Capital Facts

Difficult talk often done behind closed doors

Published by admin on Sun, 06/04/2023 - 3:20pm

An often bitter, loud and racially divisive debate played out before, during and after last week’s Chicago city council meeting where members voted to pass a temporary funding package to shelter asylum-˙seekers.
The debate pitted mostly older Black alderpersons and moderate-to-conservative Whites against Latinos and progressives of all stripes. Much of the division also fell along many of the same council battle lines drawn during the recent campaign between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas.

Illinois $56.6 billion budget has no wiggle room

Published by admin on Mon, 05/29/2023 - 2:32pm

House and Senate Republicans claimed during budget-related floor debate last week that the super-majority Democrats had masked the true size of their plan by delaying the start of some spending until the second half of the upcoming fiscal year.
Yes and no.
Republicans pointed to the $317 million cost of increasing Medicaid provider reimbursement rates, including for hospitals. But that new spending doesn’t begin until January 1, the halfway point in the 2024 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Proposed transactions tax doesn’t stand a chance

Published by admin on Sun, 05/21/2023 - 10:50am

From Illinois law: “No unit of local government shall levy any tax on stock, commodity or options transactions.”
That statute has long been targeted for elimination by the Chicago Teachers Union and its allies. The CTU reliably shuns any proposal to increase property taxes across the board, instead pushing often-times “magical” solutions as alternatives. It’s one way the union has maintained its popularity among Chicago voters.

Senator puts threats in proper perspective

Published by admin on Sun, 05/14/2023 - 11:40am

My associate Isabel Miller recently interviewed Sen. Robert Peters (D-Chicago) about the national controversy he found himself in after posting a statement on Twitter. I thought I’d share it with you this week. Here’s Isabel…
A few weeks ago, Sen. Robert Peters posted a tweet that he knew would generate backlash. What he didn’t know was that it would go national.

Springfield takes on culture war issues

Published by admin on Sun, 05/07/2023 - 2:50pm

The Illinois Senate debated and passed several bills last Thursday dealing with what the news media likes to call “culture war” issues.
Perhaps the least controversial (there was almost no debate) was House Bill 1591, which deletes some anti-miscegenation laws still on the books since 1915. Even so, nine Republicans voted against the bill.

Madigan created a system that got people elected

Published by admin on Sat, 04/29/2023 - 11:53am

We’re going to talk some history today.
According to testimony at the federal ComEd Four trial, then-House Speaker Mike Madigan’s former 13th Ward Alderperson Frank Olivo was brought on as a subcontractor under then ComEd Chairman and CEO Frank Clark.
Clark retired in September of 2011, almost a dozen years ago. He has never been charged, nor has it ever been claimed that he did anything at all illegal. And Olivo didn’t officially register as a lobbyist until the beginning of 2012, according to a 2019 report by NBC Chicago.

Authorities have the tools to curb youth riots

Published by admin on Sun, 04/23/2023 - 2:56pm

The now-notorious violent youth riot in downtown Chicago during a recent weekend got me to thinking of a press conference way back in 2010. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley voiced frustration about what he said were large groups of suburban kids causing trouble on Chicago’s lakefront, even though plenty of Chicago kids were also participating, including six teens who brutally attacked an 18-year-old suburban woman.
Daley complained that the youths would text each other to organize their mayhem.

Johnson won with a softer-on-crime approach

Published by admin on Fri, 04/07/2023 - 4:01pm

A couple of Chicago mayoral race polling results from last month have been stuck in my head ever since they were released.
The BSP Research poll taken March 15-23 for Northwestern University’s Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy found the two mayoral runoff candidates were running neck and neck. The poll was almost universally ignored by the city’s news media, yet it might’ve possibly contained an important nugget which could help explain at least part of Brandon Johnson’s win and Paul Vallas’ loss.

Census Bureau needs to get Illinois’ population right

Published by admin on Sun, 04/02/2023 - 2:23pm

If you’re getting a strong and unpleasant sense of déjà vu about the new US Census Bureau’s population estimates for counties, including Cook County, you’re not alone. US Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8) is feeling it as well.
Krishnamoorthi, who sits on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has been trying to force the Census Bureau to retool its population estimates because they have been so awfully inaccurate going back years and years.

Law change could help police in fighting crime

Published by admin on Sat, 03/25/2023 - 12:10pm

Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Park’s July 4th parade have been prevented with a small change to state law?
It’s never been publicly reported before, but several local sources confirmed this week that Highland Park Police Chief Louis Jogmen wanted to send a city-owned drone above the July 4th parade last year. That camera-equipped drone could’ve spotted Robert Eugene Crimo III on a building rooftop overlooking the parade before he fired 83 shots that killed seven people and wounded 48 more. But the chief couldn’t launch that drone because of state law.