Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Chicago Tribune: Why Illinois voters should rebel against Gov. Pritzker's 'fair tax'
If you call the Indiana auditor’s office and ask how long it takes the state to pay its bills, you might be met with confusion at the question. Is this a trap? No, it’s just a wellness check to see how Illinois compares.
Indiana Auditor Tera Klutz pays the bills as they come in, usually within that state’s mandated 35-day cycle. Perplexing, I know. Illinois owes its vendors roughly $15 billion and pays them months and sometimes years behind schedule, with hundreds of millions in late-pay penalties. With a perpetually unbalanced budget and more than $131 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, it’s no wonder Illinois’ credit is teetering on junk status and Indiana’s is AAA-rated from the big three rating agencies.
Daily Herald: Pritzker: Illinois needs progressive income tax to help the budget
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday he doesn’t foresee pushing pension obligations onto local municipalities and school districts, but Illinois needs a progressive income tax to address the state’s budget woes.
In an interview with the Daily Herald editorial board, he said Illinoisans should get details of how much they might pay under the proposed new tax system soon.
Peoria Journal-Star: Pritzker praises social service groups, anti-poverty efforts in Peoria visit
Gov. JB Pritzker highlighted the need to improve conditions for social service agencies throughout the state during a Monday afternoon visit to Neighborhood House.
At the South Peoria site, he told an assembled crowd before a roundtable discussion that “it’s time to be responsible with a budget, to get it passed, to make sure we’re investing in our social services across the state of Illinois.”
Crain's Chicago Business: Wooing Illinoisans to Indiana? It's not just for businesses anymore.
“Tired of Illinois real estate taxes?” the postcards, mailed out by Hilary Pender, a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices KoenigRubloff Realty Group agent. “Time to take the short commute to Indiana!”
Chicago Tribune: City set to pay another $5.25 million over alleged torture by detectives under ex-Cmdr. Jon Burge
Chicago city officials have agreed to pay $5.25 million to settle a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit that led to former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s only sworn deposition in the Jon Burge police torture scandal.
What Daley said under oath about the torture allegations remains a secret because his lawyers successfully fought for an order of protection barring either side from making the deposition public, court records show.
Chicago Tribune: Ex-Ald. Eddie Vrdolyak set to plead guilty to federal charges for second time in recent years
Former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak is scheduled to plead guilty later this week to federal charges stemming from millions of dollars in secret payments he and a friend allegedly received from the state’s massive settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s.
Vrdolyak, 81, was charged in an indictment in 2016 alleging he obstructed an Internal Revenue Service investigation into the tobacco deal by hiding payments to and from his friend and associate, attorney Daniel Soso.
Chicago Sun-Times: Emanuel’s plan to re-light Chicago reaches 100,000 streetlight, $16M rebate mark
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to re-light Chicago has reached a major milestone — 100,000 new LED streetlights installed and $12 million in energy efficiency rebates secured from Commonwealth Edison.
Emanuel will be long gone by the time all 270,000 of Chicago’s high-pressure sodium lights are replaced with LED fixtures at an estimated cost of $160 million.
Rockford Register-Star: Rockford adopts water bill convenience fees
Sign up for electronic billing and automatic withdrawals for Rockford water and garbage bills before May 15 to avoid paying new city convenience fees.
City Council on Monday night agreed to institute new convenience fees meant to drive residents to the lowest cost, most efficient and still-free options for paying city utility bills.
Bloomington Pantagraph: Normal approves water rate hike, budget
Normal residents can expect another increase in their water rates despite some disagreement on the city council Monday.
Rates will increase 2 percent April 1, the latest in a series of hikes to fund infrastructure improvements, though council members Kathleen Lorenz and Scott Preston voted no on the proposal. It passed 4-2.
Decatur Herald & Review: Decatur city council approves next steps in plans to demolish 46 vacant houses
City council members on Monday said they’re happy to see more progress made toward the demolition of abandoned and unsafe properties in Decatur, but are also reminding the public that doing so is a process.
The council unanimously voted to start the process of demolishing 46 properties that have been deemed “unfit for human habitation” during Monday’s council meeting. However, that doesn’t mean that they’ll be torn down right away.
Belleville News-Democrat: Managing minimum wage increases is worrisome for some local small business owners
Businesses in Highland are preparing for an uncertain financial future in the wake of Illinois’ new gradual minimum wage increase.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the gradual increase of the state’s minimum wage into law Feb. 19. The minimum wage will increase from $8.25 to $9.25 on Jan. 1; to $10 on July 1, 2020, and $1 each Jan. 1 until 2025.
The Southern: Southern Illinois seeks funding for campuses, highway expansion
Local officials from southern Illinois told state lawmakers Monday their highest priorities in a hoped-for public works package are upgrades to college and university campuses and expansion of regional highways. That expansion would include a proposed “Southwest Illinois Connector” linking the Carbondale and Murphysboro areas to the eastern edge of the St. Louis metropolitan area.
“I don’t think you can separate roads from an institution like (Southern Illinois University) Carbondale,” said Marc Kiehna, a Randolph County commissioner and a leading proponent of the proposed connector highway.