Lightfoot, labor leaders seek more fed aid

Call for help to fill city’s coronavirus revenue hole

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and labor leaders whose members could bear the brunt of layoffs or furloughs as the city tries to close a yawning 2021 budget deficit called on Illinois’ congressional delegation last week to work toward passage of a federal aid package that could forestall the deepest cuts.

It’s not likely the letter they sent to legislators from Illinois will have much impact on the partisan Washington, D.C., impasse over aid to cities and other units of government hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it illustrates how Lightfoot and union heads are trying to show they’re working together before the mayor introduces a budget proposal next month that she has warned could include significant payroll cuts in many front-line city departments to help close a shortfall for next year she estimates at $1.2 billion.

While laying out that financial hole last month, Lightfoot said a federal revenue deal is the best way to avoid cuts that would affect city services.

In the letter to Illinois’ congressional members, Lightfoot and the heads of the Chicago Federation of Labor, AFSCME Council 31 and other unions said the virus fallout “has caused a seismic disruption to our economy, and — as a consequence — our City finances.”

“City employees make up the backbone of our middle class, especially in communities of color — and they always have,” the letter reads in part. “We owe a debt of gratitude to our workers. That’s why, amid the economic fallout from the pandemic, the last thing we want to do is lay off our critical public sector employees. We urgently need federal support to shore up our budget and keep people working amid this crisis.”

The letter was sent Wednesday, a day before U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, a Peoria Republican, introduced legislation that would create a loan program for state and local governments, but prevent Illinois from receiving any loan forgiveness because of the state’s massive public employee pension debt. LaHood’s plan stands little chance of passage in a Democratic- controlled House.

In a statement Friday, Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said the union is “proud to stand with Mayor Lightfoot” to try to get federal officials to help Chicago.

“The time for partisanship has long passed,” Reiter said. “We cannot jeopardize critical city services or the jobs of thousands of dedicated public service workers who have put their duty above their own safety day after day during this crisis.”