Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Wednesday, August 2, 2017.
- Rauner issues amendatory veto of the school funding bill
Governor Bruce Rauner on Tuesday issued an amendatory veto of the school funding bill that, among other things, slashed $250 million that under the proposed legislation would go to Chicago Public Schools as well as an additional $215 million earmarked for the CPS pension fund. Senate Bill 1, which was passed by the Illinois house and senate without veto-proof majorities, “places the burden of the Chicago Public Schools’ broken teacher pension system on our rural and suburban school districts,” Rauner claimed in his veto message, adding, “This is not about taking resources away from Chicago. This is about making historic changes to help poor children in Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois.” But the veto could jeopardize funding for all the state’s schools: both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly must either approve or override the veto by a three-fifths majority in order for the bill to become law, and without the legislation’s passage, no state money can be disbursed to districts. The first payment to schools is due August 10. [DNAinfo Chicago] [Sun-Times] [Associated Press via ABC7 Chicago]
- Violent July puts the city on pace to exceed 750 murders in 2017
Seventy-five people were killed in July, putting Chicago on pace to exceed the more than 750 people killed last year. At the end of July 2016, 395 people had been killed; at the end of July 2017, at least 410 people had been killed. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Report: Chicago will pay $1.18 billion to pension funds in 2018
The city of Chicago will spend $1.18 billion on pensions in 2018 “as the junk-rated city steps up payments to put its retirement funds on a path to solvency, even as the unfunded liabilities keep growing,” according to Bloomberg. On the bright side, the city is forecasting a $114.2 million budget deficit next year, the smallest since 2007. [Bloomberg]
- Eddie Johnson: Trump’s use-of-force comments won’t sway CPD officers
Chicago police officers will not exert more force with subjects regardless of President Donald Trump’s statements, Chicago Police Department superintendent Eddie Johnson said Tuesday. Last Friday Trump told a group of officers in New York that they should be “rough” with suspects, drawing rebukes from law enforcement officials nationwide. Such use of force is unnecessary, according to Johnson: “The issue is not getting tough, it’s holding people accountable—that’s what the issue is. As far as getting tough, we have procedures in place and a use-of-force policy, so we treat everybody accordingly.” [CBS Chicago]
- Steppenwolf ensemble member Mariann Mayberry passes away at 52
Actress Mariann Mayberry passed away Tuesday morning following a battle with cancer. The Steppenwolf ensemble member was a favorite of the theater’s audiences, appearing in award-winning plays including August: Osage County and Good People. “Mariann was our girl,” Steppenwolf artistic director Anna Shapiro said in a statement. “Funny, strong, unbelievably hardworking, with a quick smile that belied a complex and beautiful interior life, she was at the center of who this company is and has always been. It is impossible to imagine our theater—or this astonishingly cruel world—without her. We are devastated.” [Sun-Times]
- Lupe Fiasco, Macklemore, Fifth Harmony headline anti-violence music fest
Lupe Fiasco, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Fifth Harmony, Fat Joe, and Jeremih will headline the first annual Get In It Music Fest at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 16. The daylong concert is produced by the Illinois Sports Facility Authority (its first such endeavor) together with Get In Chicago, an anti-violence initiative focused on at-risk kids. [DNAinfo Chicago]