* Subscribers know more. ICYMI: Lawmakers sweeten pot to keep Bears in Illinois, with stadium bill linked to statewide property tax relief. Sun-Times…

- Illinois hopes to take the lead over Indiana in the Chicago Bears stadium battle with a new proposal that would give the NFL team property tax certainty while also providing a statewide property tax relief sweetener.
- State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, plans to brief Illinois House Democrats on the new amendment today. The PILOT measure, shorthand for payment in lieu of taxes, would allow the Bears to renegotiate their property taxes with Arlington Heights.
- “It’ll do something that the state has not done, that other states have not done in megaprojects legislation. It’ll actually consider how these things should be able to help regular taxpayers as well,” Buckner said. “I’m finding a way to bake [in] some property tax relief for homeowners across the state.”

* Related stories…

• Fox Chicago: Illinois teachers union weighs in on Bears stadium debate
• NBC Chicago: Why this week could be critical in Bears’ stadium project saga
• WGN: Vote on Chicago Bears stadium bill expected in Illinois House ahead of key meeting with NFL committee

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Sponsored by The Association of Safety-Net Community Hospitals

No Cuts. No Closures. Fund Safety-Net Hospitals.

For decades, Illinois has underfunded safety-net hospitals, the lifelines for Black and Brown communities. Now, the “Safety-Net Moonshot” and the Medicaid-defunding legislation it has spawned, threatens deeper cuts to these critical health providers. Any reduction inspired by the “Moonshot” would be a killshot to the care our most vulnerable residents rely on.

Weakening safety-net hospitals won’t improve care. It will slash essential services, eliminate jobs, and push entire communities into healthcare deserts and economic instability.

The state cannot balance its budget on the backs of Black and Brown community hospitals. These institutions are not line items to cut, they are the foundation of care for families who have nowhere else to turn. Disinvestment will deepen inequities and worsen outcomes.

When safety-net hospitals are funded, communities are healthier, workforces are stronger, and economies are more resilient.

Illinois must fully fund safety-net hospitals. For the communities they serve, it is life or death.

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

* BlueRoomStream.com’s coverage of today’s press conferences and committee hearings can be found here.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Crain’s | Illinois ‘millionaire’s tax’ proposal faces political barriers and a tight deadline: Illinois lawmakers are considering a new “millionaire’s tax” that could generate billions in new revenue. But the measure, which would have to go before voters in this November’s ballot, faces a tight deadline and political hurdles that sank the “fair tax” proposal in 2020. On the table in the state legislature at the moment are a pair of competing measures that would both place a new referendum on the statewide ballot to establish an additional 3% income tax on any resident who pulls in at least $1 million per year. House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch recently told the Chicago Sun-Times he’s in favor of such a new tax, and earlier this year, Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s also supportive in concept.

* Capitol News Illinois | Hernandez reelected chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois: “We built it, but the work is not over,” Hernandez said. “The work to continue expanding our voter base is really very important to us, especially in this year… it’s not just winning in November, it’s really knocking that out of the ballpark and utilizing the kind of resources to engage folks into the political process.” With an unpopular Republican president in the White House and a large resource advantage over the Illinois GOP, the state party has the wind at its back in 2026. But Hernandez said the party isn’t taking anything for granted. As it did in 2022 and 2024, it will helm a coordinated campaign meant to support candidates up and down the ticket with get-out-the-vote efforts, data, messaging and other resources.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Daily Herald | Bailey campaign unfazed by $14 million funding gap with Pritzker: “If there’s someone in Pennsylvania who really likes (Gov.) Josh Shapiro and wants to increase his chance of winning in the (Democratic presidential) primary and wants to hurt JB Pritzker in Illinois, we’re happy to take a check,” Del Mar said. “So what we’re doing right now is 100% nationalizing this gubernatorial race,” he added.

* WAND | Quinn hopes IL lawmakers approve millionaire tax constitutional amendment question by May 3: Quinn frequently tells legislators and reporters that millionaires should pay a 3% surcharge on their income taxes to help lower property taxes for families and businesses. Recent data show that Illinois has over 77,000 millionaires, who make up 1.2% of the state’s income taxpayers. “Illinois has an unfair tax code, one of the worst in the whole country,” Quinn said Monday. “It’s an upside-down tax code that gives tax breaks to millionaires and higher property taxes to everyday people who are trying to stay in their home or get a home.”

* Capitol News Illinois | Judge dismisses National Guard mobilization suit after Trump’s loss at Supreme Court: U.S. District Judge April Perry, whose Oct. 9 temporary restraining order restricted any true deployment of the guardsmen to the streets of Chicago, declined to grant the state of Illinois’ and city of Chicago’s joint motion to keep the case alive in order to protect against any future National Guard mobilization orders from the administration. “The court can no longer provide ongoing protection against hypothetical unlawful acts committed by the federal government,” the judge said Monday, delivering her opinion from the bench after hearing lawyers’ brief oral arguments.

* Capitol City Now | Madigan author plans a second book: The author of a book about former House Speaker Mike Madigan, who was indicted after The House That Madigan Built was finished, says there won’t be a new chapter or two – there will be a new book taking in Madigan’s indictment, trial, conviction, and more. “Right now, the cases are still rolling along,” said retired Chicago Tribune reporter Ray Long. “There still could be things that are overturned. We just saw that Mike McClain and Anne Pramaggiore, two of the people in the Com Ed Four, had their cases reversed. They could be going to trial again. The prosecution may decide not to do anything. Madigan, meanwhile, has just turned 84. He is in a (federal) prison in West Virginia, and he has a case on appeal, too.”

*** Chicago ***

* Sun-Times | CTA ends unarmed guard contract, redirects money to officers ‘better equipped’ to keep riders safe: It was a surprise to the company, which says the CTA had signed a one-year renewal to its contract three weeks earlier. But CTA claimed, under the contract, it had the authority to cancel the agreement because it wasn’t funded, according to a letter the CTA sent to Monterrey Security on Friday. A spokesperson for Service Employees International Union Local 1 said it represents 159 of Monterrey guards who lost work. The rest worked for subcontractors Kates Detective & Security Agency and Rush Solutions, according to Monterrey Security spokesperson Steve Patterson.

* ABC Chicago | Organizers of Chicago Cinco de Mayo Parade to speak out on cancellation over immigration fears: This is the second year in a row that organizers have canceled the parade due to immigration policies under the Trump administration. The historic event celebrates Mexican culture and brings paradegoers to Little Village the first week of May. The parade has a history of disruptions. It wasn’t held from 2018 to 2022 partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a series of disagreements between organizers and city officials. Two years ago, the parade was forced to reroute due to what police called gang violence, resulting in multiple arrests.

* WTTW | CPS Employee Accused of Double-Dipping Through Dual Employment Scheme Now Works for CTA, Records Show: Although it’s likely impossible to determine exactly how many of Coleman’s reported hours were fraudulent, interviews with an RL Canning vice president, a CPS supervisor and Coleman suggested that she worked 20 to 80 hours per month while also employed with CPS, according to the investigation. “Ultimately, the OIG found that Coleman’s time fraud constituted theft under the Illinois Criminal Code and violated her fiduciary duty to CPS under the district’s Code of Ethics,” according to the investigation.

* WTTW | Suspend CPD Officer for 89 Days for Using His Radio to Strike Man in Head 3 Times: Top Cop: Officer Michael Donnelly, who was a member of the Near North (18th) Police District tactical team until he was stripped of his police powers last fall, used excessive force against a Black man he and several other officers were trying to detain near Cambridge Avenue and Chestnut Street in Cabrini-Green, a complex operated by the Chicago Housing Authority that sits just west of the Gold Coast. Five former members of that tactical team have been stripped of their police powers.

* Block Club | Southwest Side’s Aloha Motel To Become Homeless Shelter With 55 Private Rooms: BEDS Plus broke ground Friday on its $14 million project to convert the former Aloha Motel, 8515 S. Cicero Ave., into a transitional housing facility. Once completed, the facility will feature 55 private rooms, each with a private bathroom, microwave, refrigerator, personal storage and at least one bed, officials said at the groundbreaking. The shelter will serve individuals, couples and families experiencing homelessness or having trouble finding stable, permanent housing, officials said.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Daily Herald | Probe of DuPage clerk’s bidding practices ends without charges: In a statement released Monday, a spokeswoman for the state’s top lawyer put to rest any questions about the status of the nearly yearlong investigation. “The intention of the bidding statute is to ensure a transparent and competitive process, and violating the statute is a Class 3 felony,” Annie Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois attorney general’s office, wrote in an email Monday afternoon. “We carefully reviewed the serious allegations related to no-bid contracts, and while the conduct certainly violated the spirit of the bidding statutes, our office determined that the facts did not meet the standard necessary to support a criminal prosecution.” In a written statement, DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek said she has had no contact with the Illinois attorney general’s office since they were appointed to investigate. She added that she was not asked to turn over any documents for the investigation.

* Daily Southtown | High School District 218 votes to support Palos Heights’ 12-year TIF extension: Palos Heights is one step closer to extending its Gateway Redevelopment Project tax increment financing district by 12 years after a vote of support Wednesday by the High School District 218 board. The Palos Heights City Council approved the TIF district in April 2005 with an expiration date of December 2027. Palos Heights Mayor Robert Straz said the 12-year extension is standard, but the village will likely seek to close the TIF district sooner, once two areas along Harlem Avenue are developed.

* Daily Herald | During intense flooding, Levee 37 proving effective at keeping the waters at bay: “With the river has high as it is, and the amount of water that we’ve gotten this month, we definitely would have been out there sandbagging and pumping out of the river all last week,” Mount Prospect Public Works Director Sean Dorsey said. Prospect Heights City Administrator Peter Falcone said neighborhoods once routinely flooded near Milwaukee Avenue and Chicago Executive Airport no longer experience problems. Built in 2015, the $36 million project involved local, state and federal agencies.

* Aurora Beacon-News | Third Eye Blind, Six One Five Collective to perform at RiverEdge Park in Aurora: Third Eye Blind will play RiverEdge Park on Sunday, Aug. 23, according to a press release from RiverEdge. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with the concert at 8 p.m., officials said. Tickets are $71. Three-time Grammy-nominated Six One Five Collective will bring its country sound to RiverEdge Park on Saturday, July 25, according to the release. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with the concert at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22, officials said.

*** Downstate ***

* WCIA | ‘The hazards are real’: U of I’s USDA labs facing possible relocation: “If it were done, the hazards are real. For instance, it’s certainly going to delay hybrid development. It’s going to delay, for six or eight to 10 years. And the possibility of losing genetic material is very, very real,” Don Ort, plant biology and crop sciences professor, said. Ort said he’s heard the reasons to move them have been centered around cost. But, he said in his professional opinion, this wouldn’t result in savings. The decision of whether it will stay or go will likely be made at the end of the month.

* WCIA | U of I researchers develop camera to detect cancer in lymph nodes: Engineering professor Viktor Gruev said the process has been six years in the making, and he created the cameras with dozens of students in the university’s Biosensor lab. He said it has been a collaborative effort with the university, the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Carle Foundation Hospital and The Cancer Center at Illinois. The cameras were 97% effective at identifying cancerous lymph nodes in a recent clinical study which used the cameras during more than 30 cancer patients’ surgeries, according to Gruev. They were 89% effective at identifying non-cancerous lymph nodes.

* WAND | Decatur City Council approves firefighter raises, $4M lead line replacement: Firefighters will get a 4% raise, back-dated to January, and 4% raises at the beginning of each year through 2028. The union moved to arbitration after nine months of negotiations without a deal. Health insurance and sick leave were also updated in the contract. The city council also approved almost $4 million for a lead line replacement project.

*** National ***

* Axios | Dems kick off 5-city fight to host 2028 convention: Already, whisper campaigns are pointing out the potential flaws of each finalist: Atlanta doesn’t have enough union hotels, Chicago hosted the convention in 2024, Boston signals “liberal elite,” Denver isn’t in a swing state — and Philadelphia, the 2016 host, is a reminder of the year Hillary Clinton lost the election.

* Futurism | In Article About Horrific Shooting That Killed Eight Children, Forbes Lets Readers Place Bets About Gun Control: Underneath a chunk of text describing the Shreveport gunman, a 31-year-old named Shamar Elkins, a ForbesPredict box appears. It implores readers to “make your prediction” on “gun policy,” asking whether they believe “Congress WILL pass new gun safety legislation before 31st December 2026.” […] “Wager coins (never real money) on what happens next,” reads the box. “Double down when you’re confident. Flip your call when the story changes.”