THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Pritzker's big test...Bears want Arlington tax cut...Changing "Starved Rock?"
April 15, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
The tax man and the devil share the same address.
It’s going to be a busy week in Springfield. It’s third reading deadline week in the House, so they’re in today at noon. Gonna be trudging through lots of bills this week. The Senate is back tomorrow. Governor Pritzker discusses medical debt relief legislation downtown at 10 and cuts the ribbon on a solar project in Bolingbrook at noon.
With the clock ticking on the spring legislative session, now is the best time to join us as a paid subscriber. Subscribers get exclusive news and opinion content on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Don’t miss out.
Lots to get to. Including about 7,000 e-mails from Senate Democrats on the bills they pushed out last week.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ‘pragmatic progressive’ approach being put to the test (Chicago Tribune)
Shortly after wrapping up an inaugural legislative session in 2019 that included hiking the state’s minimum wage, legalizing cannabis and passing a historic $45 billion statewide construction program supported by expanded gambling and a host of increased taxes and fees, Gov. J.B. Pritzker sought to reassure a group of Chicago business leaders that he wasn’t just another tax-and-spend liberal.
Addressing the Executives’ Club of Chicago, Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune and a prominent tech investor, said he would pursue a “rational, pragmatic, progressive agenda” that ultimately would pay dividends for the state budget and Illinois’ economy.
“I’m a businessman. I’m a progressive. I’m a believer in growing the economy and lifting up people’s wages,” Pritzker said at the time.
Now in his second term and preparing to play host to this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, while also eyeing his own future White House run, Pritzker’s identity as a self-described “pragmatic progressive” is being put to the test. The state faces its most challenging budget outlook since the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor continues to grapple with controversies over his handling of criminal justice issues and leaders on both sides of the political divide say Pritzker’s approach sometimes falls short of fully addressing the state’s biggest problems.
The latest assessment of Pritzker’s strategy will undoubtedly play out in Springfield in the coming weeks.
With March primaries come and gone, work is underway in earnest on approving a state spending plan for the coming budget year before the General Assembly’s scheduled May 24 adjournment. The proposal Pritzker laid out in February attempted to build on past progressive successes — such as last year’s expansion of state-funded preschool programs — without overpromising and potentially jeopardizing the state’s hard-won credit upgrades, a core accomplishment the governor guards jealously.
While Pritzker promotes the “pragmatic progressive” agenda publicly, he also pushes it privately. In a February text to state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth of Peoria, the top budget negotiator for the House Democrats, the governor noted that “almost all of the few new things” he was introducing in his budget plan were at “no cost (or very low cost).”
“There is a bunch of stuff focused on the Black caucus, including addressing maternal mortality,” Pritzker wrote to Gordon-Booth in the message, obtained through an open-records request. “But there really isn’t room for other spending this year.”
Indeed, Pritzker’s plan both dabbles in progressive priorities — a child tax credit and a sales tax measure that will skim some funds away from big retailers — while also keeping an annual increase in school funding to the minimum amount required by law and steering clear of more structural tax changes pushed by progressives.
A few points the governor made in his proposal seemed tailor-made for bipartisan appeal: a $12 million child tax credit for low- and moderate-income families and the elimination of the state’s 1% sales tax on groceries.
Bears seek property tax refund for Arlington Park (Crain’s Chicago Business)
The Chicago Bears have taken another step to try to reduce their property tax bill at the former Arlington International Racecourse, even as the prospects appear to wane that the team will pursue a stadium-anchored mixed-use campus on the site.
A Bears venture filed a request to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board to re-evaluate the 2023 assessed value of the 326-acre property in the northwest suburb, records show. The move comes several weeks after the Cook County Board of Review ruled that the sprawling, vacant site was worth $125 million, more than twice the valuation estimated by the Bears.
The appeal is the latest step in a contentious back-and-forth over the value of the Arlington Park property, which the team bought for $197 million early last year. A negotiation with local taxing bodies — specifically Arlington Heights school districts — over the property's fair market value is core to a dispute that the team sought to resolve as it unveiled its vision for a $5 billion planned stadium and entertainment district in the suburb. A struggle to find middle ground is one reason why the Bears have more recently focused their attention on a new downtown stadium, purportedly on a parking lot just south of Soldier Field.
The Bears previously said they would only move forward with the Arlington Heights stadium project if they could secure taxpayer financing for a mixed-use portion of the campus. The centerpiece of that effort is proposed state legislation that would allow the team to negotiate with local taxing bodies on future property tax payments.
A discussion between the team and Arlington Heights school districts about the 2023 assessed value that is still active is a key test of whether the two sides can find middle ground. If they can't, it would make the proposed legislation irrelevant for the purposes of the team's Arlington Heights plan.
Related: As the Chicago Bears prepare to unveil their vision for a new downtown stadium, projects in other NFL cities could prove instructive (Chicago Tribune)
The billionaire behind the scenes in White Sox’ stadium plan (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Team owners tell their fans to show them the money (Champaign News-Gazette)
New name for Starved Rock State Park? State officials ‘willing to open discussions’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
A top outdoors destination for Chicagoans could end up with a new name as Illinois conservation officials grapple with state parks, landmarks and other historic sites whose age-old monikers might be considered offensive or painful to some groups.
Leaders at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said this week there are “no immediate plans” to rebrand Starved Rock State Park in La Salle County, but officials are open to discussing a potential name change for that and other attractions that have been “flagged” by Native American groups.
Legend has long held that the 125-foot sandstone butte over the Illinois River gets its name from a 1760s battle in which Ottawa and Potawatomi Native Americans, avenging the killing of Chief Pontiac, surrounded a band of Illiniwek who ended up dying of starvation atop the breathtaking terrain.
The tribal lore has been passed down through the generations, but there’s no tangible historical record of the encounter, and some native groups have suggested over the years that the park would be better served with a name that doesn’t conjure images of a vicious battle.
The topic was broached last month during a panel discussion that included Natalie Phelps Finnie, the Department of Natural Resources director, who acknowledged name changes could be considered for Starved Rock and other sites with potentially problematic names.
Related: Native American activists say they didn’t give state input regarding Starved Rock possible name change (Shaw Media)
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Hundreds gather to remember Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough: ‘Compassionate, determined, undaunted’ (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois Senate advances changes to state’s biometric privacy law after business groups split (Capitol News Illinois)
State wants schools to monitor students’ vaccination status amid measles outbreak (Daily Herald)
Illinois Senate passes legislation that would strip medical debt from credit reports (Chicago Tribune)
Giannoulias calls for disclosure of lobbyist contracts (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois lawmakers consider future of dual credit programs in the face of opposition (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Illinois Senate OK’s legislation over CTA Yellow Line crash (Chicago Tribune)
Higher diaper prices are impacting Illinois families. How is the state responding? (State Journal-Register)
Lawmakers, cannabis industry calls for ban on ‘delta-8’ and other psychoactive hemp products (Capitol News Illinois)
Legislation to regulate municipal power agencies on hold, but conversations continue (Daily Herald)
Unionized health care workers say staffing shortages compromise safety (Chicago Tribune)
What is corruption? U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments that could impact bribery cases in Illinois (Chicago Sun-Times)
PPP fraud investigation by state watchdog finds $7.2 million in improper loans (Chicago Sun-Times)
Feds send $19.3 million for Chicago, state of Illinois to cover soaring migrant costs (Chicago Sun-Times)
Three Jewish lawmakers turn down Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s invitation to discuss antisemitism (WBEZ)
Editorial: Work permits for all undocumented immigrants? That’s asking too much. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Nowlan: Record low turnout in Illinois primary bodes ill for democracy (Chicago Tribune)
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