Happy Monday, Illinois. The forecast for today’s news: bumpy.
TOP TALKER
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: In a weekend scramble to nail down Chicago’s budget, some City Council members are already pushing back against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest proposal, calling it a “gimmick” that will “add to the debt burden” of the city.
Chicago is just 15 days away from a potential government shutdown. What does that mean? Without a budget, there’s no garbage pick-up, for one thing.
How we got here: Johnson’s previous budget plan was dead on arrival Friday. The scheduled vote was canceled, and the mayor’s team revamped to propose a new budget (the fourth proposal) on Sunday.
What’s in it: Johnson's new plan cuts staff from his office to the tune of $1 million as well as making public safety cuts of $8 million, which could come from eliminating vacant positions in the Police Department. The mayor also sees $2.8 million in savings from eliminating deputy commissioners and their assistant positions in City Hall, reports the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.
There’s a revenue booster: $10 million would come from recovering costs for putting on special events. “NASCAR, for example, began paying the city back for work by the Chicago Police and Fire Departments, as well as the Department of Transportation and Office of Emergency Management and Communication for this year’s race. It plans to make another payment for next year’s race, too. Lollapalooza pays the city for such costs already,” by the Tribune’s Alice Yin and A.D. Quig.
“It’s a budget that is in the middle and keeps people from losing their jobs,” Ald. William Hall, a mayoral ally, told Playbook.
Other aldermen disagree, saying it’s a delayed, "back-door" move toward a property tax hike.
In a letter to the mayor, the 15 aldermen list "renewed budget goals and priorities" and add some demands: They want Vice Mayor Walter Burnett Jr.’s budget cut (He heads the Zoning Committee and kept on some staffers of the previous zoning chair, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa.), and they want security details cut from the city treasurer and other high-level officials.
What they want added: the ShotSpotter gun detection technology that Johnson fought to end.
Watch for a showdown among aldermen and the mayor when they meet today. Even if Johnson’s latest budget proposal is approved, the relationship between the City Council and the mayor’s office is going to be rocky going forward.
Here’s why: The mayor initially started the budget process, saying a property tax was the only way to solve the city’s budget woes. Now he has a budget with no property tax. “It was lazy,” said one alderman, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the conversations.
It’s a matter of trust, said the alderman, likening it to someone cheating on one's spouse and then returning to the relationship: “They’re not going to be trusted for a while. There are people who aren’t trusting the mayor.”
Former Ald. Dick Simpson, who watched the City Hall battles in the 1980s, tells us, “It’s the closest to Council Wars” that we’ve seen.
The ballot box that Illinois electors will use on Tuesday for the 2024 presidential election. | Illinois Secretary of State
CIVICS LESSON: On Tuesday, Illinois electors will gather in Springfield to cast their votes for president and vice president of the United States.
Electors nationwide will also be meeting:It’s a formality of the election process that has largely been ignored until Donald Trump refused to concede in 2020, ultimately inciting supporters to attack the Capitol weeks later on Jan. 6, 2021, when electoral votes were counted in a joint session of Congress.
“This ceremony serves as a reminder of the sanctity of the democratic process,” said Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose office oversees the certification process in Illinois. “Long after voters cast their ballots, the certification of the state’s vote ensures that the voices of Illinois voters are heard.”
How it works: Electors are selected by each of the major parties through their state parties. The political party that wins the General Election in the state has their chosen electors vote for president and VP.
Illinois has 19 of the 538 electors. Since Illinois voted for Kamala Harris 59 percent to Trump’s 44 percent last month, the 19 Democrats will be voting.
They’ll use a ballot box that was handmade by union carpenters who work in Giannoulias’ office. After Tuesday’s vote, the box will be kept in state archives, where all the other presidential ballot boxes are held.
Here are the electors: Former Congressman Bobby Rush, state Sens. Cristina Castro, Bill Cunningham and Omar Aquino; state Reps. Will Davis, Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, Hoan Huynh and Maurice West; Illinois Board of Education member Christine Benson; Illinois Civil Service Commission member Vivian Robinson; Democratic State Central Committee members Kristina Zahorik, Melinda Bush, Kate Daniels and Elizabeth Lindquest; Rust Belt Rising Executive Director Paul Kendrick, state employee Mariah McGuire; businesswoman and former National Democratic Party leader Smita Shah; lobbyist Loretta Durbin, wife of Sen. Dick Durbin; and Vera Davis, wife of Congressman Danny Davis.
If you are Kristina Zahorik, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: skapos@politico.com
WHERE'S JB
No official public events
WHERE's BRANDON
In City Council chambers at 1 p.m. to talk about the budget
Where's Toni
No official public events
Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (heaven forbid) a complaint? Email: skapos@politico.com
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— Intersect Illinois keeps growing. New members of the board include Wynndalco Enterprises CEO David Andalcio, Ocient CEO Chris Gladwin, First Women’s Bank CEO Marianne Markowitz and Clarity Partners managing partner David Namkung.
POT-POURRI
— PRITZKER WANTS TO REGULATE HEMP LIKE MARIJUANA: Gov. JB Pritzker is urging lawmakers to pass legislation during a lame=duck session in January that would regulate intoxicating hemp cannabinoids like the state’s adult-use marijuana market. He criticized the products for deceptive advertising that targets minors.
Factoids: Hospitals are seeing more young people come in for both intentional and unintentional ingestions of hemp cannabinoid products. Some teenagers have reported that intoxicating hemp cannabinoid products are easier to obtain than traditional cannabis, said Maria Rahmandar, a pediatrician at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Background: An intoxicating hemp regulatory bill passed the Senate in May, and Pritzker is calling on the House to get it across the finish line in January.
“[The bill] just ran out of time in the House,” Pritzker told reporters. “This is an opportunity to finally get [it passed] in January,” he said, though stopping short of describing the bill as his top priority, by POLITICO Cannabis Reporter Mona Zhang.
— Exxon Plans to sell electricity to data centers: “The country’s largest oil company is designing a natural gas power plant outfitted with carbon capture technology to meet the voracious power demand of technology companies,” by The New York Times’ Rebecca F. Elliott. Big question: Could it be built in Illinois, where Exxon Mobile already has a refinery?
— Midwest paves the way for clean power boom: Gov. JB Pritzker wants to see an upgrade of the region’s power system, including a $21.8 billion investment in new high-voltage, long-range power lines to carry solar and wind power to population centers, by POLITICO’s Power Switch reporter Arianna Skibell.
— Brady Chalmers, who’s running for mayor of Homewood, has survived a petition challenge by incumbent Mayor Rich Hofeld. Chalmers is a businessman who had worked in Cook County government and was a field director for President Barack Obama’s campaign. If he wins, he would be the town’s first Black mayor.
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Reader Digest
We asked about your holiday party attire.
Alison Pure-Slovin: “Matching Chanukah pajamas I wear with my American grandchildren.”
John Lopez: “Wearing clothes I couldn't come close to fitting into at the start of 2024, thanks to the Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional Fitness (SIEFIT) nutritional program!”
Marilynn Miller: “I have several Christmas sweaters, but my favorite is a red sweatshirt with a moose on the front, Christmas lights hanging on his antlers — and with the words ‘Merry Christmoose.’ It always gets lots of laughs and comments. I hope it never wears out!”
Next question: What’s your tip for navigating the office holiday party? Email skapos@politico.com
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
— Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02) has introduced the Increasing Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act (H.R. 10394) to include demographic data of federal loans and grants recipients. “Currently, data tracking of federal awards such as grants, loans and contracts does not include the recipients’ ethnicity, race or sex,” Kelly’s team says. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has introduced a companion bill.
FRIDAY’s ANSWER: In 1982, Mayor Jane Byrne hosted a black gala at Navy Pier for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
TODAY’s QUESTION: What year were holiday lights first strung on the Illinois State Capitol? Email skapos@politico.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Monday: Former Gov. Pat Quinn, state Sen. Dave Koehler, former Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, former Cicero President Betty Loren-Maltese, social scientist Jacy Reese Anthis, Dechert senior associate Elisa Beneze, PR pro Margaret O’Connor and journalist Aaron Gettinger.
And belated greetings to state Sen. Laura Fine, who celebrated Friday.
