Progress Illinois

On October 25, members of the American Bankers Association (ABA) descended on the Sheraton in downtown Chicago for an annual conference featuring appearances by conservative celebrities Newt Gingrich and George Will.  But local progressives didn't let the bankers party in peace.  During the three-day conference, the SEIU Illinois State Council (which sponsors this website), Action Now, National People's Action (NPA), and dozens of other activist organizations held a string of events aimed at harnessing the growing public discontent with the banking industry.  Taxpayers who are fed-up with the endless bailouts and exorbitant bonuses -- not to mention the ongoing obstruction of commons sense financial regulations -- travelled from all across the state and the country to take part. Meet a few of the participants in the video below:

Here is a compendium of Progress Illinois' three day's worth of coverage:

On Sunday afternoon, nearly a thousand activists and mobilized taxpayers from across the state and country arrived in Chicago. They streamed off buses and into the downtown Hyatt where a string of speakers fired up the crowd. One of them was Larry Ginter of the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, who asked the audience to show how they've been affected by the banking industry's destructive policies. Watch it (courtesy of SEIU and NPA):

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On July 1, Illinois' new fiscal year began without a state budget in place thanks to the General Assembly's failure to raise the income tax rate and pass a balanced spending plan.  The ongoing political stalemate has left social service providers in the dark about how much state funding they will receive over the next 12 months.  As a result, many of these organizations have begun laying off staff and scaling back their programs, leaving recovering addicts, domestic violence survivors, the developmentally disabled, and other vulnerable citizens in the lurch.

As the negotiations continue in Springfield, Progress Illinois plans to track the ongoing fallout statewide.  But we need your help.  If you hear of further cuts and layoffs by social services agencies -- either directly or via news reports -- please send that information to contact@progressillinois.com so that we can add it to our list.

Below is a map of the affected organizations we've identified so far, followed by the full list. (Click here to explore a larger version of the map.)

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Earlier this month, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley released the latest round of alarming budget numbers, this time projecting a $300 million shortfall over the coming year. The deficit led City Hall to send out 1,500 pink slips to Chicago city workers, cuts which the Chicago Federation of Labor is still working to avert. In response to the news, Crain’s columnist Greg Hinz noted that the layoffs — if finalized — would only fill “about 10% of [the] hole in the city budget.” He went on to ask: “So, where’s the city going to get that kind of cash?”

Good question. During Ald. Manny Flores’ appearance on Fox Chicago Sunday two weekends ago, one possible source of additional revenue came up: Daley’s sprawling tax increment financing (TIF) system. (Want to get up to speed on TIF? Check out this 2007 Reader article.)

“How much TIF money does the mayor have at his disposal?” co-host Dane Placko asked Flores, who has emerged as one ot the City Council’s TIF reform champions. In response, the First Ward alderman emphasized the need for more transparency regarding the city’s finances. Watch it (the relevant discussion begins at the 3:20 mark):

It’s great to see reporters asking questions about the TIF system in the context of the budget negotiations. For years, the Reader’s Ben Joravsky was a lone voice in the local media calling attention to this mayoral slush fund. In the meantime, the property tax revenue being siphoned away from local taxing bodies through TIF has more than doubled over the past six years — from $216 million in 2002 to $570 million in 2008.

It seems ridiculous to be redirecting so much money away from the general tax base at the same time that revenues are sharply declining. Indeed, with a little creative thinking and flexibility on the part of city officials, there are several adjustments to the TIF system that could provide some relief for cash-starved taxing bodies in Chicago. In this post, we’ll examine three potential modifications: redistributing surplus funds, terminating "elderly" TIF districts, and adjusting the TIF tax base for inflation.

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(Last updated: July 3, 2009)

In late January, just days after Barack Obama wore one of their suits to his inauguration, 122-year-old clothier Hartmarx, Inc. declared bankruptcy. Bloomberg reported at the time that the company had cited a "decline in clothing purchases, particularly luxury items, coupled with lower borrowing capacity under a senior credit facility" as the factors leading to the bankruptcy filing.

That "senior" creditor, Wells Fargo, agreed to extend a $100 million debtor-in-possession loan to keep the company operating during the proceedings and, by early May, Hartmarx had attracted three potential buyers. According to reports at the time, two of the bidders intended to keep the company intact, while the third favored liquidation.  Word quickly spread that Wells Fargo, seeking a quick return, was leaning towards the latter as its favored "stalking horse" bidder.  

The Fight Begins (5/4-5/19)

This news of a potential liquidation led workers, union leaders, and members of Congress to spring into action to aid the company, which employs nearly 4,000 people nationwide, including 1,000 in Illinois.  Continue reading »