Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Madigan preps for 17th term as speaker despite Rauner-funded pressure
Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is poised to continue his run as the country’s longest-serving state legislative leader when the new Illinois General Assembly is sworn in Wednesday.
The vote on giving the Southwest Side politician a record 17th term as speaker comes as the old class of lawmakers wrapped up their two-year session Tuesday by voting to extend a tax credit for businesses and require lead testing of water in schools. The Democrat-controlled General Assembly, however, was unable to reach an agreement with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on a full state budget in a stalemate that has defined state government.
Belleville News-Democrat: Illinois General Assembly’s 100th milestone likely to be familiar trip
The Illinois General Assembly today gathers for the 100th session, a real milestone in Illinois’ history. The august chambers gave rise to the political careers of Abraham Lincoln, Adlai Stevenson, Paul Simon and Barack Obama.
But all those brilliant political minds failed to create the firm base of power achieved by a little Irish guy from the shadow of Midway Airport, Michael J. Madigan. His reign as Illinois House speaker began in 1983, and there is every indication that it will continue as newly elected state lawmakers gather today for the 100th time and pick a leader.
Rockford Register-Star: No-budget Illinois General Assembly ends 2-year run
The 99th edition of the Illinois General Assembly came to an end today without lawmakers ever approving a permanent budget during its two-year run, a first in the state’s history.
The two-day lame-duck session came to a conclusion with the legislature passing a few bills to Gov. Bruce Rauner, but with no action on any of the contentious issues that have resulted in the gridlock that has gripped the state.
Chicago Tribune: More budget nonsense for Illinois
Two days before the start of a new General Assembly, a few Democrats in the Illinois House engaged in a rare display of pushback against their leaders — sort of. They voted against a stopgap budget that would have allowed the state to skate past, rather than resolve, its financial mess.
The caveat: Two of those members are leaving the legislature and had nothing to lose by rejecting House Speaker Michael Madigan’s budget maneuver — a patchwork spending bill that passed the House on Monday but was never considered by the Senate. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, who voted against the bill, is taking over as McHenry County Board chairman. Rep. Andy Skoog, D-Spring Valley, who also rejected the measure, lost his seat in November to Republican Jerry Long, who will be sworn in Wednesday.
State Journal-Register: Senate leaders need to keep budget momentum going
There was a rare sight Monday in the Illinois Statehouse: A Democrat and Republican shared a podium during a joint news conference to discuss a bipartisan state budget proposal they hoped would be approved within the next month.
Heck, Democratic Senate President John Cullerton and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno even smiled at each other as they explained the next steps they intend to take as they continue to hammer out what has the potential to become the first real spending plan Illinois has had in 18 months.
Chicago Tribune: Emanuel asks credit ratings agency to back off ahead of latest round of borrowing
As City Hall prepares to borrow $1.2 billion, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked a Wall Street debt ratings agency that’s been highly critical of Chicago’s finances to withdraw its evaluation of city creditworthiness, the administration disclosed Tuesday.
The mayor contends that the junk status placed on the city’s debt by Moody’s Investors Service drives up borrowing costs covered by taxpayers and does not reflect the steps he has taken to fix the city’s finances.
Illinois News Network: Controversial tax credit elicits mixed responses from Illinois leadership, businesses
The controversial Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit for select Illinois businesses could be extended beyond its expiration if the governor signs on, but opponents say there’s no way to determine the program’s success.
The program gives some businesses tax credits for job creation and retention and expired at the end of 2016. A measure that passed both chambers extends it until April.
Reuters: Illinois governor pans state legislature's Chicago pension fix
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signaled a likely veto on Monday of newly passed legislation to stave off possible insolvency for two of Chicago’s pension funds.
Credit ratings for the nation’s third-largest city have been plummeting largely due to an unfunded pension liability that stood at $33.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2015 for Chicago’s four retirement systems.
Chicago Tribune: Illinois poised to require lead testing in schools, day care centers
Illinois is poised to become one of the first states to require schools and day care centers to test water fountains and faucets for brain-damaging lead.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected to sign a bill approved by state lawmakers Tuesday after negotiators brokered a compromise that requires schools, rather than water suppliers, to pay for the testing. The final version of the bill also resolved a dispute between the Rauner administration and Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office that had stalled talks until late last week.
Chicago Sun-Times: Park board urged to call off vote on golf-course contract
Arguing that the $30 million project is being “shoved down the community’s throat,” Friends of the Parks is urging the Chicago Park District board to put off Wednesday’s vote on a $1.1 million contract to design and engineer merger of the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses.
Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry’s opposition to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s giveaway of lakefront park land near Soldier Field killed movie mogul George Lucas’ plan to build an interactive museum in Chicago.
Chicago Tribune: Judge agrees to move sheriff's trial to April
Federal judge on Tuesday agreed to push back the trial of Lake County Sheriff John Buncich to April.
The sheriff, who was indicted in November on a series of corruption charges, was slated for his trial to begin Jan. 17, according to court documents, but Judge Paul Cherry consented to delaying the court proceeding until Buncich’s defense team has had adequate time to prepare his defense and review information collected by federal authorities during their investigation.
Chicago Sun-Times: State criminal-justice reform panel makes more recommendations
A criminal-justice commission created by Gov. Bruce Rauner has produced its final recommendations, adding another 13 to its list.
Those recommendations include training to recognize “implicit racial and ethnic bias” among law-enforcement officers, judges and lawyers, as well as collecting data on race and ethnicity to understand how minorities are disproportionately affected by such bias.
Chicago Sun-Times: Insiders’ deal to land Midway concessions delayed
More than a year after a stampede of clout players put forward proposals, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration still has not closed a deal on a major planned revamping of Midway Airport’s concessions.
Landing the deal will be highly lucrative — concessions at the airport took in a total of about $89 million in 2014 — and three teams presented bids for running restaurants and shops at Midway a year ago.
Chicago Sun-Times: Mendoza’s deputy gets consolation prize: PBC chief
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday ordered, yet another cabinet shuffle triggered by his appointment of political operative Anna Valencia as Chicago’s $133,545-a-year city clerk.
Deputy Clerk Carina Sanchez, the successor favored by former City Clerk-turned-State Comptroller Susana Mendoza, got a powerful consolation prize: executive director of the Emanuel-chaired Public Building Commission.