(Just The News)—Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is likely to face some resistance from elected officials when he leads a delegation to Springfield on Tuesday. Chicago faces a more than $1 billion budget deficit and the mayor is likely to ask for state taxpayers to pay more to bail out the city.
The mayor plans to meet with Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and state Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, among others, at the Illinois Capitol.
Johnson’s chief of staff is former Illinois state Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, D-Chicago. She says the mayor’s team remains focused on revenue.
“So that’s the telecom tax as well as the 911 surcharge, there’s been some discussions around the PPRT (Illinois Personal Property Replacement Tax) within the budget, the One System Initiative investments, and then, of course, transit and having those discussions,” Pacione-Zayas said.
Pacione-Zayas also mentioned increased reimbursements for services mandated by the Illinois State Board of Education, such as transportation, special education and bilingual education.
Pritzker said his administration put the budget together in the latter half of last year and presented it in February. The governor did not rule out changes to accommodate Chicago.
“It’ll be hard for us to talk about things in the current budget, though again, maybe there are things we can move around in the budget that’ll be beneficial to the city of Chicago,” Pritzker said.
The mayor has previously asked for more state funding of education and suggested progressive revenue ideas.
“That’s a decision by the city of Chicago about whether they will find sources of progressive revenue,” Pritzker said.
Johnson said the city is facing a budget deficit of more than $1 billion, but Chicago Alderman Scott Waguespack told The Center Square the budget shortfall is actually going to be $1.5 billion or more.
Waguespack said the mayor’s office doesn’t have a legislative agenda, especially on budgetary or finance issues. He said aldermen have been trying to put together an agenda.
“With the mayor, you know, poking the eye of the governor, it’s not going over well, so we are trying to speak to the governor’s people to really kind of work in a different way, in a different kind of partnership, because we know we’re going to need state assistance and federal assistance to get through this next year,” Waguespack told The Center Square.
Chicago Public Schools outlined plans for students, parents and educators to travel to Springfield Tuesday to advocate for more education funding and urged school families to lobby state lawmakers.
CPS agreed to an estimated $1.5 billion-dollar deal with the Chicago Teachers Union earlier this month. The agreement raises the average CPS teacher’s annual base salary to more than $114,000 by the time the four-year contract ends.
Illinois state Sen. Craig Wilcox, R-Woodstock, said Johnson is “renewing his push for increased state funding for the city despite ongoing criticism from Republican lawmakers who say suburban and downstate taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for the City’s poor financial decisions.”
“We are, after all, not the Mayor’s personal piggy bank,” Wilcox said in an email to constituents. “Taxpayers should not be left to once again bail out Chicago for years of financial mismanagement. Rather, the Mayor should focus on implementing real reforms instead of asking overtaxed Illinoisans to take on additional burdens that benefit only Chicago.”
Why One Survival Food Company Shines Above the Rest
Let’s be real. “Prepper Food” or “Survival Food” is generally awful. The vast majority of companies that push their cans, bags, or buckets desperately hope that their customers never try them and stick them in the closet or pantry instead. Why? Because if the first time they try them is after the crap hits the fan, they’ll be too shaken to call and complain about the quality.
It’s true. Most long-term storage food is made with the cheapest possible ingredients with limited taste and even less nutritional value. This is why they tout calories so much. Sure, they provide calories but does anyone really want to go into the apocalypse with food their family can’t stand?
This is what prompted the Llewellyns to launch Heaven’s Harvest. They bought survival food from multiple companies and determined they couldn’t imagine being stuck in an extended emergency with such low-quality food. They quickly discovered that freeze drying food for long-term storage doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor, consistency, or nutrition.
Their ingredients are all-American. In fact, they’re locally sourced and all-natural! This allows their products to be the highest quality on the market, so good that their customers often break open a bag in a pinch to eat because they want to, not just because they have to due to an emergency.
At Heaven’s Harvest, their only focus is amazing food. They don’t sell bugout bags, solar chargers, or multitools. They have one mission – feeding Americans in times of crisis.
What they DO offer is the ability for people to thrive in times of greatest need. On top of long-term storage food, they offer seeds to help Americans for the truly long-term. They want them to grow their own food if possible which is why they offer only Heirloom, Non-GMO, Non-Hybrid, Open-Pollinated seeds so their customers can build permanent food security on their own property.
They should double the taxes on the voters, they deserve to suffer and go broke.