Seven days. That’s how much longer Illinois lawmakers will be in Springfield before their scheduled adjournment. Seven days to settle the current fiscal year’s state budget. Seven days to pass the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Seven days to resolve, or not, a host of other policy issues, including school funding, that have been floating between the House and Senate.

For the past two budget years, Democrats in the General Assembly adjourned after knowingly passing budgets that were unbalanced.

Get ready. It looks like they’re going to do it again.

While there has been talk of a grand compromise and Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he would support a tax hike if coupled with reform, actual progress on a budget fix is elusive. More accurately: House Speaker Michael Madigan isn’t interested.

Election officials say a group pushing for redistricting reform has enough valid signatures to get the measure on the November ballot.

The state board of elections will vote on the matter in June.

However, a lawsuit has been filed in Cook County which says the measure does not meet constitutional requirements and should not be on the ballot.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel reached an agreement with unions on a way to shore up the smallest of the city’s struggling pension funds, saying it would create a “path to solvency” after a previous overhaul was struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court.

The city and two unions reached a pact that — if finalized — would aid a pension that’s set to run out of money by 2029. The deal would require an increase in contributions from employees who want to retire as early as 65 and boost Chicago’s payments into the Laborers’ and Retirement Board Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund by no less than 30 percent a year over five years, beginning with the contribution due in 2018. The fund serves some 8,000 employees, retirees and beneficiaries.

“This agreement marks a tremendous step forward in ensuring that the city’s employees and retirees have a secure retirement, while protecting Chicago’s taxpayers from bearing the entire responsibility on their own,” Emanuel said in a statement late Monday.

Naperville ranks as the wealthiest city in the Midwest and the 19th wealthiest city in the nation based on income, housing prices and credit availability, according to a report released Monday by financial website NerdWallet.

Naperville beat Carmel, Ind., and Arlington Heights for the top spot in the Midwest. Key factors in Naperville’s calculation included:

Median household income: $104,419

Median home price: $364,300

Percent of homes with no mortgage: 23 percent

Average credit limit: $67,075

The wealthiest city nationwide was Palo Alto, Calif., with a median household income of $151,371 and a median home price of more than $2.5 million. There, 34 percent of homes have no mortgage, and the average credit limit is $71,696.

“We’ll worry about fixing the pension in five years and hammer new workers for now.” That’s a pretty fair summary of the plan for LABF (Chicago’s Laborers’ pension) released by Mayor Emanuel’s office yesterday — as far as we can tell from the horribly inadequate information it provided.

Here’s what we know, from piecing together a number of news stories on the plan:

• Taxpayer contributions into the fund will increase over five years to a point where they supposedly become sufficient to bring the fund to 90% funding in 40 years.
• Starting next year, newly hired employees will pay 11.5 percent of their wages toward retirement, compared with 8.5 percent today.
• About $40 million of new revenue coming from the 2014 telephone tax increase will be redirected from a different Chicago pension, MEABF (the Municipal fund), to LABF.
• Some existing employees will be given the option to swap higher contributions for a lower retirement age.

As Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner continued his vague calls for compromise Monday, House Democrats approved a measure to require his administration to give 30 days’ notice before it could cancel contracts with service providers who care for the vulnerable.

The bill is designed to prevent a repeat of an April 2015 move in which Rauner tried to save money by abruptly canceling contracts with social service agencies. Opponents at the Capitol dubbed it the “Good Friday Massacre.” Rauner later restored the funding amid intense blowback.

Chicago’s legacy of segregation has long made it a tale of two cities, but three recent reports show how far apart those cities have become.

A report released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution shows that of the nation’s largest metro areas, Chicago has the greatest racial disparity in young adult employment rates.

Among 20- to 24-year-olds, the Chicago area’s employment rate is 47 percent for blacks, the lowest among the big cities, and 73 percent for whites, which is among the highest. Only Philadelphia comes close to that gap, with a 48 percent employment rate for blacks and 66 percent for whites.

Several of Chicago’s 130 charter schools fear they won’t be able to afford to reopen their doors in the fall if proposed budget cuts from Chicago Public Schools become a reality.

CPS has said it may have to cut per pupil funding by about 43 percent compared to last year as Illinois’ largest school district lobbies state legislators for financial help. District schools will see a loss of about one in four dollars on average once their federal and state money shakes out.

The Illinois House on Tuesday sent a bill to Gov. Bruce Rauner that would double fines for drivers who try to cross railroad tracks after signals are activated and the gates are down — assuming they’re alive to pay them.

The legislation doubles the fines from $250 to $500 for a first offense and from $500 to $1,000 for a second or subsequent offense. The unanimous House vote follows approval April 21 by the Senate, and the bill next goes to Rauner for signature. Late Tuesday afternoon, the governor’s office said the measure is under review.

“Our message is simple: When the gates are down, stay off the tracks or you will pay the price through these increased fines or worse,” Don Orseno, CEO of Metra, said in a statement. “In addition to the potential and tragic loss of life, collisions that occur at our railroad crossings can impact thousands of Metra customers, who can be delayed for hours at a time, and can also delay motorists.”

A bill that would permit all public universities and community colleges in Illinois to serve or sell liquor at public events that are not student-related cleared the Illinois Senate Tuesday.

Currently four universities, including the University of Illinois, and four community colleges have exemptions that allow alcohol to be served on campus in some circumstances.

The bill approved 54-0 in the Senate Tuesday (HB 4820) would require university and college governing boards to issue a written policy that could in some cases expand current exemptions.

The Supreme Court won’t reconsider its decision to reject former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s appeal of his corruption convictions.

The justices on Monday denied without comment a long-shot petition urging the court to take another look at the case.

The court first turned down Blagojevich’s appeal on March 28. He challenged an appeals court ruling that said Blagojevich crossed the line when he sought money in exchange for naming someone to fill the vacant Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.