Cook County Board and Committee Meetings on February 3, 4 and 5, 2026

Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee 
February 4, 2026

Committee Supports State Firearm Legislation and Reviews Annual Board of Ethics Report
The agenda for the meeting included a Resolution in support of The Responsibility in Firearm Legislation (RIFL) Act.  (Item 26-0672). 

• This is legislation that is in the Illinois General Assembly (HB3320/SB2279) and includes provisions to reallocate some of the cost of gun violence to gun manufacturers. 
• During public comment Illinois State Sen. Robert Peters, Dr. Anthony Douglas from the University of Chicago, Jim McGrath speaking on behalf of Indivisible and several others spoke in favor of support for the Resolution and the Legislation. 
• Several Commissioners also spoke in favor of the legislation with Comm. Degnan citing the need to move forward with responsible gun legislation.
• The Resolution was approved and will go before the Cook County Board for final approval at the Feb. 5 meeting.

Jennifer King, the Executive Director for the Department of Human Rights and Ethics, presented highlights from the 2025 Board of Ethics Annual Report that was provided to the Board. 

• The Ethics Board consists of 5 volunteer members and at present there is 1 vacancy.
• The Department has 16 staff members with 2 vacancies. 
• The Department does investigations when complaints are filed and also does ethics training for all county employees. 
• They trained 10,339 employees including those from the Board of Review, the Sheriff’s Office, the President’s office and the Forest Preserve District. 
• They have recently developed new guidance on social media. 
• Posters outlining Prohibited Political Activity have been provided to all offices for posting.
• Will continue to reduce time for response to inquiries. 
• Have continuing opportunities for ongoing training for employees.

No comments or questions from the Commissioners. Report was received and filed. (Item 26-0511)
Observer - Cynthia Schilsky

Cook County Health and Hospitals Committee
February 3, 2026

CCH Reports on Impact of Federal Law

• A. Galeener, CountyCare Chief, presented a PowerPoint reporting on the impacts on the Cook County Health and Hospitals System (CCHHS)  as a result of the Federal H.R. 1 bill signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025.  The Impacts are due to changes in Medicaid, SNAP  (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) and other items.  CountyCare H.R.1 internal planning sessions and Cook County Health (CCH) Medicaid Impact Workgroup are working on adjusting to expected loss of some Medicaid members due to work requirements, more frequent eligibility checks, and loss of eligibility for some immigrants.  This is expected to lead to increased charity care.  Cost savings of 100 million dollars is the goal of the Fiscal Resilience Project launched by CCH in December with itemized interventions listed in the PowerPoint. (Item 23-0202)  

Proposed Resolution on CTE:

• The Committee approved a propose resolution supported by numerous Public Speakers and Commissioners that was sponsored by Commissioner Stamps to develop Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) damage awareness programs & help facilitate referrals to Concussion Clinics for athletes.  The Resolution also calls on the State and Federal governments to fund research on how the NCAA College Athletics Transfer Portal and “name, image, likeness” payment arrangements at a collegiate level impact CTE.  
• Dr. Joshi, Chief Operating Officer of the Cook County Dept. of Public Health presented a PowerPoint and answered questions, including from Comm. Anaya, Morita and McCaskill.  Comm. McCaskill asked is there concussion diagnosis, mental health screening and surveillance of athletes & education on preventable measures; are there demographics on CTE incidence?   
• Dr. Joshi said IL Youth Sports Concussion Act-2015 covers some of these factors. He would look into adding additional policy.  Highschool concussion rate is overall 14.35% ; among the black population has diminished since 2020 but increased in Hispanic & White students.  Com. Anaya had requested an amendment to the Resolution to include a Public Hearing.   The motion to defer item 26-0649 was adopted.

Observer:  Susan Kern, MD

Asset Management Committee
February 3, 2026

Updated Energy Benchmarking Ordinance Approved

• The Committee approved updating the Energy Benchmarking Ordinance with new definitions and timelines. Energy benchmarking means to track a building's energy and water consumption data, greenhouse gas emissions, and other relevant building information for 12 consecutive months, as required by the benchmarking tool, to quantify the building's energy use operational footprint.  That information is compared to other similar buildings. 
• This ordinance requires that the benchmarking be done on all buildings owned or operated by the County and that a report be given to the Board. (Item 26-0597)
• Commissioner Degnen proposed that the County require this benchmarking for all buildings in Cook County over a certain size, such as 10,000 square feet.   This would give County government a better understanding of the energy consumption in the County and for planning for grid requirements. Jamie Myers, Bureau Chief, said the Department would be interested in working with her on this proposal. 

Observer:  Kathi Graffam


Workforce, Housing & Community Development Committee 
February 3, 2026

Committee Supports Program for Job Training and Tools

• The Committee approved a resolution authorizing $150,000 and a 2 year agreement with Forefront as fiscal agent for Chicagoland Workforce Funders Alliance with emphasis on expanding services to suburban Cook County. (Item 26-0523)
• Commissioners Stamps and Anaya requested more information on outcomes of activities for accountability purposes. 
• Comm. Stamps particularly interested in getting real data about outcomes of job fairs.  She also wanted to make sure there were pathways for people to access secondary and community colleges, and that those entities had involvement in moving people to jobs. 
• Representatives advised that the focus and goal of the program was moving clients to substantial employment and careers. This funding would help expand substantially to suburban Cook.

Observer:  Hollis Burgess


Cook County Board of Commissioners Meeting
February 5, 2026

Board Continues to Hear of Problems Caused by Late Property Tax Bills

The Board either passed or referred to Committees almost all items with little to no discussion, including approving the recommendations from the Committees as detailed above.
Speakers during public comments included;  

• Mayor Michelle Nelson of Flossmoor said that Flossmoor has received only 62% of the estimated property taxes from the County. She pointed out that it had been 52 days since the property taxes were due from property owners and that this was after a 5-month delay in sending out the bills.  Mayor Nelson said that Flossmoor’s reserves had been cut in half and staff time had been diverted to deal with the delay in tax revenues.  She asked that the County commit to more transparency as to when revenues would be received.
• Elliot Esparza of the National Able Network said that the $1.2 M of ARPA funding that the Network received to provide tech education for veterans has worked -  they are getting jobs. 
• Marien Casillas Pabellon of the PASO Suburban Action Network (which works to develop leadership in the immigrant community) urged that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) not be provided any resources here.  In the 3rd set of new agenda items was a resolution sponsored by Comm. Anaya urging Congress to NOT allocate additional funding to ICE or the Customs & Border Patrol.  This was referred to the Legislation & Intergovt. Relations Committee. (Item 26-0198)

From the 4th Set of New Items

• A resolution to hold a hearing on Chicago’s and Cook County’s workforce preparedness for the adoption of artificial intelligence.  The sponsor, Commissioner Gainer, said that the hearing would be held in the Workforce Committee meeting in March.

Observer:  Priscilla Mims