Tonight’s Chicago Metro Suburban edition of Public Affairs airs in 25 Chicago Metro North and Northwest suburbs at 8:30 pm on Comcast Cable:

• –Ch. 19 in Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, parts of Inverness, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Wilmette and on
• –Ch. 35 in Arlington Heights, Bartlett, Glenview, Golf, Des Plaines, Hanover Park, Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Schaumburg, Skokie, Streamwood and Wheeling

The show also airs in:

In Highland Park at 8:30 pm, Cable Ch 19 tomorrow night

You can also watch the Public Affairs show 24/7 by clicking here.   

Is there a way to cut property taxes in IL 40% & boost student performance?  

Illinois’ Governor, JB Pritzker (D-Chicago), announced two weeks ago he is seeking re-election in November 2022 and Terry Martin and Jeff Berkowitz kick off their assessment of as many as 20 different issues that are likely to be raised by his four announced Republican opponents and a new candidate who is likely to join the race in the next 30 days.  

One of the major issues facing the Governor is Illinois’ 2^nd highest property tax in the country, largely attributable to IL’s extraordinary K-12 education spending levels, almost 70% more than Florida and almost 60% more than Indiana (See charts and analysis by Wirepoints).

As Jeff and Terry explain, if IL can cut its spending per pupil per year by about $6600 to match that of Florida, IL could cut the property taxes for the average IL taxpayer by about 40 %.

But Gov. Pritzker brags about how much his Administration has boosted education spending, even though as Wirepoints has shown, both Florida and Indiana, spending much less, generally outperform IL in standardized test scores. Berkowitz and Martin predict this Education spending- Property tax issue will be intensely discussed during the 2022 IL gubernatorial campaign.

Further, people continue to complain about the public schools being mostly shut down or in a remote mode during the last year, and that lock down was needless and didn’t make IL safer than “More open” states such as Florida.

Currently, the hot issue across the state is whether kids should have to wear masks when they return to school in the fall. Berkowitz outlines some of the science and data supporting a no mask policy for students.

Berkowitz and Martin discuss the continued concern by parents across the state with Pritzker’s IL State Board of Education (ISBE) and school administrators often promoting and mandating a critical race theory curriculum, notwithstanding their denial of same.

Can Pritzker dodge the issue with his ISBE saying: We only promote “Cultural Responsive Teaching & Leading Standards, not Critical Race Theory.” To many, they appear to be one and the same, with critical race theory often disguised as culturally responsive teaching standards.  

Rampant crime in IL and especially in  Chicago

Homicides were up by 50 % in Chicago in 2020, and are continuing at that high rate this year, said Berkowitz. If Pritzker’s criminal justice reform is working so well, why is violent crime still going up rapidly as the spending for his programs increases?

IL Economy and job growth recovery- still lagging the nation?

Berkowitz and Martin discuss the economy and job growth challenges to the Pritzker administration.  During Covid, did Pritzker, thru his IDPH, order and enforce needless IL economy lock-downs instead of focusing on protecting the vulnerable, especially those in Nursing and Vet homes? 

In sum, Berkowitz argues that there are at least twenty issue contrasts that actual and potential GOP GOV candidates are chomping at the bit to run on in the 2022 gubernatorial election. If Ken Griffin and other Republican donors step up and match Gov. Pritzker’s expected self- financing of his own campaign and that of legislative candidates to the tune of $150 million and the GOP chosen candidate runs on the key issues, Berkowitz predicts a GOP GOV candidate could beat Gov Pritzker.

Berkowitz predicts a new, credible candidate will join the GOP GOV race during the next 30 days. Pritzker is vulnerable and with at least five GOP GOV primary candidates in hot pursuit, and with significant funding from Griffin of the GOP primary winner, the GOP could retire Gov. Pritzker in 15 months.