Lawmakers To Consider House Plan To Fill State Budget Hole
The Legislature faces a fast-approaching deadline to act as money runs out for subsidized childcare programs, prisons, and court reporters.
Watch CBS News
The Legislature faces a fast-approaching deadline to act as money runs out for subsidized childcare programs, prisons, and court reporters.
State lawmakers have begun a new effort to figure out strategies for heading off school shootings, like the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook in Connecticut, when a gunman killed 20 students and 6 staff.
Delivering his first budget address since winning office last fall, Gov. Bruce Rauner said his plan would end "the irresponsible and reckless practices of the past." He said lawmakers must be willing to make politically unpopular decisions to close a more than $6 billion budget hole next year.
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.
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.
Illinois lawmakers face a number of issues as they wind down their fall veto session but won't consider increasing the state's minimum wage. Votes could come Wednesday on an expanded election law and a state health-insurance exchange.
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.
State lawmakers on Wednesday discussed the future of the Abraham Presidential Library and Museum, amid a proposal by House Speaker Michael Madigan to split it off from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Illinois voters will get a chance in November to weigh in on whether millionaires should pay an additional income tax to help fund schools after Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Tuesday adding a nonbinding resolution to the ballot.
A key subcontractor working on the campaign to promote President Barack Obama's health care law in Illinois is a Chicago political strategy consulting firm owned by three former aides to some of the state's most-powerful Democrats.
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 emerged from a Memorial Day caucus meeting and told reporters that he was dropping the idea of making the 5 percent income tax permanent -- and crafting a budget blueprint that holds the line on spending but is not the "doomsday" plan the House overwhelmingly rejected on Friday.
The proposal would place a non-binding resolution on the November ballot asking voters if the Illinois Constitution should be amended to add a 3 percent surcharge to incomes of more than $1 million.
Rep. Derrick Smith is a Chicago Democrat who's charged with accepting a $7,000 bribe. He is scheduled to go to trial May 28, but the Legislature isn't scheduled to adjourn until May 31.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn tried Monday to persuade House Democrats to extend the state's temporary income tax increase to avoid what he says would be "savage" budget cuts, but emerged from a roughly three-hour meeting with lawmakers still well short of the votes he needs for approval.
Weeks after it became clear Illinois Democrats were struggling to find the necessary votes for legislation to increase the state's minimum wage, House Speaker Michael Madigan began advancing the issue by another route, in a move laced with political calculation.
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.
The board of the State Universities Retirement System voted Thursday to accept an interpretation of last year's state-pension reform law that says the law won't inadvertently cut university retirees' pensions.
With the help of wealthy donors and a bipartisan group of politicians, a petition to end the gerrymandering of Illinois election districts was presented Thursday, but it faces a stiff constitutional challenge that could keep the question off the November ballot.
An Illinois House committee has voted a second time to approve $100 million in state funding to bring Barack Obama's presidential library and museum to Illinois.
Illinois voters will consider a constitutional amendment this fall aimed at scuttling attempts at voter suppression after Senate action Thursday.
The legislation sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan overcame earlier resistance after the Chicago Democrat removed language mentioning the tax increase. Opponents feared they'd be blamed for a Chicago tax increase.
A fast-tracked plan to overhaul two Chicago city-pension programs slowed in the Illinois House Thursday, as nervous lawmakers said they fear backlash for a massive property-tax increase even if they don't directly approve it.
A retired judge who lost her law license for fleecing her Tuskegee Airman uncle used the money she stole to buy bitcoin for herself, court records show.
From guest appearances to his latest hits, watch parties for Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance were held across Chicago.
Joliet police said Joseph D. Johnson, 29, was released from medical care at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood on Sunday morning.
Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said that the repairs on Paige were completed at around 3 p.m.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots Sunday to win the 2026 Super Bowl.
The footage is included in a video that promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump.
The FBI has arrested "one of the key participants" behind the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed four Americans.
A new push to pass a GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act is underway in Congress, but Democrats warn the proposal could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
As immigration sweeps expand nationwide, the work of justifying detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other cases in order to keep pace.
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, plans to attend President Trump's State of the Union address to Congress later this month, according to her attorney.
This week marks Identity Theft Awareness Week, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza emphasized some safety tips Monday for avoiding and dealing with identity theft.
A controversial data center in Naperville, Illinois, could be the cause to pack a city council meeting there on Tuesday night.
Police in the west Chicago suburb of Geneva are warning of a scam involving spoofed phone numbers.
Protesters on Tuesday were cranking up the heat on Peoples Gas over a recently proposed rate hike that would add an additional $10 to $11 a month to utility bills.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital announced this week that it is planning to open a new pediatric hospital in the west Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
It has been nearly six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the many questions doctors are still working to answer concerns the long-term effects.
Leaders from Cook County, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository denounced changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Wednesday.
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a grant from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation for a new cancer center.
Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital said Tuesday that it is no longer initiating gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
A Near West Side diner known for drawing in Blackhawks fans and players is up for sale.
January may be the coldest time of the year, but Chicago is already looking forward to summer farmers' markets.
A development proposal issued this month calls for the replacement of a building housing a Giordiano's pizzeria in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with a new mixed-use building with 28 residential units.
United Airlines flight attendants picketed outside Chicago's Willis Tower Thursday morning as they fought for a new contract.
WSCR-AM, 670 The Score, will begin a simulcast on 104.3 FM next month.
Brad Arnold, the founder and lead singer of the 3 Doors Down has died following "his courageous battle with cancer," the rock band announced Saturday on social media.
Bad Bunny took the stage at halftime for the 2026 Super Bowl. Here's who else performed at Super Bowl 60.
Gamers across the world can now recreate drone strikes in Ukraine from the comfort of their own home, with this newly released game.
The members of Ratboys were teenagers when they met by chance, and now in their 30s, the Chicago band formed by two college friends almost two decades ago appears to be on the brink of something big.
Chuck Negron, a founding member of Three Dog Night whose lead vocals powered a string of hits for one of the top rock acts of the late 1960s and early '70s has died. He was 83.
Lawton Wilkerson's loved ones are planning to file another lawsuit against the disbarred judge, continuing their fight to get back the money she took.
Some observers speculated the pontiff might travel to the United Nations general assembly since he's been so outspoken about several world conflicts.
Video captured the moment as the ride called the "Tsunami" falls with dozens of people onboard.
Highs will primarily be in the upper 30s and lower 40s, giving way to a good February thaw.
Dragon and lion dances helped usher in the year of the horse, known or energy, passion, and action in the Chinese zodiac.
A retired judge who lost her law license for fleecing her Tuskegee Airman uncle used the money she stole to buy bitcoin for herself, court records show.
A mother and her boyfriend will appear at a detention hearing on Monday after her 8-year-old son was found dead in their home from apparent abuse and malnourishment.
From guest appearances to his latest hits, watch parties for Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance were held across Chicago.
Joliet police said Joseph D. Johnson, 29, was released from medical care at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood on Sunday morning.
Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said that the repairs on Paige were completed at around 3 p.m.
Fewer Chicago kids are getting the dental care they need, and some dentists are blaming Chicago Public Schools.
Cynthia Eason recounted the moment Chicago police officers raided her family's home in 2018.
Water bills could be going up in several Chicago suburbs and other parts of Illinois, as Illinois American Water seeks a rate increase to fund infrastructure improvements.
The case involves a Chicago grandmother, her daughter, and her four grandchildren, who all said that Chicago police officers pointed guns at them during the botched raid.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel no longer will have to testify about an alleged "code of silence" at the Chicago Police Department, after a federal judge reversed an earlier ruling that would have allowed him to take the stand in a lawsuit over a botched police raid.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots Sunday to win the 2026 Super Bowl.
Lindsey Vonn, who came out of retirement to compete in the Milano Cortina Games, is in stable condition after her crash.
Not sure where to watch the 2026 Super Bowl live? There are multiple ways to watch the game for free today. Here's how.
Family and former coaches expressed pride knowing that players will be representing their communities on one of the biggest stages in sports.
Illinois led 39-35 at halftime after six ties and nine lead changes and was ahead by nine points early in the second half.
Police in Joliet, Illinois, were searching Sunday for a man who held up a cellphone store this weekend.
A woman was in custody after another woman was slashed in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood this weekend.
Local and federal authorities said "investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity" regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
A South Side community came together on Friday, hoping for justice after a woman was shot and killed while her baby was in the back seat of their car earlier this week.
A Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.
