Committee backs a higher bar

The City Council's Finance Committee approved a measure Monday that would make borrowing money harder for Chicago, over loud objections from Mayor Brandon Johnson's closest ally.

Quinn started at two-thirds

Retiring 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn first proposed lifting the borrowing threshold from a simple majority of 26 votes to a two-thirds majority of 34.

Seventeen could have blocked

Under the original plan, just 17 Council members would have been enough to stop any future borrowing the city wanted to do.

He cut the deal down

To win over wavering colleagues, Quinn lowered the bar to three-fifths, or 30 votes. The softer number did the job.

The vote was 21-9

The Finance Committee approved the revised ordinance by a wide margin, sending it forward with real momentum behind it.

Another loss for Johnson

It follows a Council majority that killed Johnson's corporate head tax and pushed through its own alternative city budget.

The timing stings

The vote landed one day after Johnson launched his reelection campaign and just weeks before he presents his fourth, possibly final, budget.

Ervin calls it hostage-taking

Budget Committee Chair Jason Ervin argued 26 votes already suffice for everything the Council does, and that a blocking minority breaks how democracy is supposed to work.

“To allow a minority of members to effectively hold everybody hostage, I don't think is in the best interest”

Who does this hurt

Ervin pressed colleagues on how the move would read in minority communities, framing it as a question of what is being done to whom, and by whom.

“Why now? We need to look at the optics of how this will be perceived”

City Hall warns of gridlock

Senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee said letting a super-minority block bond ordinances would stall repairs to roads, bridges and other aging infrastructure.

“You don't want to create an opportunity for a super-minority to play politics with critical infrastructure”

Reilly: not about this mayor

Ald. Brendan Reilly said the rule applies to every future mayor and rewards a Council that has started acting independently of the executive.

“This change applies to all future mayors.”

More cooks, more scrutiny

Reilly's pitch is that needing extra votes forces specific conversations with individual members about whether the debt is prudent for taxpayers.

“We want more scrutiny. We want more vetting.”

Last year's close call

The Council nearly blocked an $830 million general obligation bond whose back-loaded repayment schedule pushed the real price tag to $2 billion.

Johnson broke the tie

That bond passed 26-23 only after Johnson cast the third tie-breaking vote of his tenure, snapping a 25-25 deadlock to defeat Reilly's motion to delay.

A promise future taxpayers keep

Ald. Bill Conway, a former investment banker, said pension obligations and existing debt make a higher consensus bar reasonable for anything new.

“When we borrow, we are making a promise that future taxpayers and future City Councils are gonna be required to keep.”

One step above junk

Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson backs the three-fifths bar, pointing to an S&P negative outlook on CPS and city debt that grew 32.8% to $29.2 billion by 2023.

“This isn't a political thing. This is math.”