A joint Council committee unanimously approved a package of reforms aimed at consolidating various business licenses and fees for mobile food vendors and other smaller business enterprises, as well as strengthening the Building Commissioner’s authority to crack down on contractors and tradesmen who work without permits.

Anticipate a packed day at the Cook County Board, as commissioners consider an overhaul to the county’s property tax incentives system, a new role for the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership, rules to make county employees and elected officials more FOIA friendly, and routine settlements and tax breaks. A debate on federal funding–and how to ask President Donald Trump for assistance in fighting violence–is also expected.

Plans to strengthen city Building Commissioner Judy Frydland’s control over the permitting process–by giving her the authority to suspend permits or bar contractors and tradesmen from applying for future permits–will be the subject of a joint hearing of the Council’s Zoning and License Committees. Changes to various licensing fees ranging from licenses for Uber and Lyft drivers to slashing the mobile food vendor license for senior citizens and veterans are on tap as well.  

Commissioners will have their chance to pose with the Chicago Cubs’ World Series trophy this morning during consent calendar proceedings before hearing an update on vaccinations and tracking of animals that carry disease. Much of the day’s major proceedings–including possible real estate acquisitions and updates on court cases–will occur in executive session.

An intergovernmental agreement between the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) and the Regional Transportation Authority is up for consideration today by the Council’s Human Relations Committee.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has promoted two long-time county staffers to her executive team, completing the shuffle after the exit of her Chief of Staff, Brian Hamer and main county board lobbyist Vasyl Markus. Hamer and Markus left before the new year after serving less than nine months on the job.

SEIU is issuing mailers, scheduling patch-through auto-calls, and protesting outside the offices of Aviation Committee Chairman Mike Zalewski (23) and Ald. Walter Burnett (27), targeting both for not sponsoring an ordinance aiming to increase wages and benefits for airport service workers, a union rep tells The Daily Line.

The Chicago Board of Ethics issued an advisory after their monthly meeting last Wednesday obliquely referencing “an individual” and his or her company for illegally lobbying a city official. An analysis by The Daily Line of emails contained in the recent FOIA dump of Mayor Emanuel’s personal account and the city’s lobbying database suggests the likely individual and company are David Plouffe, then the Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy for Uber. The fines for violation "are substantial", the advisory from BOE states, $2,000 for the company and $90,000 for the individual.

City and Cook County elected officials raised more than $4.3 million between October 1 and December 31, 2016, according to the most recent quarterly expense reports filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. The total includes all money fundraised through individual campaign funds, political party funds collected by Democratic Ward Committees, and independent expenditure groups or PACs created by or in support of electeds. City officials, which includes all fifty aldermen, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Treasurer Kurt Summers, significantly outraised County officials by about $2.9 million.

Week one of the Trump administration has wrapped, and Chicago is on guard: over crime, its status as a sanctuary city, and federal intervention. Mayor Rahm Emanuel defended (for the umpteenth time) Chicago as a safe haven for immigrants, and rolled out new crime-fighting policies in police districts with the most acute gun violence issues. He also welcomed new City Clerk Anna Valencia, said goodbye to Corporation Counsel Steve Patton, and helped Superintendent Eddie Johnson to a chair after a health scare mid-press conference. We talk about it all this week.

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Responding to last year’s surge in gun violence–there were more than 4,300 shootings in Chicago by year's end–several measures introduced at this month’s City Council meeting aim to address the toll of violence on residents. One resolution calls on the city to declare the surge in violence as a public health crisis; another warns of the long-term mental health implications of those caught in the crosshairs of shootouts and demands a city-sponsored counseling program. Another introduction questions the impact of a federal effort to deregulate the purchase of gun silencers on the city’s crime reduction efforts.

Newly-sworn-in City Clerk Anna Valencia has been steadily staffing up since her December appointment. Here’s a look at her executive team, which is still in the works–no one has been chosen yet to fill Deputy Clerk Carina Sanchez’s spot since her reassignment as head of the Public Building Commission. According to sources close to the Clerk’s office, close to a dozen other staffers have also left since Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s exit.

As the Chicago City Council officially welcomed a new City Clerk, they bid farewell to its top lawyer, who will be stepping down from the position he’s held for the past six years. The swearing in of Anna Valencia as City Clerk and a reading of a resolution honoring Corporation Counsel Steve Patton bookended three-hour City Council meeting, the first of 2017. All items outlined in our rundown from Wednesday were approved with no pushback and minimal debate.

But a contest may be brewing on another issue in the upcoming weeks: how to spend $14.7 million in unused funds from last year’s vastly underutilized property tax rebate program. Only 16% of eligible homeowners, or 25,300 people, applied for the rebate checks, according to numbers provided by the Mayor’s Office, leaving $14.7 million on the table.

Legal experts have extensive questions about the enforceability of two executive orders on immigration and sanctuary cities issued by President Donald Trump today. While White House officials are publicly threatening to revoke federal grants from cities like Chicago that fail to assist with strict enforcement of federal immigration law, the actual effect of the executive orders may be considerably different than advertised.

Council’s Budget Committee focused largely on public safety changes that were a surprise to some aldermen: two new hires The Daily Line reported on last week overseeing major public safety initiatives in the Mayor’s Office. The addition of Deanne Millison and Brandon Nemec to the public safety team, and the fact that their salaries are partially funded by grants from the Joyce and MacArthur Foundations, seemed to catch a few aldermen off guard.