Hoping to preempt another battle with the City Council, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot today punctuated an address on her proposed 2021 spending plan, which includes controversial property and gas tax hikes, layoffs and borrowing to close a $1.2 billion deficit, with a plea to aldermen for kindness as the budget debate begins.

The mayor, who has acknowledged she can get sharp with critics, told aldermen in her virtual speech: “We and you may not agree on every issue, but let’s have this City Council budget season be a model for the nation on how, democracy, messy as it always is, can also be filled with efforts to build bridges to each other and continue on our path toward that more perfect union.”

In her roughly hourlong address the mayor laid out how city arrived at this fiscal cliff — a pandemic-triggered economic shutdown that all but turned off the spigot of sales and other tax revenues. While cuts and tax hikes were necessary, Lightfoot also said socioeconomic inequities revealed by the pandemic and, months later, the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, can’t be shelved in a time of austerity; to that end she highlighted funding for anti-violence efforts and to prevent homelessness.

The mayor spent a fair amount of time explaining why she wasn’t meeting activists’ demands to “defund the police,” stating firmly that reforms can and will continue but that “police officers are not our enemies.”

Another billionaire has joined the fight against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ballot initiative to end the flat income tax in Illinois and enact a graduated system under which levies rise with salaries. Aon insurance company founder Pat Ryan just wrote a $1 million check to help efforts to defeat the measure, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Jennifer Pritzker — the governor’s cousin — along with fellow billionaire Ken Griffin also have donated money to groups working to stop the enactment of the graduated tax.

And the Democratic Party of Illinois led by Speaker Michael Madigan has started pouring money into an effort to keep Illinois Supreme Court Justice Tom Kilbride on the bench, my Tribune colleague Ray Long writes. While Republicans are working to defeat Kilbride, Democratic leaders view his victory as crucial with the party’s 4-3 majority on the state’s high court in the balance.

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Campaigns and money — Madigan gives $550K to Kilbride as billionaire Pat Ryan writes $1M check to defeat Gov. Pritzker’s ‘fair tax’ initiative on the ballot

The Democratic Party of Illinois put $550,000 into the Kilbride retention campaign, a signal to some Republicans and one campaign finance expert that the big money being spent to defeat him thus far is having an impact. Tribune investigative reporter Ray Long takes a closer look here.

“Clearly, Kilbride has been compromised” by the donation Madigan dropped into the justice’s campaign, said Peoria-area U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, whose sprawling 18th Congressional District overlaps with parts of the Kilbride judicial district.

The Democratic Party of Illinois put $550,000 into the Kilbride retention campaign, a signal to some Republicans and one campaign finance expert that the big money being spent to defeat him thus far is having an impact. Tribune investigative reporter Ray Long takes a closer look here.

“Clearly, Kilbride has been compromised” by the donation Madigan dropped into the justice’s campaign, said Peoria-area U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, whose sprawling 18th Congressional District overlaps with parts of the Kilbride judicial district.

Add another billionaire to the ranks of those fighting Pritzker’s graduated income tax initiative on ballot: Pat Ryan just dropped $1 million into efforts to defeat Gov. Pritkzer’s graduated tax amendment, the top item on the November ballot. And Pritzker’s cousin Jennifer Pritzker has just written a $250,000 check — in addition to an earlier $500,000 contribution — to stop the proposal. Crain’s A.D. Quig was the first to report the latest round of donations here.

The governor, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, has given $56.5 million to the “Vote Yes for Fairness” campaign that’s pushing the amendment.

Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx raises more than $350K in last week, but with a $270K haul of his own GOP opponent Patrick O’Brien insists he has the ‘momentum’: My Tribune colleague Alice Yin has the details here.

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Road to November: The Illinois congressional races

Cranking up the rhetoric in Casten vs. Ives: The campaign for the 6th Congressional District has kicked into a new gear, the Tribune’s Patrick O’Connell writes in a new piece here.

O’Connell notes: “Republican challenger Jeanne Ives is criticizing first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten for an upcoming scheduled online event with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and highlighted the congressman’s absence from a Tuesday night WTTW forum on the ‘Chicago Tonight’ program.

“Casten, in turn, continues to spotlight his messages on climate change and the coronavirus, lambasting Republicans for their stances and saying the party ‘is now being captured by a crazy fringe.’”

The clear contrasts between first-term Democratic U.S. Lauren Underwood vs. state Sen Jim Oberweis in 14th Congressional District race: O’Connell has that story too.

Late this afternoon, President Donald Trump endorsed Oberweis on Twitter, writing in part that the dairy magnate “will be a terrific Congressman for Illinois! A successful businessman, he will Create Jobs, Lower Taxes, Defend Law & Order, and Protect your Second Amendment from the Radical Left.” O’Connell will have a story shortly here.

Rohingya Americans in Chicago cast their first-ever general election votes: The Tribune’s Kelli Smith has the story here.

A closer look at Lightfoot’s 2021 budget proposal

The math: The forecast for the city’s budget includes a $1.9 billion deficit, 65% of it related to the pandemic, according to the city’s budget office. To close it, Lightfoot plans on $500 million in debt refinancing, nearly $200 million in increased funding from, in part, hiking property and gas taxes, as well as taking $30 million from reserves. Also planned: $537 million in so called “savings and efficiencies” that range from up to 350 city worker layoffs. It’s a shell game of sorts that politicians like to use — cutting unfilled jobs to balance the books. The Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and John Byrne go deeper here.

Add it up: Owners of a Chicago home valued at $250,000 would see a $56 increase on their tax bill, the mayor says.

The property tax hike won’t just be a one-time thing: The Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman writes: “Chicago homeowners and business owners struggling to hold on to their property will have to endure not only a $94 million property tax increase, but also an annual property tax hike every year forward tied to the rate of inflation.” Read that story here.

The mayor proposes delaying layoff notices until spring, in hopes Congress comes up with another stimulus package that sends aids to revenue-ravaged state and local governments. “Congress, do your job. Don’t leave us — cities and town all across this country — high and dry” Lightfoot said, chastising lawmakers for partisan bickering over shared difficulties in cities and states run by Republicans and Democrats alike.

She also said she hopes to work with the General Assembly to boost funding.

Lightfoot says even she will feel some of the pain: Nonunionized workers are being asked to take five unpaid days off under her plan — and she will take part.

Policing and social justice: “Lightfoot also used a chunk of her address to argue strenuously against defunding police,” Pratt and Byrne wrote. “She choked up as she recalled an officer’s unsuccessful attempts to save a 7-year old girl who had been shot in the head, which she cited as an example of public service by city cops.”

“Our police officers are not our enemies. They are someone’s son or daughter, or husband or wife, brother or sister. They are as complicated and imperfect as all of us,” Lightfoot said. “But do remember, they are our neighbors and an important part of who we are as Chicagoans.”

Members of City Council react: While Ald. Anthony Beale 9th, said the refinancing is akin to “kicking the barrel down the road,” Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, chair of the council Finance Committee, said the refinancing plan is a better idea than digging deeper into the city’s reserves, Pratt and Byrne report. City Council takes the final vote on the spending plan.

Prospects dim for return of Chicago’s convention industry. ‘I would say definitely not 2021.’ — The Tribune’s Abdel Jimenez has the story here.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposes raising Forest Preserves budget next year with rainy day fund: The Tribune’s Alice Yin has the story here.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said this week “he sees a healthy recovery for the U.S. economy, but added that its vigor still depends on more government aid,” The Wall Street Journal’s Michael S. Derby writes in this piece.

City news: Six years after Laquan McDonald shooting, activists rally for justice for slain teen: The Tribune’s Morgan Greene writes about it here.

City Hall: Federal officials are investigating a complaint from community activists accusing the Lightfoot administration of perpetuating racial segregation and housing discrimination in the nation’s third largest city, the Tribune’s Michael Hawthorne writes. It comes after the city gave a chronic polluter the green light to move from the wealthy, largely white North Side to a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood near the Indiana border. Read the story here.

Mayor Lightfoot exchanged emails with lobbyist about O’Hare client as city ethics board declined to enforce lobbying ban, records show: The Tribune’s John Byrne and Gregory Pratt have the details here.

Illinois sees highest daily COVID-19 death toll — 69 — since June

My Tribune colleagues write: The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 69 deaths of people with COVID-19 over a 24-hour period, bringing the state-reported COVID-19 related death toll to 9,345 people in Illinois since the pandemic began.

The last time the statewide death toll for a single day surpassed 60 was June 24, when the number of deaths reported was 64.

Officials reported 4,342 newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, resulting from a batch of 66,791 tests conducted during a 24-hour period. The state is reporting a 5.7% test positivity rate for the seven-day period that ended Tuesday. That’s up slightly from yesterday’s 5.5% 7-day rolling positivity rate and a jump from 4.5% a week earlier and 3.5% at the beginning of the month.

100 million COVID-19 tests and counting. Why test-maker Abbott doesn’t expect demand to slow soon: The Tribune’s Lisa Schencker has the details here.

‘Disgusted’ NU president condemns students who burned a school banner and vandalized campus during police protests: Now students are calling for President Morton Schapiro to resign. The Tribune’s Elyssa Cherney and Genevieve Bookwalter have the details here.

COVID-19 relief talks inch forward, but Mitch McConnell is resistant and lame-duck prospects are dim: Read the Associated Press story here.

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