Mayor Johnson vows to do 'whatever it takes' to avoid a city government shutdown

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Thursday he will do whatever it takes to avert a government shutdown, the reality the city faces if City Hall doesn't pass a 2026 budget by Dec. 30.

Johnson said he has “not made that final decision” on whether to veto a budget he still believes is $165 million out of balance, and would set Chicago up for a midyear shortfall requiring layoffs, service cuts, tax increases or a painful mix of those three.

But by vowing to do “whatever it takes,” he implied that he would not risk a veto that would invite an emboldened City Council to override.

“ So whatever I have to do to ensure that the government doesn’t get shut down, I’m going to do that,” the mayor told WBEZ-FM Radio host Sasha-Ann Simons on the monthly “Ask the Mayor” show.

“No one benefits from that. I do know that there are some individuals — not in City Council necessarily — but there are some individuals that want that type of chaos and destruction because they thrive in that. You see how Donald Trump thrives in chaos. There are people who are trying to influence this budget who want us to have that type of chaos. But I’m not going to stand for it.”

Nevertheless, Johnson is no longer in the driver’s seat.

Conservative and moderate alderpersons have rejected Johnson’s proposed corporate head tax, removed it from the budget and teed up their alternative spending and revenue plan for a final Council vote in coming days.

It’s balanced by a revised revenue package that would raise taxes on plastic shopping bags and the sale of liquor for off-premise consumption; authorize video gambling; and apply congestion fees to Uber and Lyft rides in a broader Downtown area.

The mayor’s finance team has questioned revenue assumptions made for the tax increases to liquor and plastic bags, as well as the opposition group’s forecast for revenue from video gambling, augmented reality and advertising on city vehicles and other assets.

But Johnson reiterated Thursday that his biggest beef remains the decision to replace the corporate head tax with more than $90 million in “enhanced debt collections on everyday Chicagoans.” He calls it “immoral” and “simply not feasible.”

“There’s a majority of alders who would prefer to tax working and poor people, particularly by sending debt collectors after poor people and working people. I don’t believe there’s a realistic pathway to be able to generate that revenue, and I don’t believe it’s morally sound,” he said.

“Or, we could tax less than half of a percent of large corporations. Now, there may be an approach and a compromise where we can come together and figure out how we raise that last ... $100 million without going after working people and poor people. There’s still time to do that.”

After their negotiating session with the mayor ended badly Monday, opposition alderpersons say they’re done negotiating with the Johnson administration.

They believe they’re closing in on 30 votes — four short of a veto-proof majority — and believe they would pick up the rest if Johnson were to veto their budget.

“What else can I do outside of making my case that this is the right approach?” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it’s my job to present a budget. It’s their job to pass one.”

The mayor categorically denied that the Council's decision to seize a budget process long dictated by mayors was a "rebuke" or "repudiation" of him, his politics or his leadership of Chicago.

"It's not a repudiation or rebuke of me. Eighty percent of Chicagoans have said they're in agreement with taxing these large corporations," he said. "The alternative presentation has also said that they agree with me. All of the measures and the full vision that we have in this budget — all of that is intact."

Ald. Samantha Nugent, (39th), said the opposition group’s focus continues to be "doing all we can to avoid a government shutdown and a credit downgrade” that would raise the cost of city borrowing.

“That includes proceeding with the only budget that has passed out of committee,” Nugent said.

“The mayor could have engaged collaboratively with us in that process to find solutions to our city’s fiscal challenges, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” she said.

Nugent acknowledged that the alternative budget is “not perfect.” But she argued that it is “without a doubt the most financially responsible option” because it restores the full advance pension payment, protects economic growth and includes “tens of millions of dollars” in government efficiencies.