CHICAGO
New property tax hike proposal from Mayor Brandon Johnson. Chicago is already one of the most highly taxed jurisdictions in the United States. The mayor’s proposed Year 2025 budget, submitted this week to Chicago’s City Council, calls for spending $17.3 billion. Part of this money would come from a $300 million hike on Chicago property taxes. As Illinois’ largest city, Chicago’s budget and tax policies are highly significant to Illinois as a whole. Mayor Johnson’s call for higher property taxes in Chicago breaks a pledge that he made when he was elected mayor in early 2023.
As a home-rule unit, Chicago has wide leeway to further increase its tax rates, including property tax rates. Approval by the City Council is required; but Chicago’s aldermanic board often falls into line with the expressed desires of whoever is the mayor of the city. The mayor’s allies threatened layoffs if the property tax hike is not enacted. Mayor Johnson presented his budget, including the proposed massive tax hike, to the City Council on Wednesday, October 30.
EDUCATION
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) releases 2024 Illinois Report Card. The Report Card is meant to be a comprehensive data metric that covers many facets of Illinois school performance. Data for elementary and middle schools includes English language proficiency and growth, math proficiencies and growth, science proficiency, and chronic absenteeism. Data for high schools includes English language proficiency and growth, math proficiency, science proficiency, chronic absenteeism, and the school’s graduation rate.
The purpose of the Report Card is to generate data for public school educators, parents, students, and taxpayers about the objective performance of their schools and school districts. It is generated annually under mandated laws passed by the Illinois General Assembly. The data within the Report Card is gathered through standardized procedures, including electronic tests and examinations. The October 2024 Report Card reflects data gathered from each Illinois public school district during the 2023-2024 school year. After being submitted by school districts, the data is analyzed by ISBE and broken down to reflect the performance levels generated by each individual school facility.
In the 2023-2024 Illinois Report Card for elementary and middle schools as a group, English proficiency levels were analyzed as being at or near all-time highs. In the same Report Card for Illinois high schools, graduation rates were running at or close to all-time highs. Educators continued to express concern about Illinois public school math proficiency levels, which continue to lag the improvements shown by Illinois public schools in other areas.
JOBS
Unemployment high in 13 of 15 Illinois metro job markets. Unemployment in September remained a concern across Illinois, despite some positive job growth.
Thirteen of the 15 metro areas reported unemployment rates higher than the national average of 3.9%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Danville faced the highest unemployment rate at 6.3%, followed closely by Decatur at 5.9% and Kankakee at 5.5%. The two areas that beat the national average have most of their populations living outside Illinois, St. Louis and Cape Girardeau.
The Chicago metro area saw a promising unemployment figure of 5.2%. It was a notable decrease from previous months, although remained higher than the national average.
Metros across the state saw an overall increase of 7,100 (0.12%) jobs. While a notable increase, this still lagged the national economy, which gained 254,000 jobs (a 0.16% increase). Overall, nine of Illinois’ 15 metros saw an increase from August to September 2024.
The Rockford area saw the largest percentage increase in non-farm employment, growing 0.55% during the month with 800 jobs. Davenport, Lake County-Kenosha County, and Springfield also saw significant growth.
The Chicago metro area also saw a notable growth of 7,100 jobs, a 0.19% increase. This rate ranked sixth among Illinois metro areas.
Overall, 10 Illinois metro areas added jobs between September 2023 and September 2024. Only two metro areas exceeded the national job growth rate of 1.56%: Carbondale-Marion (1.72%) and St. Louis (2.26%, primarily in Missouri).
The biggest loser was the Davenport area, losing 1.69% of its jobs. Danville saw declines of 1.11% and Bloomington of 1.1%.
PepsiCo abruptly closes plant in Chicago. Pepsi Beverages Company’s South Side plant had supported 79 Illinois employees. The soft drink brand had operated the now-shuttered plant for more than 60 years. The locked facility was said to face “physical limitations” related to the soft drink production process.
The Pepsi Beverages plant took in proprietary soft-drink syrups, mixed them with other ingredients, and packaged them prior to distribution and sale. The soft drink industry has been marked in recent years by growing trends of bottling consolidation, including the introduction in many locations of automated machinery into the production process. The global corporation, which did not warn their employees about the shutdown, said that in lieu of a warning they would maintain company pay and benefits for affected workers for 60 days, until December 28. The shutdown took place on Monday, October 28.
CORRUPTION
As Former Speaker’s Corruption Trial Carries on, Republicans Continue Call for Ethics Reform. Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is currently sitting trial facing 23 felony charges, including racketeering, bribery, wire fraud, and extortion. While Madigan’s trial takes place in Chicago, House Republican lawmakers are continuing their call for comprehensive ethics reform and will continue to push for common sense laws as the trial continues over the next 11 weeks.
Opening arguments from federal prosecutors summarized what this trial represents: “This is a case about corruption at the highest level of state government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said. The trial is slated to include nearly 200 wiretapped audio and video recordings as evidence.
While House Minority Leader Tony McCombie has led the charge for ethics reform to be passed in the Illinois House, no such measures have moved forward. For McCombie, no time should be wasted: “We have not passed any ethics legislation this General Assembly and I would argue any significant ethics reform since I was elected in 2017,” she said. “This is not acceptable, and it is our responsibility that a lack of action does not continue.”
One of McCombie’s bills is House Bill 4119, which would prohibit elected officials from using political campaign donations to pay for criminal defense. Read more about her efforts to pass that bill here.
Madigan’s longtime aide takes the stand to testify against “ultimate decision maker” in the House. Michael J. Madigan’s attorneys tried again Tuesday to distance the former Illinois House speaker from a longtime friend and confidant, pressing ComEd’s onetime top counsel over whether he had direct knowledge of the men discussing an unusual law firm contract.
But federal prosecutors just piled on more evidence of ongoing, routine chatter between Madigan and Michael McClain, who are on trial together for a racketeering conspiracy. The feds did so by calling longtime Madigan aide Will Cousineau to the witness stand.
Cousineau, who became a lobbyist for Cornerstone Government Affairs in 2017, testified for less than an hour before court adjourned for the day Tuesday. But he told jurors that Madigan and McClain would sometimes arrange to use his office to meet alone.
“I think [McClain] and the speaker talked on a fairly regular basis,” Cousineau testified.
Cousineau ended his career in government as Madigan’s senior adviser. He also testified in two other trials in 2023. But this is the first time he’s taken the witness stand with Madigan in the room. He told jurors Madigan was the “ultimate decision maker” in the House. […]
Madigan, who resigned in 2021, is accused of leading a criminal enterprise designed to enhance his political power and enrich his allies. Prosecutors say McClain, who worked as a ComEd lobbyist, was the agent who handled Madigan’s “dirty work.”
Jurors have already heard several recordings demonstrating their close relationship and communication. That’s despite earlier arguments by Madigan’s lawyers that he was “ignorant” of what people said behind his back.
Before Cousineau took the stand Tuesday, jurors heard more testimony from former ComEd general counsel Thomas O’Neill. He previously told jurors about the pressure he felt from McClain to sign and renew a contract for the law firm of Madigan ally Victor Reyes. It happened when ComEd needed House approval for legislation crucial to its bottom line.
O’Neill also said the deal was unusual because it guaranteed 850 hours of work per year to the law firm.
When O’Neill later tried to reduce that guarantee, McClain wrote an email to then-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore in January 2016. He referred to Madigan as “our friend,” and he warned Pramaggiore that Reyes would go to Madigan.
“Our Friend will call me and then I will call you,” McClain wrote. “Is this a drill we must go through?” Read more from the Chicago Sun-Times.