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TGIF, Illinois. Get comfy, because today’s newsletter is extra newsy.
TOP TALKER
STAR POWER: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hit Chicago Thursday to give a national policy speech that had a crowd of finance chiefs leaning in to her every word.
Call her the Taylor Swift of number crunchers. State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Austan Goolsbee were all on hand.
Yellen didn’t disappoint. She said inflation is falling and the economy is booming — and she credited the wins to President Joe Biden’s strategy to help the middle class.
The big message: “This story of the middle class is not separate from the state of the economy. It’s at the heart of it,” Yellen said. “By middle class, I don’t mean a narrow or fixed group. I mean workers across industries and occupations— from firefighters to nurses to factory workers.”
It was music to the ears to many at the luncheon at the Fairmont Hotel sponsored by the Economic Club of Chicago.
Sing it, sister: “I just hope the room full of executives left the lunch more confident with the state of the economy,” said Mendoza, who praised Yellen for reminding that consumer confidence is up and unemployment is down. “As a (political) party, we don’t do enough to really highlight how the economy has turned around.”
The Trump factor: “As someone who is investing in infrastructure here in Illinois through our FIRST Fund and spent four long years watching Donald Trump do nothing, it’s great to see President Biden’s administration highlight what he’s been able to achieve on infrastructure,” Frerichs told Playbook.
Nods from the business set: “She presented some very compelling statistics,” SomerCor CEO Manny Flores said after the speech. “I appreciated that she was very candid in saying that we still have a ways to go, that people are still hurting but that there is some optimism… that there’s improvement in the overall economy.”
“Enlightening,” is how Bob Wislow, chair of Parkside Realty, described Yellen’s speech. “It allowed me to see what the thought processes are behind the programs and policies.”
Also in the crowd: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, City Clerk Anna Valencia, the Illinois State Board of Investment’s Koula Berlin, Sheriff Tom Dart, Ventas CEO Debra Cafaro, Chicago Community Trust CEO Andrea Sáenz, developer Fred Latsko, attorney Graham Grady, Russel Reynolds’ Alison Ranney, businessman Andrew Shure, Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot and Big Shoulders Fund’s Josh Hale.
SIDE NOTE
Breakfast talk: Yellen had breakfast with Gov. JB Pritzker Thursday morning. The conversation focused on Pritzker’s economic strategy and “how Biden’s initiatives are impacting Illinois. We talked a good deal about the infrastructure bill and his own initiatives,” Yellen said. Sounds like heavy talk for breakfast, we told Yellen. She smiled. “The food was great” and there was “nice conversation… about mutual interests,” she said. What a tease!
ABOUT YELLEN's SPEECH: U.S. growth shatters expectations, boosting Biden’s economic pitch, by POLITICO’s Victoria Guida and Declan Harty
THE BUZZ
CEASE-FIRE VOTE: The Chicago City Council is on track to vote Wednesday on a resolution that calls for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
It’s a position Ald. Debra Silverstein, the only Jewish member of the council, firmly opposes.
In a letter obtained by Playbook, Silverstein has asked council members to work “collaboratively,” saying it’s important that the resolution’s language doesn’t put Chicago at odds with President Joe Biden’s administration, especially given the Democratic National Convention is coming to town this summer.
Kid-gloves treatment: “It is imperative that we handle it with utmost care and precision, ensuring that our actions do not conflict with the initiatives of President Biden,” she said in her letter.
Silverstein also referred to the outbursts at this week’s City Council meeting by pro-Palestinian protesters who booed her when she spoke about the Holocaust and its survivors. “We must do all we can to prevent [Wednesday’s] ugliness from becoming the norm,” she said.
A key point, said Silverstein, is making sure the City Council's resolution doesn’t validate or adopt the United Nations Resolution 377, which was used recently to bring a vote on a ceasefire resolution to the U.N General Assembly after the United States vetoed the resolution in the Security Council.
Silverstein’s concern: She doesn’t want the Chicago resolution to put the city “on the record as supporting 377 [and] undermining the interests of the United States and hence the authority, power and influence of President Biden and every U.S. president since Harry Truman.”
Here’s a copy of the council’s resolution with Silverstein’s recommended amendments, including calling for the release of hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 and calling for an end to attacks by Hamas and to the harm against Palestinians.
Ald. Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez, a sponsor of the non-binding cease-fire resolution, didn't immediately respond for comment.
Watch for a close vote: Though 28 alderpersons signed a letter requesting the vote be delayed to next week, it doesn’t mean 28 will oppose it. The mayor also announced Wednesday that he favors a cease-fire.
SEPARATE LETTER ON MIGRANTS | Aldermen sign letter urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to scrap 60-day migrant shelter policy: “Johnson allies such as Aldermen Daniel La Spata and Byron Sigcho-Lopez are among the 16 aldermen who joined migrant response mutual aid groups in signing the letter to the mayor, along with more moderate council members such as Ald. Matt O’Shea,” by the Tribune’s Alice Yin, Jake Sheridan and A.D. Quig.
NEW POLL. OUCH! | Mayor Brandon Johnson’s job performance gets poor marks: “70 percent rated his performance as fair or poor” in a survey conducted by Democratic pollster Tulchin Research. Johnson’s political team called the poll “skewed." "This is the same kind of poll that showed Brandon Johnson wouldn’t be mayor. They were wrong then. They are wrong now,” said Johnson campaign spokesman Bill Neidhart, the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman reports.
If you are Tom Dart, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email [email protected]
WHERE'S JB
No official public events.
WHERE's BRANDON
At Malcolm X College at 10:30 a.m. for the CTA hiring fair.
Where's Toni
No official public events.
Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (gasp!) a complaint? Email [email protected]
CONVENTION ZONE
— PLAYBOOK IN PERSON: Christy George, the executive director of the Democratic National Convention’s host committee, will sit down with your Playbook host at the Hideout on Feb. 1. Details here
2024 WATCH
— Ethnicity, experience take center stage in first faceoff of Illinois Supreme Court candidates: Illinois Supreme Court Justice Joy Cunningham said race has been wrongly “injected” into the Democratic primary contest for a seat on the high court. State Appellate Judge Jesse Reyes argues ethnicity matters because no Latino has ever sat on the state’s highest court, reports the Tribune’s Dan Petrella.
— BIG AD: Darren Bailey has placed a $15,000 ad to run during the Super Bowl on Feb 11. Bailey is running for Congress in the IL-12 District against fellow incumbent Republican Mike Bost.
— The Bring Chicago Home referendum has been endorsed by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, which represents Environmental Protection Agency workers at the Chicago EPA Region 5 headquarters.
— Personal PAC has released its first round of endorsements. Read ‘em here
THE STATEWIDES
— State education board to seek $653M increase in upcoming budget year, by Capitol News’ Peter Hancock
— COMMENTARY: Illinois has the tools and talent to power America’s next stage of semiconductor tech, write Gov. JB Pritzker and Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth in The Hill
CHICAGO
— CPS renews contracts for charter schools — with shorter terms, by the Sun-Times’ Nader Issa and WBEZ’s Sarah Karp
— Chicago Federation of Labor’s Bob Reiter throws support behind Sox stadium plan, by Crain’s Justin Laurence
— City Hall insider under 3 mayors was allowed to serve on the board of crooked Chicago bank, reports the Sun-Times’ Tim Novak
COOK COUNTY AND COLLARS
— Inside the $800,000 experiment to turn a Frank Lloyd Wright into a net-zero energy home, by Fred A. Bernstein in The Wall Street Journal
— Naperville will not consider volunteer list for housing migrants, by the Daily Herald’s Alicia Fabbre
— 211 helpline connects Cook County residents to health and social services, WTTW’s Joanna Hernandez reports
TAKING NAMES
— HIGH JINKS: Big names came out to honor state Sen. Kimberly Lightford for her 25 years in the Illinois General Assembly: Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Atty Gen. Kwame Raoul, state Rep. Kam Buckner, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, former Senate President John Cullerton, political consultant Becky Carroll, lobbying adviser Mary Kay Minaghan, tax and budget expert Ralph Martire and former state Sen. Toi Hutchinson.
The big laugh: Hutchinson introduced Pritzker and praised him as the “best governor in America.” When he took the stage, Pritzker asked, “Is anyone here high?” It was a play on Hutchinson previously serving as the cannabis czar for Illinois, and the crowd at Red Door Meeting Place in Broadview roared.
Reader Digest
We asked about the biggest fine you’ve ever received:
David Robinson: “I got a ticket for an open container at the 1997 St. Paddy's parade. Lots of other folks in line had to pay that Monday. But the pros working the window at City Hall took care of us quickly. Best team in America!”
NEXT QUESTION: Who’s an elected official who eventually won you over?
THE NATIONAL TAKE
— College sports giants struggle to get rescued by Congress, by POLITICO’s Juan Perez Jr. and Nick Niedzwiadek
— ‘Preposterous’: Federal judge decries efforts to downplay Jan. 6 violence, label perpetrators ‘hostages,’ by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney
— Fears cloud return of Boeing’s 737 MAX 9, by POLITICO’s Oriana Pawlyk and Tanya Snyder
TRANSITIONS
— Mario Moreno Zepeda will be chief of staff for the office of the provost at the University of Chicago. He was chief of staff for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
— Wilson Baldwin is now Democratic communications director for the House China Select Committee. He continues as deputy chief of staff and comms director for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08).
— Ellie Leonard will join Ameren as a comms executive for its legislative and regulatory divisions. Today’s her last day as comms director for the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus.
EVENTS
— Late tonight (1 a.m. Saturday): Jonathan Eig, author of the “King, A Life,” sits down with Hermene Hartman on NBC 5 Chicago Late Night. Rebroadcasts on Channel 25 in Chicago on Monday at 8 p.m., Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and next Saturday at 11 a.m.
TRIVIA
THURSDAY’s ANSWER: The week of June 7-10, 1916, saw the Republican convention held at the Chicago Coliseum and the Progressive convention held at the Auditorium Building.
TODAY's QUESTION: Who was Decatur’s first city plumber? Email [email protected]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Today: Retired Judge Sheldon “Shelly” Harris, MyOwnDoctor telehealth CEO Cheryle Jackson, LIFT Management President Robin Loewenberg Tebbe and Wells Fargo strategy exec Jon Tomashoff.
Saturday: Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, City Treasurer Chief of Staff Matt McGrath, 22nd Ward Workforce Committee Chief of Staff Carlos Gamboa and University of Chicago Graham School Dean Seth Green.
Sunday: Former Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Lorraine Murphy, Culloton + Bauer Luce VP Eleni Demertzis, Cor Strategies’ Collin Corbett, political consultant Tom Stapka and retired teacher Georgette Kapos.
And belated greetings to Elianne Bahena, the 22nd Ward district office chief of staff, who celebrated Thursday.
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