SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Senate President John Cullerton says Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “sketch” of a budget proposal Wednesday is more than $3 billion short of necessary revenue. The Chicago Democrat says that doesn’t count the deficit the state is building in the current year because lawmakers and the Republican governor never approved a budget last…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – House Speaker Michael Madigan has rejected Gov. Bruce Rauner’s idea to give the Republican executive sole budget-cutting authority. The Chicago Democrat says Rauner’s conservative agenda is too “extreme” to trust him with that power. Lawmakers gave similar authority in the past to former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. Madigan favors Rauner’s idea…
( KTRS ) Gov. Bruce Rauner is set to deliver his annual budget address to state lawmakers as Illinois enters its eighth month without a spending plan for the current year. The standoff with majority Democrats over the budget – and what Rauner proposes to do to resolve it – will likely overshadow many of…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The task force on education formed by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan will begin holding hearings this week. The panel will meet with Illinois educators at the Capitol on Tuesday to address the state’s decades-old education formula that some lawmakers say unfairly penalizes students in poor districts. House Majority Leader Barbara…
( KTRS ) The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis has been called in by the Macoopin County Sheriff’s Office to investigate skeletal remains and human body parts found in a creek. The discovery was made by children playing in a creek in the 7200 block of Illinois State Route 159 Monday afternoon around…
Springfield, IL (AP) – Illinois lawmakers are seeking ways to penalize the use of drones to deliver drugs, cellphones, and other contraband to prison yards after seeing such cases in Ohio, Maryland, and Oklahoma. A proposal by Illinois Republican Senator Tim Bivins would add an extra year of prison time to inmates involved in bringing…
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) – A new Illinois law aimed at consolidating local government services will significantly reduce the number of separate emergency dispatch centers in parts of Illinois. The Belleville News-Democrat (bit.ly/1KP931l ) reports that the law requires counties with at least 250,000 residents to cut by half the number of 911 call centers by…
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A Midwest environmental group has followed through on its promise to formally challenge Peabody Energy’s ability to guarantee it has enough money for future cleanup of its Illinois and Indiana coal mines. The Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago Friday asked regulators to stop allowing the St. Louis-based company to…
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – A new college entrance exam is coming to Illinois. The test known as the SAT is replacing the ACT. The Illinois State Board of Education announced Thursday it will begin negotiating a contract with the College Board, which administers the SAT. The announcement comes after a protest filed by ACT was…
MASCOUTAH, Ill. (AP) – Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation are appealing to the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in support of Scott Air Force Base’s bid to host its new facility. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and other Illinois congressmen wrote a letter to NGA Director Robert Cardillo this week, urging him…