A full-court press from the owners of the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks on Monday helped push the measure backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the goal line.

A measure that would allow five of Chicago’s professional sports teams let fans place bets at their home arenas and during games stalled again Tuesday despite the support of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, amid concerns that it could kneecap long-delayed efforts to build a casino in Chicago.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said getting a casino off the ground in Chicago will “usher in a new and exciting era for our city.” 

Opponents of the measure are concerned that greenlighting sports betting lounges at Wrigley Field, United Center, Wintrust Arena, Solider Field and Guaranteed Rate Field would stunt the growth of a casino-resort in Chicago.

Three firms want to build a casino and resort in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Friday. All five proposals are of a “high-caliber,” Lightfoot said in a statement released by the mayor’s office.

The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s $16.7 billion budget on Wednesday with the backing of progressive members who celebrated the spending plan’s focus on affordable housing, mental health, violence prevention, youth job programs and help for unhoused Chicagoans.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot made her closing argument for her $16.7 billion 2022 budget on Tuesday, saying the spending plan would allow Chicago officials to “build a stronger and more prosperous city” amid the wreckage of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to spend $16.7 billion in 2022 is on track to be approved next week by the Chicago City Council after she agreed Friday to demands from the Progressive Caucus that the city boost spending on mental health services and affordable housing programs.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to hike property taxes by $76.5 million cleared a key hurdle Thursday, with the City Council’s Finance Committee advancing the mayor’s $16.7 billion spending plan to the full City Council.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s proposal to spend $16.7 billion in 2022 faces two critical votes in the coming days, as members of the City Council wrangle behind the scenes on how to spend nearly $2 billion in federal aid while closing massive shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The growing share of city property taxes sent to tax increment finance districts has fueled a perennial argument over whether the districts actually spur redevelopment and eradicate blight or serve to exacerbate growing inequality in Chicago.

Chicago’s homeless population would receive significant funding and support from the city under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget proposal. As part of our “Firsthand: Living in Poverty” series, we take a look at how that money would be allocated.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has unveiled her budget plan for 2022, a plan that one alderman called a “Christmas list” of progressive spending items. We break it all down with four Chicago reporters.

Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett defended the mayor’s spending plan as a thoughtful plan to “build a bridge toward financial stability while the economy continues to recover.” 

The 2022 spending plan relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funding to shore up Chicago’s budget gaps, increases police spending and invests in ward-by-ward community programs. Is it too reliant on federal COVID-19 funding?

As Chicago emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW News on Monday that city officials must be “bold and transformative” to address not only the immediate damage caused by the pandemic but also the city’s longstanding woes.