| | | | |  | | By Shia Kapos | | Presented by |  | | | Good Tuesday morning, Illinois. Gov. JB Pritzker and first lady MK Pritzker are announcing a “historic document donation” to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, and we can’t wait.
|  | TOP TALKER | | | 
Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden took part in a fundraiser last month. | Alex Brandon/AP | CONVENTION ZONE: Former President Barack Obama will be an Illinois delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August. He’ll be among 147 total Illinois delegates supporting President Joe Biden. Here’s the full list. Automatic for the people: Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic Party Chair Lisa Hernandez, like Obama, are among the 31 unpledged or “automatic” delegates that also include Democratic members of the congressional delegation. State Treasurer Mike Frerichs is in that group, too, because he heads the national Democratic Treasurers’ organization. Among the other delegates: Party leaders and elected officials account for 19 delegates, which include statewide elected leaders, top Illinois House and Senate leaders, Mayor Brandon Johnson and a few administration and labor officials. Another 32 Illinois Democrats are at-large delegates, including the governor’s chief of staff, Anne Caprara; Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates; Intersect Illinois Chair John Atkinson; former Ald. Ameya Pawar; and businesswoman Desiree Rogers, among others. There will also be 96 district delegates at the convention, putting the total delegate count of delegates supporting Biden at 147. MESSAGE, MAN: Filmmaker Steven Spielberg will provide some messaging advice to the Biden campaign for the Democratic National Convention, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Zoe G. Phillips. The Oscar-winning director serves as an honorary chair of the Biden campaign and has attended “multiple strategy sessions, offering insights on how best to tell the president’s story and highlight Biden’s second-term vision at this summer’s convention,” according to Phillips. We’re imagining Biden walking out to the music of John Williams in Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” a Spielberg classic. Or there could be allusions to Abraham Lincoln, the subject of another Spielberg movie. ON A SERIOUS NOTE: The Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention says it’s filing a motion for a preliminary injunction asking a federal judge to block the City of Chicago from enforcing its ordinance regulating parade permits. The protest group says the city is violating the First Amendment by not signing off on a permit that would allow demonstrators within “site and sound” of the convention. From the Atlantic: The plot to wreck the Democratic Convention may not amount to much, actually, by David Frum
| | THE BUZZ | | PEACE…on campus: Northwestern University reaches agreement with protesters, report the Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair and Nell Salzman. “The deal — believed to be the first between a major U.S. university and Pro-Palestinian protesters — comes five days after demonstrators established an encampment in Deering Meadow, a popular common area on the Evanston campus,” write Stacy and Nell. “The agreement with the Northwestern Divestment Coalition, which Northwestern President Michael Schill announced in a campuswide email, requires the immediate removal of tents and sound systems, as well as a commitment that all protesters will adhere to university policies,” according to their report. The agreement drew criticism from the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest . “We are appalled,” said the consul general in a social media post. Meanwhile … Univeristy of Chicago students set up a campus encampment, by the Block Club’s Maxwell Evans and Colin Boyle Tensions are high in high school, too: Chicago student walkouts over Gaza war spark parental concerns, reports Fox 32’s Paris Schutz And the Illinois Holocaust Museum called out antisemitism at campus protests: “Bad actors are using the cover of free speech in this moment of tension to normalize dangerous ideas that cause real harm to Jewish students and communities,” the museum said, the Sun-Times’ Isabel Funk and Violet Miller report. And more … Blinken: Hamas presented with 'generous' cease-fire proposal, via POLITICO video Antisemitism bill clears U.S. House Rules panel following partisan feud, by POLITICO’s Bianca Quilantan Attorneys inside and outside the administration urge Biden to cut off arms to Israel, by POLITICO’s Joseph Gedeon If you are Steven Spielberg, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email skapos@politico.com
| | | | A message from Uber: Drivers with Uber are leading EV adoption. Key fact to know this Earth Month: Drivers with Uber are switching to electric cars seven times faster than everyday drivers. That progress has multiplier impact because when one Uber driver starts using an EV, they deliver up to four times the emissions benefits compared to regular motorists. Learn more about this trend. | | | | | WHERE'S JB | | At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield at 1 p.m. to announce “historic document donation.”
| | WHERE's BRANDON | | No official public events.
| | Where's Toni | | At the John J. Lanigan Sr. Training Academy in Markham at 9 a.m. to announce the launch of the Cook County Manufacturing Apprenticeship Accelerator program. Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (heaven forbid) a complaint? Email skapos@politico.com
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | | | BUSINESS OF POLITICS | | — At secret meeting, right-wing radio host Dan Proft dangled $20M to Darren Bailey’s governor run: “Bailey was then given a choice: Either fire his staff and hire Proft as campaign manager and gain direct campaign access to mega-donor Richard Uihlein’s cash, or Proft would hold onto it and use the Uihlein money to continue his political action committee’s backing of Bailey from the outside,” writes the Tribune’s Rick Pearson.
| | 2024 WATCH | | — Dan Brady, the former state representative and McLean County elected official, is running for mayor of Bloomington. “I was born and raised in Bloomington and have spent much of my adult life representing the people of my home town,” Brady said in a statement. Playbookers will remember Brady running unsuccessfully for governor in the 2022 Republican primary.
| | THE STATEWIDES | | — HUGE: Illinois lawmakers unveil proposal to merge CTA, Metra and Pace: “The plan would funnel $1.5 billion in additional annual funding into the new system,” by WTTW’s Nick Blumberg. Good explanation via video! Adds the Daily Herald’s Marni Pyke: The seismic shift will be anything but a smooth ride in Springfield — Efforts to add abortion protections to the Illinois Constitution cool as election-year focus turns to other states: "State legislators would need to vote by May 5 to place a question on the November ballot," reports WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky. — State lawmakers are looking at ranked choice voting as an option in Illinois in 2028, by WBEZ’s Mawa Iqbal — Proposal improving Illinois Black maternal healthcare moving to Senate, by WAND TV’s Mike Miletich — ‘Hearts that are loyal’: Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, two of the oldest intercollegiate historically African-American organizations, will be on hand at the state Capitol today. Their message: promoting social justice for Black Americans. You’ll recognize the women of AKA for wearing white with green blazers.
| | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | TAKING NAMES | | — Carol Moseley Braun, the former U.S. senator and ambassador, will be sworn in as chair of the U.S. African Development Foundation, an independent U.S. government agency that invests in African grassroots enterprises. Braun was nominated by President Joe Biden and approved by the Senate on March 8 for a term expiring in September of 2029. Her swearing-in will take place Wednesday in Washington. — John Mulaney returns to St. Ignatius for playful, sometimes poignant David Letterman chat, by the Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper.
| | CHICAGO | | — Johnson to shift $80M in ARPA spending, restart guaranteed income program: “Some programs will also see their American Rescue Plan Act funding scaled back or canceled so other initiatives better aligned with Johnson’s vision can instead get the money, administration officials told reporters in a briefing. That includes starting back up the guaranteed income program launched during Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s tenure, but nixing her administration’s plans for a sobering center and support for low-barrier homeless shelters run by outside agencies,” by the Tribune’s A.D. Quig. — Family of Officer Luis Huesca didn't want Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. JB Pritzker at funeral: “Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, whose brother is a Chicago police officer, spoke with the mother and sister of Officer Luis Huesca at Sunday’s wake, and passed their wishes along to the mayor’s office that night,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman and Tina Sfondeles. — Chicago school board candidates gather virtually for first debate, by Chalkbeat’s Becky Vevea
| | COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS | | — Cook County Forest Preserves is launching a $10M makeover of Palos Preserves, by WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch — Thornton Township subpoenas reveal Tiffany Henyard is target of criminal investigation, by Fox 32’s Dane Placko
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S ENERGY SUMMIT: The future of energy faces a crossroads in 2024 as policymakers and industry leaders shape new rules, investments and technologies. Join POLITICO’s Energy Summit on June 5 as we convene top voices to examine the shifting global policy environment in a year of major elections in the U.S. and around the world. POLITICO will examine how governments are writing and rewriting new rules for the energy future and America’s own role as a major exporter. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | Reader Digest | | We asked about your go-to subject for party chit-chat: Charles Keller: “I talk golf and fishing. If neither interests them, I move on.” Kevin Lampe: “If Democratic friends, it’s the Trump trials. If others, the weather.” Jim Lyons: “Usually, it’s ‘How are your kids doing’.” Ed Mazur: “I ask about their next trip outside of Chicago.” Mike Ragen: “The weather and travel experiences.” John Straus: "How 'bout dem Bears?!" NEXT QUESTION: With Steven Spielberg in mind, what special effects would you include in the Democratic National Convention at the United Center?
| | THE NATIONAL TAKE | | — How online donations are fueling the election, by POLITICO’s Jessica Piper, Paula Friedrich, Anna Wiederkehr and Madison Fernandez — RFK Jr.’s fans revel in the publicity he’s getting from Trump’s attacks, by POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky and Kelly Garrity — When man’s best friend becomes a politician’s worst nightmare, by POLITICO’s Kierra Frazier
| | TRANSITIONS | | — Bowdeya Tweh has been promoted to Chicago bureau chief at The Wall Street Journal. He was a deputy chief in the corporate news bureau in New York and has worked as an editor in the technology bureau and led reporters on Dow Jones Newswires’s spot news team, by Talking Biz News’ Chris Roush.
| | | | A message from Uber: Uber Drivers Accelerate Electric Vehicle Shift
As Earth Month spotlights sustainability, a noteworthy trend emerges: Uber drivers are adopting electric vehicles seven times faster than the average driver. For every driver on the Uber platform who switches to an EV, the emissions savings are quadrupled compared to what typical drivers would achieve.
This shift didn’t just happen. It’s part of Uber’s commitment to ensuring that, by 2030, 100% of trips on its platform in the US are in zero-emission vehicles or through micromobility and public transport. Now drivers with Uber are leading the way in advancing clean energy transportation.
Discover more about how Uber is going green. | | | | | EVENTS | | — Wednesday: The Illinois House v. Senate softball game will bring out all the big names in the General Assembly. This year, the contest is at Robin Roberts Stadium. Details here — Thursday: The newly launched Asian American Legislative Caucus Foundation is having a fundraiser. Details here — Friday: Joseph Kennedy III, the special U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs in the State Department, headlines a City Club of Chicago luncheon speech. Details here
| | TRIVIA | | MONDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Kristin DiCenso for correctly guessing that Jason Robards won consecutive Oscars in 1976 for “All the President's Men” and 1977 for “Julia.” The other Chicago native to win consecutive Oscars was Walt Disney, who won eight years in a row (1932-1939). TODAY’s QUESTION: Who was the first female secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation and what year was she appointed?
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