So how does it work to find new housing [for migrants] after the 60 days in a shelter and 90 days in temp housing with rental assistance if they still can’t get work permits? How are they going to pay rent without jobs?
The governor was asked pretty much that same question yesterday…
Well, the good news is that the federal government really has sped up that process. That used to be the case, what you were describing, where it was months and months of waiting for work authorization. They recognized, and I think you’ll recall that the mayor and I, Senator Durbin and others had a press conference and we had been communicating for some months about the need to speed up that process. And then the federal government did step in and indeed expanded the ability for TPS folks who come here before July to be able to get work authorizations. Now they’ve sped up the process for approving those work authorizations. So we believe that by February all the applications will come in and during the time between now and February there will be many people who will already have received word that they are authorized to work.
Also, remember, the clock doesn’t start ticking until they’re moved out of staging areas, like police stations.
A cornerstone of this plan is a State-led effort to move thousands of individuals through the federal Temporary Protect Status (TPS) and Employment Authorization Document (EAD) processes as quickly as possible. This will allow asylum seekers to gain employment and achieve self-sufficiency, thereby alleviating the strain on state resources. In the weeks and months ahead, the State will stand-up large-scale workshops with legal aid providers and pro-bono attorneys to facilitate the application process. Workshops will be co-located with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) workforce programming to provide federal assistance and job search resources simultaneously. By February, the State aims to have submitted the applications of the roughly 11,000 TPS and/or EAD eligible asylum seekers residing in City of Chicago shelters, with thousands more to be completed in the months that follow.
* While we’re on this topic, the ILGOP seems to both side with migrants and complain about them in the same press release…
Pritzker, Johnson Driving Migrants Away with Incompetence
CHICAGO — When Governor Pritzker promised to welcome the waves of migrants being bussed from border states to Chicago, he must have been thinking about running for President instead of how to house thousands of immigrants in Illinois.
The city and state’s lack of a cohesive, functioning sanctuary plan has become so disastrous that many migrants on their own are packing up to leave. Whether it was the city’s lack of jobs, resources, or just the idea of spending winter on Chicago’s streets, many are deserting the state, some even going back to their home countries.
Many have risked their lives for the American Dream, and are now rethinking those decisions. That’s how badly Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson have handled the migrant crisis.
“Gov. Pritzker appears to have put his ambitions for higher office ahead of the good of this state,” ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy said. “Like Biden, Pritzker encouraged illegal immigration to score points with open border advocates. Now Illinois taxpayers will have to foot the bill to house, feed, and provide for migrants in a state that is already one of the most taxed in the nation. This state needs a leader, not a politician auditioning to replace Biden.”
Today, more Palestinians live in Cook County than any other county in the nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 18,000 Palestinians live in Cook County, and more than 23,000 live in the Chicago metropolitan area, which includes 14 counties in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
However, experts say the census significantly underestimates the size of the Palestinian population.
Overall, Arab Americans are undercounted in the once-in-a-decade census because there isn’t a specific category for people of Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) descent among the choices available to indicate race or ethnicity, said Maya Berry, executive director of the nonprofit Arab American Institute. Illinois is the first state that will require state agencies, starting in 2025, to include a MENA category when collecting information about racial and ethnic identity.
Data on Palestinian ancestry is collected as a write-in response to some census questions, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But some Palestinians skip the question, or write in something other than “Palestinian” such as “other” or “Arab American,” Berry said.
* Some folks received this blast text yesterday…
The link goes here. Mijente PAC is a c-4 operation that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on campaigns. But the aldermanic elections were last spring, so unless that group is getting involved in ward committeeperson races next year (of the five targets, Raymond Lopez, Silvana Tabares, Felix Cardona and Gil Villegas are committeepersons), I hope folks are thinking before they click that link.
…Adding… Press release…
Today, Governor JB Pritzker took the following bill action:
Bill Number: HB 0351
Description: Creates the Task Force to Review Eligibility to Hold Public Office and exempts notaries from logging notarial acts on specific documents filed by or on behalf of a candidate for public office.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: HB 1358
Description: Sunset extension and effective date package.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: HB 3641
Description: State government omnibus legislation. Provides numerous technical clean up remedies for State agencies and programs.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: SB 0690
Description: Makes changes to the community mental health public questions process and amends the appointment process of a community mental health board in qualifying municipalities.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
Bill Number: SB 0765
Description: Eliminates the Unlimited Catastrophic Aggregate Coverage provision of the Farm Mutual Act for 5 years.
Action: Signed
Effective: Immediately
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Tribune | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration issuing notices it will begin removing migrants from shelters in 60 days: In addition to the new shelter limits, the city will also begin cracking down on what Johnson described as “rogue buses” of migrants and beef up personnel at their initial landing spots to encourage them to go elsewhere, his office said. The exit notices will come in waves, the first one starting Friday for all shelter residents who have been there since last year.
* State Week | Illinois to spend more on helping asylum seekers: Illinois officials said nearly $500 million in state money has already been spent. The latest infusion, pulled from the state Department of Human Services budget, will assist in processing new arrivals, provide case management and develop a base tent camp as winter nears.
* Axios | One-third of U.S. newspapers as of 2005 will be gone by 2024: There are roughly 6,000 newspapers left in America, down from 8,891 in 2005, according to a new report from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. “We’re almost at a one-third loss now and we’ll certainly hit that pace next year,” said the report’s co-authors — Penelope Muse Abernathy, a visiting professor at Medill, and Sarah Stonbely, director of Medill’s State of Local News Project.
* Crain’s | Illinois’ once-thriving craft brewing scene faces a steep cliff: Craft breweries have not seen traffic return to their taprooms like they hoped. That’s bad news for an industry that made 70% of its revenue from taprooms pre-pandemic. Illinois started 2022 with 302 craft breweries. Thirty-one have closed since, said Ray Stout, executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. The most recently announced casualty, Metropolitan Brewing, will add to that number when it shutters its Avondale taproom next month.
* Sun-Times | CTA Yellow Line service still suspended after crash injured dozens on North Side: “We are working to restore service as soon as possible,” read an alert posted on the CTA’s website. “We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.” The transit agency urged commuters to allow extra time for travel. Meanwhile, the NTSB has scheduled a media briefing for later Friday to address the many questions surrounding the wreck.
* Crain’s | Chicago’s average weekly return-to-office numbers grow to 55%: The average percentage of Chicago workers who are back in the office has hit 55%. That’s almost as high as Chicago’s post-pandemic peak in July of 55.2%. The city’s stats are ahead of the nationwide average by 4.5 percentage points. That’s according to data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which analyzes building security card swipes and compares current figures to early 2020.
* Daily Herald | McHenry County jail could take in detainees from Lake County under proposed deal: The proposed contract calls for McHenry County taking up to 150 inmates from the Lake County jail. During a recent McHenry County Board finance committee meeting, Sheriff Robb Tadelman said the average daily population at McHenry County Jail was 160 inmates. Sandra Salgado, the McHenry County sheriff’s business manager, said the jail population has about 35 to 50 fewer inmates since the SAFE-T Act took effect in September, but the population slowly is increasing.
* Sun-Times | Cyberattack on Rivers Casino leaves data vulnerable for gamblers, workers: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines alerted customers Thursday to the data breach, which happened in mid-August but wasn’t discovered until earlier this month. Dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and even Social Security numbers “may have been accessed or removed” from the casino’s network, among other vital information.
* Sun-Times | ‘Your debt to society is not fully paid,’ mother tells son’s killer after his release on appeal: A Cook County state’s attorney’s spokeswoman said the decision to make a deal with Davila “was made with a deep sense of responsibility.” She said it provides “a measure of justice to those affected, acknowledging the complexities and the passage of time in this case.” Ricky Pike, 24, was killed early Aug. 3, 2012, shot because a passenger in his car was wearing a green-and-gold Oakland Athletics baseball cap, prosecutors said during Davila’s 2018 trial.
* Crain’s | Law firm adding office space, moving to Wacker Drive: Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has signed a 10-year deal for 29,839 square feet in the 51-story tower at 1 N. Wacker Drive, a spokesman for the law firm confirmed. GRSM will relocate to the building’s 16th floor in August from its longtime office across the street at 1 N. Franklin St., where its lease for 24,182 square feet expires next summer.
* Daily Herald | Attracting, keeping employees a priority in Lake County’s $640 million budget: Lake County’s property tax levy will increase for the first time in five years to help fund a variety of programs and initiatives in a $640 million budget, including compensation to recruit and retain employees. The county board this week increased the tax levy by the maximum allowed 5%, though supporters said that won’t result in a commensurate hike in property tax bills because new growth will account for about half the increase.
* KWQC | Hundreds set to lose their jobs in Bureau Co. after factory announces closure: The Monterey Mushrooms factory has been one of the largest employers in Bureau Co. for decades, and last week they informed workers they will be ending operations in January. Although the closure of the factory may cause a ripple effect through the entire Illinois Valley, there is one town in particular that will likely be hit the hardest.
* WTTW | It’s Fire Season — On Purpose — In the Region’s Forest Preserves. Cook County Has a New Map of Prescribed Burn Sites: “Fire is an important tool in our restoration toolbox,” said Erik Neidy, director of natural resources with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Prescribed burns mimic the wildfires that native prairies and woodlands adapted to over millennia. They’re used to control invasive species, return nutrients to the soil and promote the growth of native plants and grasses.
* Axios | Apple to pause advertising on X after Musk backs antisemitic post: The move follows Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories as well as Apple ads reportedly being placed alongside far-right content. Apple has been a major advertiser on the social media site and its pause follows a similar move by IBM.
* Patch | Pritzker Orders IL Flags Flown At Half-Staff For Fallen Firefighter: “Whereas, a valiant and passionate public servant, Firefighter/EMT Price’s dedication to his community was unparalleled, having served with the Chicago Fire Department for more than 13 years,” a proclamation regarding the flags reads. The flag order runs through sundown Monday, hours after a funeral service for Price is planned at the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate increased +0.2 percentage point to 4.6 percent, while nonfarm payrolls decreased -15,000 in October, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and released by IDES. The September revised unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, unchanged from the preliminary September unemployment rate. The September monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +9,500 to +11,400 jobs. The October unemployment rate and payroll jobs estimate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
In October, the industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job declines included: Professional and Business Services (-6,700), Manufacturing (-5,300), Financial Activities (-2,900), and Educational and Health Services (-2,900). The industry sectors with the largest over-the-month job gains included: Government (+4,200), Leisure and Hospitality (+1,500), and Construction (+700). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +0.7 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for October. The national unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in October, up +0.1 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was unchanged from a year ago when it was also 4.6 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll jobs increased by +65,300 jobs, with gains across most major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Educational and Health Services (+34,900), Government (+28,200), and Leisure and Hospitality (+25,200). Professional and Business Services (-16,900), Manufacturing (-12,000), and Information (-6,200) reported the largest declines in payroll jobs. In October, total nonfarm payrolls were up +1.1 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +1.9 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was 296,600, up +5.0 percent from the prior month, and down -1.1 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was up +0.1 percent over-the-month and down -0.1 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
* Illinois PIRG…
Regulators took critical first steps to reform the failing Peoples Gas pipe replacement program Thursday. The action was one of many included in three major gas utility rate decisions voted on by the five-person Illinois Commerce Commission.
The Commission, recently overhauled by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, disallowed the entire proposed 2024 pipeline replacement budget, paused the program, and ordered a new investigation into the program, noting particular interest in reforming the program’s “neighborhood” approach. These decisions stem from recommendations made by Illinois PIRG and co-intervening organizations Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law and Policy Center, and NRDC. The Office of the Illinois Attorney General and City of Chicago made similar recommendations.
The pipe replacement program, which has been plagued by severe cost overruns and consistently failed to achieve its public safety objective, has raised customer bills for the past decade and is the primary driver of the record rate hike. On Wednesday, Peoples Gas published its third quarter report on the program, revealing the program to be once again over budget and behind on its pipe retirement goals.
Over the past decade, the state “QIP” law shielded the obviously troubled program from meaningful oversight or accountability, causing widespread affordability problems in Chicago and delivering six consecutive years of record-breaking profits to Peoples Gas and its out of state parent, WEC Energy Group.
The pipe replacement decision is just one of many made in three rate cases impacting gas utility customers across Illinois. In all cases, the Commission approved lower rate increases than requested by utilities.
The Commission also took important steps to lower profit rates, rein in unnecessary utility spending, lower fixed customer charges, plan for the future of the gas system, and create robust low income discount rates.
Final written orders are not available yet.
* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today announced $25 million in available grant funding through the Back to Business (B2B) NewBiz program. Following state recovery programming for businesses totaling $1.5 billion, the latest American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-funded opportunity is designed to provide additional support for businesses in hard-hit sectors who launched during the pandemic. Businesses that launched in 2020 or 2021 and remain in operation have faced significant impacts during the pandemic, but they have not been eligible for other federal or state relief programming since they were not operational prior to the pandemic.
To provide hands-on support and raise awareness about the program, the State has mobilized a network of nearly 100 community navigators across Illinois. Applicants are encouraged to visit b2bnewbiz.com to learn more and apply.
…Adding… ACLU of Illinois…
ACLU of Illinois Hails Judge’s Decisions on IDOC Treatment of Transgender Persons Under Their Care
In a pair of orders issued this morning, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Rosenstengel today denied a motion by the State of Illinois to vacate previous court orders mandating steps to be taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections to care for prisoners who are transgender and gender non-conforming, and ordered the Department to carefully consider the requests made by those prisoners at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center to be transferred out of that facility because it is unable to provide safe conditions for prisoners with gender dysphoria. The rulings are the latest development in a case – Monroe v. Bowman – seeking constitutionally-required health care and housing for those with gender dysphoria in IDOC custody. The following can be attributed to Camille Bennett, Director of the Corrections Reform Project at the ACLU of Illinois:
Today’s rulings by Judge Rosenstengel continue to allow our clients to navigate the very difficult conditions they face inside IDOC facilities. While there has been modest improvement in recent years, the court noted that the pace of change has been “glacial” and that a slow response is the wrong response to rectifying constitutional harms. The court ordered changes more than two years ago that still have not happened today, including things as simple as access to safe and private showers.
We are pleased that the court has ordered IDOC to consider moving our clients out of Pinckneyville, calling for individualized review of transfer requests before the end of the calendar year. At a recent hearing, a number of our clients at Pinckneyville bravely testified and twenty-two clients submitted written declarations about the abysmal conditions and daily humiliations and abuse they face at that facility.
We will continue to advocate for changes in the way IDOC cares for those with gender dysphoria. Today’s rulings will move that effort forward.
The emotional, 22-day speakership battle has Republicans still feeling raw. One member, Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), said his stress over the ordeal manifested in physical symptoms — headaches and an upset stomach that occasionally led him to vomiting. The anger culminated in a now-infamous clash between Bost and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) during a closed-door conference meeting, when Bost yelled at the instigator of McCarthy’s ouster to “sit down.”
“It took a lot of prayer to get through it,” Bost said, noting his symptoms began to alleviate once they elected Johnson.
* Press release…
Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the appointment of Sydney Holman to serve as the Deputy Mayor of Intergovernmental Affairs. In this role, Holman will lead Mayor Johnson’s legislative priorities at the city, state and federal levels.
“Sydney brings a vast array of experience which will prove invaluable as we tackle some of the most vexing challenges our city faces,” said Mayor Johnson. “She will bring people together and find compromises that work for all parties involved, but most important, that work for the residents and communities of the City of Chicago.
“I also want to express my gratitude to Beth Beatty who served the City of Chicago admirably and championed some historic pieces of legislation over the past six months, including One Fair Wage, Bring Chicago Home and Paid Leave, as well as yesterday’s passage of our first City budget. Her contributions were invaluable, and I wish her all the best in the future.”
“It is my top priority to work with Chicago City Council and all levels of government to pass transformative legislation for the working people and families of the City of Chicago,” Holman said. “I am honored to serve this great city and I look forward to working with Mayor Johnson to continue investing in people and moving an historic legislative agenda.”
Holman most recently worked at Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies where she assisted clients with legislative strategy and policy advocacy across a diverse range of topics. Holman previously served as Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs and as House Liaison of Legislative Affairs with the Office of Governor JB Pritzker. During her time at the Governor’s Office, Holman successfully lobbied the Governor’s progressive agenda on a wide range of issues including pension and business reform, gaming initiatives, higher education issues and healthcare accessibility.
Now, for the love of Mike, please hire a competent comms staff…
It appears that yesterday the Mayor blew off a State request to hold this new program information until today, releasing it during his own press conference & thereby distracting from the Mayor’s own #ChiBudget2024 budget passage media victory lap?
* WBEZ | As Chicago struggles to shelter migrants from Venezuela, neighboring Oak Park steps in to help: Earlier this month, Oak Park officials voted to declare a month-long emergency disaster. They appropriated $150,000 of the village’s COVID recovery funds to help migrants, adding to the $400,000 they were granted by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus for the cause. After a few days at Good Shepherd and United Lutheran, most of the migrants were moved to the Carleton of Oak Park Hotel and the West Cook YMCA.
* Tribune | Passengers injured in train crash on CTA Yellow Line in Rogers Park: At least 19 CTA train passengers were injured, three in critical-to-serious condition, Thursday morning when a Yellow Line train crashed in the Rogers Park neighborhood, said Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department. According to preliminary information provided by the CTA, at approximately 10:40 a.m., a Yellow Line train made contact with rail equipment in the Howard Rail Yard. Langford said it was a snow removal apparatus.
* Sun-Times | Dozens injured in CTA train crash near the Howard Street station: The injured were taken to hospitals in fair-to-serious condition, and 15 refused care, said Keith Gray, assistant deputy chief paramedic, during a media briefing at the scene. No one suffered life-threatening injuries. The CTA operator, who was near the point of collision, was among the most critically injured. The children, the youngest of whom was 2, suffered “bumps and bruises.”
* Crain’s | Cresco Labs leans into efficiency, innovation after lower-than-expected loss: The approach – which the company leaned heavily into after its merger with Columbia Care (now The Cannabist) collapsed – resulted in a moderate decline in sales as the company closed out operations in states where it had a weaker position, such as Arizona. But the metric fell less than the high single-digit drop initially projected.
* WBEZ | More Palestinians live in Cook County than any other county in the nation: Like many other Palestinians in the Chicago area at the time, Naser’s parents initially settled on the Southwest Side of Chicago where they found a vibrant and diverse Palestinian community, especially in places like the Arab Community Center. The center is now home to the Arab American Action Network, a grassroots organizing and social services nonprofit. Naser currently serves on the board.
* Media-Ite | ‘Unvarnished Anti-Semitism’: Elon Musk Catches All Hell for Agreeing With Bigoted Tweet: The initial post written by @breakingbaht claimed Jewish communities “have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites” with the user adding, “I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much. You want truth said to your face, there it is.” Musk replied to the tweet, stating, “You have said the actual truth.”
* AP | Take heart, it looks like China could send new pandas to the US: The bears have long been the symbol of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to other U.S. zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs.
* CBS Chicago | Stateville prison inmates receive diplomas from Northwestern University: William Peeples is serving a life sentence at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, but for the past five years, he’s been working toward a college degree. “Best five years I ever spent. This moment is the culmination of literally 30 years of people pouring into me,” Peeples said. Peeples is part of a cohort of students in the Northwestern University Prison Education Program.
* Shaw Local | Princeton’s Red Covered Bridge heavily damaged by semi-trailer: Princeton’s iconic Red Covered Bridge, located 1.5 miles north of the city off Route 26, sustained heavy damage Thursday morning as a semi-trailer attempted to pass through it. The semi attempted to pass north to south and caused damage to both the historic structure and the semi itself. Portions of the trailer were ripped off after becoming stuck in the top of the covered bridge.
* AP | Thousands of Starbucks workers walkout, go on 1-day strike on Red Cup Day: The union said it was expecting more than 5,000 workers to take part in its “Red Cup Rebellion.” Around 30 stores also staged walkouts on Wednesday. […] Starbucks downplayed any potential impact of the strike Wednesday, saying it would occur at a “small subset” of the company’s 9,600 company-owned U.S. stores.
* WaPo | A rare look at the devastation caused by AR-15 shootings: The review lays bare how the AR-15, a weapon that has soared in popularity over the past two decades as a beloved tool for hunting, target practice and self-defense, has also given assailants the power to instantly turn everyday American gathering places into zones of gruesome violence. This is an oral history told in three parts that follows the chronological order of a typical AR-15 mass shooting. It weaves together pictures, videos and the recollections of people who endured different tragedies but have similar stories to tell.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday the state is providing an additional $160 million to help care for the thousands of migrants arriving in the state and awaiting shelter space in Chicago.
The $160 million will be provided in three buckets: $30 million to create a “large intake and welcome center” at an undisclosed location, $65 million to help Chicago establish a tent base camp to provide shelter for up to 2,000 people at a time and another $65 million to help coordinate the resettlement of migrants, including rental assistance. […]
State officials hope that devoting more resources to the point of entry for buses carrying migrants from border states will provide better coordination for where migrants are sent in Chicago and assist those who have a sponsor, are seeking to go elsewhere or who may have family they are seeking to connect with. […]
Pritzker previously said this fall the state was unlikely to continue providing assistance to Chicago, but state officials said Thursday the $160 million would be taken from the budget of the Illinois Department of Human Services for emergency response and did not require a vote by the General Assembly, which is not set to meet again until January.
State lawmakers didn’t explicitly authorize this level of funding to handle the flood of new migrants, but Abudayyeh said the state has authority within the Illinois Department of Human Services budget to reallocate dollars.
If additional funding is needed, she said, that could be dealt with when the General Assembly is next scheduled to return to Springfield in mid-January.
Prior to today’s $160 million commitment, the state has spent $478 million on the migrant crisis during the past fiscal year and the 2024 fiscal year, which ends next June, she said.
The plan outlined by state officials calls for $65 million to be used to erect a temporary “soft-sided” shelter that could house some of the more than 2,400 migrants living in police stations across the city and at O’Hare International Airport waiting for a bed to open up in a city shelter, according to city data updated Wednesday morning.
No location has been identified for that shelter, which will house as many as 2,000 people, officials said. […]
Pritzker’s announcement came just hours after Mayor Brandon Johnson announced migrants in city shelters will be limited to no more than 60 days in city shelters. In addition, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle asked commissioners to earmark $100 million to help confront the crisis facing Chicago as part of Cook County’s 2024 budget, which is set for approval Thursday.
That plan calls for $70 million to be used by the county’s health system to care for the migrants, with $20 million set aside for suburbs to care for migrants. Oak Park launched an effort to do that in recent weeks, and officials hope more will follow suit. The remaining $10 million will be held in reserve, in an effort to allow county officials to respond to unanticipated disasters in 2024, officials said.
Illinois lawmakers were recently in session for their veto session, and there was no talk or votes about this funding. The Pritzker administration says it’s a humanitarian emergency; budget issues can be dealt with when lawmakers return in January, + IL is running a surplus. https://t.co/qmSUYn2o6N
“Our mayor [Lightfoot] has misled us on a number of issues: Lincoln Yards, Hilco, Anjanette Young, No Cop Academy. Her shift on the elected, representative school board is consistent with other misleading actions,” Davis Gates said.
To “exalt mayoral control in a post-Trump America is the wrong direction” for Democrats, Davis Gates said.
“Democrats should be prioritizing and amplifying democracy. … An elected school board is about democracy … for Chicagoans. One would even say that it is a voting rights issue. This is a district that serves predominantly students of color. Why shouldn’t their parents have an opportunity to take a vote for the futures of their neighborhoods, their schools and their children?” she said.
[Mayoral candidate Brandon] Johnson, in fact, has a long list of what he says are Lightfoot’s broken promises to progressive voters. […]
“It’s not a surprise to me that she broke those promises because she never believed them from the beginning,” he said.
Johnson, an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, cited the mayor’s about-face on an elected Chicago Public Schools board as one of her broken progressive promises.
Jen Johnson, deputy mayor of education under Brandon Johnson, said the mayor wants to stick with starting with a hybrid [half elected, half appointed] board as laid out in the law. She said, as an organizer for the CTU, the mayor worked to pass the law, which took a lot of advocacy, pressure and compromise.
“Interjecting change at this stage is not super helpful,” she said.
In an interview, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said the union isn’t opposed to all members being elected next year, but Harmon needs to answer how he thinks that’s now possible when he previously argued it would be too complicated.
“The Senate president dropped this on everyone’s head without the benefit of stakeholder input or even understanding,” Davis Gates said. “So, no, the implications of this haven’t been weighed yet. We’re still trying to understand what just happened.”
“What just happened” is that Harmon gave the CTU everything it asked for at a public hearing during which the CTU lobbyist said there could be a lawsuit filed over equal representation.
*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago), who sponsored the House’s hybrid bill…
The missing piece in the conversation about the elected school board bill is that everyone - including the Senate (at least until Tuesday evening) - presumed we were working from the initially hybrid structure put into place in the 2021 bill. (The hybrid board for the first two years before going to a fully elected board in 2026.)
That was my understanding and why the House proposal was developed - to ensure everyone got the ability to vote in year one while still utilizing the (heavily negotiated) structure from the 2021 agreed bill.
We first heard about the Senate proposal to open up the agreement, scrap the transition period and go to a fully elected board late Tuesday. With only a few days left in the veto session, there wasn’t time to fully evaluate if this could be put together in time for an election less than a year away without negatively impacting the stability of Chicago public schools.
I have been a strong supporter of a fully elected board for many years; if the proposal to revisit the agreed initial hybrid structure had been proposed a year or even six months ago, it would’ve been a different story. But to abruptly switch gears at the 11th hour gave me pause. This is really really important for Chicago and we need to get it right.
If we can identify an approach which will get us there faster in a way that provides for an equitable and representative board, while ensuring a smooth transition, of course it will be considered.
