Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Northwest Herald: Reject plan for huge tax hikes
The Illinois Senate could vote as early as Wednesday on a budget bill supported by Democrats and even some Republicans, including Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno.
With lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner unable to come to terms on a full budget the past two fiscal years, some might consider that a good thing.
Peoria Journal-Star: Senate to try again on pension reform
lllinois lawmakers will be asked to again tackle cost-saving pension reforms as part of the “grand bargain” package of bills being negotiated in the Senate.
The new version takes a different approach to pension reform that advocates believe will allow it to withstand an inevitable court challenge.
State Journal-Register: Illinois Senate 'bargain' includes hike in minimum wage
One part of the Illinois Senate’s ambitious “grand bargain” is an attempt to raise the state’s minimum wage.
Senate Bill 2 aims to gradually increase the minimum wage that is $8.25 until it hits $11 an hour in 2021.
Quincy Herald-Whig: Lead testing joins long list of unfunded mandates imposed on Illinois schools
A new Illinois law will require elementary schools and day cares in the state to test their water supplies for lead contamination.
The measure, passed by Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday, joins a lengthy list of unfunded mandates handed down to districts by state legislators, one of the many impacts of Illinois’ unprecedented budget impasse.
Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Troubling’ delays in reporting Chicago police shootings
The Chicago Police Department routinely delays reporting police-involved shootings longer than it should, waiting about half an hour on average to tell the city’s Independent Police Review Authority about shootings by officers last year, according to a new report from the police watchdog agency.
Last year, the agency opened investigations of 24 shootings by officers — including a suicide the police didn’t notify IPRA about for more than six hours, the report says.
Chicago Sun-Times: Pritzker goes on gubernatorial ‘listening tour’
He’s on the road.
And he’s listening.
Sneed has learned J.B. Pritzker, the billionaire businessman eyeing a bid to unseat Gov.Bruce Rauner, celebrated his 52nd birthday last week by quietly kicking off a statewide tour in a potential bid for a gubernatorial run.
State Journal-Register: Springfield not alone in seeing revenue shortfall
Members of Bloomington’s city council heard similar news last week to what Springfield aldermen learned in November: Sales tax revenue is falling short of what was projected.
Bloomington’s finance director, Patty-Lynn Silva, told the council that the city expected to collect $1.5 million less in the fiscal year, even after it raised its sales tax rate by 1 percentage point to 8.75 percent last January.
Belleville News-Democrat: Why TIF stands for ‘Today’s Instant Funds’ and ‘This Is Flawed’
Belleville’s City Hall renovations will cost more and take longer than anticipated. That can happen in a 60-year-old building laced with asbestos.
But the thing that is a little harder to understand is the $2 million in cost overruns coming out of the tax increment financing District 3 account. City Hall is where you get a business permit, so is that why city leaders think it is OK to take $2 million from TIF 3?