Zilch.
That’s how much federal aid Chicago officials have procured so far to cover the costs of preparation and security for the NATO and G8 summits.
Chicago officials continue to promise local taxpayers that the federal government will pick up the tab for security at the May summits, as Ben Joravsky and I wrote last week. They’ve even suggested that millions of dollars in assistance are already on the way, thanks in large part to our mayor’s close ties with the Obama administration. “No one knows his way around Washington like Mayor Emanuel,” a top summit organizer told reporters in a background briefing last month, on the condition that her name not be used so that she could speak “freely.”
So far, though, the federal government hasn’t provided any funds for the NATO and G8 meetings, though the city is already spending taxpayer dollars on security training and equipment.