Business and real estate interests spent millions to tank Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to raise Chicago’s real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales to create a dedicated revenue source to combat homelessness.
They also bankrolled a $2 million independent expenditure committee to help elect moderate City Council members they hoped would be “part of the solution, not lob bombs from the sideline.”
Now, influential business leaders are forming yet another nonprofit group, with an affiliated political action committee, to advance their “long-term, systemic civic priorities” for the city and state.
They’re calling it “One Future Illinois,” and its leadership roster of business heavyweights includes some who have held prominent positions in city and state government.
Among them: investment banker Steve Koch, who served as deputy mayor under former Mayor Rahm Emanuel; Derek Douglas, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club; and Jesse Ruiz, former deputy governor for education in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration. Ruiz also served as interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools, chair of the Illinois State Board of Education and board president of the Chicago Park District.
Also on the board of the new PAC are Liam Krehbiel, founder and CEO of Topography and Carol Portman, former president of he Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois.
Mike Ruemmler, who managed Emanuel’s 2015 re-election campaign after serving as a top mayoral aide for three-and-a-half-years, will serve as president of both the nonprofit and the PAC itself.
Ruemmler also ran the business PAC created to prevent a City Council in transition from turning sharply to the left. The group used the $2 million it raised to “engage in 17 or 18 races” and claims to have been on the “winning side” of 14 or 15 of those races.
This time, the scope is broader and longer-term.
It’s to “cut across party lines to solve” intransigent problems in transportation, finance, housing, public safety and education.
“Our goal is for this to be a sustained and permanent presence,” Ruemmler told the Sun-Times.
“Our politics are becoming more polarized. Governments are becoming less effective. We hope to cut across party lines and propose solutions, engage stakeholders and City Council members…The goal is to provide more balance in civic dialogue and be a voice in civic life for the business community.”
The tax-exempt group will organize under section 501(c)(4) of the federal tax code, which means it "must be operated exclusively to promote social welfare," according to the IRS. It can spend the money it raises on issues and issue advertising. The affiliated PAC, meanwhile, can contribute directly to candidates for elected office. Both groups hope to raise and maintain a balance “into the seven figures,” Ruemmler said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson campaigned on a promise to raise taxes by $800 million to help bankroll $1 billion worth of “investments in people.” The array of education, mental health and other social programs form the cornerstone of the mayor’s plan to deliver Chicago from violent crime.
But the mayor’s first budget froze property taxes instead of taking employing the automatic escalator, tied to the rate of inflation, approved under Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration. It included none of the tax increases he championed, included a revived employee head tax, an increased hotel tax, a tax on jet fuel and a new tax on professional services.
Instead, the mayor punted the search for new revenue to a City Council subcommittee, then suffered a crushing political blow when voters defeated the real estate transfer tax increase, which would have funded his signature “Bring Chicago Home” referendum.
With federal COVID relief funds drying up and the pension crisis mounting, Ruemmler was asked whether the new PAC was formed to prevent the mayor from proposing an onslaught of new city taxes.
“We’ll see what the plans are and we’ll evaluate them. We haven’t seen anything yet. … He hasn’t offered a budget plan. When he does, we’ll take a look,” Ruemmler said.
“Hopefully, we can work together. We’re not trying to be opponents. We’re trying to find solutions and not be a roadblock.”
Asked if the new business PAC could be a prelude to fielding a candidate for mayor against Johnson, Ruemmler said: “Absolutely not. This is about issues.”
