Politics
Chicago aldermen fall short of votes to raise approval bar for city borrowing
The City Council voted 33-17 on Wednesday to sustain Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of an ordinance that would have raised the vote threshold for future borrowing from 26 to 30. The measure’s sponsor, Ald. Marty Quinn, needed 34 votes to override the veto.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of an ordinance tightening the City Council’s rules for approving city borrowing survived an override attempt Wednesday, leaving the current 26-vote threshold in place.
The council voted 33-17 to override the veto, one vote short of the 34 needed. The ordinance, sponsored by retiring Ald. Marty Quinn, would have required 30 aldermen to approve future borrowing, rather than the current 26.
The debate over the proposal grew heated, with aldermen disagreeing over whether it was a necessary check on city debt or an attempt to weaken a Black mayor’s authority. Budget Committee Chair Jason Ervin, who opposed the override, argued that the push for new rules was tied to Johnson’s race and questioned why similar concerns had not been raised under other mayors.
“Why do the rules need to change?” Ervin asked. He pointed to Harold Washington, Lori Lightfoot and Johnson as Black mayors who, he said, faced challenges over executive power.
Ald. Maria Hadden, another opponent of the override, said she did not believe the higher threshold would address the city’s problems. She also criticized the mayor’s relationship with the council, telling Johnson that better communication from his office could have prevented the dispute.
Supporters of the override focused on the long-term cost of borrowing. Ald. Bill Conway said raising the threshold would not necessarily delay infrastructure investment, and warned against shifting debt costs to future residents. Quinn said the city’s debt, together with pension obligations that he said consume 40% of the operating budget, poses a serious concern for taxpayers.
The dispute follows a close council battle last year over an $830 million general obligation bond issue. The repayment schedule was back-loaded, a structure that increased the issue’s total cost to $2 billion, according to the account of that vote.
Ald. Emma Mitts supported the veto override and said she had been approached by people she described as “bullies,” who warned that funding for residents in her ward affected by devastating 2023 flooding could be withheld if she did not vote a particular way. She did not identify those people.
Quinn has now failed twice to override a Johnson veto. His earlier attempt concerned a citywide ban on hemp products. Wednesday’s vote preserves the mayor’s ability to secure borrowing approval under the existing threshold, while leaving the council divided over debt oversight, infrastructure spending and the balance of power at City Hall.