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Presented by bp: Shia Kapos' must-read rundown of political news in the Land of Lincoln | | | | |  | | By Shia Kapos | | | Happy Tuesday, Illinois. What an adventure covering Chicago’s mayor. This is our fourth.
|  | TOP TALKER | | | | 
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed four executive orders just hours after taking the oath of office on Monday, May 15, 2023. | Screen shot | Newly inaugurated Mayor Brandon Johnson got right to work Monday, signing executive orders creating deputy mayors for immigrant and refugee rights, community safety and labor relations. The new mayor also signed an executive order to increase youth employment, a goal he talked about on the campaign trail. The actions followed Johnson’s sweeping inaugural address, in which he vowed to improve public safety and education, reopen publicly run mental health clinics and make sure new immigrants are cared for. More from NBC 5 From his inaugural address: "We don't want our story to be told that we were unable to house the unhoused or provide a safe harbor for those who are seeking refuge here,” Johnson told the applauding crowd at the University of Illinois at Chicago Credit 1 Arena. “There's enough room for everyone in the city of Chicago.” Here’s our full story, and here’s a rough transcript of Johnson’s speech, via the mayor’s office. Johnson mixed humor with a resonating voice for a speech that touched on most of his campaign themes and goals and drew applauses from the crowd, many of whom were members of the Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU off from work for the day to cheer him on.
|  Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson gives his inaugural address after taking the oath of office on Monday, May 15, 2023. | AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast | The new mayor also embraced the “Treatment Not Trauma” mantra that will allow social workers, not always police officers, to answer 911 calls. Invoking victims of violence: “The tears of Adam Toledo’s parents are made of the same sorrow as those of Officer [Aréanah ] Preston’s parents,” Johnson said, referring to the deaths of an armed 13-year-old shot during a police chase and the 24-year-old officer gunned down earlier this month while off duty. In terms of finances: Johnson didn’t mention his campaign mantra of taxing the rich. But he acknowledged revenue must be raised and the city must “invest in people.” A returning phrase throughout his speech was about “the soul of Chicago,” which is what made the city “something special.” Johnson’s election signals a national shift on education within Democratic politics: It’s a move “away from an emphasis on high-stakes accountability and market-based school choice,” reports Chalkbeat’s Becky Vevea. Hundreds lined up to shake hands with Johnson, who vows ‘the fifth floor belongs to the people,’ by Sun-Times’ Allison Novelo It’s a younger, more diverse City Council, by Sun-Times’ Mitchell Armentrout Fun fact: This is the first time no City Council member is under federal indictment. Progress. Even the Chicago GOP congratulated Johnson, focusing on the mayor’s proposed reopening of more mental health clinics in Chicago “as they can not only assist in improving lives, but they can potentially head off crime by those in need of treatment,” according to a statement.
| | | THE BUZZ | | | GOP INFIGHTING: Attendees of the Illinois Republican Party took a vote Saturday on whether they had confidence in GOP Leader Don Tracy. It happened at a regular meeting of the Illinois Republican Party State Central Committee in Edwardsville. At Issue: Republican state Sen. Jason Plummer, who represents the 55th District, and a few others called for new leadership. There are concerns about where the party is headed, that the party isn’t raising more money and that the Illinois GOP isn’t doing more to expand its reach. Tracy ultimately received a majority of support, according to two people in the room. But divisions within the party remain. And the debate about Tracy’s future is expected to come up again. If you are Don Tracy, Playbook would like to know what your plans are to invigorate the Illinois GOP. Email skapos@politico.com.
| | A message from bp: bp employees in Illinois are keeping energy moving to keep America moving, too. Our team provides fuel for O’Hare flights, helps people power their cars, trades energy to keep the lights on and more. See more ways bp is investing in Illinois. | | | | | WHERE'S JB | | No official public events.
| | | WHERE's BRANDON | | | No official public events.
| | | Where's Toni | | At the Armond King Apartments in Skokie at 9:30 a.m. to announce the placement of behavioral health care coordinators at the Housing Authority of Cook County. Thank you for reading Illinois Playbook! Drop me a line sometime: skapos@politico.com
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | THE STATEWIDES | | — Lincoln Library director fired: Mayor Misty Buscher said last week she was looking into some of the city's grant administration "because some of our grants might require our library director be a librarian” and Summer Beck-Griffith was not, State Journal-Register’s Steven Spearie reports. — Program is ‘one stop shop’ for navigating life after prison: “The Supportive Reentry Network Collaborative connects returning citizens to whatever they need, from completing parole mandates to finding health care and a job. Leaders say they’ve had a successful first year, but need to grow,” by Sun-Times’ Michael Loria. — Targeting guns: G-PAC, a gun violence prevention PAC, will launch a five-figure digital ad campaign targeting the gun industry and comparing its profits to the number of Illinois children killed in 2022 due to gun violence. The campaign, titled #NotInOurHouse, starts running Monday. — Springfield in the spotlight: A PBS segment will feature the capital city, by Illinois Times’ Scott Reeder (Whispering: Your Playbook host was at Cozy Dog when a film crew came in.)
| | | CORRUPTION CHRONICLES | | | — ComEd parent Exelon is paying legal bills for two executives convicted of bribery: “The company will not say how much it has paid to attorneys representing ex-CEO Anne Pramaggiore and VP John Hooker, but a rep says ratepayer funds are not used,” by WBEZ’s Dave McKinney.
| | | | A message from bp:   | | | | | TAKING NAMES | | — Former U.S. Attorney John Lausch has returned to Kirkland & Ellis, where he’s a partner in the Government, Regulatory and Internal Investigations Practice Group. He had been the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Lausch started his legal career at Kirkland in 1997 as an associate and left in 1999 to become an assistant U.S. attorney before moving up the federal ranks. — Interview with Emma Tai: “The 2013 school closings put my life on a totally different track. When the 2012 strike happened, I felt this tremendous sense of power, of political possibility, of solidarity; that was immediately snatched away by a power structure that closed the most number of public schools in history — the majority of them black,” the executive director of United Working Families tells the socialist Jacobin magazine. — David Reifman, president of Clayco’s Chicago Business Unit, has joined the board of directors of Intersect Illinois, a statewide economic development group. He's the former City of Chicago planning commissioner. — Mario Treto Jr., secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, has been selected as a 2023 David Bohnett Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. — Command Sgt. Major Dena Ballowe of the Illinois National Guard keynotes the Illinois Women Veterans’ Conference June 2-4 at Hyatt Oakbrook. Details here — Actor Jamie Foxx recovering at Chicago rehab facility following health scare, according to report, via Fox 32
| | CHICAGO | | — Mayor Brandon Johnson promises new CPD approach, including adding police detectives: “Tribune analysis of CPD’s data found that the clearance rate of homicides in Chicago’s more affluent, mostly white neighborhoods is far higher than the clearance rate in poorer, mostly Black neighborhoods, which suffer the most crime,” by Tribune’s Sam Charles. — Museum of Broadcast Communications exits River North home: “A commercial development firm exercised its right to buy the remainder of the structure. Museum officials aren’t saying yet where the museum, which is home to the nation’s only Radio Hall of Fame, is headed. However, the museum’s exhibits have been removed, and its doors are closed,” by Bob Goldsborough for the Tribune. — Striking film, TV writers get ready to picket in Chicago, by Sun-Times’ Mitch Dudek — Chicago’s principals association plans to file for union recognition, by Chalkbeat’s Mila Koumpilova — An arts initiative featuring 12 public art presentations focused on the environment will be ready for viewing in early June. Earth Art Chicago showcases art that includes sculptures, murals, live performances and a film screening. The arts initiative was co-created with over a hundred participants and is funded through $700,000 in grants.
| | COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS | | — Office, housing deals bode well for suburban growth: “After years of slack office demand, investors are opting to either improve or redevelop their properties. Meanwhile, the supply of new housing could get a jolt from plans in Sugar Grove,” by Sun-Times’ David Roeder.
| | | | GET READY FOR GLOBAL TECH DAY: Join POLITICO Live as we launch our first Global Tech Day alongside London Tech Week on Thursday, June 15. Register now for continuing updates and to be a part of this momentous and program-packed day! From the blockchain, to AI, and autonomous vehicles, technology is changing how power is exercised around the world, so who will write the rules? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | Reader Digest | | We asked if you were the ultimate risk-taker, what life change would you make. John Straus: “I’d move to Tuscany, Italy, learn the language and spend my time mastering Italian cuisine.” If you could enact an executive order, what would it be? Email skapos@politico.com
| | DELEGATION | | — Focusing on food access: Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) and Congressman Jonathan Jackson (IL-01) are sending a letter to the USDA urging Secretary Tom Vilsack to channel more resources to their communities. The Illinois lawmakers highlighted the common needs of both Budzinski’s downstate rural district and Jackson’s urban Chicago district.
| | | THE NATIONAL TAKE | | | — Centrist Dems are plotting a save-McCarthy strategy for the debt fight, by POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris and Nicholas Wu — Security fears flare anew in Congress after an attack Virginia congressman’s office, by POLITICO’s Katherine Tully-McManus — Supreme Court wades into Trump hotel records fight, by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney
| | MEDIA MATTERS | | — WHAT TO READ | A new book reveals Martin Luther King’s radical side: “A new book ‘King: A Life,’ by Chicago-based author Jonathan Eig, publishes Monday and aims to tell the full breadth of King’s life, not the Hallmark card version,” by Arionne Nettles for WBEZ. — WHAT TO WATCH| On fascinating Netflix series ‘Working,’ Barack Obama learns how people make a living in this moment, by Sun-Times’ Richard Roeper
| | | | A message from bp: The US is home to bp's largest workforce in the world, a team delivering the energy the world needs today, while increasing our investments in lower carbon alternatives for our future. See more ways bp is investing in America. | | | | | TRANSITIONS | | — Jennifer Olaya is now senior legal adviser with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office. She had been senior counsel for the Chicago Park District. — Cathy Payne is now executive administrator to the CEO at the Illinois Soybean Association, and Maura Harrington is guest services coordinator.
| | TRIVIA | | MONDAY’s ANSWER: Illinois Congressman Timothy Sheehan, who served from 1951-1959, introduced House Concurrent Resolution 180 in the 82nd Congress calling for the purchase of Canada from the United Kingdom and the annexation of Canada by the United States. TODAY’s QUESTION: What Hall of Fame baseball player was on the losing side in an Illinois State University basketball game in December, 1940? Email skapos@politico.com
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