Governor Rauner is supporting a grand compromise that would include a budget for fiscal years ’16 and ’17.

In his view, the best compromise includes revenue, cuts and some of his pro-business reforms.

The Governor acknowledged that there are two different working groups attempting to come to an agreement on a budget. However, he says he and the leaders haven’t been a part of those negotiations.

The Chicago Teachers Union on Monday said its governing body has yet to vote on the timing of a potential walkout and took issue with Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s claim that the union had “agreed not to strike.”

The union’s executive board will meet this week before discussing a potential strike with its house of delegates Wednesday. Emanuel on Monday seized on comments union Vice President Jesse Sharkey made to the Sun-Times that suggested members “would not be looking at a strike in May” unless the school district “provokes us.”

“The good news is, they agreed not to strike,” Emanuel told reporters Monday. “And I compliment Jesse Sharkey for his comment that there’s not a mood there among teachers.”

Moody’s Investor Service has downgraded Lincoln-Way High School District 210’s debt by five notches, bringing it just one notch above “junk” status.

The steep rating downgrade, announced Friday, was spurred in part by recent revelations that the district inappropriately spent bond money, costing taxpayers an extra $5 million in borrowing.

Moody’s downgrade “reflects the weakened financial position of the district, which has necessitated the issuance of tax anticipation warrants … to support operations,” Moody’s said. “The rating also considers the recent discovery of misappropriation of bond proceeds and restricted funds, the resolution of which will exacerbate the district’s budget pressures.”

Small-business owners’ confidence took a dive in the first part of the year and many say the presidential election is weighing on their minds, according to a survey released Monday by Capital One.

The March national survey of some 400 for-profit small businesses, defined as having less than $10 million in annual revenue, revealed subdued hiring plans and worsening perceptions of the economy.

Just 26 percent of respondents said they plan to hire employees in the next six months, compared with 32 percent who said so this time last year and 37 percent who said so during the last election in 2012.

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 program.

With the deadline rapidly approaching to place a graduated income tax amendment on the ballot, Gov. Bruce Rauner has reiterated his opposition, saying it will be bad for Illinois business.

Rauner’s opposition could signal that Republicans won’t vote for the amendment when it is taken up in the Democrat-controlled House this week. With at least one Democrat saying publicly he is opposed to the amendment, it could spell its defeat.

Rauner, speaking at an event in Springfield Monday, said a graduated state income tax would be a bad idea for Illinois, especially for small businesses that often organize themselves to pay taxes under the personal income tax rate rather than the higher corporate rate.

Dear state Sen. Bill Brady,

We understand you are now the chief Senate sponsor of a proposal that would allow for the elimination of the Illinois lieutenant governor’s office.

Congratulations. We, along with many voters in your central Illinois district, would appreciate the opportunity in November to amend the Illinois Constitution to dissolve an office that is largely ceremonial. Doing so would save taxpayers roughly $1.6 million annually. Getting rid of one statewide office is a small step toward downsizing government, but an important one.

As Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner continues to talk up the possibility that he could strike a sweeping agreement with lawmakers to resolve the budget stalemate by the end of the month, he’s refusing to say which portions of his agenda he needs to get the deal done.

It’s nothing new, as Rauner has long been wary of giving away his negotiating position. Instead, he’s issued broad calls to freeze property taxes, cut costs related to workers hurt on the job, curb benefits that could be negotiated during collective bargaining and rein in pricey civil lawsuits. Democrats largely have rebuffed those efforts, saying they would harm the middle class and are unrelated to the state budget, which is billions of dollars out of whack after a temporary income tax hike began to expire in January 2015.

On Monday, Rauner offered the latest reason for his opacity on the 10-month stalemate, saying he was keeping quiet so he wouldn’t derail negotiations among rank-and-file lawmakers who are scrambling to come up with something they can present to legislative leaders.

A new study claims Illinois charges the highest property taxes in the nation. It comes as support has grown among state lawmakers, for a bill to stop the climb by freezing property taxes.

It’s easy to see why people would be in favor of a property tax freeze, but if lawmakers push forward with that plan local governments say it would have an undeniable trickle down effect. That would start sooner for some communities rather than later.

“Everybody would like to see property taxes frozen but in reality it just can’t happen there’s no way to fund all the stuff that the government provides right now,” says Rick Runge.

Illinois’s 307 days without a budget is dividing the state into the haves and have-nots.

Thanks to a fleeting political thaw, universities are starting to receive $600 million that’s been held up during the record long-impasse, and government employees, pensioners and bondholders have all seen their checks continue to come. But on the other side are the homeless shelters, charities and companies that are owed $6 billion, a sum that’s projected to grow to $10 billion by July 1. Elected officials’ paychecks have been delayed since last month, too, in a last ditch effort to prod lawmakers to act.

“The state of Illinois did not make themselves and their financial health a priority overall,” said Philip Krupps, president of Brown County State Bank in Mount Sterling, Illinois, where the local state prison is at least six months behind on its municipal water bill. “They’re playing the shell game of moving money around and just satisfying enough of each little need to pacify the situation.”