Gov. JB Pritzker released his proposed FY 2022 budget on Wednesday.

Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday proposed a $41.6 billion budget that maintains current spending levels and is less reliant on anticipated revenue from the federal government than last year, instead depending on diverting certain revenues and closing corporate loopholes.

The host of financial maneuvers and higher-than-anticipated revenue collections are among the main drivers leading the Pritzker administration to boast about having a balanced budget with no tax increases, all while Illinois continues to face the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A graphic rendering of the Bronzeville Lakefront mega-development proposed on the site of the Michael Reese Hospital campus

A years-in-the-making plan to build a new mini-neighborhood on a 71-acre swath of the city’s Near South lakefront is set to clear a major hurdle on Thursday as the Chicago Plan Commission considers plans for the “Bronzeville Lakefront” mega-development on the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital.

When completed in approximately 2041, the Bronzeville Lakefront campus is planned to include nearly 7,000 units of new homes, plus millions of square feet of office, retail and research space. The plan is one of seven applications set for consideration by the plan commission during its 10 a.m. meeting on Thursday.

Affordability renewal ordinance stalls amid questions about city-backed homeownership program 

A City Council committee punted approval of an ordinance designed to stretch the staying power of a city-backed homeownership initiative on Tuesday as aldermen raised questions about the underlying program. 

The ordinance (O2021-446), introduced last month by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on behalf of the Chicago Department of Housing, would restart the clock on city-imposed 30-year affordable housing covenants every time each home changes hands. It only applies to for-sale homes administered through the Chicago Community Land Trust, a city-backed nonprofit designed to forge a path to homeownership for low- and middle-income residents. 

‘Epidemiological specimen collection’ program, energy efficiency grant set for committee consideration 

Aldermen on Wednesday are set to consider a proposal from the city’s Department of Public Health that would modify the section of city code regarding “epidemiological specimen collection and analysis.” 

The ordinance is proposed for consideration during the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations’ 10 a.m. meeting Wednesday. The proposal will be directly introduced by the public health department, but the text of the ordinance was not available late Tuesday and no additional information was posted on the agenda. 

News in brief: Aldermen approve tax incentives; Indoor dining restrictions eased again 

An ordinance up for consideration Tuesday is designed to extend the life on affordability covenants tied to homes sold through city housing programs.

Affordable housing covenants imposed by city programs would renew more frequently under a measure set for consideration by aldermen on Tuesday.

The ordinance (O2021-446), introduced last month by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on behalf of the Chicago Department of Housing, is scheduled for a vote by the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Real Estate during its 10 a.m. meeting.

As Chicago gears up to redraw boundaries of its 50 wards, leaders of Chicago’s Aldermanic Black Caucus and City Council Latino Caucus have a goal to keep communities in their wards together and to retain or expand the number of council seats they currently hold.

The aldermen put a high priority on maintaining their power to shape policy in the City Council and ensure their constituents’ needs are met and their concerns are addressed. Using the 2020 census data to redraw the wards in such a way that keeps the communities they represent together gives the caucasus a better chance of ensuring they hold onto seats.

Aldermen overwhelmingly approved a proposal allowing Mayor Lori Lightfoot to remake the Chicago Board of Health, overcoming concerns from multiple members of the City Council’s Democratic Socialist caucus who said the measure should be amended to carve out more room for public participation.

The ordinance (O2021-458) vacates all nine seats on the board and allows the mayor to re-nominate them or replace them. The reconstituted board would have nine members each serving three-year terms, staggered so that three members’ terms expire each year.

Ald. Maria Hadden (49) was an unlikely champion of Indian religious minorities, until a groundswell of her South Asian constituents alerted her to human rights abuses perpetrated at the hands of India’s government, she said. Her months-long effort culminated on Thursday, when her colleagues voted to advance her resolution (R2020-583) condemning religious violence in the world’s largest democracy.

Even less likely was that her predecessor, former Ald. Joe Moore (49), would become one of her fiercest adversaries in the effort.

The city’s Streets and Sanitation commissioner agrees with some aldermen and recycling advocates that the department could use help from another city department to make sure large apartment and office buildings separate recyclables, he said Wednesday.

Members of the City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight and the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy on Wednesday grilled streets and sanitation department leaders, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson and Chief Sustainability Officer Angela Tovar on why the city’s recycling program for large buildings is not being properly enforced.

News in brief: Chicago, suburban Cook chart out ‘roadmap’ to restaurant expansions; aldermen approve aviation security labor agreement

News in brief: Chicago, suburban Cook chart out ‘roadmap’ to restaurant expansions; aldermen approve aviation security labor agreement  

Aldermen are scheduled Thursday to consider a series of new rules and requirements that would expand Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s control of the Chicago Board of Health, an advisory body that dates back to the city’s founding.

Introduced by Lightfoot last month, the ordinance (O2021-458) set for a vote by the City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations during its 10:30 a.m. meeting would vacate all eight seats on the board and allow the mayor to re-nominate them or replace them. The reconstituted board would have nine members each serving three-year terms, staggered so that three members’ terms expire each year.

Aldermen are expected Wednesday to demand answers from leaders of the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation on reported gaps in the program used to pick up recycling from large buildings.

The subject matter hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. by the City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight and the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy comes out of a resolution (R2020-1071) introduced by Ald. Michele Smith (43) in December.

Property owners filed more than 223,000 appeals to their tax assessments to the Cook County Board of Review since last year, a historically heavy volume of requests that nevertheless fell far short of the record number of appeals submitted to the board during the 2019 tax year.