Matthew Blake

Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno said on Monday that state lawmakers made progress during the current legislative session toward addressing Illinois’s estimated $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. But the Republican leader from Lemont also criticized Speaker of the House Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) for his focus on downstate teacher pensions.

“We’ve won the battle on acknowledging the problem,” Radogno said of pensions at a City Club of Chicago luncheon. “Now, of course, the difficulty is finishing the war.”

The Chicago Park District set in motion Wednesday plans to issue $35 million in bonds this June, as the agency vies to secure money for their long-term capital plan.

The district’s Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution authorizing the agency to reimburse any bond it issues, a procedural hurdle necessary to enter the bond market.  At an earlier meeting Wednesday of the district’s Committee on Administration, Cynthia Evangelsti, acting treasurer for the park district, acknowledged that the bond market is currently unpredictable.

An ordinance requiring city contractors to hire “project area” residents for construction projects was passed by the  City Council budget committee today, but ambiguity exists regarding how exactly “area resident” will be defined under the measure.

Barbara-Byrd Bennett, chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools, fiercely defended the proposal to close 54 of the district’s schools in her first address to the Board of Education since the actions were announced on March 21. The board will vote on the proposals during its meeting in May. 

The Chicago City Council Committee on Aviation approved two contracts today intended to hike ad revenue at O’Hare International Airport and Midway Airport.

One contract with Texas-based Clear Channel allows the company to install new digital advertising at O’Hare and changes the terms of the company’s Midway advertising contract. A separate measure lets France-based JCDecaux sell ad space on O’Hare transit system cars, which move passengers between airport terminals and parking lots.