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Northwest Herald: Illinois House Democrats defy Gov. Bruce Rauner, push own budget
Amid howls of protest from Republicans, the Democratic-led Illinois House passed a spending plan for next year Wednesday without considering any of the pro-business legislation GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner wants as part of a deal to end an historic budget stalemate.
The Democrats’ defiance of the governor’s wish for a compromise escalates a dispute that has left the state without a spending plan for 11 months. Republicans yelled and booed after Democrats abruptly stopped debate and called a vote on the budget, passing it 63-53. Seven Democrats voted no.
“What just happened in the House of Representatives is something which I’ve never witnessed in my many years here, but I would just say it’s a very sad and a dark day for Illinois democracy,” said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
Daily Herald: Rauner veto of union plan sticks, with suburban Democrats' help
Two suburban Democrats joined with Republicans today to block one of public employee unions’ top priorities in their ongoing disputes with Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Suburban Democratic Rep. Scott Drury of Highwood voted against overriding Rauner’s veto of a plan that could have prevented a strike by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and sent talks to binding arbitration.
Democratic state Rep. Jack Franks of Marengo voted “present,” leaving the override effort two votes short.
Fox Illinois: Override Vote On Arbitration Bill Fails In House
A plan that would send AFSCME contract negotiations to an arbitrator should they stall, fell just two votes shy of overriding Governor Rauner’s veto.
Over 60 negotiation sessions in the past year have not produced a contract.
AFSCME wants the arbitrator to take over. However, Governor Rauner maintains the people elected him, and therefore he is obligated to negotiate on their behalf.
Chicago Tribune: Madigan budget: $500 million more for schools; Rauner says plan is $7B short
For weeks, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has positioned himself as the champion of a “grand bargain” to end the historic 11-month budget stalemate, offering vague optimism that rank-and-file lawmakers in the opposition party were ready to make a deal.
On Wednesday, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan delivered his response. He does not share his chief political nemesis’ sense of hope.
The longtime powerbroker emerged from a short meeting with Rauner, swiftly dismissed the governor’s efforts to win his legislative agenda as unpersuasive, and quickly rammed through a budget of his own. The Southwest Side Democrat’s proposal, more of a spending plan than a balanced budget, would set the state on autopilot for the next year, effectively allowing the budget impasse to continue until after voters weigh in at the polls in November.
Crain's Chicago: Amazon to add 2,000 jobs in new Joliet warehouse
Amazon.com plans to add more than 2,000 full-time workers at a second warehouse it is planning in Joliet, where it already employs 1,500 people, the company said today.
Amazon said it plans a new 700,000-square-foot distribution facility in Joliet where employees will pick, pack and ship smaller online orders such as electronics, books and toys.
The new warehouse will be across the street from the existing one at 401 E. Laraway Road, which opened in October, Amazon spokeswoman Nina Lindsey said. She declined to say when the new warehouse is expected to open, or when the company plans to begin filling the new positions.
Chicago Tribune: Ride-share companies threaten to leave Chicago if tougher regulations pass
An ordinance requiring stricter licensing and background checks for ride-sharing drivers has been buried in a City Council committee for months. But the fast-growing industry isn’t taking any chances, issuing a threat Wednesday to pull out of Chicago over the issue.
Uber‘s Chicago general manager, Marco McCottry, told aldermen that “ride-sharing as we know it would no longer exist in Chicago” if an ordinance passes that makes drivers for the online ride-hailing company get chauffeurs licenses like taxi drivers and fingerprint background checks.
And Lyft vice president Joseph Okpaku told aldermen if the proposal passes, “we cannot operate under a regulatory framework like this.”
Crain's: The real cost of CPS borrowing: District now owes $38,000 per student
By all accounts, Chicago Public Schools has made significant academic progress over the last 15 years. Since 2003 the district’s proficiency rates on the National Assessment of Educational Progress exam have more than doubled in math and have nearly doubled in reading.
But this progress is now threatened by severe financial mismanagement. The district faces a budget crisis driven by the rising cost of past, unpaid bills that is crowding out spending on today’s teachers and students.
CPS’ budget crisis was not created overnight. For more than a decade, the district has struggled with a widening structural budget deficit. Since 2001, inflation-adjusted spending per pupil increased by nearly 40 percent. In 2001, CPS spent close to $12,000 per student; in 2015, $16,432. Yet revenue has not kept pace: CPS per-pupil revenue has not matched per-pupil spending, with revenue falling short, on average, by $1,000 per pupil since 2001. More recently, the revenue gap has widened to nearly $3,000 per year.
CNN: In Chicago, less than 1% saw a lawyer after arrest
On the south side of this wounded city, young black men and women fill a youth center on a recent weekend to learn how to exercise their civil rights.
Chicago Reader: Rahm will probably use TIFs on the Old Main Post Office and Rezko Village
With the steady upswing in the real estate market—and downtown properties fetching record sales prices—Mayor Emanuel’s getting ready for one of his favorite activities: giving your tax dollars to developers.
The money comes from—what else?—the tax increment financing program. That well never seems to run dry.
In the last few months, the mayor’s signed on to a plan to give about $16 million in TIF money to the developer who’s building 630 units of upscale housing at Montrose and Clarendon—a block or two from the lake.