State Week: State Of The State Stalemate
Governor Bruce Rauner gave his second annual State of the State address before a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly this week. Doug Finke of the State Journal-Register joins the panel.
View ArticleObama To Mark Anniversary Of Presidential Campaign With Return To Springfield
Next month, President Barack Obama will return to the place where his political career began -- Springfield, Illinois -- to address state legislators.
View ArticleMAP Bill On "Cooling Off" Hold
The Illinois Senate President is encouraging Governor Bruce Rauner to rethink his priorities on student aid legislation, but the governor was quick to repeat his promise of a veto.Senate President John...
View ArticleIllinois Issues: State Of The State — Light At The End Of The Tunnel Or...
Commentary — Might we be seeing light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it the headlamps of the ongoing train wreck that is Illinois, picking up speed? Such questions came to mind listening to Gov. Bruce...
View ArticleState Week: Public Education Under More Pressure
With the state budget impasse ongoing, lack of money continues to affect Illinois colleges and universities as well as Chicago Public Schools. Chris Mooney, director of the University of Illinois'...
View ArticleWill Obama's Belief In Politics Of "Hope" Spur Action In Illinois?
On a freezing February day in 2007, President Barack Obama announced his bid for the nation's highest office in front of the Old State Capitol in downtown Springfield -- the place where Abraham Lincoln...
View ArticleGov. Rauner's Budget Address: Listen To The Speech, Hear Reaction And Read...
Listen to our broadcast of the Governor's Address with reaction from House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and Republican Leaders Rep. Jim Durkin and Sen. Christine...
View ArticleGovernor Proposes Budget Options; Democrats Choose Neither
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says it's shocking and unacceptable that the state is in its eighth month without a budget. Wednesday, he laid out his vision for finally ending the political stalemate that...
View ArticleState Week: Governor Rauner's Fiscal Year 2017
Governor Bruce Rauner addressed the Illinois General Assembly this week with his vision for the next fiscal year, despite still having no agreement on a spending plan for the current year. John...
View ArticleRauner Vetoes MAP Grant Money For Poor College Students, Says Cost Would...
Low-income college students promised state help paying for tuition will continue to go without it. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has followed through on his pledge to reject funding for the Monetary Award...
View ArticlePension "Deal" Caught In Impasse Too
Doing something about Illinois' underfunded retirement systems remains an immediate goal for Gov. Bruce Rauner but despite a loose agreement with a leading Democrat, that plan has stalled.Springfield...
View ArticleBudget-Beleaguered Illinois Set To Forgo Lottery Sales
Even as Illinois scrounges for money it appears as if the state will let revenue slip away, albeit only a tiny slice of revenue. Legislators' delay also means that by the end of this month, Lottery...
View ArticleState Week: Another Day, Another Fruitless Budget Debate
It’s been 247 days since the state of Illinois had a budget. In that time, the nation of Iran struck a deal with America to limit its nuclear program and the United States reestablished diplomatic...
View ArticleState Week: Election Vacation Consternation
With the election arriving next Tuesday, a handful of candidates and their "dark money" supporters were spending millions of dollars on just a handful of campaigns. Meanwhile, Gov. Bruce Rauner once...
View ArticleIllinois Issues: Rauner, Trump And The Lure Of The CEO Politician
With victories Tuesday in Illinois and elsewhere, Donald Trump is continuing his march toward the Republican presidential nomination. Those contemplating what a Trump presidency would look like might...
View ArticleTen Months Into Stalemate, Republican Leaders Make Social Services Offer
Republicans are making an offer to get money to social services agencies that have gone three-quarters of the year without any state funding.Illinois' political stalemate has caused crises all over the...
View ArticleState Week: More Talk, Little Action
This week, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno declared, "We need change!" However, there is still no agreement among state lawmakers and Governor Bruce Rauner on what form that change should...
View ArticleEducation Funding Division: Top Democrat Says Governor's Plan "Difficult" To...
Illinois' leaders are divided over school funding as ever, even as superintendents continue to sound the alarm about fears education funding will get caught in the political stalemate.Gov. Bruce Rauner...
View ArticleMadigan, Cullerton Weigh In On Budget Deal Prospects
For only the second time this year, Gov. Bruce Rauner and the four legislative leaders are set to meet, Tuesday, in Springfield. It comes as Illinois' historic budget stalemate yawns into May, with...
View ArticlePleased, Or Punched: Leaders' Meeting Recap
Mixed messages came out of a meeting Tuesday between Illinois' governor and legislative leaders. It was their first meeting in months, even as Illinois is in the midst of an unprecedented budget standoff.
View ArticleRauner Laughs At Cullerton Suggestion That Pensions, AFSCME Contracts Are Tied
It's been a year since the state Supreme Court found Illinois' big pension law unconstitutional, and an attempt to get a new law passed is stalled.Lawmakers' goal is to reduce the state's expenses for...
View ArticleEducation Desk: Cullerton Proposes A School Funding Plan
As the clock ticks down on the General Assembly, lawmakers are struggling to avoid the debacle of public schools not opening in the fall. But they’re having a tough time coming up with a school funding...
View ArticleIllinois May Be Set To Repeat Budget-Less Year
Illinois could be heading into a second year without a budget. Lawmakers are beginning their final day of the regularly-scheduled spring session without a deal.
View ArticleRauner Pitches Stopgap Budget; Democrats Say Not Today
Illinois Democrats say they will not pass Gov. Bruce Rauner's last-minute pitch for a stopgap state budget -- at least not today, the final day of the legislature's regular spring session.Just days...
View ArticleSession Ends, With No Illinois Budget
Illinois' budget crisis will continue, unabated. The regular, spring session came to an end Tuesday night, without any resolution to the stalemate that has the state entering its twelfth month without...
View ArticleRauner: Dems Should Break Ranks With Madigan, Cullerton
Republican Governor Bruce Rauner is calling on more Democrats to break ranks with party leaders in order to pass a budget plan for the state. Rauner says he was ‘stunned’ that Democrats were unable to...
View ArticleState Week: Failure Is Definitely An Option
Thwarted in a last-minute attempt to thrust a temporary spending plan on Democrats, Gov. Bruce Rauner is liberal in his use of the word "failure." Democrats, meanwhile, train their fire on each other.
View ArticleWho's Really Holding Illinois 'Hostage'?
Gov. Bruce Rauner marked the end of the legislative session with a blistering attack on Democratic legislators. He then embarked on an eight-city tour — mostly downstate — where he continued his...
View ArticleIllinois Lawmakers Point Fingers On Budget Mess
Even as Illinois is without a budget, the Illinois House has canceled its one-day session.
View ArticleState Week: 'To The Last I Grapple With Thee'
After spending seventeen months fighting over the governor’s agenda and the end of May fighting about a temporary spending plan, now Democrats and Republicans are fighting about political fighting...
View Article
