The Chicago Police Department is the most expensive, and arguably most controversial, piece of Chicago’s nearly $12 billion budget. And as the City Council gets ready to pass a new spending plan for 2022 with the help of a $1.9 billion boost from the federal government, a battle is underway over how much funding should go toward police. Chicago Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20) and Emma Tai, executive director of United Working Families, talked to Alex Nitkin about what the “defund the police” movement means to them, and how they plan to advance its principles in the city’s budget when Mayor Lori Lightfoot and most of the City Council supports maintaining or growing funding for police.
Rep. Mary Beth Canty on her first months in Springfield
Ald. Matt Martin on why Chicago should try ranked choice voting
Rep. Greg Harris on his work as House Majority Leader
Rep. Mark Batinick on his time as House Republican floor leader
Larry Suffredin on 20 years of problems solved and unsolved
Ald. Nicole Lee on her first months in office and election calculus
G-PAC CEO Kathleen Sances on where Illinois’ gun control laws can go from here
Injustice Watch’s Jonah Newman on how to vote for judges
CACC director Mamadou Diakhate on caring for Chicago’s pets and wildlife
Chelsea Laliberte Barnes on her race to flip a Republican district
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg on bad systems and good people in government
How Chicago is preparing for the June 28 Primary
Illinois Retail Merchant Association CEO Rob Karr on the state’s retail crime bill
Which aldermen aren’t showing up for work?
Cook County CFO Ammar Rizki on how to spend $1 billion
Ald. Anthony Beale on the City Council’s power balance
How to fix the Department of Children and Family Services.
Chicago AIS Commissioner David Reynolds makes his exit
Cook County Commissioner Peter Silvestri on the value of centrism
Ald. Silvana Tabares on ward remap and the 23rd Ward
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