Friday, June 29, 2007

Surprise: Special session

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BY DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS To the surprise of all four legislative leaders, the governor has called a special session scheduled to begin Jul...

"Things are really in the toilet at work"

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I thought Sen. Donne Trotter of Chicago was ad-libbing when the Senate was about to approve an emergency, one-month budget Friday morning, ...
Thursday, June 28, 2007

Moving right along, for now

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It only took eight minutes for a Senate committee to discuss and approve the one-month budget that’s expected to prevent the state from shu...
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

House approves a stopgap measure

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The House has now passed two budgets, the first , of course, held hostage until electric rate relief is figured out with utilities. The one-...

State rep. reenlists in the Reserves

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A lasting sense of duty moved State Rep. Jim Watson , a Jacksonville Republican, to reenlist in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He says he i...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

One-month budget by Friday

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BY BETHANY CARSON and DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS Whatever needed to be worked out among the Republican and Democratic caucuses of each chamber ...
Friday, June 22, 2007

Q&A: Alan Ehrehnalt

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The executive editor of Governing , a monthly magazine that covers state and local government and is published by Congressional Quarterly ,...
Thursday, June 21, 2007

We're in business for one more month

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Budget staffs of all four Democratic and Republican leaders and the governor’s office are working throughout the weekend to craft a one-mont...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

What is on the table?

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BY DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS The Senate approved a nonbinding resolution to reject the House’s limited-growth budget approved late last month...
Monday, June 18, 2007

Do you want to get paid?

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About 4,900 state employees would start missing paychecks July 9 if the top lawmakers can’t agree on a state budget before the new fiscal ye...
Thursday, June 14, 2007

"Substantial progress"

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BY BETHANY CARSON AND DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS Repeat after me: “We made substantial progress.” Every person who emerged from today’s meeting...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007

"Closing in on a collision"

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Scratch the Illinois Lottery off the list of major revenue ideas, said House Speaker Michael Madigan Tuesday. The state legislative leaders ...
Thursday, June 07, 2007

Can, can you vote for a "Con Con" in 2008?

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If the General Assembly can’t break the deadlock on education funding reform, ethics and property tax relief, then the Illinois voters shoul...
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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Pondering pensions and leasing the lottery

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BY BETHANY CARSON AND DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS Unfunded liabilities for public employee pensions was the subject of the second day of leaders...
Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Baby steps

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It’s June 5, five days after the General Assembly missed its deadline to pass a budget, two business days after overtime session started and...
Monday, June 04, 2007

There's a first time for everything

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BY BETHANY CARSON AND DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS News flash: Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his senior staff want to be helpful. Deputy Gov. Sheila N...
Friday, June 01, 2007

Twilight zone

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Just when you thought things couldn’t get weirder, the Statehouse erupts with tension-riddled drama. Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s communication st...

Weekly roundup

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BY DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS Stem cell research Public dollars would be set aside for all types of stem cell research, including the highly co...

Happy June 1

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The clock struck midnight, and instead of hearing a chime, the Senate heard bombs nose diving into the ground. That was the sound of Senate ...
Thursday, May 31, 2007

The clock’s ticking, but the hands aren’t moving

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BY BETHANY CARSON AND DEANESE WILLIAMS-HARRIS About two hours before the midnight deadline for the regularly scheduled spring session, Repub...