More Than 100 Protest State Budget Stalemate Outside Thompson Center
Many of those who marched are state employees, including DCFS worker Stephen Mittons, who said the neediest and most vulnerable are being put in the middle.
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Many of those who marched are state employees, including DCFS worker Stephen Mittons, who said the neediest and most vulnerable are being put in the middle.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson is asking Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic leaders to sit down and negotiate an end to the state's budget impasse.
The governor blamed House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton for sending him a spending plan that is nearly $4 billion short on revenue.
A standoff between Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and majority Democrats is threatening to derail action on a long list of issues as lawmakers enter the final week of their spring session.
Hoping to lift any possible legal hurdles to building either Barack Obama's presidential library or filmmaker George Lucas' proposed museum on park property, Illinois lawmakers swiftly approved legislation to make sure the Emanuel administration has the authority critics claim it lacks.
The move, signed into law by Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday, digs into some of the largest piles of money in the state, including one intended to pay for highway construction, and some lesser known funds, such as ones to promote renewable energy sources and oversee the disposal of used tires.
House and Senate Democrats will seek to protect their own interests and constituencies in eventual negotiations with Rauner. While he speaks of the need for steep budget cuts, they'll likely seek to protect social services, state workers and Medicaid recipients.
Rauner's inauguration ceremony was scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield. He was set to take the oath of office along with Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, Treasurer Mike Frerichs, and Comptroller Leslie Munger.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan urged lawmakers Monday to let voters choose a replacement for the late Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka in 2016 after outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn and Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner make separate appointments to fill the job in the interim.
Republican Governor-elect Bruce Rauner has met with top Democratic legislative leaders House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. The trio met for roughly two hours Thursday at the private Chicago Club.
Governor-elect Bruce Rauner remained mum Wednesday when it came to specifics for his short-term economic plans for Illinois, ahead of a meeting with the state's top lawmakers.
Illinois lawmakers continued to grapple Wednesday with a new state budget, as Republicans ripped majority Democrats for spending beyond their means with a plan even Democrats acknowledge leaves "big unanswered questions" about the state's finances.
Having given up on extending Illinois' temporary income tax increase -- at least for now -- the Illinois Legislature is moving forward with a scaled-back budget that could lead to layoffs, further delays in paying the state's bills and a post-election vote to make the tax hike permanent or generate some other source of revenue.
House Speaker Michael Madigan said Wednesday that his chamber's effort to pass a budget without first securing all the needed revenue would aid a push to make an income tax hike permanent, but his colleagues in the Senate were not happy with the unusual move.
Senate Republicans crying foul after Gov. Pat Quinn used a rare procedural maneuver to try to aid the confirmation of two appointees announced several efforts Thursday to close what they described as a constitutional loophole.
The Illinois Legislature approved a historic plan Tuesday to eliminate the state's $100 billion pension shortfall, a vote that proponents described as critical to repairing the state's deeply troubled finances but that faces the immediate threat of a legal challenge from labor unions.
Illinois' legislative leaders briefed other lawmakers Friday on details of a breakthrough agreement for solving the state's $100 billion pension crisis, leaving them four days to study the plan before facing a vote that could be crucial for the state's financial condition and their own re-election plans.
Gov. Pat Quinn's appeal of a ruling that his veto of lawmakers' pay was unconstitutional will be heard by the Illinois Supreme Court.
House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton sued after Gov. Pat Quinn used his veto power earlier this summer to cut money for legislators' salaries from the state budget.
A leading state lawmaker said a bipartisan pension reform committee has been making progress toward a deal, though not as quickly as they'd like.
"This is going to be a landmark case," said Gov. Pat Quinn, who used his veto power last month to block lawmakers' salaries over their failure to reach an agreement on pension reform.
A meeting between Gov. Pat Quinn and the state's four legislative leaders ended Friday afternoon without much progress towards pension reform, and it appears next week's special session won't bring a solution.
House Speaker Michael Madigan has taken steps to replace Senate President John Cullerton's pension reform plan with his own plan, even though the speaker's plan was soundly defeated in the Senate last month.
Illinois House Republican Leader Tom Cross said Wednesday that he believes there's an ulterior motive behind the ongoing pension reform standoff between House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton.
After meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn for more than an hour and a half, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton seemed friendly, but not much closer to resolving their differences over pension reform.
