Last weekend’s violence in Chicago was on the minds of this area’s state senators when mayor-elect Brandon Johnson spoke to the General Assembly at the capitol yesterday. Johnson can’t do anything about it yet, but some people are already analyzing his comments about the situation to mean that he won’t make things better.
St. Sen. Sue Rezin says Chicago is a wonderful city culturally. She says the violence is bad for the whole state’s reputation though.
St. Sen. Win Stoller believes Johnson has the wrong idea for getting to the root of the problem. He says a tax on jobs won’t bring more of them to Chicago where Johnson recognizes that young people need more job opportunities.
St. Sen. Tom Bennett wants to know what Johnson will do about failing schools and other problems.
Johnson asked for funding for schools, mental health, and public safety.