Tag: Chicago

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s fight with aldermen about the 2026 budget continued Wednesday as a City Council majority said they are organizing themselves to monitor his administration’s execution of the spending plan that passed over his objections.

The announcement from 28 aldermen who labeled themselves the “Budget Accountability Coalition” came as Johnson delivered a defiant speech vowing to implement the package responsibly and stay the course on his tax-the-rich agenda.

The aldermen said in a statement they were concerned Johnson might not carry out provisions of their $16.6 billion plan, which passed in a historic December vote following a heated fight.

Johnson, who opted to neither sign nor veto the budget, has denied his administration is subverting it. Yet he again Wednesday cast doubt on the financial projections baked into it.

“I am monitoring this budget closely,” the mayor said during his speech at the City Club of Chicago.

Asked afterward about his council foes’ latest move, the mayor defended his approach during the last budget cycle but did not say whether his administration will engage with the new coalition.

“Look, when we went through this entire process, it was a very open and collaborative process,” Johnson said. “There are projections that our team has assessed that have been overly projected and has caused some great deal of concern, right, in implementing this budget. And getting it right, that’s the most important thing, and I’m doing that.”

The coalition is set to include 11 separate working groups tasked with tracking the most controversial plans to cut spending and raise revenue. The 28 members who signed on were almost all “yes” votes on the budget that passed, and include progressive Aldermen Ronnie Mosley and Ruth Cruz.

The groups will have no legislative authority or official staff, but could serve as a way for opponents of the mayor to organize themselves to criticize the way Johnson enacts the budget.

Sticking points they plan to watch include the sale of debt owed to the city to raise nearly $90 million, new advertisements aldermen want placed on city bridges and the legalization of video gambling terminals in neighborhood bars, according to a statement from the group.

“The budget process does not end when the vote is over,” Ald. Pat Dowell, who Johnson appointed Finance Committee chair in 2023, said in the news release announcing the groups. “If we are going to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, the Administration must execute on the budget as passed.”

Johnson and aldermen alike promised the 2026 budget would be a “living document” as they rushed to pass it before an end-of-December deadline to avert a government shutdown. Since then, the mayor’s oversight of the spending plan has troubled his council opponents, who are also eager to flex their newfound muscle.

But Johnson steered clear of the budget fracas Wednesday at the City Club, highlighting instead ways he said his administration is delivering.

He first took a political victory lap on Chicago meeting his goal of dropping under 500 homicides last year, though he cautioned that more work is to be done.

Chicago has sustained three years of declines in crime, matching a trend in cities across America after a historic spike in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and murder of George Floyd. The mayor has argued that’s a result of his administration’s “holistic” approach to the city’s gun violence epidemic.

In his remarks, Johnson expressed frustration that he isn’t getting credit despite facing campaign attacks over his public safety messaging.

“When we drive violence down, we’re saving Black lives. Can we just be real for a moment? This is not to check anybody’s motives, but you at least need to understand mine,” Johnson said. “Aren’t our children worth investing in? Do Black lives really matter?”

He also thanked Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling for their work together fighting crime, notably omitting Cook County state’s attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. Their offices are in a spat over Johnson’s executive order pitched as a tool to prosecute federal immigration agents.

Meanwhile, the unusual announcement from his aldermanic foes was another signal of the deep mistrust at City Hall.

Responding to their complaints in a City Council hearing Monday, Johnson administration officials pinned a decision to initially pay only the first half of a $260 million advanced pension payment on a late transfer of property tax revenues from Cook County while promising to pay the full amount.

The mayor continues to say he’s opposed to the broad legalization of video gambling terminals in Chicago restaurants, bars and other establishments that the budget included. Asked Tuesday why he hadn’t formally alerted the state to the legalization plan, he told reporters “a number of alders” share his concerns and that he hopes to significantly change the plan.

“A decision hasn’t been made just yet,” he said. “It’s imperative that we get this right.”

Johnson and his top finance leaders have continued to say the budget is not well-balanced and could lead to unplanned midyear cuts and layoffs. The mayor has also asserted his discretion as the city’s chief executive in enacting the budget.

The aldermen who now hope to pressure him to put their plan into action continued to blast the mayor’s claims in their announcement.

Johnson also yet again was coy on Wednesday about his reelection plans for 2027 and stuck to his script of demanding progressive revenue from Springfield. He questioned why, if something is “the right thing, but perhaps you may not agree with the entire approach or maybe you don’t believe I’m the right person,” leaders would not focus on getting it done regardless.

“Why are you mad at me for doing what the people of Chicago elected me to do? I’ve kept every single promise,” Johnson said.