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Afternoon roundup

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Illinois

* Here you go…

State Week | Not so fast on a new budget:

* WTAX | Beyond the last day: “We to date have not seen a draft copy of any budget yet. We are approaching our deadline. We are due to be out of session (Friday). I was wondering if anyone in the chamber has seen a draft copy or when one might be available,” Keicher said, “or also any revenue estimate upon which that budget is going to be based.” Hernandez only said, “The chair will inquire,” and that’s the last we heard about that.

* Capitol News Illinois | Native American history, ride-share regulation measures clear General Assembly:Even though it became clear this week that the General Assembly’s spring legislative session would go longer than scheduled as lawmakers finalize a budget, several measures cleared the legislature by its original Friday adjournment date. Those include a requirement that schools teach a unit of Native American history and a bill allowing individuals convicted of a felony to serve as estate executors. Another measure would classify ride-share companies as “common carriers,” which would subject them to liability in cases of accident or injury, like other forms of public transportation.

* Joe Cahill | Call the Bears’ bluff on subsidies: Anyone, it seems, except politicians in the northwest suburbs, who apparently believe the team won’t come without generous taxpayer subsidies. State legislators who represent the area in Springfield are pushing a bill in the Illinois House that would authorize the village to give the Bears a special deal on property taxes. Village officials haven’t spoken out on the bill, but it’s unlikely the legislators would float the subsidy measure if local leaders weren’t onboard.

* Crain’s | Peotone airport is back, but will it get off the ground?: “What you don’t want is, ‘If you build it, they will come,’ right? Just building the thing and hoping that people will show up to essentially pay for the airport having been built,” Pritzker said in an interview earlier this month with The Daily Line. “You need to make sure that you’re building it because you have interest from cargo carriers who are committing to make that a cargo airport.”

* Shaw Local | Lawmakers push to expedite reopening of Peru hospital: Thursday, state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and state Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa) said in a statement they’re working with Gov. JB Pritzker to expedite OSF HealthCare’s application to acquire some St. Margaret’s Health units, including the former Illinois Valley Community Hospital.

* BGA | Supreme Court FOIA Ruling Limits Transparency; Significantly Broadens Exemptions to FOIA: “At a time when the need for government accountability is greater than ever, the Illinois Supreme Court with this ruling has taken a step backward. The language of the court’s ruling may seem narrow, but its implications are vast,” said David Greising, president of the Better Government Association. “The ruling will have the effect of blocking access to public records. They are called public records for a reason, and creating hurdles to access is not in the public interest. The BGA’s policy team will work with good-government protectors in the General Assembly to develop legislation that will repair the damage done by the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

* Crain’s | Johnson names his deputy mayor for community safety: Mayor Brandon Johnson has tapped Garien Gatewood to serve as the city’s deputy mayor for community safety, a position charged with formulating the progressive mayor’s strategy to address the root causes of crime. Gatewood currently serves as the director of the Illinois Justice Project, a nonprofit policy organization focused on criminal justice reform. He was appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, a state agency that develops strategy to address public safety.

* Michael Petrilli and David Griffith | What Brandon Johnson can do to improve Chicago schools: In principle, Johnson should close at least some chronically underenrolled schools when the school closure moratorium ends in 2025 (or nominate school board members who will do so). And he should at least consider allowing charter schools to use some of the unoccupied building space, as New York City has done. Yes, closures are unpopular. But research shows that students benefit when the worst schools are closed. And if Johnson really cares about funding equity, then he ought to care about charters’ long-standing facilities woes.

* Sun-Times | More respite centers in Hispanic neighborhoods key to reducing migrant crisis tensions in Chicago, mayor’s floor leader says: Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa wouldn’t say where the new centers could be, only that the administration was “very close to moving on a number of locations, some big and some small, primarily in Spanish-speaking communities.”

* TMA Applauds Increased Support for Manufacturing in Springfield: State senators that scored 100% on TMA’s Legislative Scorecard include: Dan McConchie (R-26), Dave Syverson (R-35), Neil Anderson (R-36), Win Stoller (R-37), Sue Rezin (R-38), John Curran (R-41), Sally Turner (R-44), Steve McClure (R-50), Chapin Rose (R-51), Darren Bailey (R-55), Terri Bryant (R-58), and Dale Fowler (R-59).

* Aurora Beacon-News | Organizers aim to host Pride Parade in Aurora after receiving preliminary injunction in connection with lawsuit against city: City officials said they were unable to get enough Aurora police officers to work overtime or extra-duty shifts to provide adequate security for the parade. The city has said it can’t compel off-duty employees to work security at special events.

* 25 News Now | Catalytic converters stolen off Peoria school buses Wed. morning: Peoria Public Schools and Peoria Police are investigating the theft of 10 catalytic converters off district buses earlier Wednesday. […] Cages covering the converters are being installed on buses to prevent future thefts. The suspects failed to steal from other vehicles because they had cages on them.

* SJ-R | Beck-Griffith ‘heartbroken’ she didn’t have chance to discuss library’s future with mayor:Summer Beck-Griffith said she was “disappointed but not shocked” after being dismissed as Lincoln Library’s director Monday. Her real regret? Not having a chance to talk about the public library’s future with Mayor Misty Buscher.

* Tribune | Biden EPA pushes for federal regulation of toxic coal ash dumps threatening drinking water in Illinois, Indiana and other states: One of the sites that would come under federal oversight is the Waukegan Generating Station on Lake Michigan, a former ComEd coal plant ringed by two unlined ash ponds and an unlicensed landfill. Another is a Joliet quarry where ComEd and other companies dumped coal ash until NRG Energy overhauled a nearby coal plant in 2016 to burn natural gas.

* Sun-Times | BP refinery hit with $40 million fine, agrees to spend $200 million on pollution control: BP agreed to pay a $40 million penalty and spend almost $200 million on environmental controls to settle government allegations that the company released excessive toxic chemicals at its Whiting, Indiana, oil refinery on Lake Michigan.

* Block Club | Chicagoans Tell Fox News To ‘Shut The F— Up About Chicago’ With New T-Shirts: The idea for the shirt was hatched amid a Twitter backlash to a Fox News segment on Chicago’s new mayor — filmed more than 30 miles west of the city in suburban Naperville.

* Sun-Times | Want to test drive the NASCAR Street Race course? Crews wrapping up downtown repaving: For those interested in testing out the 2.2 mile, 12-turn course — and those willing to obey traffic signals — begin driving east along Columbus drive, directly south of Buckingham Fountain, where you’ll find the starting line.

* NBC Chicago | Here’s What AI Thinks an Illinoisan Looks Like — And Apparently, Real Illinoisans Agree: A stereotypical person in Illinois, according to the post, appears less distinctive, and rather ordinary. In fact, one commenter compares the man from Illinois to Waldo.

posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, May 19, 23 @ 2:46 pm

Comments

Re: The Block Club story

This is a great concept, but of limited appeal.

There is no fox in the logos, only Cubs and Sox logos.

In the end, a few months and years from now, the logo shirts will simply look like Cubs fans and Sox fans telling haters to stop talking trash about the Cubs and Sox. Any memory of Fox News will be gone.

Plus, as a Cards fan, I will never buy that shirt. But put a fox logo on it🦊 , and I will absolutely want one.

Good concept shirt, but can do better.

Comment by H-W Friday, May 19, 23 @ 3:15 pm
The Block Club article…
If only the shirts were available during Darren Bailey’s campaign for governor.

Bailey definitely needs to keep Chicago out of his mouth.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Friday, May 19, 23 @ 3:28 pm
Petrilli and Griffith are Hoover-affiliated charter school advocates, using the “advice to the new mayor” stalking horse to advocate for shutting down schools and replacing them with charters.

No thanks. We don’t want Paul Vallas lite.

Comment by Blue Bayou Friday, May 19, 23 @ 3:55 pm
Suburban Naperville is as close to Chicago as those Fox News snowflakes will dare venture. They’re so far gone they believe their own misinformation.

Comment by Sir Reel Friday, May 19, 23 @ 4:19 pm
Very happy for Aurora Pride.

Comment by H-W Friday, May 19, 23 @ 4:26 pm
===Estimates predict a drop in revenue, while lawmakers are also dealing with sticker shock for certain programs. It has resulted in a delay on approval of a new spending plan===

Make giant truck-cranes buy truck license plates like every other truck in Illinois.

Comment by DuPage Friday, May 19, 23 @ 4:29 pm
Thought these jokers in House were going home this afternoon. They just cant help themselves with more useless legislation

Comment by T Friday, May 19, 23 @ 5:01 pm
Peteilli took over for Cheater Finn at the Fordham institute. Kid of like an educational equivalent of the IPI so if they recommend it should normally not be done.

Comment by DTownResident Friday, May 19, 23 @ 5:02 pm
I messed up both names because I didn’t check corrections. Petrilli and Chester Finn

Comment by DTownResident Friday, May 19, 23 @ 5:07 pm
Garien Gatewood is a good get for Brandon Johnson and a good get for Chicago.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Friday, May 19, 23 @ 6:44 pm