Mayor Johnson to move forward with alternate Chicago budget, signs 2 executive orders

Mayor Johnson to move forward with alternate Chicago budget, signs 2 executive orders

Michelle Gallardo

Sat, December 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM UTC

4 min read

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday morning said he would move forward with the alternate budget passed by Chicago City Council on Saturday.

Johnson said he would not sign the budget, but it will still take effect five business days after the vote, his spokesperson said.

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Johnson said he would not cause a city shutdown.

By allowing the alternative budget to become law without his signature, he's attempted to have it both ways, calling the budget a win, while also continuing to denounce parts of it as immoral.

Johnson convened a large group of supporters to City Hall to celebrate a budget he denounced as late as Saturday.

"We added the largest TIF surplus in the history of this city to go to our schools, our parks, our libraries. We protected youth employment. We added the smart tax to support mental health," he said.

David Greising, president and CEO of the Better Government Association joined ABC7 to talk about the city's budget.

Johnson continued to blast a provision that would allow the city to collect millions of dollars of debt Chicagoans owe for things like city ambulance payments, utility bills and red-light cameras.

"It is immoral to send debt collectors after working people at a time when Donald Trump is attacking poor people," he said.

He also signed two executive orders Tuesday, including one on the sale of city debt.

The first order prohibits the sale of city-administered medical debt owed by individuals to private entities and sets clear standards for transparent and stable debt collection practices by both the city and private third parties, the mayor's office said.

"How we choose to manage our fiscal obligations reflects who we are as a city," Johnson said. "I've been clear from the beginning of this debate that I will not allow the sale of debt to lead to the use of predatory and immoral tactics against the people of Chicago. This Order affirms that the City will manage this debt in a manner that protects dignity of our residents, advances equity, and preserves public trust in our city government."

The other concerns police overtime.

The order seeks to reign in police overtime spending, establishing a framework which sets clear guidelines and procedures for authorizing overtime spending which exceeds the cap set in annual appropriations ordinances, the mayor's office said.

"This executive order brings added discipline and accountability to the overtime process which has been long overdue," Johnson said in a statement. "By creating a structure that emphasizes fiscal discipline and modernized workforce practices, we're protecting the mental health and well-being of our officers and ensuring the people of Chicago can trust that taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly and transparently."

The budget was approved over the mayor's opposition on Saturday. A coalition of 30 aldermen voted to pass a 2026 spending plan that, among other things, legalizes video gaming terminals as a way to bring in money to close the existing budget deficit. But even on Tuesday, both sides agreed changes will need to be made.

"What was passed was a balanced budget. It was an imperfect one. We will continue to work with him to try to make it a better budget," 34th Ward Ald. Bill Conway said.

Speaking out after the mayor's press conference, three of the aldermen who voted for the budget said they fully support instituting guardrails to prevent predatory debt collection, but insisted the corporate head tax will continue to be dead on arrival.

"Chicago is open for business. We are pro-business. We want business to come here," 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack said.

But even as that argument continues, even the mayor's allies Tuesday acknowledged a veto this close to the Dec. 31 deadline to pass a balanced budget was simply not feasible.

"The prospects of shutting down government when the next Council wouldn't have been till Jan. 21, it would have left us three weeks without services," 25th Ward Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez said.

Some alders Tuesday said the mayor read the tea leaves, once even members of his own progressive wing made it clear they would not vote against a veto override if it meant shutting down Chicago's city government.

The $16.6 billion dollar budget will go into effect Monday.

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