| | | | |  | | By Shia Kapos | | | Good Thursday morning, Illinois. And happy Pi Day.
|  | TOP TALKER | | | | 
Protesters rally across the street from a fundraiser for President Joe Biden in Chicago's West Town neighborhood in November. | Shia Kapos/POLITICO | BREAKING: Illinois leaders in the Palestinian communities angry over how President Joe Biden has handled the Middle East war have turned down a request by the White House to meet in Chicago today. High-level visit: Tom Perez, a senior adviser to the president, and other advisers had planned to sit down in three separate meetings with various Palestinian, Arab and Muslim leaders and elected officials to talk about tensions in the Middle East. The private meetings were to come on the heels of similar gatherings in Detroit. But most folks contacted turned down the request, according to six people we talked to. Any meeting being held will be with a smaller group of players. ‘Absolute sell-out’: “All the Palestinian leadership we work with in Chicago have rejected this overture, and USPCN [U.S. Palestinian Community Network] considers anyone — Palestinian, Muslim, Arab — who takes a meeting with the White House to be an absolute sell-out. There’s no more time for meetings,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, an organizer with the group. Echoing that: “I met with Tom Perez in the White House in October and there have been many other meetings that have been had,” said Democratic state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid about why he declined to attend. “There’s nothing new to be said. We need an immediate and permanent ceasefire. And we need the United States to stop supplying arms to Israel.” A big concern is that the White House is trying to improve optics at home instead of taking action abroad. “We believe a thousand percent in civic engagement. We preach it,” CAIR-Chicago Director Ahmed Rehab told Playbook about why he declined to attend. “But this is an unusual moment and requires an unusual response. We have made clear that a ceasefire is needed," Rehab said, adding, the “trickle of humanitarian aid” from the U.S., which is also sending weapons to Israel “is akin to offering band-aids with one hand while wielding an ax with the other.” The White House didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Chicago has been a hotbed of tension since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Though Dearborn, Mich., is considered home to America’s largest Arab-American population, Illinois has the largest Palestinian community in the country with a population of 70,000 to 100,000 in the Chicago metropolitan area. To the letter: A group of Palestinian activists plans to send a letter to the White House explaining their reasoning for declining the meeting. Why it matters: Illinois is a blue state with no option for an “uncommitted” line on Tuesday's primary ballots, so Biden will get Illinois’ support. The real worry might be five months from now when the president takes the stage to be officially nominated at the Democratic National Convention. Protesters are expected to come en masse to Chicago. RELATED The U.S. privately told Israel the kind of Rafah campaign it could support, by POLITICO’s Alexander Ward and Lara Seligman
| | THE BUZZ | | BRING HOME BROUHAHA: The Illinois Supreme Court cleared the way for the Bring Chicago Home referendum to stay on the ballot, but that isn’t ending opposition to it. The high court denied the petition filed by the Chicago Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) to appeal a lower court’s ruling. ‘Disappointed’ is how BOMA/Chicago Executive Director Farzin Parang described his take on the ruling. He called the referendum “misleading and manipulative” and said BOMA would pivot to campaigning against the referendum ahead of Tuesday’s election. “What is especially troubling is that Mayor [Brandon] Johnson’s transfer tax hike would give the City a blank check with no accountability for improving our housing and migrant shelter crises,” he added. Echoing the point: The Civic Federation separately released a report on the referendum, saying it has concerns about the referendum, separate from any legal issues. A key area of concern: “The city’s failure to articulate a plan for spending the tax proceeds and the lack of oversight and accountability to ensure that funds will be effectively and efficiently utilized for the intended purpose,” the study states. Begs to disagree: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office issued a statement saying, “The City of Chicago remains firm in its intent to create a dedicated revenue source to combat homelessness. … We appreciate the Civic Federation’s feedback but disagree with its findings.” About the referendum: Voting yes means monies from the one-time tax on high-end property sales would go toward providing affordable housing and wraparound services for unhoused Chicagoans. The campaign continues: Supporters of the referendum are still texting, calling and knocking on doors. And opponents are out with an ad that features Johnson prominently. They believe the mayor’s recent negative polling will influence folks to vote no. More details: Civic Federation questions volatility, structure, fairness of ‘Bring Chicago Home’ referendum, by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman Here’s the full report. If you are Tom Perez, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email skapos@politico.com
| | A message from CVS Health: Learn how we’re delivering the future of health care. More here. | | | | | WHERE'S JB | | No official public event.
| | | WHERE's BRANDON | | | No official public event.
| | | Where's Toni | | At the Cook County Building at 10 a.m. to preside over the Cook County Board meeting. Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (heaven forbid) a complaint? Email skapos@politico.com
| | | | Easily connect with the right N.Y. State influencers and foster the right relationships to champion your policy priorities. POLITICO Pro. Inside New York. Learn more. | | | | | | | 2024 WATCH | | — Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi just added another $100,000 to the Stop Tax Corruption Cook County super PAC, which was created to defeat incumbent Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. Kaegi put $100,000 in the PAC in January. The assessor has criticized the Board of Review for granting tax breaks “to powerful insiders and corporate developers like Donald Trump.” He’s backing Rogers’ opponent, Larecia Tucker, a clerk from Rich Township. Rogers, a veteran member seeking reelection, says the board adjusts “excessive taxation.” — Political games: Iris Martinez, the Cook County Circuit Court clerk, says Board President Toni Preckwinkle purposely left her off of a Women’s History Month display honoring “County Women Leading the Way.” Preckwinkle is endorsing Martinez’s challenger, Mariyana Spyropoulos. Martinez said Preckwinkle’s move “disregards” that she was “the first Hispanic/Latina female in the Illinois Senate and currently the only Hispanic constitutional officer in Cook County.”... In the meantime, Martinez has been endorsed by Congresswoman Robin Kelly, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, as well as a string of current and former Chicago aldermen. Here’s the list — Geary Yonker hasn’t gotten much ink in the race for state Senate in the 20th District. He’s competing against big money going campaigns for incumbent state Sen. Natalie Toro and the Chicago Teachers Union candidate, Gabriela Guzman, and the self-funded Dave Nayak. “We’ve raised $25,000, which is the size of some [individual] checks that some campaigns have received. We’ve put it into the ground operation,” Yonker told Playbook. “We are focused on talking to people door to door. We’ve knocked on about 10,000 doors so far. It’s not the flashiest campaign but it’s genuine.” — SPECIAL SECTION: Judicial Q&As with primary candidates, via the Daily Law Bulletin — ANALYSIS: Should We Change the Primary Process in Illinois? Derrick Blakley reports for the Center for Illinois Politics
| | THE STATEWIDES | | — Pritzker’s health insurance plan seeks to reduce denials of coverage and improve provider networks, by Capitol News’ Peter Hancock — State Sen. Rachel Ventura offers a legislative internship for incarcerated men to shape the policies that impact them, by Charlotte West for Open Campus and WBEZ — The Wyndham Hotel, Springfield's tallest structure, is going up for auction, by the State Journal-Register’s Steven Spearie
| | | | A message from CVS Health:   | | | | | CHICAGO | | — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $1.25 billion borrowing plan back on track for City Council approval: “Johnson’s decision to borrow so much money for affordable housing and economic development signals a fundamental shift in how such projects will be financed — weaning the city from its long-standing dependence on tax increment financing,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman. — Mayor unveils plan to invest in neighborhood groups, by CBS 2’s Steffanie Dupree — Chicago-area population loss slows, by Crain’s John Pletz
| | TRAINS, PLANES AND AUTOMOBILES | | — CTA Red Line extension to get $350 million in Biden’s proposed budget: “The proposed funding is a critical part of the Red Line extension project, which the CTA expects to cost a total of $3.6 billion,” by the Sun-Times’ David Struett. — Kennedy Expressway construction is back, with express lanes closed through fall, by the Block Club’s Mack Liederman
| | TAKING NAMES | | — St. Patrick's Day listening: Abdon Pallasch and Bob Herguth have released the first episode of The Rebel Kind podcast, a story they began covering 20 years ago for the Sun-Times about Chicago trucker Dave Rupert, recruited by the FBI to infiltrate a dangerous IRA splinter group threatening to blow up the Irish peace process. Yes, the FBI paid to open a pub in Ireland for Rupert to spy on the IRA. — Bernard Bluestein, a 100-year-old Hoffman Estates resident and WWII veteran, will be among three surviving members of the Ghost Army to be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C., next week. The Ghost Army was “a top-secret” unit that used “creative deception to fool the enemy. Details here
| | | | JOIN US ON 3/21 FOR A TALK ON FINANCIAL LITERACY: Americans from all communities should be able to save, build wealth, and escape generational poverty, but doing so requires financial literacy. How can government and industry ensure access to digital financial tools to help all Americans achieve this? Join POLITICO on March 21 as we explore how Congress, regulators, financial institutions and nonprofits are working to improve financial literacy education for all. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | Reader Digest | | We asked what’s keeping you from voting early: Randy Bukas: “I like to vote in person.” Rosemary Caruk: “Tradition. I like the atmosphere of everyone coming together on the same day for a common purpose.” Charles Keller: “Lack of any conservative candidates on the ballot.” Robert Kieckhefer: “I vote on Election Day because in Illinois, you never know who's going to be indicted or subject of a media expose in that final week before ‘voters go to the polls.’” Jack Mccarthy: “I like to vote on Election Day, chat with the judges and fellow voters at my polling place and be a small part in the nation’s (or state’s) vast decision-making tsunami.” Marilynn Miller: “I wait until election day because you never know what outrageous things will happen in the final weeks.” Timothy Thomas Jr.: “A lot can happen between now and March 19 that could change my opinion on candidates.”
Whitley Tee: “I only vote by paper ballot, and the post office can't be trusted — so, see you at the polls on E-Day!”
NEXT QUESTION: When did you first feel like an adult?
| | THE NATIONAL TAKE | | — Trump’s TikTok flip raises concerns over billionaire clout, by POLITICO’s Brendan Borderlon — MTG and AOC, united? Inside the House's highly unusual TikTok vote, by POLITICO’s Anthony Adragna — 6 Never-Trumpers look back at what went wrong, by POLITICO’s Adam Wren — 5 takeaways from POLITICO’s Health Care Summit, by POLITICO’s Carmen Paun and Adam Payne
| | A message from CVS Health: Whether in the community, at home or virtually, consumers want health care that is convenient, personalized and affordable. And we’re delivering. By connecting each step of your care – from a medical appointment to a trip to the pharmacy to ongoing check-ins with your care team – we’re making healthier happen together.
Learn more. | | | | | IN MEMORIAM | | — Christine Geovanis, CTU communications director and social activist, dies at 64: “I watched her debate a roomful of men and not back down, and I fell in love with her at that moment. From that point on, it seemed like she was at every rally and every demonstration that I attended,” said Stacy Davis Gates in this obit by Bob Goldsborough in the Tribune.
| | TRIVIA | | WEDNESDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Roger Flahaven for correctly answering that Willie Smith hit the game winning home run in the extra inning game on the Cubs’ opening day in 1969 to beat the Phillies. TODAY's QUESTION: What was the final score of the first official night game at Wrigley Field? Email skapos@politico.com
| | HAPPY BIRTHDAY | | Former state Rep. Emily McAsey, state Rep. Kim du Buclet Chief of Staff Dean Alonistiotis, comms strategist Ebs Burnough, former Chicago alderman and broadcaster Cliff Kelley, noted pediatrician Demetra Soter and student of the history of medicine Trine Tsouderos. -30- | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
