Nobody can predict what the General Assembly will do about the upcoming budget, but lawmakers now have less than two months left before the end of the legislative session to come to an agreement. They could pass an unbalanced budget, which Gov. Bruce Rauner almost certainly would veto. They could pass a six-month stopgap budget that allows lawmakers to ignore tough choices until after the November election. They could do nothing and fail to send the governor a budget to sign at all.

Or, for the first time in nearly two decades, they could negotiate in good faith to pass a fiscally responsible, full-year budget taxpayers can afford. There’s one way to make that last, best option more likely: Change the way lawmakers build the state budgets. To get away from what S&P Global Ratings describes as Illinois’ “persistent crisis-like budget environment,” elected officials need to end the last-minute scrambling and adopt reforms that finally would bring certainty to the state’s budgeting process.

Illinois doesn’t have a choice—it must change the way it budgets.

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is riding high again in the aftermath of measured criticism by fellow party members over sexual harassment scandals, Illinois’ status as a national fiscal embarrassment and concerns about his iron-clad grip on both the Legislature and the political party he leads.

Just this week, Madigan was re-elected without opposition by party leaders to his sixth term as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, a position he has held since 1998. There was, however, one regrettable vote cast against him by 14th district state central committeeman Peter Janko.

In a bit of a surprise, the Illinois House late today rejected a controversial move to allow private collection firms to access confidential state sales tax data, a move that one watchdog group had equated to modern-day bounty hunting.

The action came when the House voted 42-61 against advancing a bill that some municipalities had backed, but which drew vehement fire from much of the state’s business community. The action likely kills the issue for the spring legislative session, although there’s a remote chance it could resurface later as an amendment to another bill.

Algonquin Township officials traveled to Springfield on Wednesday to lobby against a bill that could make the path to township consolidation easier.

Although some township trustees have said it’s a great use of taxpayers’ dollars, the state representative behind the bill said the use of tax money to lobby for any cause shows the problem with township government.

Families suing the state over Legionnaires’ disease deaths at a government-run veterans’ home are getting a potential legal boost from the Illinois Senate.

By a 50-0 vote, the Senate voted to raise the cap on most awards for negligence judgments against the state from the current $100,000 up to $2 million. The measure, which now moves to the House, applies to any cases pending before the state Court of Claims as of July 1, 2015.

Last year’s pop tax backlash has eroded the current Cook County Board’s enthusiasm for tax increases, with President Toni Preckwinkle predicting no new “revenue” in next year’s budget.

“I don’t anticipate revenue” when proposing a 2019 budget later this year, she said Wednesday. “There were no votes for revenue last year. I don’t think there are going to be any votes for it this year.”

The Chicago Board of Education demanded more accountability Wednesday from the two Chicago Public Schools contractors hired to oversee cleaning duties, saying dirty schools are unacceptable.

That followed reports in the Chicago Sun-Times that 91 of 125 schools failed “blitz” cleanliness inspections in December — and more than 50 schools operating under the “integrated facilities-management model” CPS is in putting in place to improve things failed their most recent cleanliness audits by an outside inspector.

Despite some strong objections, Mundelein officials will spend $347,930 to buy and install nine new gateway signs throughout the village and an electronic message sign at the police station.

Trustee Dawn Abernathy wasn’t happy with the plan, particularly how some of the funding will come from village savings.

From building a new bridge to laying rail ties, Metra crews will tackle multiple projects this construction season with varying effects on commuters.

One of the most significant initiatives is replacing the 136-year-old, one-track bridge over the Fox River in Elgin on the Milwaukee West District Line at a cost of $34 million. A replacement structure with two tracks should be completed in 2020.

Some 83,500 Peoria County real estate tax bills will be mailed by Friday. The first installment due date is June 5, with the second installment due by Sept. 5.

Payments must be postmarked by their respective due dates to avoid penalties, said Peoria County Treasurer Nicole Demetreas. If a tax bill is not received by May 15, the Treasurer’s Office recommends printing the tax bill from the new property information website accessible at www.peoriacounty.org or requesting a duplicate bill.