28 Chicago alders say mayor's 2027 budget lacks votes to pass

All right, back here in Chicago, officials still haven't passed the 2027 budget and we're getting closer to the deadline to have one. Yeah, Mayor Brandon Johnson is scheduled to present another proposal, but we might already know how that's going to play out. So, Brittany Toulis is here to catch us up on all of this. Now, what is going on here, Brittany? Yeah, I got a spicy letter in my hand from 28 alder people here in the city and this group of alders is basically telling Mayor Brandon Johnson to go back to the drawing board, don't even propose his budget. They're saying his proposed budget right now is a It's a non-starter. Now, just a little civics lesson. To get this budget passed, Mayor Brandon Johnson needs a simple majority of 26 votes, and these 28 alders are already telling Mayor Brandon Johnson he does not have it. Now, those alders are saying they're not voting for Mayor Brandon Johnson's 2027 budget, rejecting his plan to close the $882.4 million budget gap. Now, in this letter, the alders detailed out why they're rejecting this budget. The Alders say it's because It's because about half of the mayor's proposed budget gap closing funds are one-time payments and borrowing, and those funds are not guaranteed next year. They say they want more detailed bookkeeping when it comes to savings, documenting where every dollar comes from. They even said they want an itemized list. Now, the group also says they're rejecting the corporate head tax and the 33% increase in personal property lease transactions. They also say they're rejecting what they're calling millions of dollars in new spending and again using one-time revenue to close that budget gap Now, last week, Alders actually didn't just say this, they did something about it. They voted down Mayor Brandon Johnson's attempt at chipping away at that budget gap with a $75 million parking meter deal money and said Alders voted to use that for this year's pension, not putting that towards next year's budget. Now, these 28 alders end this letter by saying there are 51 days left before the city is required to have that budget approved, telling Mayor Brandon Johnson to use that time wisely to completely rewrite his budget and not try to defend the current proposal. It's a spicy list, guys. Yeah, I can't wait to read that letter for myself.