Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Sun-Times: Cullerton will seek re-election, urges gov to start budget talks
Despite a term full of ups and downs, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton on Tuesday confirmed he’ll seek re-election in 2019 — with a gentle jab to the governor in volunteering that he wants “to serve under a Democratic governor again.”
“I was always planning on being here for a little while,” Cullerton, D-Chicago, told reporters after speaking at a women’s rally and march. “There’s a lot of work to do between now and then. I want to serve under a Democratic governor again.”
Chicago Tribune: Cullerton: Illinois Senate will vote on stopgap budget Rauner opposes
Democratic Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Tuesday that his chamber will vote this week on a proposal to send more than $815 million to universities and social service providers that have gone months without funding, despite objections from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The House approved the legislation before leaving town for spring break, though it’s possible the Senate may put its own stamp on the proposal instead of sending it directly to Rauner’s desk.
News-Gazette: Budget plan would put taxpayers first
For two years, a political paralysis has had a grip on Illinois government. For two years, we have operated the state without a regular budget — the longest in American history. Unfortunately, even though we don’t have a budget, the spending spree continues unabated. With no controls, spending is out-of-control. The state is on pace to spend 38 billion in the current fiscal year when we expect to collect $32 billion in revenue.
The budget proposals offered over the last two years have either been wildly out of balance or raised taxes first while doing little to restrain the growth of government. Tax and spend solutions have never worked for the long-term fiscal health of our state, nor contributed to sustainable economic growth and job creation.
Wirepoints: Myth on Top of Myth: Illinois’ Bill Backlog and the Temporary Tax Increase
If only Illinois had extended the temporary income tax increase we’d be in good shape. It pretty much took care of the state’s backlog of unpaid bills, but we let it expire so the backlog is up to almost $13 billion.
That’s a common narrative repeated time after time in similar forms by many Illinois politicians and journalists.
It’s wrong. It piles one myth on top of another.
Chicago Tribune: Bill would identify Illinois lawmakers who fail to file tax returns
Any tardy tax filer who sits in the Illinois House or Senate would be subjected to public shaming under a newly filed bill that would require the state to reveal the names of lawmakers who do not file state returns.
The proposal follows the Tribune’s disclosure, published online April 14, that two Illinois lawmakers have yet to file their 2014 state tax returns, which were due two years ago.
Associated Press: House committee questions tech chief over funds transfer
Democrats on the Illinois House Appropriations-General Services Committee on Tuesday pounded Gov. Bruce Rauner’s technology chief over a transfer last fall of general revenue available for human-services bills to funds to pay computer vendors.
Chicago Democratic Rep. Will Guzzardi suggested the transfer of $71 million into special accounts for the use of the Department of Innovation and Technology were unnecessary. That is because the agency had about $85 million on hand to pay bills.
Chicago Sun-Times: $2.1 billion more sought to improve, widen Tri-State Tollway
An ambitious plan to rebuild I-294 has grown into an even bigger $4 billion plan to add lanes to the tollway, at a budget more than double the original proposal.
No toll increase would be needed to fund the plan, which is on the Illinois Tollway Board’s agenda for its Thursday meeting, according to the Tollway.
Chicago Tribune: Could Hastert lose some state pension money today?
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert could have his remaining Illinois pension benefits drastically reduced Wednesday by a board that oversees state lawmakers’ retirement funds.
At stake is an about $2,300-per-month pension Hastert has collected based on the six years he spent in Springfield before he was elected to Congress. The General Assembly Retirement System board could vote Wednesday to reduce that payout to about $750 per month, the board’s Executive Secretary Tim Blair said.
WBEZ: Few College Counselors At CPS Add Uncertainty To Post-Grad Push
The average Chicago high school has significantly fewer counselors than experts recommend, a WBEZ analysis has found, raising questions about Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new plan to require every student to graduate with firm post-high school plans.
There’s one counselor on average for every 296 high school students, according to records from Chicago Public Schools. That figure excludes the city’s public charter schools.
Belleville News-Democrat: Is $370 million in fines right way to stop dementia patient dumping? Read more here: http://w
Late life by definition deserves dignity and care, even if you don’t really realize you are not receiving either one. For a nursing home to dump an elderly person at a hospital just because they’ve become difficult to manage is a despicable act.
But we’re skeptical that our two freshman Democratic legislators have a good grasp of the solution.
State Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, and Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, are sponsors on House Bill 3392. It adds fines for nursing homes that fail to follow staffing levels mandated in a state law passed in 2010. It also gives due process to patients that the nursing homes claim cannot be managed.
Crain's Chicago Business: When whites leave suburbs, so do jobs: report
Confirming something that a lot of Chicago-area residents already feel in their bones, a new study concludes that rapid racial change usually means bad things for a local community.
The study, by Metropolitan Planning Council research chief Alden Loury, specifically looks at what happens to a town’s total number of jobs when white residents leave in large numbers, usually replaced at least in part by African-Americans and other groups.
WTTW Chicago Tonight: CPS Adding New Course on History of Jon Burge Torture Cases
Chicago Public Schools students will soon begin learning about the crimes, cover-up and eventual conviction of one of the city’s most infamous law enforcement officials: Jon Burge.
Over the next two weeks, Chicago teachers will review the curriculum for a new districtwide course on the history of the disgraced former Chicago Police Department commander who systematically abused and tortured suspects on the South Side to force confessions for two decades.
Chicago Sun-Times: City inspector general investigating United dragging incident
Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson has launched an investigation into the fiasco that sparked international outrage: aviation security officers dragging a bloodied man off a United Express flight at O’Hare Airport.
It was not immediately clear what Ferguson was investigating that is not already being covered by the comprehensive probe of O’Hare security being conducted by Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans.
Chicago Sun-Times: Judge: Koschman cop punishment up to arbitrator, not police board
Thanks to an apparent loophole in the contract Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s staff signed with the police sergeants union, a sergeant facing a year’s suspension over the handling of the David Koschman case can bypass the Chicago Police Board and have an arbitrator decide his punishment, a judge has ruled.
Cook County Circuit Judge Anna Helen Demacopoulos ruled Monday that the contract allows sergeants to have an arbitrator, rather than the police board, rule on any suspension of more than 11 days. The police board, whose members are appointed by the mayor, can not only uphold or dismiss disciplinary action recommended by the police superintendent, but it also can issue a harsher punishment.
Rockford Register-Star: Who’s the next Rockford School Board member? Pick a card
A total of 517 voters on Election Day could not determine who would be the next Rockford School Board member. The queen of clubs did.
That’s the card Anthony Dixon drew from a 52-card deck today in order to break a tie in the race to represent Subdistrict A on the School Board. Brandi Brown, who was tied with Dixon, drew the five of hearts.
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford unveils plan to replace Whitman Street interchange
City staff today introduced revised concepts for an estimated $15.1 million reconfiguration of the Whitman Street interchange at a public meeting designed by Mayor Larry Morrissey to spark dialogue in his final week in office.
Morrissey argues the 1960s-era interchange cuts off neighborhoods, blocks people from reaching the Rock River, damages property values and stifles economic growth. An earlier version of the plan was controversial in 2014, and Morrissey was concerned the revised version might never be considered without a public launch.
Decatur Herald & Review: Frustrations flare as cemetery director is fired — again
In what was called a redo of last week’s meeting that the Decatur Township’s Cemetery Board still insisted did not violate the Illinois Open Meetings Act, the board on Tuesday once again fired Greenwood Cemetery Director Lynn Dixon.
A week earlier, on Tuesday, April 18, the board held a meeting in which it dismissed Dixon, who had overseen the operation of Greenwood and two other cemeteries under township control since 2014. Like at that meeting, a large contingent showed up to protest Dixon’s firing. The room was full — people stood in the back — and the board heard a large number of them voice their concerns during the public comment portion and also during discussion of why the board made the decision to fire Dixon.
Decatur Herald & Review: Teacher contract amended to create higher pay rate
Decatur schools have felt the pinch of the state’s teacher shortage this year, with 33 positions going unfilled.
One way the school board and the Decatur Education Association are trying to correct that is with an amendment to the contract between the two which raises starting salaries and the pay rate of teachers early in their careers, said Susie Niesman of the DEA. That change was approved on Tuesday at the Decatur school board meeting.