2019–23 City Council term In August 2019, ten members of the caucus urged Mayor
Lori Lightfoot to address the city's budget deficit by enacting a
financial transaction tax or corporate head tax, rather than increasing property taxes or making cuts to city services. A month later, they outlined the specifics of their proposal, further suggesting a tax on office leases, a hotel tax increase, a tax on vacant commercial properties, and a local income tax on those making over $100,000 a year. Furthermore, they proposed a moratorium on the
Chicago Police Department budget, a moratorium on privatization of city services, an end to
Tax increment financing subsidies in wealthy neighborhoods, and increased spending on affordable housing, mental health, early childhood education, and a youth jobs program. Later that month, half of the caucus' members (La Spata, Taylor, Rodriguez, Sigcho-Lopez, Rodriguez Sanchez, Ramirez Rosa, Vasquez, Martin, and Hadden) voted against Mayor Lightfoot's proposed annual budget for 2020, which passed by a vote of 39–11. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Progressive Caucus conducted telephone check-ins with senior citizens living in their wards. During the
George Floyd protests in late May and early June 2020, the Progressive Caucus renewed calls for the city to negotiate a new contract with the
Chicago Police Department that would include systematic reforms, and introduced a resolution to that effect. In July 2020, the Caucus called for an end to the $33 million contract for police officers to be present in Chicago Public Schools, and for a reinvestment of those funds in alternative strategies for school safety. Later that month, the Caucus criticized the Chicago Police Department for its actions during a July 17 protest in
Grant Park and called on the Chicago Park District to remove the park's statue of
Christopher Columbus. == See also ==