The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month in United Auto Workers v. Hardin County that Kentucky’s local governments—not only the state legislature—can decide whether to implement right-to-work laws, which ban unions from firing workers who refuse to pay dues. This ruling should relieve reformers throughout the Midwest, but it’s particularly good news for Illinois, where unions and their political allies have made securing workers’ freedom an uphill battle.

Right to work is an important part of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s “Turnaround Illinois” agenda. Under his proposal, local governments would have the option to decide for themselves whether to adopt right to work. The policy could apply to workers in the private economy, as well as government employees. Any unit of local government could make this decision—cities, towns, counties, municipal wards and even school districts.

It’s a tough time to be a food truck in Chicago.

After a four-year court battle, a Chicago food truck owner on Monday failed in her effort to overturn what she calls “burdensome” and “damaging” rules governing mobile vendors in the city. The judgment likely will have a significant and lasting impact on Chicago’s food truck industry, which has struggled to grow, in contrast to other U.S. cities.

Eight public officials and one private citizen were arrested Monday on corruption charges, including East St. Louis Councilwoman June Hamilton Dean, East St. Louis Township Trustee Edith R. Moore and St. Clair County Board of Review member Michael Crockett Jr.

Hamilton Dean was arrested on charges of forgery and public contractor misconduct, Moore was charged with forgery and voting law violation charges and Crockett was accused of official misconduct and bribery.

Gov. Bruce Rauner called on Democratic lawmakers Monday to drop their lawsuit to reclaim their paychecks. The Illinois comptroller said pay would be withheld until lawmakers passed a new budget.

As the state budget impasse continues, Rauner used that lawsuit to speed up lawmaker paychecks to take new political shots at his Democratic opponents.

“This lawsuit is an insult to taxpayers,” Rauner said.

At a time when many Cook County employers are already feeling their purse strings tightening, two recent actions from the Cook County Board, mirroring similar actions taken by the city of Chicago, have prompted many to worry over their impact on businesses – and particularly in suburban corners of the county, far from Chicago’s city limits.

In October, county commissioners voted 11-4-1 to mandate paid sick leave, allowing Cook County employees to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to five days a year. All four Republican commissioners opposed, while Stanley Moore, D-4, voted “present.”

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders are set to meet again Tuesday for talks on the state’s budget situation after a marathon of closed-door meetings last week, which spilled into the weekend, brought the two sides no closer to a deal.

Heading into the Tuesday afternoon meeting, Rauner’s Republican Party continued to stoke its newest attack campaign against Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, adding four Democratic lawmakers to a list of rank-and-file legislators who the state GOP alleges to be part of the veteran speaker’s “web of influence.”

Chicago Public Schools won’t be advancing any plans for new privately operated schools this year after the sole remaining applicant for an additional charter campus abandoned an effort for a shuttered South Side building.

The application to open the Kemet Leadership Academy charter school at the site of the former Morgan Elementary School in the Gresham neighborhood was withdrawn on Friday, a district spokeswoman said.

Democrat Susana Mendoza was sworn in Monday as state comptroller during a small ceremony at the Capitol, asking for patience and prayers as she takes office with lllinois’ pile of unpaid bills topping $10.4 billion.

Mendoza said she will use her role overseeing the state’s checkbook to “safeguard the interests of the state’s most vulnerable people,” a goal that will be no small feat as Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the Legislature remain deadlocked on a budget. The nearly two-year-long stalemate has led to a huge spike in debt as court orders and laws still require the comptroller to cut checks for some key services even if there’s no money in state coffers to cover the costs.

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday accused House Speaker Michael Madigan of pushing for an “incomplete short-term spending plan” — while defending the campaign-style rhetoric of his Illinois Republican Party, saying the attacks aren’t affecting what’s happening in budget talks.

“This is the job we’ve chosen,” Rauner said. “We’re in a field where politics is always going on, partisan stuff. That’s on the side. We can keep that out. That’s not in the room when we’re negotiating. That’s its own process.”

The Illinois Labor Relations Board on Monday issued a written version of its Nov. 15 ruling that an impasse exists in contract talks between the state and Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said after the written version was issued that the union is appealing the ruling to the state appellate court based in Chicago.

Interesting, if marginal, details emerged from weekend meetings of legislative leaders regarding their so-far-fruitless efforts to reach some kind of compromise on the long-standing state budget dispute.

Among them was Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s recitation of the small amount of time actually devoted to the budget issue.

Some members of the Illinois House don’t like being treated like every other person currently owed $10.4 billion by our deadbeat state.

On Friday state Reps. Mary Flowers, Emmanuel Chris Welch, Kate Cloonen, Lisa Hernandez, Silvana Tabares and Sonya Harper filed suit as Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger was literally headed out the door. The Republican appointee instituted a policy in April that put pay for all elected state leaders in the pile with all the other state bills awaiting payment, but the six Democrats sued her office because they didn’t like it that their May paychecks just arrived in October.