(The Center Square) – A measure to help Chicago’s city council limit the mayor’s ability to borrow money has fallen short in committee.
Alderman Marty Quinn proposed an ordinance that would have required future borrowing to be approved by two thirds of the council instead of just a majority. The council’s finance committee rejected the proposal by one vote.
Chicago resident Anthony Pruitt expressed his frustration Monday afternoon during public comments before the Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
“While this city claims to be evolving, it’s quietly being sold, stripped and suffocating the very people who built it,” Pruitt said. “And who suffers? We do. Not just the Black and browns, but the whites, the visitors, they suffer, too, and now we’re being treated like outsiders in our own home. We treat lifelong Chicagoans like second-class citizens while new arrivals get red carpets. Compassion is good, but fairness is justice,” Pruitt added.
Over the last two years, Chicago’s government has spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on noncitizen migrants.
With the city facing a budget deficit of more than $1 billion, Mayor Brandon Johnson remains focused on adding more revenue.
Speaking to reporters last week, the mayor said his administration has a working group to address the city’s budget issues.
“And we’re getting feedback from alders already around ways in which we can find progressive means for revenue. The bottom line is this: the revenue streams that we control in the city of Chicago are doing well. Can they grow? Absolutely. The revenue streams that we do not have control over, in other words, state oversight if you will or state regulated, those are not performing as well,” Johnson said.
The mayor has said multiple times in the last year that Chicago should be getting its “fair share” from the state of Illinois.
