As news spread of a caucus of moderate and conservative-leaning alderpeople backtracking on initial proposals in their alternative 2026 budget to increase garbage collection fees and freeze youth jobs, a coalition of grassroots organizers celebrated the about-face as a win.
“The fact that the alders in the corporate caucus had to recognize that they couldn’t cut youth jobs and keep their own jobs is a big organizing win for our communities,” Rocio Garcia, organizing director of Grassroots Collaborative, wrote in a written statement. The collective is part of the People’s Unity Platform, a coalition of community members who have rallied in support of the mayor’s budget proposal for what they see as progressive revenue options to fill the city’s budget gap.
“Keeping youth jobs and abandoning their plan to raise our garbage fees is a sign that the community pressure is working,” Garcia said. “Now, they have to actually show how they will pay for it and they should know by now that the only acceptable answer is taxing the large corporations who can afford it, not the rest of us.”
The caucus presented new budget ideas in a written statement released today ahead of Monday’s Chicago City Council meeting, which was immediately adjourned because they didn’t have quorum. Thirty alderpeople were marked absent for the meeting; many of whom voted last week to schedule multiple meetings to find middle ground on a balanced budget before the Dec. 30 deadline. Twenty-six alderpeople are needed for quorum.
Although the alders say they have revised their recommendations, the caucus didn’t present an itemized list of updates as they’ve done previously. Ald. Gil Villegas (36th Ward), who authored the statement, referred to the caucus of 27 alderpeople as “the Alternative FY26 Budget Aldermanic Coalition.”
“We believe that this final proposal represents the position of an even broader number of alders than we had just a few days ago and are excited to move forward in this process to avoid a shutdown and give residents, families and businesses the peace of mind they deserve as we close out 2025,” the statement reads.
Villegas was one of 30 alderpeople who did not show up to today’s City Council meeting. According to the statement, the coalition worked on their latest update over the weekend. They plan to introduce the third proposal this week in council.
“Unfortunately, a majority of members of council did not show up today. People have been working all through the weekend, but I think just the decency and respect, you call the meeting, you show up for the meeting,” Jason Ervin (28th Ward) told reporters. “I’m disappointed that our colleagues have not decided to show up today to do the business of the people.”
Ervin is a Johnson ally and the chairman of the City Council’s Committee on the Budget & Government Operations. He said he has not seen a revised proposal by the faction of absentee alders. He also said the point of the meeting was to discuss alternatives.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward), a member of the City Council Progressive Reform Caucus, was critical of the alders who didn’t show for the day’s meeting, stating it was “a waste of taxpayer money.”
“They don’t got a plan. They stalling as much as they want to, and we wasting taxpayers’ money and time,” Taylor told The TRiiBE. “I could be in my ward making sure people get their heat on and making sure people’s water pipes ain’t busted. I have work to do.”
During an afternoon press conference at City Hall, Johnson said he’s meeting with some of the alderpeople in the coalition this afternoon to discuss their recommendations. He named Alds. Nicole Lee (11th Ward), Samantha Nugent (39th Ward), Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), Matthew O’Shea (19th Ward), Bill Conway(34th Ward), Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward), Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward), Marty Quinn (13th Ward), Ray Lopez (15th Ward), Monique Scott (24th Ward) and Desmon Yancy (5th Ward); the latter, who oversees portions of South Shore and Greater Grand Crossing, is now the only progressive caucus member on the alternative budget team.
Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward) initially signed on to the first alternate budget proposal, but has removed himself from the group, stating that he did not support increased garbage fees or decreasing youth employment.
Johnson said the new ideas from the bloc of alders show that funding for youth jobs and survivors of gender based violence “is now a priority of these alderpersons.”
The mayor’s budget team addressed press questions about the alternative budget proposal presented by the faction last week, which Johnson’s team says is not balanced. Also, because the caucus did not present an itemized list to the council on Monday, it’s unclear how their updated proposal actually makes up for dollars generated from their garbage collection hike and youth jobs freeze.
“From what we can tell, because we’ve run the numbers just based on the ordinance language that they’ve provided, and it does not reflect a balanced budget currently,” Chicago Budget Director Annette Guzman said.
Ervin echoed the concerns about last week’s update being unbalanced.
“The devil is in the details of all of these things. And so we need to know and understand how this budget is balanced, and if it’s balanced on revenues that just aren’t sound, we can’t entertain that as a city,” Ervin said.
The corporate head tax is still a major dividing point between the alternative aldermanic coalition and Johnson. The mayor’s allies agree. When asked if they would vote on a budget that didn’t include a head tax, Ald. Jessie Fuentes and Taylor — both progressive council members — said that progressive revenue has to be included in the proposal.
Johnson’s latest head tax negotiation would charge businesses with 500 or more employees a $33-per-month fee, also known as the Community Safety Surcharge, which would provide funding for mental health services, youth employment and gender-based violence services.
“It has to include something that taxes the corporations. Didn’t we just give corporations big breaks? We always bail out the corporations. We never bail out the people,” Taylor said. “Anything that’s regressive, that puts anything back on the taxpayer. We’re already taxing out the citizens, I can’t vote for [that].”
Fuentes doubled down on her stance about creating more opportunities for youth employment and said those who are coming up with an alternate budget know that some things are a no-brainer.
“I even think that the folks that are providing the alternate budget here understand that, and it’s why they restored those positions,” Fuentes told reporters. “Now we haven’t seen what that alternative budget includes, right? We need revenue that ensures that we can provide the services that we are committing to, and we need to make sure that that revenue and those projections are sound and that they have a scientific method that doesn’t force us to come back here in June.”
On Monday morning, organizers stood inside City Hall for a press conference in which they rallied in favor of youth jobs and the Community Safety Surcharge.
“This budget responds directly to the demands of our community, which is fighting to support gender-based violence survivors, and that is just a baseline,” Chicago Black Voter Project organizer Breanna Champion said during the press conference. “Dedicated funding is crucial to protecting these services. We generate this funding by asking large corporations to pitch in when neighbors and survivors don’t have the means to. This is how we create equity and make an impact.”
If City Council and Johnson can’t agree on a 2026 budget, the city will go into a shutdown. According to Mary Richardson-Lowry, the city’s corporation counsel, city workers would not be paid during the shutdown. Those designated as “essential workers,” such as police officers, firemen and garbage collectors, would work without pay.
“Any of you who would be asked to come to work every day, who are responsible for potable water in the city, who are responsible for collecting garbage or snow removal, [you wouldn’t be] paid,” Richardson-Lowry said. “We have to find a way on this issue. This is an obligation that has to be met, otherwise it comes to me and a judge and no one should want that.”
Here is the list of absent alderpeople at Monday’s City Council meeting:
Brian Hopkins (2nd)
Pat Dowell (3rd)
Desmon Yancy (5th)
Greg Mitchell (7th)
Michelle Harris (8th)
Anthony Beale (9th)
Peter Chico (10th)
Nicole Lee (11th)
Julia Ramirez (12th)
Marty Quinn (13th)
Stephanie Coleman (16th)
Derrick Curtis (18th)
Matthew O’Shea (19th)
Ronnie Mosley (21st)
Silvana Tabares (23rd)
Monique Scott (24th)
Felix Cardona (31st)
Scott Waguespack (32nd)
Bill Conway (34th)
Gilbert Villegas (36th)
Emma Mitts (37th)
Nicholas Sposato (38th)
Samantha Nugent (39th)
Anthony Napolitano (41st)
Brendan Reilly (42nd)
Tim Knudsen (43rd)
Bennett Lawson (44th)
James Gardiner (45th)
Maria Hadden (49th)
Debra Silverstein (50th
