.

* WAND | Bailey hopes to keep Choate Mental Health Center open: Bailey said he understands the Anna facility has faced serious failures over the years with staff misconduct and abuse of residents. […] They have listened to Springfield call this a transformation,” Bailey said. “They have watched decisions about their community be made without them. Now, they’re being asked to trust that everything will work out after the beds leave Anna.” Pritzker recently said Illinois is one of the last states in the country to get out of state-owned developmental centers. He said other states have stopped the practice because they realized community homes are better settings.

* WAND | Illinois awards $4.6 million to boost tourism efforts statewide: The Office of the Governor said the awards include $2 million to projects along Route 66, $2 million to market the state’s attractions and $654,000 to internationally promote Illinois. “Millions of people visit Illinois every year, and we want them to experience more of what our state has to offer from Route 66 to the Chicago skyline. These grants will help local partners reach travelers across the country and around the world and show them what they can discover here in the Middle of Everything,” said Pritzker in a statement.

* Press release | AG Candidate Fioretti Announces Congressmen LaHood, Bost and Mary Miller As Campaign Co-Chairs: Republican Illinois Attorney General candidate Bob Fioretti is honored to announce that the three top Republicans in Illinois, Congressman Darin LaHood, Congressman Mike Bost, and Congresswoman Mary Miller have signed on as Co-Chairmen of his campaign. “I’m proud that three such distinguished public servants have placed their trust in my campaign, Fioretti, a former two-term Alderman from Chicago, said. “It is time for the Republican Party to unite, and the combination of their popularity downstate, and my name recognition in the Chicago area, is a winning formula.”

*** Chicago ***

* Crain’s | Chicago renter ordinance votes delayed as mayor and foes seek a compromise: The delay follows marathon weekend negotiations that failed to produce a compromise but made clear neither ordinance could win enough votes to pass without further changes. Johnson’s version has been watered down since it was first introduced, including by stripping out relocation payments to tenants forced from their units by landlords. But the mayor is unlikely to secure a City Council majority without further concessions to alderpeople who have repeatedly blocked his agenda over the past year.

* Chalkbeat Chicago | How Chicago school board incumbents voted on key issues: The board voted on a lot more than just the budget since being seated in January 2025. Chalkbeat is revisiting how the incumbents voted, including whether they abstained or were absent, on 17 key issues. For each item, we’ve linked to our past coverage so you can read more about why board members voted the way they did. Board members are required to abstain from voting if they have a conflict of interest or an economic stake, such as an investment in an education technology platform. Board members have also abstained for other reasons, often without explaining their decisions in public.

* WTTW | Chicago, Suburban Cook County Seeking Poll Workers for November Midterm Election: Election judges are responsible for setting up and opening precinct polling places on Election Day, assisting voters during voting hours and conducting closing procedures after the polls close. Election judges can earn up to $230 for attending training and working on Election Day.

* Block Club | City’s First Pedestrian Activated Stoplight Coming To Deadly Edgewater Intersection This Fall: The Federal Highway Administration approved pedestrian hybrid beacons as a traffic tool in 2009, and the beacons have been tested nationwide. The tool results in a 55 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes, a 29 percent reduction in total crashes and a 15 percent reduction in serious injuries and fatal crashes, according to the agency.

* WTTW | 44 People Apply to Be Chicago’s Next Police Superintendent: Commission: In 2023, the last time Chicago needed a new chief law enforcement officer, 53 people applied for the job. In 2020, 23 people applied to lead the police department, records show. Applicants include current and former members of the Chicago Police Department, as well as candidates from outside of CPD, according to a statement from the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | ‘First in the country’: Metra to showcase game-changing battery-operated passenger train: The trainset is on the way to Chicago and will be exhibited at the American Public Transportation Association conference, which starts Sunday at McCormick Place, the agency announced. “We’ll be the first in the country to have battery-powered passenger vehicles,” Metra Executive Director Jim Derwinski said at a recent meeting. The APTA event is open to the public, and the trainset will later be displayed at a Metra facility, most likely the LaSalle Street station, officials said. It is one of eight the agency has ordered.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Group files motion in Kane County court appealing electoral board decision on Aurora recall referendum: While the referendum question is set to be on the ballot in November, the court’s ruling would affect if the votes on the measure are counted or not, said Edward Mullen, an attorney for Helen Francis Ratlow, who filed the appeal. The case is scheduled for a hearing in Kane County Circuit Court on Thursday, Oct. 1, where the involved parties will decide on an expedited briefing and hearing schedule, according to online court records.

* Daily Southtown | Homer Glen delays OK for modernized ComEd substation plan: The Homer Glen Village Board postponed a decision allowing ComEd to improve its substation on Bell Road that was first constructed in the 1950s as village officials continue to have questions about the project. Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike told ComEd officials last week her top concern is how a new substation would benefit Homer Glen residents. ComEd is looking to modernize its substation, 14546 S. Bell Road, with weather-protected enclosures to ensure a more reliable grid.

* Daily Herald | Aurora City Council approves plan for hotel near Hollywood Casino site: The hotel development was set to be approved earlier this month, but the decision was delayed after some City Council members had concerns over whether the hotel aligns with the city’s vision for the area, which includes the new Hollywood Casino resort and the Chicago Premium Outlets mall. “I do not believe that this is what we want to build next to a world class casino, our first property after building, having the casino built, be an extended stay hotel,” said Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward.

* Daily Herald | Funding approved for final nine homes in Aurora’s first ‘smart neighborhood’: The community, which is being built near the intersection of Jericho Road and Edgelawn Drive, is set to have 17 homes designed with energy efficiency, affordability and resiliency in mind by 2028. The final nine remaining homes are slated to be built by Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley using just over $1.2 million in federal funding, which was authorized to the nonprofit by the Aurora City Council on Sept. 22. The homes must be completed by or before Feb. 28, 2028, according to the development agreement.

*** Downstate ***

* WGLT | McLean County water capacity is a fluid conversation for data centers: So, how much water would a hypothetical data center need in Bloomington-Normal? No one really knows. Joao Ferreira is acting director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Ferreira, based at the University of Virginia, and the center published a study on data centers in the Great Lakes region earlier this year. Among many findings, how much water a data center could use is tied directly to different factors. Chief among them, data centers are not required to disclose how much water they use.

* KFVS | Chester, Ill. bids farewell to historic bridge: After decades of carrying travelers over the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri, the aging structure came down Monday morning. While the community welcomes the recent opening of the new Don Welge Memorial Bridge, the implosion brings bittersweet reflections for generations who grew up crossing the river on the old structure.

* WCBU | Tazewell County voters to weigh 1% school facility tax on November ballot: Morton School District 709 Superintendent Joe Sander says the funding would support facility maintenance upgrades, safety and security and mental health resources. “We’re the hole in the donut,” said Sander. “Every county that’s adjacent to Tazewell County has passed the tax.” Tazewell County is in the hole because the tax proposal was defeated in 2018 and 2019, rejected by 51% and 56% of voters, respectively.

* WGLT | McLean County community solar program offers benefits without the commitment of panels: Denver-based PureSky Energy and the Ecology Action Center [ECA] in Normal have partnered to launch the first community solar program in McLean County — and in the state of Illinois. It was developed through the Illinois Solar for All program. The McLean 1 solar farm has reached full operation as of this week. The project aims to bring clean, affordable energy to income-eligible households. It does that by allowing low- and moderate-income households to subscribe to the program with guaranteed savings of 50% off their electric bills. Other similar programs for non-income eligible households offer about 10% in savings.

*** National ***

* WIRED | OpenAI Delays Release of Latest Model Over Safety Concerns: The company said its latest Astra model would undergo more work to meet safety standards, and issued an apology for the way it handled the hacking of an Australian government website.

* Reuters | Inside McDonald’s push to have AI price your Big Mac: McDonald’s says its franchisees are free to set their own prices, but five store owners told Reuters the company pressured them to use the AI-pricing tools. A franchisee document from June reviewed by Reuters shows McDonald’s records franchisees’ deviations from the recommendations in detail.