Get the latest news headlines from around Illinois.
Sun-Times: Business takes it on the chin — again — after City Council action
Companies that use “forced arbitration clauses” to resolve disputes with employees and consumers would be prohibited from doing business with the city of Chicago under an ordinance advanced Wednesday over fierce opposition from the business community.
Ald. Edward Burke (14th) pushed the ban he championed through the City Council Finance Committee he chairs, but he agreed to hold the ordinance in committee after Mayor Rahm Emanuel raised “serious concerns” about the impact on city operations and spending.
Reuters: Illinois to sell bonds, but cannot tap all the proceeds
Illinois will sell $550 million of bonds on Thursday but lacks authority from the state legislature to spend all of the proceeds due to an ongoing budget impasse.
“The General Assembly needs to grant appropriation authority to fully expend the proceeds from the bond sale, although existing FY16 appropriations could be used to expend a portion of them,” Catherine Kelly, a spokeswoman for Governor Bruce Rauner, said on Wednesday.
Her statement followed a news conference earlier on Wednesday with the Republican governor and his transportation department head, who warned of the imminent shutdown of hundreds of construction projects if the Democrat-controlled legislature does not approve Rauner’s temporary budget plan.
Chicago Tribune: Puerto Rico (and Puerto Illinois)
Generous public pensions with nowhere near enough public money to cover those obligations. Heavy reliance on borrowing to offset lavish spending and close budget deficits. Citizens furious with politicians who’ve tried (without success) to solve their problems by raising taxes.
No, no, not Illinois or its biggest city. We’re referring to Puerto Rico, where 3.5 million Americans are stuck with $72 billion in public debt. A bill passed by the U.S. House last week would restructure that burden. It also would establish a federal oversight board to steer Puerto Rico away from the abyss and, just maybe, back to some semblance of fiscal health.
Chicago Tribune: Nearly half of Chicago residents can't afford where they live, study says
Almost half of adults living in Chicago are spending more than they can afford on their homes or apartments, and they have dealt with the burden by taking on second jobs, moving to less safe areas, or cutting back on food or the quality of their children’s education, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation study released Thursday shows.
People “are having to make enormous sacrifices” to handle housing costs, said Julia Stasch, president of the MacArthur Foundation.
To identify “distressed homeowners and renters,” researchers used a housing rule of thumb that requires affordable housing to cost no more than 30 percent of a household’s gross income. In Chicago, 48 percent of people said they were devoting more than 30 percent of their income to rent or a mortgage. In the suburbs, 40 percent were stretching beyond the manageable 30 percent limit.