SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration says it will spend the next six years trying to maintain and improve a deteriorating transit system. The $11.2 billion, six-year program released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Transportation is actually rosier than expected. Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn reported that a newly approved federal highway plan…
( KTRS ) Illinois public schools could receive a $700 million increase to battle poverty under a budget plan proposed by the House majority leader. Democrat Barbara Flynn Currie’s legislation includes more than $5 billion for K-12 education. $700 million of that has been designated for “equity grant” funding. The spending plan would force Republican…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Democratic-led Illinois House passed a budget for next year in defiance of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s wish for pro-business legislation he wants. Republicans howled in protest Wednesday after Democrats stopped debate on the budget plan and voted to pass it 63-53 vote. The state has been without a spending plan…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois’ top corrections official says an overhaul has begun of prison mental health programs following a settlement in a class-action lawsuit. Illinois Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin tells The (Bloomington) Pantagraph (http://bit.ly/1XK6Fgi) he wants the state to be a national model. Baldwin says Gov. Bruce Rauner is committed to making…
( KTRS ) A bill to increase funding for financially struggling Illinois colleges and universities has cleared the state Senate. Lawmakers approved the $454 million bill on a near unanimous vote and sent the measure to the House on Thursday. Democrats who control the Legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner have been unable to agree…
CHICAGO (AP) – A member of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration says the Republican governor will not endorse Donald Trump as the GOP standard-bearer in the November election. Rauner declined to back a candidate during the once-crowded GOP nomination process, although he did express dismay with Trump’s rhetoric. Rauner’s aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois advisory board is once again recommending that Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration add new health conditions to a list of what can be treated legally with medical marijuana. The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board met Monday in Springfield. Its members voted to recommend Type 1 diabetes and panic disorder to the…
( KTRS ) Illinois business leaders say they want the state to invest more money in early education to meet the demands of a growing job market centered on math and science. Business leaders says they support Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s plan to increase preschool funding to about $393 million, an increase of $75 million from…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A temporary funding fix for financially struggling Illinois colleges and universities is in limbo because lawmakers delayed a vote on a rare bipartisan measure that would send them $600 million. Republican House Leader Jim Durkin told lawmakers Gov. Bruce Rauner will sign the bill if it gets to him. The House…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The rivalry between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan continues to intensify during Illinois’ 10-month budget stalemate, leaving little hope that the state will have a spending plan any time soon. Neither man has budged from their respective positions in a battle of attrition that has left…