Ald. Emma Mitts looks on as Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa apologizes during the Chicago City Council meeting on Nov. 7, 2023, in which he narrowly avoided censure. (WTTW News)

“I felt like I was back in the South,” said Ald. Emma Mitts, who grew up in Arkansas, during the era of Jim Crow. “I felt like everything in me was shaking.”

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward), center, attends a meeting of the City Council's Budget Committee hours after resigning as Mayor Brandon Johnson's top City Council ally. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)
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Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa said in a statement that he allowed tensions at Thursday's special City Council meeting “to get the better of me and act in a way unbecoming of a leader.”

(WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson recently announced a new proposal dubbed “Bring Chicago Home,” which would raise about $100 million dollars to fight homelessness by raising taxes on all sales above $1 million, and then an additional hike on sales of more than $1.5 million dollars.

A server working in a restaurant. (WTTW News)
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Chicago could join Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington D.C. in ending the tipped minimum wage.

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) said the tipped minimum wage should be eliminated to protect workers from sexual harassment, wage theft and abuse. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)
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Chicago is set to join Alaska, California, Guam, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Washington D.C. in ending the tipped minimum wage.

Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) said the tipped minimum wage should be eliminated to protect workers from sexual harassment, wage theft and abuse. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)
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Taken together, the two proposals are likely to form the foundation of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s agenda when it comes to labor. A former organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union, Johnson enjoyed the unanimous support of Chicago’s progressive labor organizations.

State Sen. Natalie Toro, in pink, takes the oath of office as the representative of the 20th District as Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez, in orange, looks on. (Credit: Illinois Senate Democrats)

The appointment of Natalie Toro to represent a wide swath of Chicago’s Northwest Side in the Illinois Senate sets up a fierce battle next spring as the progressive political organizations and labor unions that helped elect Mayor Brandon Johnson push to consolidate their power.

Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) said the tipped minimum wage should be eliminated to protect workers from sexual harassment, wage theft and abuse. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)
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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s mayoral campaign platform called for an end to the tipped minimum wage, noting that those who rely on tips to earn a living wage are more likely to be Black and Latina women.

(WTTW News)
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The Kennedy Expressway construction project that kicked off earlier this year had an unexpected effect on some of the 35th Ward’s unhoused residents: the scope of the work endangered those living in viaducts under the expressway.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

Led by former allies of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the successful push to rewrite the rules for the City Council — which served as a rubber stamp for decades under Mayors Richard J. Daley, Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel — is the result of years of effort to transform it into a legislative body determined to set policy for the entire city.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

The proposal – which has not yet been debated in public – could get a final vote on Thursday as part of supporters’ push for a quick vote before the runoff between Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson set for April 4.

Members of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless blast half of the City Council for failing to show up for a hearing on a proposal to tax the sale of properties worth more than $1 million to fight homelessness on Monday, Nov. 14. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

Dozens of Chicagoans who waited hours to get their turn to address the Chicago City Council were prevented from speaking because a majority of the Chicago City Council attended Monday's special meeting.

A Chicago Works sign hangs on the fence separating traffic from ongoing work to renovate the Dearborn Street bridge. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

Representatives of the city’s Department of Transportation and the Budget Office declined to provide WTTW News with a full breakdown of spending during 2021 and 2022 under the banner of Chicago Works.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers her budget address on Oct. 3, 2022. (WTTW News)
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan to close a projected $170.6 million budget gap in 2023 relies on booming tax revenues that she said proves Chicago’s budget has fully recovered from the economic catastrophe caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

A coalition of progressive groups has been working for nearly a year to prevent Mayor Lori Lightfoot from being re-elected by uniting behind a single candidate. Nothing in the Lightfoot’s spending plan is likely to alter that determination — and may give them more ammunition to use against the mayor.

(WTTW News)

The February 2023 election represents a nearly unprecedented opportunity for Democratic Socialists to not only take on Mayor Lori Lightfoot but also to remake the Chicago City Council after a wave of retirements and departures.