Tomorrow, Illinois votes for Governor. Most people think of it as one name on the ballot. It's two.

In Illinois, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor run together on one ticket, so when you vote for JB Pritzker, you're also voting for his running mate, Christian Mitchell.

The second name matters more than people think. The Lieutenant Governor is the person who steps in if anything happens to the Governor, and in a second Pritzker term, Christian is going to be in the room on the issues I’m deeply interested in: energy, data centers, AI, transit, and housing.

If you don't know him yet: Christian grew up in Maywood, raised by a single mom who was a nurse, with a grandfather who was a union steelworker. He ran for state rep at 25. As Pritzker's deputy governor, he led the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, CEJA, which just turned 5. He also serves in the Air National Guard.

CM: You start with the objective. I felt very lucky to have somebody in Governor Pritzker who will say, ‘This is where I want to get to. Now you go figure it out, and I’m going to get your back.’ He said, I want a nation-leading climate bill that protects our environment, that makes sure people are going to have reliable power, and I want to create a bunch of new jobs and make sure that we center equity.

And what do I have to do to change the math to get closer to that ideal state? Historically, these bills have been written by the utility companies in their conference room. That is not an exaggeration. So we said we are going to have an open process. Yes, the utilities be at the table, but they can’t buy every chair. We’re going to bring in clean energy groups, unions, business owners, folks from downstate, coal and gas companies. Get everybody around the table, get the best ideas, and run them through a process. You’re not doing things behind closed doors that lose you trust. It was difficult, but I’m glad we did it.

CM: Are there benefits? I think the answer is absolutely yes. AI is here. It can make our lives potentially better as well as advance our national security. Could discover new cures faster. But you got concerns from people that all the fresh water is being sucked out of the ground, that they have as much power sometimes as small cities, and that many times these developers are coming in and saying, ‘Hey, county boards, you got to sign an NDA.

We can’t tell anybody exactly what’s going in the ground until such time as you’ve already taken the vote.’ That’s no way to get people on your side. These companies have not been willing to say, ‘Here is exactly what we want to build and exactly why. Here’s why we have a closed loop water system. We’re not going to suck your aquifer dry. And we’re bringing our own power,’ which is another place where small modular reactors might be helpful. Or more wind or solar or energy storage. So, there are ways to do this. I think passing the POWER Act or some version of that does a lot of that stuff in Illinois law. But until such time as we do that, people are rightfully very concerned about what it means for their community.

CM: Myself and JB are two people who love input. We love to listen. One thing I hear a lot about is BIPA, the Biometric Information Privacy Act. I think there’s a way to balance the privacy that we want with making sure that just for having the data in a warehouse that you can’t access because it touches a data center doesn’t mean that you have massive unlimited legal liability. That’s a way to chill an industry. It’s a policy really well intended, that some change could really be helpful for, but only if you engage.

On Thursday, Nov 12, I'm hosting Chicago Builds: Third Rail. It's about how people and goods move through this city: autonomy, freight, micromobility, and rail. Doors open at 2pm, and the program starts at 2:50pm.

Here's a peak into lineup:

Registration is approval-based, and I’m reviewing every application.

Last week I wrote about Mayor Johnson's plan to raise the personal property lease transaction tax, the "cloud tax" on software and equipment leases, from 15% to 20%. Budget hearings started last Monday and it was one of the first things alders went after

The administration says the increase brings in about $230M and that the tax has been overperforming for years.

"This is where the economy is moving towards," the interim budget director told the committee.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) made the point: "Microsoft, Google, they do not absorb that. They pass it down"

The public hearing is Dec 8, and the council has until Dec 31. Tell your alder what 20% costs you.

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