Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Six years after Daley, Emanuel still using high-cost borrowing practices
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pitching Wall Street investors on the latest city borrowing plan, a $1.2 billion package that, like previous versions, pushes hundreds of millions of dollars of debt into the future at higher costs to taxpayers.
The mayor is continuing scoop-and-toss borrowing, which involves paying off old bonds with the proceeds from new ones — a practice akin to taking out another mortgage on a house to pay off the old mortgage, kicking payments down the road. An Emanuel budget spokeswoman said this year marks the last scoop-and-toss bond issue.
Associated Press: Illinois Senate plan to end budget standoff could get vote
A plan to end a two-year Illinois budget standoff negotiated in the Senate could get a vote in Springfield.
Sen. Pamela Althoff, a Republican from McHenry, says the deal was shaping up over the weekend after weeks of talks between Democratic Senate President John Cullerton and GOP Leader Christine Radogno.
Althoff says a state budget deal could see action Monday as the Illinois Legislature returns to work.
Chicago Sun-Times: Legislative session winding down; budget mess looms large
With the two-year budget standoff looming large, Illinois lawmakers return to the capital city Monday for two days of work before a new session starts Wednesday.
Some hope emerged late last week when Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner indicated that the Democrats who control the Senate have been negotiating with their GOP counterparts to broker a deal on the first annualized budget since Rauner was sworn in two years ago. He had no details and warned it was not finalized.
Chicago Tribune: Lame-duck lawmakers return to Springfield with obstacles in way of budget deal
Lawmakers return to Springfield on Monday for a two-day lame-duck session, with some top lawmakers privately pushing for a Hail Mary agreement to end Illinois’ 18-month budget stalemate amid significant political obstacles.
For months, Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he viewed the time in January before a new crop of lawmakers is sworn in Wednesday as the key to breaking the impasse. The idea is that legislators who are on their way out the door are more prone to cast unpopular votes because they are no longer beholden to voters.
Bloomington Pantagraph: State's budget inertia hurts far too many
Used to be, having a “state job” was a grand thing: Steady employment, good wages, even better insurance and retirement pay.
Not so much in recent years. The state, like businesses and units of government, has laid off employees, closed facilities, looked harder at salaries and benefits.
Rockford Register-Star: We all lose if Illinois budget games don't end soon
Hey, Mike! It’s your move.
Speaker of the House Mike Madigan and Gov. Bruce Rauner have been playing a political game of chess ever since Rauner was elected in 2014.
Quincy Herald-Whig: Lawmakers have opportunity to invigorate Illinois economy
Setting public policy for Illinois should not be a zero-sum game where one side wins everything and the other gets nothing. That approach is destined for failure, and, clearly, it is failing the people and employers of Illinois today.
The people and employers in Illinois want change. Now.
State Journal-Register: A lame-duck session that might be anything but
Could it be? Is an honest-to-God, actual budget proposal about to come before legislators?
You’ll have to excuse most of the state if the collective pulses of its residents, businesses and social service agencies just increased. After 18 months with no real spending plan in place – and the agonizing uncertainty that accompanied those days – even the mere possibility of a budget proposal is enough to generate a momentarily irregular heartbeat.
Daily Herald: Suburban lawmakers get $1,506 checks for two days of work
The state’s bill backlog has surpassed $11 billion and there’s no budget in place, but two suburban Republican lawmakers each will get extra $1,506 checks for two days of work this week.
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin tells me the move is the only way to get around Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s seniority rules.
Chicago Sun-Times: Emanuel announces Green Line station fixes, home rehab projects
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Sunday announced a $50 million project to improve the Garfield Green Line station and a pilot program to renovate about 50 homes in certain neighborhoods where investment is lacking.
The Green Line project will include installation of public art, landscaping enhancement, an extension of platform canopies to provide more shelter and elevator and escalator improvements.
Chicago Tribune: City gets ready for busy year for O'Hare sound insulation
A little peace is coming for some homeowners around O’Hare International Airport, as the Chicago Department of Aviation gears up for what could be the busiest and most expensive year for residential soundproofing in the insulation program’s 20-year history.
Soundproofing could begin for more than 1,000 homes this year, primarily on the North Side of Chicago and in suburban Park Ridge, said Aaron Frame, deputy commissioner of environment for the Aviation Department. That number includes 167 historic homes in Chicago’s Norwood Park Historic District and up to 860 nonhistoric homes.
Chicago Tribune: Should Illinois hospitals have to pay property taxes? Court will weigh question
They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes — but not for many Illinois hospitals that don’t have to pay property taxes to their local communities.
A case set to go before the state Supreme Court on Thursday is challenging the law that allows Illinois’ not-for-profit hospitals to skip paying property taxes.
News-Gazette: Illinois allows only wine shipments from out of state
Q: Why are some businesses able to ship alcohol to Illinois, while others won’t? One online seller would ship hard liquor to Indiana, but not to Illinois. Why the differences?
A: Illinois permits out-of-state wineries to ship to Illinois consumers. It prohibits shipping beer or spirits into Illinois. So, you can only get wine shipments from an out-of-state winery.
Chicago Sun-Times: Airport traffic reaches a record high in 2016, continues to grow
Top airline carriers increased their service in Chicago helping to drive a record 54.1 million visitors to Chicago in 2016 — a 2.9 percent increase over the previous year, announced Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday.
United Airlines and American Airlines increased their passenger volume resulting in a 5.2 percent increase in the total number of seats available, according to the mayor.
Chicago Sun-Times: Obama sends CTA $1.1 billion for Red Line improvements
President Barack Obama has signed off on federal grant money totaling nearly $1.1 billion that will go toward improving portions of the CTA Red Line on the North Side.
The money will be used to reconstruct the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations as well as overhaul about a mile of nearby track and support structure, Chicago Transit Authority spokesman Brian Steele confirmed Sunday. The project is expected to create 6,000 jobs.
CBS 2 Chicago: Blagojevich Supporters Plan Vigil To Ask For Commutation From Obama
As President Barack Obama delivers his farewell address in Chicago next week, supporters of imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich plan to hold a vigil asking the president to commute Blagojevich’s 14-year corruption sentence.
“We’re hoping that the president will have mercy, and will consider letting Rod Blagojevich come home to his two daughters,” said activist Ziff Sistrunk, who is organizing the vigil outside the former governor’s home in Ravenswood.
Politico: Illinois poised to require lead testing in public schools, day care centers
Illinois public schools and licensed daycare facilities will be required to test drinking water for lead contamination under a major compromise reached by key stakeholders, parties involved in the deal told POLITICO Illinois.
Long-running negotiations among environmental groups, lawmakers, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the governor’s office culminated in a compromise late last week, according to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office and the Illinois Environmental Council.
News-Gazette: Frerichs happy where he's at
State Treasurer Mike Frerichs, a Champaign Democrat, said last week that he’s “not looking at” running for governor in 2018.
If he did he’d likely be running against Gov. Bruce Rauner and the approximately $55 million Rauner’s already got in his campaign fund, including a $50 million contribution the governor made to his campaign on Dec. 20.