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Champaign News-Gazette: Road to ruin
Population shifts within the United States — who moves where and why — speaks volumes about how well the 50 states are governed.
The warnings keep coming. Illinois’ elected officials keep ignoring them.
How long can this go on?
That’s a reasonable question to re-ask after the latest shot across the bow of Illinois and other states that embrace similar slow-growth, no-growth policies.
Northwest Herald: Candidates must face pension issue
Illinois’ pension liability lies at the heart of most of the state’s financial problems.
Pension spending consumes almost 20 percent of the state’s $36 billion budget, and the state pension systems’ unfunded liabilities are estimated at more than $200 billion.
Decatur Herald & Review: Families have small window to apply for Illinois private school scholarships
Private schools are working quickly to take advantage of the state’s Invest in Kids scholarship tax credit, which will make as much as $100 million in donations available to lower-income students in Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Revenue, which oversees the program, is relying on a handful of new nonprofit organizations to accept and process donations and student applications. Private schools hoping the money can spark enrollment growth have largely been tasked with alerting the public.
Chicago Tribune: Hospitals worry about closures, layoffs as they brace for Medicaid funding changes
It wasn’t long ago that Charles Holland was giving opening-day tours of the gleaming outpatient center at St. Bernard Hospital in the Englewood neighborhood, built to bring a bevy of health care services — and optimism — to a community in need of both.
A year and a half later, the carpets still look brand-new, but the CEO’s tour is tinged with great anxiety about the future of the 114-year-old hospital.
Northwest Herald: McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally launches investigation into local townships
Top prosecutor Patrick Kenneally is combing the books of two McHenry County townships to glean whether officials spent taxpayer money in accordance with the law.
The McHenry County state’s attorney would not comment on the scope of his exploration or what his office has discovered to date – but records show that Kenneally’s office has requested financial documents from both Nunda and Grafton townships, where officials have burned close to 100 hours and reams of paper to respond.