Austin Berg
@Austin__Berg • 18,069 subscribers
Co-founder @ironlightinc (2025 @C_and_E Public Affairs Firm of the Year) | Chicago Policy Center + @illinoispolicy | Co-author of “The New Chicago Way”
Shorts
Videos
WATCH: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker heavily criticizes Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s team this morning for their handling of the Chicago Bears deal and lobbying state government in general. “I know that the mayor has no plan. He has come up with no plan at all about how the Bears would end up in the city of Chicago. So that’s problematic. I’d love them to be in the city but we are three years in now and he still has no plan.” “The mayor has shown up every spring at the end of session to pronounce what he would like to see happen. As you know the budget gets put together starting in November…I present that budget to the legislature in February. So that seems like a good time period to come talk to the governor’s office. Then there’s February to May. There’s all that time to come talk to the legislature, which has my budget in hand, or the governor’s office.” “Again, we’ve seen almost nothing out of the mayoral administration here on that subject or really any other. So to show up in May and have a bunch of demands seems like late in the game. And it’s unfortunate that’s happened most years.” Johnson’s chief of external affairs is Kennedy Bartley, who formerly worked as a Chicago Teachers Union-funded organizer for police and prison abolition. The mayor’s former top lobbyist, Sydney Holman, resigned in 2024 after Johnson elevated Bartley to oversee the mayor’s office of intergovernmental affairs.
Austin Berg651,974 views • 29 days ago
![Food fight: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fires back at Gov. JB Pritzker on WVON today. “The disconnect is we do come from different experiences. I’m not a billionaire. I’m not the heir to billions of dollars…the governor and I had different upbringings. He doesn’t know what it’s like to open up a refrigerator [and] ain’t no food in it.” Whatever you think of Pritzker, Johnson, or the Bears deal, this public escalation is bad for Chicagoans.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2056917344346149301/amplify_video_thumb/2056917191547625472/img/1BlNEwc4StcBf2l0.jpg)
Food fight: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fires back at Gov. JB Pritzker on WVON today. “The disconnect is we do come from different experiences. I’m not a billionaire. I’m not the heir to billions of dollars…the governor and I had different upbringings. He doesn’t know what it’s like to open up a refrigerator [and] ain’t no food in it.” Whatever you think of Pritzker, Johnson, or the Bears deal, this public escalation is bad for Chicagoans.
Austin Berg519,318 views • 28 days ago
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fails to name one other city where a head tax similar to what he’s proposing is working well. Q: Alright, so if the head tax is such a great idea, where is it working now? What cities? Where? Who do you turn to? Where are you looking at and saying, “Wow, wish we were doing what they’re doing”? Because I can’t find one. A: Well, look, if you’re asking me if I believe that there is a model that’s better than the City of Chicago right now, I’m going to tell you there isn’t. We are setting the trend.
Austin Berg1,679,019 views • 6 months ago
WATCH: Illinois comptroller and potential Chicago mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza references Washington D.C.’s response to ‘teen takeovers’ in an interview this morning. “I don’t know if you’ve seen what Washington D.C. is doing with Mayor Bowser out there…she has a targeted and extended curfew zone…I think we should be learning from what other cities have already had to deal with.”
Austin Berg104,742 views • 15 days ago
![This vote is a watershed moment in Chicago politics. It's clear Chicago teachers no longer trust Chicago Teachers Union leadership with more money for political spending. Thinking of educators like Ifeoma Nkemdi today. "Sometimes people fall in love with fighting,” she said. “That's when I started to feel unmotivated to continue supporting the [CTU] agenda, because I just felt like they really enjoy fighting." Ifeoma is just one of many Chicago teachers who have demanded greater accountability and transparency from union leadership for years. They have endured harassment, ridicule, and false accusations as a result. CTU President Stacy Davis Gates tried to make this dues-hike vote about spending $8.5 million to fight Illinois Policy. But the members have spoken.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2058276842356781496/amplify_video_thumb/2058276633648234496/img/0R1tzFFzXOyvV4x2.jpg)
This vote is a watershed moment in Chicago politics. It's clear Chicago teachers no longer trust Chicago Teachers Union leadership with more money for political spending. Thinking of educators like Ifeoma Nkemdi today. "Sometimes people fall in love with fighting,” she said. “That's when I started to feel unmotivated to continue supporting the [CTU] agenda, because I just felt like they really enjoy fighting." Ifeoma is just one of many Chicago teachers who have demanded greater accountability and transparency from union leadership for years. They have endured harassment, ridicule, and false accusations as a result. CTU President Stacy Davis Gates tried to make this dues-hike vote about spending $8.5 million to fight Illinois Policy. But the members have spoken.
Austin Berg99,465 views • 24 days ago
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates is joining Mayor Brandon Johnson on his trip to Italy this week. Notably, both Gates and Johnson have been berating other public officials for weeks to fight for more Chicago Public Schools funding from Springfield. “The house is on fire,” Gates told the school board two weeks ago. “You get water.” With Springfield’s legislative session ending May 31, Gates and Johnson have elected to spend time 5,000 miles away from the Capitol.
Austin Berg70,363 views • 19 days ago
SUPERCUT: Chicago reporters pressure Mayor Brandon Johnson to call out false advertising from the Chicago Teachers Union. The mayor refuses, and then insults City Council members. Fantastic questions here. Watch until the very end. This came after a press conference in which Johnson said opponents of his head tax proposal are running ads filled with “lies” and “misinformation.”
Austin Berg478,414 views • 6 months ago
WATCH: I just joined Chicago Tonight to debate a new “millionaire’s tax” proposal floating around Springfield. It might sound appealing to some. But here’s the inconvenient truth. Illinois lost nearly 1 million taxpayers to other states on net over the last decade. We ranked 49th out of 50 states on this measure. The group leaving the fastest? People making over $200k (highest income bracket reported by the IRS). There’s also 22,000 Illinois small businesses earning $1M+ in pass-through income who would get whacked by this, killing jobs and investment that our state desperately needs (IL lost 1,700 jobs in 2025 while the US added 584,000). This is a bad idea at a bad time. We can’t afford to keep losing people and investment to other states. Thankfully, Illinois voters rejected a similar constitutional amendment in 2020. And the current proposal seems DOA at the Statehouse. Here’s the full debate.
Austin Berg132,095 views • 2 months ago
WATCH: Brandon Johnson decries “millionaires” for funding ads opposing his head tax. Johnson will receive a taxpayer-funded pension worth $3.8M despite working as a public school teacher for just four years. This is due in large part to a loophole allowing Johnson to credit his time and salary as a paid Chicago Teachers Union activist toward a public pension.
Austin Berg279,974 views • 6 months ago
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks condescendingly to a reporter who asks him about a letter signed by nearly 700 principals and assistant principals opposing efforts from Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.
Austin Berg698,245 views • 1 year ago
![NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is fighting to give new taxing powers to Springfield by changing the state constitution. “We’ve received clear indication from members of the General Assembly that they support this [millionaire tax] effort that I’m pushing.” But that would require a statewide referendum. And there is no path to passing a statewide constitutional amendment in Illinois with Johnson’s name attached. In 2020, the progressive tax constitutional amendment on the ballot won 71% support from Chicago voters and still lost statewide. In 2024, Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum won just 48% from Chicago voters. When the mayor can’t win a simple majority in his own city, it’s difficult to believe state lawmakers would want a referendum on his leadership on every ballot in Illinois.](https://image.24vids.com/tw-2016162261799207012/amplify_video_thumb/2016162134229393409/img/epG0qoLioUOra1ye.jpg)
NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he is fighting to give new taxing powers to Springfield by changing the state constitution. “We’ve received clear indication from members of the General Assembly that they support this [millionaire tax] effort that I’m pushing.” But that would require a statewide referendum. And there is no path to passing a statewide constitutional amendment in Illinois with Johnson’s name attached. In 2020, the progressive tax constitutional amendment on the ballot won 71% support from Chicago voters and still lost statewide. In 2024, Johnson’s Bring Chicago Home referendum won just 48% from Chicago voters. When the mayor can’t win a simple majority in his own city, it’s difficult to believe state lawmakers would want a referendum on his leadership on every ballot in Illinois.
Austin Berg193,556 views • 4 months ago
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson flips out at a reporter who asks whether it’s a good idea for him to travel to London for a Bears game this week. And whether he is currently on leave from his former employer and largest campaign donor, the Chicago Teachers Union.
Austin Berg718,136 views • 1 year ago
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson lets it slip that he is the only big city mayor in the country who presides directly over City Council. “Chicago is unique in that the mayor, the executive, presides over the legislative branch,” Johnson said. “Don’t get any ideas you all. It’s working well for me.” I believe this is the first time a Chicago mayor has acknowledged this freakish governance structure in public. Chicago’s mayor is also the only big city mayor in the country who directly fills City Council vacancies. Chicago City Council should elect its own president to preside over the legislative branch. And get the mayor out of council appointments. These governance rules typically live in a city charter. But Chicago is the only major city in the country without a charter. So these rules live in state law.
Austin Berg154,619 views • 4 months ago
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is asked three times whether parents should plan for Chicago Public Schools to shut down on May 1, per Chicago Teachers Union demands, and cannot give a straight answer. Chicago would be the only big city school district in the country to shut down on May 1, according to the Chicago Policy Center. H/t Monica Eng for these questions.
Austin Berg75,831 views • 2 months ago
WATCH: Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin announces her office will no longer invest in U.S. Treasury bonds. Her office earned a 3.6% rate of return last year on a $10B portfolio. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is 4.1%. Treasurer Conyears-Ervin: 🚩Is currently running for U.S. Congress in Illinois’ seventh district. 🚩Paid a $30,000 fine to Chicago’s ethics board after she was caught forcing employees to do political work on city time. 🚩Is married to Ald. Jason Ervin, who serves as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hand-picked chairman of the budget committee. Johnson’s most recent budget triggered a credit downgrade after passage.
Austin Berg231,771 views • 7 months ago
WATCH: Fireworks immediately flying at the Chicago Public Schools board meeting. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed new board member Angel Velez just hours before the district’s budget vote in order to secure more support for a $200 million high-interest loan. Fellow board member Che “Rhymefest” Smith asked if Velez would abstain from the budget vote, given his oath of office to respect taxpayer interests. Velez has not received board member briefings on the budget prior to this vote. Johnson-appointed Board President Sean Harden then steps in to stop Smith’s line of questioning.
Austin Berg299,499 views • 9 months ago