Legislation

Learn more about the legislative priorities of Alderwoman Hadden and the issues facing the City of Chicago below.

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Housing & Affordability

Bring Chicago Home Resolution: Lead Sponsor - This resolution would create a proposal on the ballot to increase the Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) on large, downtown properties. The additional money generated by the RETT increase would be used to provide permanent affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Cooling Ordinance - Lead Sponsor: The ordinance expands the existing cooling requirements to senior buildings, buildings with over 100 units, and all new construction. It requires that these buildings install cooling equipment and that it be turned on when the outdoor heat index reaches or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The ordinance is critical to keeping residents safe from deadly heat waves as we expect to experience high temperatures more frequently as a result of climate change.
Heating Ordinance Amendments - Lead Sponsor: The changes include explicit language that the heat ordinance does not prevent a building owner from switching the heating system to a cooling system during the bounded time period (September 15 through June 1) as long as minimum temperatures are maintained. It also provides additional guidance and flexibility for facilities managers for two-pipe systems in buildings for the should months of winter (between September 15 thru October 15 and between May 1 thru June 1).
Property Tax Forgivable Loan Program - Lead Co-Sponsor: The property tax forgivable loan program would establish a loan program funded by ARPA relief funds and administered by the Department of Housing. The program would provide households earning at or below 300% of the federal poverty level who saw a substantial increase on their 2021 property tax bill with a forgivable loan to pay the difference between the increase in their property taxes and the citywide average. The ordinance would provide residents with critical financial relief to remain in their communities as costs of living continue to rise.
Connected Communities Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: The Connected Communities Ordinance expands the Transit-Oriented Development Ordinance's incentives to all corridors with high-frequency bus service or within 1/2-mile from a train station. It makes it easier for developers to build more affordable housing by offering density incentives to build more affordable units (beyond the requirements) and allows developments to swap parking in exchange for more affordable units. Finally, it eliminates on-site parking requirements for affordable housing and prevents deconversions in communities that are at risk of displacement.
Accessory Dwelling Units Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: The Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) Ordinance modified Chicago's Zoning and Land Use ordinance to allow for coach houses and for conversions of basements and attics into dwelling units. This helps expand affordability by creating naturally-occurring affordable housing and increasing the housing stock.
Homes for All - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance would improve the public housing system by creating a more user-friendly platform and create more transparency and accountability for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA).
Chicago Inclusive Housing Ordinance - Lead Sponsor: This legislation will create a new section of municipal code dedicated to expanding access to affordable housing through establishing affordability zones based on housing costs and the risk of displacement for low and medium-income residents. Additionally, this ordinance requires the city to develop an application portal, updated reporting on affordable housing development to applicants, as well as holding developers accountable for how they will market affordable units to target demographics.
Senior Housing Bill of Rights - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance expands the protections afforded to senior citizens to promote the safety, welfare, dignity, and health of our elderly neighbors. Additionally, the ordinance protects seniors living in large housing facilities by allowing them to age in place.
Senior Safety Ordinance - Lead Sponsor: Having gone into effect on August 1st, 2020, this ordinance establishes regulations for senior buildings during public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. These regulations include wellness checks, providing urgent health information in residents’ primary languages, and ensuring senior residents have access to essential items.
Hearing on Property Taxes - Co-Sponsor: This resolution calls for Cook County Assessor Kaegi to attend a special meeting held by the City Council's Committee on Finance to discuss his office's assessment formula and model.
Preventing Predatory Tactics by Residential Real Estate Developers - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance prohibits residential real estate developers from utilizing predatory tactics to pressure or coerce homeowners into selling their property.

Workers & Economy

Paid Leave ordinance - Co-sponsor: Amends the Paid Sick Leave ordinance by requiring employers to provide their employees with paid leave for non-illness-related reasons. The previous ordinance had strict requirements about how an employee may use their paid time off, requiring that they only use the time when they or a family member is ill or injured. The paid leave ordinance provides working Chicagoans with more flexibility when seeking time off. Under the new provisions, an employer is required to provide employees with 5 days of sick leave and 5 days of paid time off (PTO) in a calendar year, accrued at one hour for every 35 hours worked. The ordinance also allows up to 10 days of sick time and two days of PTO to be rolled over manually.
Guaranteed Basic Income resolution - Co-sponsor: Providing income initiatives and cash-based programs to low-income individuals. The money will be distributed via debit cards and will be used to pay for rent, food, clothing, and other basics in the local economy. The program will be funded with $30 million from the city's $1.8 billion in American Rescue Plan Allocation funds.
National Infrastructure Bank resolution - Co-sponsor: In collaboration with the state of Illinois and other institutions, the national infrastructure bank would assist finance most of Chicago's infrastructure requirements. According to the Davis-Bacon Act, the planned bank will create millions of jobs paying local prevailing wages, require Project Labor Agreements and Buy American clauses, assist disadvantaged business enterprises, and compel large-scale minority hiring. A national infrastructure bank, according to experts, would expand the economy by four to five percent each year, with $3 to $7 returned to the economy for every $1 spent on public infrastructure.
Chicago Fair Workweek - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance protects workers from unpredictable schedules by requiring employers to provide employees of their schedules two weeks in advance and compensate them for last-minute changes. This allows employees to plan for childcare, school, and second jobs and gives them predictability in wage compensation.
Minimum Wage (Fight for $15) Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance raises Chicago's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021. The ordinance is written so wages will increase with CPI every year after it reaches $15 so wages can more adequately keep up with increasing costs of living.
Obama Center CBA - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance would protect neighbors from being displaced due to the development of the Obama Presidential Library. The legislation would require the creation of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that ensures affordable housing and job training.

Police Accountability & Public Safety

Police Arbitration Decision—Voted Against: Alderwoman Hadden voted against an ordinance that would allow arbitrators to rule on some of the most egregious police misconduct cases. This ordinance would have dire ramifications and unravel the progress the City of Chicago has slowly made toward increasing accountability and transparency. The ordinance also undermines objectives in a consent decree that Chicago entered with the U.S. Department of Justice following a civil rights investigation. For over sixty years, the Chicago Police Board has been responsible for reviewing and making decisions on police disciplinary matters, including the most serious allegations of misconduct (including excessive force, sexual misconduct, illegal searches, and other civil rights violations). While imperfect, this format has allowed a transparent process to hold officers accountable by a body that is independent and impartial.
Dollar Store Regulations Co-Sponsor: This ordinance imposes additional restrictions on dollar stores in Chicago. With the proliferation of new dollar stores across the city, city departments and aldermanic offices have received an influx of nuisance complaints. Dollar stores across the city are in a dilapidated state, with buildings in disrepair, overflowing garbage cans, and shopping carts strewn about. This has a broader impact on the community and its sense of safety. The ordinance cracks down on dollar stores by banning new stores from operating within one mile of another store owned by the same company. The ordinance also requires that dollar stores maintain placards on teh building that display the business name, the owner's name, and contact information.
Anjanette Young Ordinance- Lead Sponsor: This ordinance would make sure that every search warrant must be signed by the superintendent. A clear plan for protecting children and other vulnerable individuals within the home should be included in the warrant. Warrants must be issued between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m, and residents must be given at least 30 seconds to respond. All police present must wear and activate their body cameras, and if no evidence is found, the warrant should be immediately submitted to COPA for further investigation.
Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: The Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance created a citywide commission to help decide on CPD policy, establish public safety goals, and play a central role in selecting police leadership positions. It also established District Councils in each of Chicago's 22 police districts, where three elected residents will work to ensure public safety at the local level.
Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) - Co-Sponsor: CPAC would replace the existing Chicago Police Board and Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) with an elected body that would oversee the police department.
Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (GAPA) - Co-Sponsor: GAPA would establish an elected oversight board that would oversee the police department.
Consent Decree Hearings - Co-Sponsor: Calls for hearings in the Committee on Public Safety within 60 days the Independent Monitor files a written public report on the status of the consent decree.
Drowning Mitigation Resolution - Lead Sponsor: Calls upon the Chicago Park District to implement additional growing mitigation strategies, including providing life ring buoys and other safety rescue equipment on all piers and at least every 200 feet on Park District property abutting Lake Michigan.
Gang Database - Co-sponsor: This resolution would regulate the gang designations and the sharing of the database's information. The ordinance was drafted after the Office of the Inspector General released a report of the Police Department collecting and sharing information of Chicagoans' alleged ties to the street gangs without due process and the denial of individuals on the list being able to contest their status.
Police Overtime Hearing - Co-Sponsor: This resolution calls for a hearing to reduce Chicago Police Department overtime, eliminate background checks of police board attendees, and assess gun violence reduction efforts by READI Chicago and Chicago CRED. The resolution is a result of a report issued by the Office of the Inspector General on the misuse of police overtime as well as the illicit background check on membes of the public who speak at Police Board meetings.

Social Justice & Equity

CHI vs Hate Ordinance- Co-Sponsor: This ordinance adds a formal definition of hate incidents (such as hate speech) to the Municipal Code for the first time. The ordinance also streamlines the processes for Chicagoans to report hate incidents, using the City's existing 3-1-1 to report non-criminal incidents. Finally, it establishes reporting requirements for City agencies and departments, which will help provide a more comprehensive data set to inform strategies and policies.
Treatment Not Trauma Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance called for the City of Chicago to create a 24-hour alternative response hotline for mental-health related calls and to reopen Chicago's shuttered mental health centers.
Bodily Autonomy Ordinance - Co-sponsor: This ordinance protects people seeking abortion and gender-affirming health care in Chicago in the wake of the overruling of Roe v. Wade. The ordinance prohibits the Chicago Police Department from cooperating with states on investigating individuals who seek abortion and gender-affirming care in the city. It also shields health care providers and others who help patients seeking this care, such as by providing transportation and housing, from any criminal investigations in Chicago. Finally, the ordinance expands the City's 311 nonemergency line to provide resources to individuals seeking reproductive health care information.
Juneteenth Ordinance - Lead Sponsor: This ordinance calls for the City of Chicago to recognize Juneteenth as a city holiday. Juneteenth is a historic milestone reminding Americans of the triumph of the human spirit over the harshness of slavery and the basic civil right of freedom and equality for all.
Resolution on Immigration Policy - Lead Sponsor: This resolution calls on Biden’s administration to take immediate steps to undo the harmful policies of the Trump administration and create a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.
LGBTQ Elder Cultural Responsiveness Training - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance enters the city into agreements with public and private entities to provide LGBTQ elder cultural responsiveness training to employees of the Department of Family and Support Services' Senior Services Division.
Strengthening the Welcoming City Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance removes carveouts in the existing Welcoming City Ordinance to better protect our immigrant neighbors.
Call for Hearings on City Policies to Prevent and End Sexual Harassment - Co-Sponsor: This resolution calls for hearings on the current City of Chicago sexual harassment policies to ensure that we're preventing and addressing instances of sexual harassment by and among city officials and employees.
Call for General Assembly to Pass the "Illinois Reproductive Health Act": City Council introduced a resolution calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pass the Illinois Reproductive Health Act. This act strengthens the right to choose and repeals outdated laws, including ending a requirement for consent for married women who seek abortions and ending waiting periods. The bill successfully passed the Illinois General Assembly and was signed by Governor Pritzker.

Education

Call for Hearings on Early Childhood Funding - Lead Sponsor: This resolution calls for hearings on the Department of Family Support Services' awards for community-based organizations (CBO) that provide early childhood funding. Highly accredited, long-established CBOs had funds drastically reduced or defunded entirely through an opaque process, disproportionately impacting low-income families.
Call for Hearings on Class Size and Staff Shortages - Co-Sponsor: This resolution calls for hearings on staff shortage and class sizes in Chicago Public Schools as well as the settlement contract on staffing, compensation, benefits, and promotion opportunities for the Chicago Park District.

Health & Environment

Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance - Lead Co-Sponsor: This ordinance would restrict emissions in new construction and in additions over 10,000 square feet to no more than 25 kilograms of carbon dioxide per million BTUs of energy. The restriction would effectively prohibit the use of fossil fuel combustion in these new buildings 12 months after passing the full City Council. As buildings are responsible for 70% of Chicago's emissions, this ordinance is the critical first incremental step for Chicago to reduce its dependency on dirty fossil fuels and help create a more resilient, sustainable, and clean future.
Heat Illness Prevention in Outdoor Places of Employment Ordinance - Lead Sponsor: This ordinance establishes measures to prevent heat illness for outdoor workers. The ordinance requires employers to develop and implement a heat illness prevention plan, establish an emergency response procedure, and train employees on how to stay safe and healthy in extreme heat. It also requires employers to provide workers with access to shade, water, and breaks to receive relief they need to remain safe in excessive heat.
Hearings on Peoples Gas Rate Hike Request Resolution - Co-Sponsor: This resolution called for Peoples Gas to appear before the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy to testify on behalf of the rate hike request in the amount of $402 million they filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). While the Committee has no authority on the request for a rate increase, Chairwoman Hadden and Alderman Conway felt it important to bring the matter before the body to ensure accountability and transparency before the ICC issued a final decision on the rate hike request.
Lead Service Line Replacement Hearings Resolution - Lead Co-Sponsor: This resolution calls on the Commissioner of Water Management, the Deputy Mayor for Infrastructure and Services, and the Commissioner of Public Health to attend a hearing to discuss the status of the City's lead service line replacement programs.
Hearings on Extreme Flooding Resolution - Co-Sponsor: This resolution called for representatives from the Department of Water Management, the Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, and the Chief Sustainability Officer to appear before the Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy to provide testimony on recent flooding events and plans to mitigate and respond to future extreme flooding events. As Chicago anticipates more frequent and extreme weather events, it's critical that the departments collaboratively work on a comprehensive flooding plan, and the hearing was to apply pressure to the departments to work on said plans.
Fossil Fuel Divestment Ordinance - Lead Co-Sponsor: This ordinance stipulates that the Chicago City Treasurer divests from the top coal, oil, and gas reserve owners. It also requires that the Treasurer submit annually a list to the Committee on Finance of those companies ranked by their carbon emissions.
Order to Determine the Costs to Re-establish the Department of Environment - Lead Sponsor: This order calls for the Chief Sustainability Officer and the Budget Director to deliver to the Committee on the Budget and Government Operations a report on the costs to re-establish the Department of Environment. A newly established Department of Environment would be focused on the impact, mitigation, and prevention of pollution and climate change in the City of Chicago.
Climate Emergency Declaration - Co-Sponsor: Declared a state of climate emergency for the City of Chicago and calls upon City Council to work with the Mayor's office and city departments to develop a budget that promotes urgent climate action.
Urban Forestry Board Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: The Urban Forestry Board will help create a strategy for caring for and enhancing Chicago's urban canopy. The Board will work with city departments to review, assess, and advise on City plans, policies, and procedures.
Ban on Single-Use Styrofoam - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance bans single-use of Styrofoam contains and encourages Chicagoans to use a more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative. Other major municipalities, such as Los Angeles and New York, have enacted a Styrofoam ban to create a more environmentally-friendly city.
ComEd Contract Feasibility Study - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance calls for a feasibility study to be completed while the city re-negotiates its contract to ComEd. This will ensure that Chicagoans are receiving the best deal possible in terms of rates and renewable energy.
"Save the Trees" Pilot - Co-Sponsor: This order called to launch a pilot program for cured-in-place pipe-line water restoration that could potentially allow mature trees to stay in place when water and sewer lines need to be replaced. If successful, this could protect Chicago's canopy.

Ethics & Good Government

Aldermanic Employment Requirements Ordinance - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance would require that the position of alderman be a full-time job and would prohibit alderpeople from receiving any compensation for work related to real estate developments, legal representation, or legal services.
Chicago Fair Elections Ordinance - Co-sponsor: The ordinance would establish publicly-financed elections in the City of Chicago and keep monied interests out of electoral politics. The ordinance would also establish a Fair Elections Board to oversee municipal elections.
Regulations of the Office of the Inspector General - Lead Sponsor: This ordinance requires that the Office of the Inspector General make public its reports and responses within 60 days of receiving a summary report of incidents that result in suspensions of at least 3 days or termination of employment within government departments.
Ethics Ordinance Amendment - Co-Sponsor: This ordinance amends the City's ethics ordinance by including restrictions on aldermen who have secondary employment, such as property tax attorneys, and increases the fine for ethics ordinance violations. This protects the public from elected officials seeking outside employment in direct conflict with the public interest.

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