By Heather Cherone, includes “… the county’s coffers are now flush not only with more revenue than it expected from gaming, cannabis sales and online shopping but also $1 billion in federal relief funds. … Preckwinkle’s $8 billion plan calls for Cook County’s workforce to grow by approximately 1,600 employees to a total workforce of more than 23,000 workers in 2022 ‘to prepare capacity for the rising demand of government services’ and spend the federal relief funds sent to the county by the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden.”