Citizen Bulletin for January 22–28

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Good morning. Our highlights from this week include: Alderman Willie Cochran hosted a Woodlawn community meeting to discuss the construction of UChicago’s Woodlawn Residential Commons; Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that a $2.1 billion modernization project for the Red and Purple Lines will begin in mid-2019; Congressman Bobby Rush voted no and Senators Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth voted yes on a short-term funding bill that ended the government shutdown, with all three Democrats citing concerns about the GOP’s pledge to hold a vote on a DACA fix.

CHICAGO CITY GOVERNMENT

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

• [No News]*

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

• Jan 25—Hosted University of Chicago representatives and local business leaders at a Woodlawn community meeting to discuss the construction of the Woodlawn Residential Commons

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

• Jan 24—Announced that a $2.1 billion modernization project for the Red and Purple Lines will begin in mid-2019
• Jan 24—Supported the City of Chicago’s decision to sue U.S. Steel over dumping toxic material into Lake Michigan
• Jan 24—Rejected an invitation from President Donald Trump to attend a meeting with him and various other mayors

COOK COUNTY BOARD

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

• Jan 22—Testified in support of the legalization of recreational marijuana before an Illinois House-Senate committee, citing concerns about racially discriminatory drug enforcement
• Jan 24—Confirmed her support for Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios despite allegations that his assessments unfairly burdened low-income homeowners

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

• Jan 24—Reassured voters that campaign contributions will not affect his decisions if he is elected Illinois attorney general, after receiving criticism for receiving contributions from tobacco companies that allegedly skirted campaign finance laws

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

• Jan 23—Plans to announce a budget proposal that includes a rollback of the 2017 increase in state income tax, which would be paid for over the next few years
• Jan 27—Reached a compromise with lawmakers on a school funding bill that would redistribute funding to schools with the greatest financial aid need, fixing a technicality that made private schools ineligible for scholarship programs

U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

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

• Jan 22—Voted no on a short term funding bill that successfully ended the government shutdown, claiming that he did not believe the GOP would follow through on its promise to hold a vote on a DACA fix
• Jan 23—Cosigned a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting a review of the FCC’s implementation of the “Lifeline National Verifier” program
• Jan 25—Introduced the Connecting Broadband Deserts Act

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

• Jan 22—Voted yes on a short-term budget bill to end the government shutdown, despite saying the deal is “not ideal” for Dreamers and armed forces
• Jan 25—Introduced a resolution to officially designate January 25 as Women’s Health Research Day

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

• Jan 22—Voted yes on a short-term budget bill to end the government shutdown
• Jan 24—Introduced the bipartisan Music Modernization Act, which would update music copyright laws to be more compatible with modern internet streaming services
• Jan 26—Condemned President Trump’s demand that Congress authorize construction of a border wall in return for support for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers

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

• Jan 24—Imposed new sanctions on North Korea aimed at curbing their nuclear weapons program
• Jan 26—Announced plans, through the EPA, to end a decades-old air emissions policy, allowing coal plants more flexibility for emission standards
• Jan 26—Cancelled a detailed report on an Obama-era mining policy that restricted the amount of mining near Minnesota wilderness

*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.

The Citizen Bulletin is a product of the University of Chicago Democracy Initiative (UCDI). UCDI is proudly supported by Andrew Goodman Foundation’s nonpartisan Vote Everywhere project. 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.

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