November 13–November 19

Good morning. Our highlights from this week include: Alderman Willie Cochran announced he will not run for reelection; Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposed nearly 600 layoffs and spending cuts to fill the budget gap caused by the repeal of the soda tax; The GOP-led tax plan passed the House of Representatives.

CHICAGO CITY GOVERNMENT

Alderman Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) ~ call your alderman! (773) 324-5555

• Nov 15—Partnered with artists Eric Williams and Rob McKay to help curate “Connect South Shore,” a pop-up marketplace open November 24–26
• Nov 15—Joined four other alderman to cast the sole dissenting votes against a measure designed to reduce “prostitution-related loitering,” stating she felt the law would create racial profiling

Alderman Willie Cochran (20th Ward) ~ call your alderman! (773) 955-5610   

• Nov 13—Announced he will not run for the office of alderman again, citing his commitment to term limits and denying that his 15-count federal indictment factored into his decision

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) ~ call your mayor! (312) 744-3300

• Nov 15—Stated that the CTA will not implement service cuts to balance its budget, but did not dismiss the possibility of fare increases
• Nov 16—Announced that Chicago will reach 55 million visitors by the end of this year

COOK COUNTY BOARD

• Nov 15—Voted to hold a hearing on water rate disparities and excessive water loss across Cook County
• Nov 17—Agreed to support Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s plan to plug a $200 million budget hole through spending cuts and layoffs to various departments including County hospitals, the sheriff’s office, and the Cook County jail

President Toni Preckwinkle ~ call your Cook County board president! (312) 603-6400

• Nov 14—Proposed nearly 600 county employee layoffs and spending cuts to address loss of revenue from soda tax

ILLINOIS STATE GOVERNMENT

Representative Barbara Flynn Currie (D–District 25) ~ call your state rep! (773) 667-0550

• [No news]*

Senator Kwame Raoul (D–District 13) ~ call your state senator! (773) 363-1996

• [No news]*

Governor Bruce Rauner (R–IL) ~ call your governor! (312) 814-2121

• Nov 15—Defended the Trust Act, a bill signed by the governor to protect the status of undocumented immigrants, as the Justice Department threatened to cut funding to Illinois
• Nov 16—Signed two bills aimed at reducing sexual assault and enforcing ethics codes within Illinois state government, including mandating sexual harassment prevention training for lawmakers and lobbyists and lifting a one-year statute of limitations that had impeded investigations of old complaints
• Nov 16—Signed the Flood Victim Tax Credit into law, which will provide flood victims of Lake County up to $750 to cover damages

U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Representative Bobby Rush (D–IL1) ~ call your representative! (773) 779-2400

• Nov 14—Penned a letter to President Trump inquiring into why the NIH discontinued its gun violence research program
• Nov 16—Voted against the GOP tax plan, which passed in the House

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D–IL) ~ call your senator! (312) 886-3506

• Nov 13—Called for an investigation into alleged violations of immigration policy meant to protect people coming into the country, such as a reported refusal to allow a girl with cerebral palsy into the country for surgery
• Nov 14—Condemned the Senate confirmation of “torture memo” author Steven Bradbury for General Counsel of Department of Transportation
• Nov 15—Announced, along with Sen. Durbin (D-IL), $600,000 in increased federal Fair Housing Initiatives Program funding for Chicago

Senator Dick Durbin (D–IL) ~ call your senator! (312) 353-4952

• Nov 14—Discussed continued federal investment in Chicago Rockford International Airport with the airport’s director
• Nov 14—Released a report, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–MA), claiming that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos did not sufficiently help students defrauded by predatory colleges
• Nov 16—Criticized the GOP tax plan for including tax cuts for the wealthy and tax hikes on some middle-income families, among other issues
• Nov 16—Introduced the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, in order to “address the growing threat of white supremacist groups and other violent domestic extremists”

President Donald Trump (R) ~ call your president! (202) 456-1414

• Nov 13—Met with Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines
• Nov 17—Reversed his administration’s decision to roll back a ban on importing big game trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia

***In addition to the UCDI website, you can find past versions of the bulletin here. For news closer to campus, subscribe to the twice-weekly newsletter produced by our partners at The Chicago Maroon.

**We are proudly supported by Andrew Goodman Foundation’s nonpartisan Vote Everywhere project.

*Our research process involves searching for press releases from the elected representatives, Google News stories, and any Twitter and Facebook posts. If no information is displayed in the Citizen Bulletin, then our research process turned up nothing new from this past week.

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