>> Good evening and thanks for joining us on the week in review.

I'm Nick Blumberg.

The Chicago Bears look to break out the moving boxes after Springfield in action.

>> We had no time look at the bill.

Read the bill, not going to caucus and talk about it at 3.30, in the morning.

>> After a last-minute stadium, bill stalls in the General Assembly.

The Bears Board of directors votes to build a new stadium.

Indiana.

>> We have financial crisis, a public safety crisis in a crisis of confidence in that the city is moving in the right direction and can ever come back.

>> Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza launches her second bid for city Hall.

We had heavy, but it does a mother.

There's a isn't famine.

There's entire family live.

This destroyed anti-violence advocates demand answers on a gunshot detection system for Chicago.

>> Meantime, the acting U.S.

attorney general throws his support behind Chicago's embattled U.S.

attorney and Boutros and the Obama presidential center hosts a preview ahead of the Juneteenth opening.

>> now to our week in review panel.

Joining us are Olivia Aulander of the Chicago Tribune, Laura Washington, also the Chicago Tribune and ABC, 7 news, the saying of Bloomberg News and our own Heather Sharon of Wt Tw News.

Thank you all for being here.

Let's get right to it.

Lots to talk about.

So are the Bears say they're taking their ball and they're going to Indiana.

you think this is really a done deal, supposedly supposedly it some people think this is just another stalling tactic.

They've kind of the they say they're moving to Indiana, but then everyone continue the conversation with the legislature.

>> And you either are or you in.

It said earlier that they were going to make a decision by late Spring early June.

Now, is this a decision or decision yet to come?

Things like a lot of questions still about that?

>> Olivia, we heard House Speaker Chris Welch reacting to the news in a statement he said, well, Indiana is willing to raise taxes and promise a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.

Illinois has focused on the needs of working families who want relief at the gas pump at the store and on their insurance bills, not tax payer, funded stadiums.

Illinois remains open to ongoing efforts to secure the Bears in Illinois.

However, it will take time to get it right.

mean, are these 2 sort of competing stadium incentive bills in Springfield?

We have any sense of what lawmakers are doing, how they might proceed here in the General Assembly.

Yeah, well, we heard from some of the top lawmakers today who are in charge of the negotiations are leading negotiations on the Bears that they are still hearing top.

There's leadership.

>> And former looking conversations that they want to continue conversations with top lawmakers in Illinois into bad not says this is not over, even though they might have put out a statement on Twitter and you note to fans about >> And for folks who weren't necessarily following along, there was a lot happening at the end of the legislative session.

There was a very, very last minute competing proposal.

You know, we've heard about this sort of payment in lieu of taxes idea.

Tell us a little bit about what the very last minute idea was that came up.

payment in lieu of taxes.

The about idea was something the could provide them with some certainty on a property taxes 1000 past several weeks ago.

>> Dan and the literally the last couple hours of the legislative Springfield over the weekend, we saw another proposal that would have allowed Arlington Heights or Chicago to sort negotiate with the Bears and potentially way to a stadium essentially.

And you're one of those places but didn't get a vote in the house.

So now we have these 2 different proposals and the pair saying, you know, maybe we just want to focus on you know, sure, if Indiana officials, of course, you know, celebrating this decision saying, you know, come on over, welcome to our state.

But, >> you know, do we have any idea of how close the Bears aren't actually selecting a site or in King a deal feels like there's still a lot of questions in the air.

>> Yeah, I mean, have talked about a site along Wolf Lake in Hammond, Indiana, but the Tribune has reported on some of the challenges that that particular site has.

We don't know.

But let's just talk a little bit about the time line between Indiana and Illinois.

>> I was actually taking a look at some of the past stories I've done that was going back in backing up all the way to 2021 when they first purchased the site in Arlington Heights and then there was the proposal in 2024 to build something on the lakefront.

And then they said they were going to go back to Arlington Heights when the deals were not coming along in the state legislature.

Then they said this past December, roughly that they were going to go to Indiana.

So there's been a lot of back and forth.

And so right now lets you mentioned that we don't know.

This is the final deal.

But given that there isn't after years and years, there's no deal in Illinois and Indiana passed legislation and the governor signed it within a matter of months.

So the contrast is striking.

And then and what >> Spell out and what you show us and lack of credibility.

That mean says so many different things.

What can you believe in assist difficult to negotiate with institution when the when the ball keeps moving, maybe some a lot of conversation should have been ahead behind closed doors to the could have come up with a deal with the Legislature by Ingles store so that they would look like they were vacillating so much.

There's also a question of what the Bears want and what the state of Illinois is willing to provide rate.

The governor has repeatedly said >> he does not want to put taxpayer dollars into building actual stadium building.

He's okay with the public infrastructure around the building getting taxpayer dollars.

But he's concerned about additional money from the state of Illinois going into what he's called, you know, a privately owned company.

That's where the billions of dollars.

So I think that's, you know, the juxtaposition of the the questions about tax for money as well as with the Bears want is I think where where the issue is.

>> And Heather, we heard from Mayor Johnson's office, they said in a statement that over the last several years the Bears have stated their intentions in multiple jurisdictions.

So today's announcement is not surprising without a final site selection until we see shovels in the ground in Hammond, the city will continue to engage in discussions, grounded in the interest of our residents.

There's been some conversation in recent days about whether the mayor's sort of dog and focus on a Chicago stadium might have, you know, which we should say that the Bears a publicly ruled out might have affected the deal in Springfield.

Well, I think it did.

We heard from lawmakers that said, gosh, it's hard to approve such a politically.

>> Perilous bill.

When you have that, they're saying maybe we're still talking to Chicago and maybe there's still a way that like we don't have to sort bite this bullet.

Maybe this is Chicago's problem, not our problem.

And there's nothing lawmakers like more than saying, are you going are you going wear the jacket great thanks.

Go right ahead.

But the issue is, is it is, you know, politically perilous for everybody involved to sort of even conceive of the lakefront Stadium, considering that there's a little thing called Lakefront Protection ordinance, which prohibits creation of any structure east of Lake Shore Drive is George Lucas can well tell us what museum is opening pretty soon, not in Chicago, but Los Angeles for exactly this reason and the question remains, will, how is the city going to pay for it?

Or they're going to be billions of dollars and hotel tax revenues as the mayor has called for to go to this potential new stadium.

What happens to that?

More than half a billion dollars that city taxpayers hotel taxpayers still owe for last renovation of Soldier Field in 2003 that makes this all very, very difficult and potentially a way for Indiana to capitalize and say, look.

>> we're easing.

We love you will do whatever you want to know.

That's I think the other part of this is that.

>> For now, up until this point, it's been sort of speculative in Indiana.

Now, Indiana residents, India voters are actually going to sort of see maybe what the price tag for this.

Their stadium actually is going to be.

Billion dollars in new taxes.

It's a hard lift at a time when gas is nearly $4.55 And when groceries are really expensive.

So I think that there are many, many different I think part of the conversation few days has been about, well, let's let the Bears go to Indiana because Chicago and Illinois will still benefit because it's close enough, right that there will be economic development.

There be jobs will be all kinds of opportunities coming out of Indiana.

>> Into Chicago and our people Bears fans to be go out there for the game that they're going to hang out there and hang out there.

You know, for a weekend night about a comeback downtown Chicago, they're going to go Chicago, restaurants.

So this not a lose-lose for for the Bears, even if for the city, even if the Bears go vote to go to Indiana.

I was going to say that there's explicitly made that clear in their statement today declaring Hammond to be part of greater Chicagoland could somehow to him.

And with the loop in the South side and the northwest suburbs think you hit car, dealerships, Chicagoland and northwest I don't know that that's going to fly Heather and I have covered so many Chicago budgets and we cannot.

>> Not talk about the challenges that the city of Chicago has in terms of its long-term budget deficits and the structural deficits.

And that's one of the reasons that.

>> When you talk about a huge project like this, the city can't necessarily put its weight behind financing something like that when it doesn't have the resources to do so.

And so we can't ignore what is going on with the long-term.

It's not about this mayor or the last minute, but it's a very long-term budget structural deficit that the city faces full and jumping back to the point that you made about all the various sites that they've announced, you know, Levy, that's one of the things we heard from lawmakers.

This real frustration.

>> You know that they've expressed some of them quite publicly with bears management.

I mean, how how much of a complication is that?

Yes, absolutely.

I spoke to state Senator Robert Peter stay who represents at lakefront area and he said something like I think this is like the 80th announcement that we've heard from cares and he's someone >> has expressed a lot of frustration publicly also expressed a lot of pride in lakefront area, as you know, an iconic place for the Bears to be.

So this is a huge thing for Chicago lawmakers as we're discussing earlier, this was reason that the stadium deals in Springfield couldn't happen as Chicago lawmakers did not want to incentivize leaving special iconic location, right?

I think that that was it.

That was a shrewd move on the mayor's part to, you know, come last minute.

But to come in and make make continuing a case for Chicago because of >> So many Chicago lawmakers really do not want to the Bears go live Kabul.

Even though the Bears are saying it's no way we're going to Chicago.

So they gave him some leverage.

Yeah, and that last minute, Bill, does you know hypothetically give Chicago the chance to create a stadium authority?

But to Heather's point?

>> to come, where they're going hold.

>> lawmakers are continuously even during the Illinois budget process, we heard from leaders saying >> that nobody wants to lose the bears.

But at the same time they're hearing from their caucus and the caucuses, 10 from constituents that we do want to put more money.

And so nobody wants to lose the Bears.

But they also heard about putting more money.

And so it's kind of a, you know, P part deal here that you know you Well, I mean, I think it's it's a very conflicting sort of sentiment people have because there's emotional tie that people have to their sports teams.

But taxpayers are also thinking about my tax particularly because you're talking about a billion billionaire owners of this team.

Why when we have tax payers who are suffering, who can't even pay their taxes.

>> Particularly low-income neighborhoods.

When we talk about giving any money to a certainly those who have been negotiating this deal have brought that up.

Is that why should there be any sort of property tax concessions made for a private business when there's so many challenges that residents are facing in terms of the increases in their own property taxes.

So that's been an argument that even those who are negotiating the deal have been bringing up as well along the way or another.

It's kind of funny talking about the emotional tie that the truth.

He brings People were up in arms when we thought they were moving to Arlington Heights outside the city limits.

Now that sort of like the option that people would be excited about right image shows you just how much sort of the debate has changed over all of these various, you know, sort of thing.

>> But you know, let's be clear.

mayor saying let's build a new lakefront stadium went nowhere.

And Governor Pritzker was >> harshly critical about it just this week saying, well, the marijuana, you know, billions of dollars for the Bears and I refuse to I'm reminded of Alderman Jason Ervin, frequent, quit on the floor of the City Council.

Everyone wants to Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to us.

This is an clear example of All right.

Well, the Bears are the big news of the day, minor little things state lawmakers did manage to pass a budget in the wee hours of Monday morning.

Olivia, folks need to know about this year's spending plan?

I mean, the main thing is that this is mostly I'm, you know, sort of maintenance, but it's been described.

There's not any increases in income or sales tax that folks will sort notice and their day to day.

there are, you know, a number of transfers between different funds as always happens in a in balance the state budget.

There's also going to be a new coming out of the budget for folks who are kicked off of SNAP benefits due to work requirements.

That's money that was put in place.

>> Expanded by the Trump administration last year.

There will be direct payments to people lose their benefits as a result of I think about $400 on.

So that's one thing that's brand new in this budget.

But overall, a lot of maintenance.

And this I think 56 billion dollar budget yesterday.

What stood out to you this here?

What are things that really stood out is that the administration, the Pritzker administration, was really and state lawmakers in the Legislature.

talking about affordability at the same time.

You know, they're trying to >> put that against with the federal government is doing.

This is a Democrat controlled state.

And so clearly there are people who are very critical of President Trump.

And so they were really trying to play off of that is that this is an affordability issue.

You know, that they're giving the sales tax holiday for school supplies for a week in August.

They are taking a temporary halt to the increase in the gas tax at the same time, they did increase a few of you taxes that may impact businesses like the social media platform, digital advertising cryptocurrency things like that.

So I know that there has certainly been some noise made from those industries about these particular things.

you know, whether things that always stands out to me is like you were talking.

I was like all the way up to the end, you and they really pushed that May 31st deadline push right I think, you know, it's worth mentioning that it again is a crazy way to pass a budget in Illinois for to be tough, debating this.

It.

>> 3 o'clock.

4 o'clock in the morning with a little sort of transparency about what is actually in that final version of the budget and what isn't much less ample time for the residents of Illinois to sort of weigh in on it and sort of give their feedback to their lawmakers.

But we in have accepted.

This is normal and it will continue until somebody declares another what it could be politically dangerous, especially for the lawmakers.

that's one reason why Chris pulled back at the last minute and one on the Bears bill.

>> Because if you really don't know what you're voting on, if you don't really understand the nuances and things have not been and allies this in missing logic, there is going to come out it's going to come out later this year is going to come out run up to the November elections and lawmakers are going to be paying having to pay for it when when they get criticism for?

Yeah, I think most conversations that folks have it 3 in the morning, even if they're sober, the are not the most coherent could happen us.

Well, there is a piece of legislation that didn't move that would put new restrictions on data centers.

But Lauren, Light of that inaction.

Governor Pritzker announced he's pausing incentives for these new data centers that's earned him a bit of pushback.

Yeah, well, that because because there's a will there's a lot >> support for data centers, particularly in communities where this the fields feel like it's an economic need and some people wondered whether or not the governor really has the right or the authority to be able to do that so that is kind of kind of came out of nowhere.

This another late late week surprise.

Yeah, been a week full of yeah.

We mentioned the digital ad tax.

Heather Mayor Brandon Johnson was very excited about that.

Although the victory lap may have been a little bit premature.

It sure was.

He told reporters that he was excited that it would help the city's council, sir, to fill the projected 1.6 billion dollar budget gap that it's looking at in 2027 turns out.

>> That when the state budget actually made it all the way through it preempted the city from imposing its own version of its digital ad tax, which meant that really the only thing that the mayor accomplished in Springfield, the season was to kill that Bears bill.

He asked for the right to impose a one dollar fee on deliveries that don't include groceries or medicine.

They projected that he asked for the ability to tax perils of large firms that didn't even I think it really a serious hearing, although I should say that key that he did band together with other mayors to convince lawmakers to restore sort of local government share of the income tax and that it's not a huge deal for Chicago to about 13 million dollars.

But when you're looking at such a big deficit, every little bit helps well, and we were talking about the city's structural fiscal problems.

>> Of course, the state facing some of their own.

But there is proposal earlier this year to take action on pensions that didn't go anywhere.

This year.

Governor Pritzker has proposed a couple of times over the last few years to fully fund the pensions on Illinois and Chicago.

All have these very severely underfunded pensions.

>> He has been trying to increase the amount that is going into the pension funds to fully fund them.

Right now, there is a mandate to put them in about 90% funded by, you know, in a couple of decades.

He wants to put it at 100% by 2048, he floated that proposal 2 years ago.

Again this year.

It just hasn't gone anywhere.

Another bill didn't go anywhere.

Olivia pilot testing of these driverless cars like Waymo's.

But on the flip side, there was a measure allowing rideshare drivers like with Uber and Lyft to unionize.

>> We've seen a lot of pushback from Uber and Lyft on this idea in previous Sessions.

Did it feel like the opposition with a little more muted this year?

Oh, absolutely.

I mean, were actually ended up supporting an agreement that went through an ad not oppose it.

And, you that's because they're able to come to an agreement where these drivers are able to bargain.

on another part of the agreement is that they are still considered independent contractors, which is, you know, it sounds like a technical thing, but it does make a big difference the rights that these workers have.

But on there now on a path for they could organize themselves and essentially unionize bargain collectively with left wishes.

>> I potentially huge pool of people who are now eligible to Yeah, there was a huge push from rideshare drivers organizing at the Capitol.

The the governor still needs to sign the bill.

Absolute as with us as well.

that is the way it goes.

one of another big proposals from the governor was this sort of affordable housing slate of bills.

>> Lots of pushback to the idea of zoning reform from local municipalities.

You know, supporters are saying this isn't just affordable housing.

It's also economic development.

>> Yeah, I mean, if you can't get people to live in a particular area, you're not going to be able to get any of that multiplier effect that you have people spending money in the community.

And it's interesting because a couple years ago when DNC was here, the Democratic National Convention, I spoke with so many mayors at that time and housing in affordable housing was like the number one thing that every single mayor talk to me about.

And that's certainly the case here in Illinois.

And in Chicago and economic development and where people live go hand in hand and jobs to right where people live, where they play and where they work all is connected together.

Olivia, do we have any sense of whether any of those sort of build proposals from the governor might come back in the fall veto session or in the lame duck next year, too soon to say, I mean, just bought a little soon to say certainly the governor, when asked directly about the still continuing to work on us.

Early advocates are too.

But I mean, >> even as much different cities want to see new housing being built municipalities.

Some of them were at the forefront of opposition.

All of these types of proposals because they say it takes away some of their local control.

So that's a contention that the governor and other supporters that are going to continue to do with that part was certainly hours on legislative.

So pretty significant victory for aldermanic cracking.

And I was aldermanic friend will speaking of someone who may have to contend with Aldermanic prerogative one-day Heather.

There's a new contender for the mayor of Chicago.

That is Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.

What were the key messages you heard as she launched her campaign?

Well, she declared that Chicago is in the midst of a blizzard of incompetence.

And you really heard her sort of focus on that metaphor of the blizzard.

It was interesting to hear her say that the city was in public safety crisis.

When we know that it was the lowest murder rate in 16 years last year.

It's clear, though, that she >> is speaking to the people might see that data but not necessarily feel any safer where they live.

And, you know, she took it right to Mayor Johnson saying that he has done a poor job leading the city over the past 3 years.

And she we also heard a short of taking aim at Alexei Julius, too many people expect to run for mayor, even though he is also running for another term as secretary of state.

She, of course, ran in 2019, both for mayor and for re-election of comptroller and sort of got caught in the midst of Rahm Emanuel announcing in a shocking way that he was not going to seek a 3rd term.

So this time around, she forgo that reelection campaign.

She's all-in on Chicago's mayor is race.

I have not sort of work through my personal feelings about meeting.

The mayor's race fully under way.

it absolutely is.

And she's smart to get out of the box early because >> there's a lot of opportunity there for us.

She was she had hit a today about the Bears and slammed the slam.

The mayor about about Chicago losing the Bears.

>> So she's trying to use the story here.

Advantage.

She knows that, you know, generally is an island by quickly, the continent, north side, another person who says he's running, who's also running for office.

That puts him in difficult positions to so see she could be out front in She's been running for a while, actually because a social media.

So she's going to be a serious contender.

Well, you know, as you mentioned, these other candidates likely to be a crowded field.

You know, Mendoza, of course, ran into trouble in 2019 with her connections to folks like convicted former Alderman Ed Burke.

She actually told us on the show a couple nights ago she thinks the average voter doesn't really care much about at Burke anymore.

What's your take Why think their dad thing that think would that's they're see some with campaign against her that are going to bring up at Berkey going to bring up Chicago machine and the connection.

She has said this and that's argument than ever really dies.

But she's she's got a story to tell.

She's got a lot of experience both as Comptroller City clerk.

She was a state legislator.

So she knows she knows all the plain fields to Chicago.

In terms of politics.

And I think she's going to play that up.

And, you know, given the, you know, sort running to more to the center to the right of of Mayor Johnson.

You know, there are other folks that are going to be in that lane as well like Julius, like quickly, do you think that's going to sort of complicate how this race plays out?

Absolutely.

So I think that at least at this point I'm thinking of the mayor's race is sort of 2 different primaries.

And right now.

>> Brendan Johnson, who has not said whether he's going to run for a second term has the progressive lane to himself.

And right now that moderate centrist lane is very, very So it's almost as if they're going to 2 primaries in that first round of voting, who's going to be sort of the progressive candidate?

Will Brandon Johnson have a challenger from the left from the left?

Who's going to emerge from that moderate lane and will they have enough support to take on Brandon Johnson, who, as of right now is the only black candidate to sort of be in the mix.

race is always an issue in Chicago and it's not something any of us should not.

Discount.

Let's not rule out Willie Wilson, this will be with 3rd your time running for mayor.

>> Each time he gets 9 or 10% of the vote.

That's that that's going to come to Debra Johnson's Heights.

So that's that's something I think he's gonna be looking over shoulder Absolutely.

What?

We never have to look over our shoulder with the 4 of you.

Your all great.

But we are out of time.

So our thanks to Olivia Aulander, Laura Washington.

True thing and Heather, sure around.

back to wrap things up right after this.

>> Tonight's presentation of Week in review is made possible in part by an and rich com BNSF railway.

And Francine and Doctor Anthony Brown.

Chicago tonight is made possible in part by the Alexander and John Nichols family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation, additional support is provided by.

>> That's our show for this Friday night for all of us here at the week in review.

I'm Nick Blumberg.

Thank you for watching.

Stay healthy, stay safe and stay informed.

Have a great weekend.

>> Alright fishel to lifting the curtain on the Obama presidential center.

you all made some of the previous that we've got stop particular rule out from a public relations They did excellent job of marketing.

>> You can't turn around without hearing about the Obama center, which is it's an important institution Chicago.

Absolutely.

Anybody that plans to go just yet.

I mean, I think the smart move would be to wait for the crowds to It's going to be but I think it's interesting how it's almost time inviting the community to be outside spaces at the well to the inside spaces.

So I think it might be worth even going to just sort of experience what it's like outside in that new Branch library in the new Plaza.

And, you know, I think that >> it's going to sort remake that entire hers caption is made possible.

>> By Clifford and Clifford Law offices, a Chicago personal injury and wrongful