Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was noticeably absent on Tuesday — both in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Capitol office, and on the House floor.

With just two more days of legislative sessions scheduled to fix the state’s budget mess, Madigan was missing in action — blowing off a leaders meeting with Rauner, and opting not to attend the House session. And while Madigan wasn’t on the floor, Illinois Comptroller-elect Susana Mendoza visited former colleagues just before the House adjourned. The Chicago Democrat’s win was seen as a big victory in the election proxy war between Rauner and Madigan.

The Illinois House failed Tuesday to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill aimed at making voter registration automatic in Illinois.

The House was just four votes shy of an override, voting 67-47. The Senate voted to override the veto on Nov. 16.

A series of events Tuesday at the Capitol illustrated that Democrats and Republicans are digging in deeper amid the state’s historic budget impasse, with the focus quickly turning to the 2018 election even as a temporary spending plan is set to expire at year’s end.

First, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t show up for a meeting called by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Little more than an hour later, the Illinois Republican Party unveiled a new website attacking Madigan and rank-and-file Democrats who have supported him. Talks of rescheduling the meeting for the afternoon soon were scuttled.

Two Illinois House members, including one lame duck by choice, on Tuesday said they are trying to make it harder for lawmakers to pass a tax increase during the lame-duck session in January.

Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, who didn’t seek another House term and won election in November as McHenry County Board chairman, joined with Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, at a Statehouse news conference.

An Illinois House committee has endorsed a revised plan to subsidize Illinois nuclear plants.

The Energy Committee voted 10-1 to send the legislation to benefit Exelon and two of its Illinois nuclear plants to the House floor.

As special education advocates pleaded for enough money to serve their students, Chicago Public Schools officials said Monday they’ll send charter schools $8 million in surplus tax increment financing money — part of $55 million released to pay for the new teachers’ contract.

That’s what the district, which is still banking on $215 million in conditional aid from the state to pay for its pensions, announced at a new round of budget hearings necessitated by $55 million in changes to the school system’s operating budget.

Aides to Mayor Rahm Emanuel are working on the final pieces of a plan to shore up two city worker pension systems in the hopes a bill could start to move at the Capitol on Wednesday.

The mayor’s plan involves getting taxpayers and government employees to put more money into the retirement systems covering laborers and municipal workers. Without the extra money, the funds could go broke in a decade or so.

A man who was accidentally locked up in Cook County Jail for more than a day has received $600,000 for his ordeal.

Cook County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Sophia Ansari on Monday confirmed the settlement with Farad Polk.

Last year, more than half of Chicago’s high-risk food establishments — including restaurants, school and hospital kitchens, and day care centers — weren’t inspected twice, as required by the state, putting at risk both public safety and continued state funding, according to an audit released Tuesday by the city’s Office of Inspector General.

In response, officials with the city Department of Public Health said they’re doing what they can with insufficient resources and have made strides in recent years prioritizing businesses considered to be most at risk for food safety violations.

Former Illinois Senate leader Emil Jones Jr. directed so much taxpayer money to Chicago State University that the struggling school was given the sardonic nickname, “Emil Jones U.”

But the 81-year-old political godfather to President Barack Obama is donating papers from his long career to a more august institution: the University of Illinois at Chicago.