The Civic Federation — a mouthpiece for Chicago’s biggest corporations — is woefully out of touch in continuing to scapegoat Chicago’s workforce in its criticism of the 2026 city budget.

Specifically, the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman reports the group and those who hide behind its cloak wish that city workers were forced to take unpaid furlough days or were simply laid off (“Civic Federation pokes holes in Chicago’s alternative budget” — Jan. 27). Anything less, they claim, “places the burden entirely on taxpayers, leaving labor completely off the hook.” That’s a tired narrative by an organization that undermines its own credibility every time it targets workers.

Newsflash: City workers, who by law must live in Chicago, pay taxes just like every other Chicagoan. We’re the city that works only because of the dedication of those who keep it running every day. City residents want emergency responders, firefighters, police officers, librarians, snowplow drivers, garbage collectors, 311 operators and public health workers on the job to provide the essential services they rely on, not on furlough or in the unemployment line.

Yet the Civic Federation continues with its rhetoric that lacks facts and honesty. City workers are already doing more with less: Since 2019, the city’s payroll has shrunk by more than 500 employees. Contrary to claims made in the Sun-Times article, this budget did eliminate vacant positions and grant-funded jobs in human services and public health.

For our part, unions representing city workers have repeatedly suggested efficiencies that could save money without harming services, such as reducing the top-heavy ranks of management employees. And through the joint Labor Management Cooperation Committee, we regularly evaluate options to contain the city’s health care costs without reducing benefits.

The Civic Federation is a leading voice in the coalition of “no” when it comes to revenue-raising ideas. It’s time the organization contributes something substantive to the conversation around the future of our city instead of trotting out the same shallow talking points against workers.

Bob Reiter, president, Chicago Federation of Labor

Grant clawbacks leave community groups scrambling

The People for Community Recovery has fought for years to protect and revitalize the historic “C Building” in Altgeld Gardens, to ensure it could be used for community good and not discarded.

The plan was to rehabilitate the building into the Hazel M. Johnson Institute for Sustainability and Environmental Justice: a high-efficiency, all-electric, sustainably powered hub for learning and research. It would be named for the group’s founder, who is considered the mother of the environmental justice movement.

It would host workforce development and training, youth programming, offices for local organizations and community meeting space. It would be a community anchor — an engine for health, opportunity and local power.

People for Community Recovery applied for an Environmental Protection Agency Community Change Grant that would have made this vision real. This program was designed around a simple, overdue premise: communities closest to harm should be closest to the solutions, and they should have the resources to lead.

Then the Trump administration clawed back almost $29 billion from communities for environmental health and climate projects like the Community Change grant, abruptly, with no meaningful explanation. Our application was left in limbo when the administration halted the grant program and funding.

The immediate impact is obvious. Our project is now forced into a scramble to look for funding elsewhere. But the deeper impact is harder to quantify and more dangerous. This kind of action shatters public trust.

When a community-based organization wins a grant, it is months and years of work, building partnerships, meeting requirements, crafting a project plan, aligning contractors and engaging residents. This is the work Chicago and other communities performed to secure grants that were abruptly rescinded.

And it is not just happening in Chicago. We are seeing grant clawbacks and funding freezes across the country. When commitments are revoked, the damage spreads. It delays projects. It drains capacity. It chills future participation.

If leaders want a solution, here it is: fund community-led investments and keep your word.

The clawbacks do real harm and cause long-term mistrust in partnering with government. They take away once-in-a-generation opportunities to turn environmental sacrifice zones into healthy, thriving neighborhoods. The path forward is not complicated. The EPA must keep its promise, protect awarded grants and invest in the solutions communities have already built.

Cheryl Johnson, executive director, People for Community Recovery
Melissa Lin Perrella, chief equity and justice officer, Natural Resources Defense Council

Outraged over Epstein files

Call me old-fashioned, but I remember a time when if the news came out that you were allegedly having sex with minors or palling around with someone who did, it would ruin your life.

More Epstein files have dropped. More proof that the president, along with Alan Dershowitz, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Clinton were OK with what was taking place. The Department of Justice just dumped millions of pages of documents, videos and images from the Epstein investigation — the largest disclosure under the new Epstein Files Transparency Act. Donald Trump’s name appears hundreds, by some counts even thousands, of times. Even rappers Jay-Z and Pusha T are mentioned alongside Elon Musk.

What these documents — released by our government — allege is the stuff of conspiracy websites, and yet, here we are.

There used to be a social contract. A rickety, duct-taped one, sure, but a real one. If you were exposed as someone who exploited kids, you were a goner. You didn’t spin it. You didn’t lawyer your way out of it. Your career was over, your name became radioactive, and the country agreed that some lines could not be crossed. Now, these false prophets of prosperity remain bulletproof, even if the sitting president is accused of horrific stuff.

The DOJ says the material does not provide grounds for new charges. Trump and his allies have pushed back against how the material has been interpreted and reported, at times threatening litigation, while the DOJ maintains that some public claims lack credibility even as it confirms it will not pursue further charges.

And nothing is happening.

It’s not even headline news. It’s a side note against Iran, Greenland, tariffs, Venezuela, Israel and Ukraine. All by design, while a cabal of elites keeps it business as usual. Republicans stay on brand with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Liberals are spineless, masters of the performative.

To be clear, a name appearing in documents is not the same thing as being accused of a crime or a conviction. But when the name of a sitting president appears again and again in files tied to the most notorious sex-trafficking operation of our lifetime, the correct response is not a shrug. If it were baseless, demand a full, transparent investigation. Think that would ever happen on Trump’s watch?

Where are the Democrats? Where are the Republicans who clamored for these files when it was about Bill Clinton?

Subpoena power. Independent prosecutors. Criminal referrals that aren’t DOJ puppet strings. Anything short of that isn’t justice, it’s performative theater. And we’re exhausted watching this horror show.

Robert Dean, Austin, Texas

Hard pass on school vouchers

Gov. JB Pritzker should opt Illinois out of Donald Trump’s voucher program tucked in his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Public education is an invaluable institution under federal attack. This federal school voucher program, like the dismantling of the Department of Education and massive federal funding cuts, is designed to weaken a key component of American democracy.

For many generations, our taxpayer dollars have supported public schools that are open to all children and are the backbone of communities and civic life.

Private schools pick their students and operate without public transparency or accountability. When students leave a public school, the public school loses per student federal and state funding, but still must cover fixed costs.

Our governor should focus on supporting the quality of our wonderful lllinois public schools that today educate the vast majority of K-12 students. Public schools provide curriculum and services that respect all children’s backgrounds and respond to individual families’ needs and aspirations.

We should not open our state to an untested new federal tax credit that could funnel billions of public dollars nationwide not only to private religious schools and home schools, but also to services providers seeking profits without guardrails.

Focus on our children and the quality of their education, not the adults who are jockeying to pocket the tax credit dollars. This voucher program does not serve children well.

Ann Courter, former Oak Park Elementary District 97 school board president, Oak Park

Dying art

President Donald Trump announced he is closing the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for two years. Three years may be more practical as his presidency will have finished, and he will be able to devote more time to his love of the arts.

Apparently, the center needs a major update, so it can reach the standard required to have the Trump name attached. The timing may be advantageous, as it is now almost empty and rarely used.

The same logic could be applied to most film theaters, as a quick examination of sales in many regions and bulk ticket buying allegations tied to the “Melania” documentary indicate they are close to empty rarely used.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

Celebrate disabled community

As we approach Valentine’s Day, a season often focused on romantic love, our community in Maywood is preparing for a different kind of celebration — one centered on the inherent dignity and value of every human life.

On Friday, Feb. 13, my church, The Launching Pad Worldwide, and the nonprofit West40 will join hundreds of organizations globally to host “Night to Shine,” a prom night for people with disabilities. Sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, this event, at West40’s Intermediate Service Center in Maywood, is more than just a dance; it is a statement.

For too long, the disabled community has been overlooked or pushed to the margins. “Night to Shine” flips that narrative. When our 130-plus guests walk the red carpet to the sound of cheering crowds, they won’t just be attendees — they are and will be kings and queens. In a world that often defines value by productivity or perfection, this night reminds us that every individual is an image-bearer of God, deserving of celebration, honor and royal treatment.

We invite Proviso Township and others to join us in this mission of inclusion. Whether through volunteering or simply shifting how we view our neighbors with special needs, let’s make sure the light from this one night shines throughout the entire year.

Thomas Clark, pastor, The Launching Pad Worldwide

Can’t scare off corporations, rich folk

Regarding millionaire and corporate tax proposals, I am not a millionaire. I am a middle-class resident living on the Northwest Side. Wealthy residents and corporations should pay their fair share of taxes. However, it’s another thing to punish them. This will ultimately lead the wealthy and corporations to leave Chicago and Illinois. They will take with them their money and their jobs.

John Petersen, Belmont Heights

CPS students: Protest on own time — not class time

Chicago Public Schools students should not be allowed to miss school to protest anything. CPS students have some of the lowest test scores while Chicago has the highest taxes in the nation, all while the Chicago Teachers Union wants pay raises.

It’s great that the students want to stand for something and be heard, but not while the hardworking citizens of Illinois are burdened by ever-increasing property taxes that are linked directly to CPS. Teachers and principals should keep their political views out of the classroom, and any who allow or encourage students to skip class should be held accountable.

Joe Ferro, Garfield Ridge