Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Illinois News Network: Not all Democrats agree on Madigan remaining speaker
While you likely weren’t able to vote for or against House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, unless you live in District 22, your district’s state House lawmaker will soon will vote on whether Madigan remains at the helm.
It’s likely the Democratic majority in the next state House session will give Madigan another two years, but at least one Democrat is urging for a change in how to move the state forward.
Newly elected 112th state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Glen Carbon, said shortly after being elected that it’s a bit premature to say whether she’ll support Madigan for speaker.
Reuters: Illinois fix to unpaid bills may end up as financial time bomb
Illinois owes a handful of financial consortia more than $118 million under an obscure program intended to speed up overdue payments to the cash-strapped state’s vendors, an analysis of state records shows.
Political feuding between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the legislature has kept Illinois without a full operating budget since July 2015, contributing to a doubling of the unpaid bills backlog. The amount of overdue bills could reach $13.5 billion, or 40 percent of available operating revenue, when the current fiscal year ends June 30, the Rauner administration has projected.
Chicago Tribune: Barrington approves ordinance counteracting Cook County minimum wage increase, paid sick time rule
Barrington officials recently approved an ordinance that lets local businesses forgo two new Cook County initiatives designed to increase minimum wages and the number of paid sick days for suburban workers.
With boundaries split between Cook and Lake counties, Barrington officials crafted an ordinance that lets all Barrington businesses honor state and federal-minimum wage laws, instead of an ordinance approved last month by the Cook County Board that increases minimum wage countywide to $13 an hour by July 2020.
Chicago Tribune: Gov. Rauner ‘trying to be flexible’ on plans to clear way for budget deal
When Gov. Bruce Rauner took office nearly two years ago, he unveiled an ambitious, 44-point agenda that promised to transform state government through measures that included overhauling the sales and gas tax, lifting the cap on charter schools and giving struggling towns the ability to declare bankruptcy.
The rookie Republican politician also laid out plans to gradually increase the minimum wage, amend the state constitution to make it easier to limit costs associated with the state’s employee pension system, limit expensive payouts in personal injury lawsuits, and set term limits for lawmakers and statewide officers.
Several items on that agenda have since been shelved, as Rauner and the Democrats who control the General Assembly remain deadlocked on a state budget. The historic impasse has squeezed budgets at state universities, threatened social service providers and sent the state’s debt soaring — and there’s little indication the stalemate will end anytime soon.
NBC: S&P Calls New Chicago City Budget ‘Structurally Imbalanced'
S&P Global Ratings issued a report Monday that criticized Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recently approved 2017 budget, despite crediting the city for making budgeting cuts and taking steps to contribute to its pension funds.
According to the report, Emanuel’s budget “remains structurally imbalanced due to its reliance of debt and other one-time actions to cover the budget gaps.” The S&P report also noted that the “sustainability of the pension plan for municipal employees may be short lived.”
Chicago Tribune: New Chicago tax leaves shoppers holding the bag
The classic checkout question — paper or plastic — will soon pose a new dilemma for cost-conscious Chicago shoppers, who face a new tax on either choice.
Beginning Jan. 1, a checkout tax of 7 cents per bag will be added at all Chicago retailers — from massive chain stores to mom-and-pops — in the city’s latest bid to curb disposable bag use.
Greg Hinz: Pension bear comes back to bite Chicago Park District
A Chicago agency that thought it had finally solved its pension woes has been dragged back into a nasty underfunding morass, and the situation is complicating its new budget.
Three years ago, the Chicago Park District reached a precedent-setting deal with its unionsthat called for both workers and taxpayers to pay more, and for the district’s retirement plan to be fully funded by 2049. But then the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in cases dealing with the state and city that benefits could not be reduced for those already on the payroll, and SEIU sued to overturn the park district deal.
“We believe we will lose the court case,” concedes Steve Lux, the district’s chief financial officer. So, as per a preliminary court ruling, both the district and workers are back on their lower, previous funding schedule, even though as of Dec. 31 the park district’s pension fund was roughly $515 million short of the assets needed to pay promised benefits, and was only 43 percent funded.