Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday he will do whatever it takes to avert a government shutdown, the reality the city faces if City Hall doesn’t pass a 2026 budget by Dec. 30.
Johnson said he has “not made that final decision” on whether to veto a budget he still believes is $165 million out of balance, and would set Chicago up for a midyear shortfall requiring layoffs, service cuts, tax increases or a painful mix of those three.
But by vowing to do “whatever it takes,” he implied that he would not risk a veto that would invite an emboldened City Council to override.
“ So whatever I have to do to ensure that the government doesn’t get shut down, I’m going to do that,” the mayor told WBEZ-FM Radio host Sasha-Ann Simons on the monthly “Ask the Mayor” show.
“No one benefits from that. I do know that there are some individuals — not in City Council necessarily — but there are some individuals that want that type of chaos and destruction because they thrive in that. You see how Donald Trump thrives in chaos. There are people who are trying to influence this budget who want us to have that type of chaos. But I’m not going to stand for it.”
Nevertheless, Johnson is no longer in the driver’s seat.
Conservative and moderate alderpersons have rejected Johnson’s proposed corporate head tax, removed it from the budget and teed up their alternative spending and revenue plan for a final Council vote in coming days.
It’s balanced by a revised revenue package that would raise taxes on plastic shopping bags and the sale of liquor for off-premise consumption; authorize video gambling; and apply congestion fees to Uber and Lyft rides in a broader Downtown area.
The mayor’s finance team has questioned revenue assumptions made for the tax increases to liquor and plastic bags, as well as the opposition group’s forecast for revenue from video gambling, augmented reality and advertising on city vehicles and other assets.
But Johnson reiterated Thursday that his biggest beef remains the decision to replace the corporate head tax with more than $90 million in “enhanced debt collections on everyday Chicagoans.” He calls it “immoral” and “simply not feasible.”
“There’s a majority of alders who would prefer to tax working and poor people, particularly by sending debt collectors after poor people and working people. I don’t believe there’s a realistic pathway to be able to generate that revenue, and I don’t believe it’s morally sound,” he said.
After their negotiating session with the mayor ended badly Monday, opposition alderpersons say they’re done negotiating with the Johnson administration.
They believe they’re closing in on 30 votes — four short of a veto-proof majority — and believe they would pick up the rest if Johnson were to veto their budget.
“What else can I do outside of making my case that this is the right approach?” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it’s my job to present a budget. It’s their job to pass one.”
Although opposition alderpersons have the votes to pass their alternative budget, Johnson said negotiations are ongoing, adding, “This is not over you all.” Top mayoral aides on Thursday talked with members of the Progressive Caucus, whose votes could be needed to override a mayoral veto.
The mayor categorically denied that the Council’s decision to seize a budget process long dictated by mayors was a “rebuke” or “repudiation” of him, his politics or his leadership of Chicago.
“It’s not a repudiation or rebuke of me. Eighty percent of Chicagoans have said they’re in agreement with taxing these large corporations,” he said. “The alternative presentation has also said that they agree with me. All of the measures and the full vision that we have in this budget — all of that is intact.”
The City Council has not seized control over a budget process long controlled by mayors to this extent since the 1980s, when 29 mostly white aldermen led by Edward Vrdolyak and Edward Burke tried to thwart then-Mayor Harold Washington’s every move.
Johnson said he is unfazed by the historic nature of the budget battle, and recently told an ailing Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. that he is “standing firm” for “the Rainbow Coalition that he helped” build.
“I was sharing with him — because he’s still pretty sharp and he’s aware of what’s going on around him — that we are standing firm… on ensuring that access to health care, particularly mental health, access to education, investing in transportation, investing in our young people, that fight is still alive, Reverend,” Johnson said.
“And with the little bit of strength that was in his body, he just lifted his fist and got it up to about his shoulder. It’s a moment that, quite frankly, I’ll never forget. It’s a moment that is driving me to remain firm.”