CHICAGO—Desperate to solve the worst state pension crisis in the nation, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this month did what politicians have done here for decades—he called Michael Madigan. Largely unknown outside Illinois, Mr. Madigan is
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Democratic candidate for governor Bill Daley excoriated Gov. Pat Quinn for a lack of leadership over the state's pension crisis and criticized potential rival Lisa Madigan for not providing a legal opinion on the constitutionality of possible solutio
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As Illinois daily sinks ever deeper into the financial cesspool, 35 states are considering cutting taxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Indiana cut its personal income tax 5 percent over two years and, with a
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In this business it is not uncommon to be lobbied to take one side or another in a political dispute. Wednesday’s upcoming special session of the Legislature to address the pension reform its members have failed to produce over several years now is n
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Pension reform in Illinois could use a little help from its friends. Gov. Pat Quinn has called legislators back to Springfield for a June 19 special session for another go-around on Illinois’ biggest financial challenge, trimming future pe
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May 31, 2013 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- For months, Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford has been hinting - at times not so subtly - that he wants the Republican nomination in the 2014 governor's race. Come this weekend, he'll finally make it official
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Bruce Rauner has predicated his campaign on fixing the state's finances, from what he believes is a tax structure unfriendly to businesses to the state's overwhelming debt. On Thursday, after a whirlwind round of interviews, including one with Chicag
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So, Bill Daley is in the race for governor — "100 percent," he says. But will he stay in? That's the question today, after the former U.S. commerce secretary and veteran national political operative released a nifty video overnight declaring his
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Attorney General Lisa Madigan hasn't made an official decision to run for Illinois governor in 2014, but on the same day Bill Daley all but threw his hat in the ring, she said the race is still on her mind. "I'm very seriously considering runnin
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Illinois’ flimsy fiscal house of cards slowly is toppling after the General Assembly last week failed to act on pension reform. It took Fitch Ratings less than one business day to downgrade Illinois’ credit rating to A- because of uncertainty as
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CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn dangled the possibility Tuesday that he’ll call lawmakers back for a special session on Illinois’ nearly $100 billion pension crisis, but he pressed Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan to first a
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More than $1 billion of the state's overdue bills are being paid off. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday signed legislation that pays down the bill backlog of a number of social service providers.
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The adjournment of Illinois lawmakers, whose principal accomplishment was leaving Springfield on time last week, was instructive if hardly inspiring. Their departure without addressing a pension debt quickly growing toward $100 billion was sort
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There’s nothing like Springfield in late June or early July. Hot, sticky and uncomfortable. Sounds about right for our state lawmakers, a recalcitrant bunch in need of some serious sweat therapy. By the end of a special session this su
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As the Illinois Senate’s spring session was grinding to an end late Friday, a frustrated Sen. Daniel Biss summed up the legislature’s five months of work on the problem most lawmakers say is the most critical one facing the state. “This session
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It's time to sharpen the pitchforks, folks. The final days of any legislative session in Springfield are circus-like — a weird mix of manic, race-the-clock dealmaking, coffee breath, doughnuts and sweaty, smelly tension. And yet, despite the cla
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What a bunch of losers. And we, the people of Illinois, will pay the price. Our flailing statesmen in Springfield struck out again Friday, but not before whipping a wicked foul ball into the stands. The Illinois General Assembly failed
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Illinois' governor and lawmakers this week hope to revive efforts to address the state's pension funding crisis, but the cloud over the state's credit remains dark in the wake of the state legislature's failure on Friday to pass pension reform before
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What now? After a legislative session in which lawmakers stuck their collective head so far down a hole on pension reform that an ostrich would blush, there are no easy outs, only pain both for legislators and the state as a whole. The coll
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The math nerds have spoken and, without question, just one pension bill gets the job done for Illinois. That’s House Speaker Mike Madigan’s pension-cutting bill. It will reduce the state’s total public employee pension payments by roughly $
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SPRINGFIELD — New estimates released Tuesday indicate House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension reform proposal would save more money over the next three decades than had been expected. Number crunchers turned in a final review that showed the Mad
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CHICAGO, May 28 (Reuters) - With less than a week left to go in Illinois' spring legislative session, the future of reforms to rein in burgeoning costs for the nation's worst-funded public pension system rests with the two Democrats who run the state
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This is it. The final week of the spring legislative session. What will happen and what won’t is anybody’s guess. What is guaranteed is that no one will go home completely happy. Here are three major issues that need to be dealt with as lawmaker
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I'd pay good money to be in the room the day—I think it'll be this week—when Mike Madigan and John Cullerton cut the final deal on state pension reform. The clash between a House speaker perhaps in search of a legacy and a Senate president defin
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Illinois' cash-short treasury took a surprising turn toward the black this spring. But it's an illusion, says Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. In a statement this morning, Ms. Topinka said the state got an unexpected $1.3 billion bump in
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One goal of the 2013 spring session of the Illinois General Assembly has been to do something about the state's pension systems, underfunded by an estimated $100 billion. With a week and a half to go before the scheduled adjournment, the House and Se
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It seems counter-productive to inform state lawmakers that there are only eight days remaining in this year’s regular legislative session, and they should be spending every minute of it focusing on pension reform as time wanes. A ticking clock f
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“You’re breaking into our children’s piggy banks, stealing from kids and schools and the disabled of tomorrow. You think you can get away with it because the public doesn’t understand.” Those are the words of then-Sen. Dan Cronin, R-Elmhurst, du
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Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday put a finer point on a notion he's been pushing this spring: No gambling expansion will happen without comprehensive changes to fix a greatly underfunded government worker pension system. The Democratic governor also ins
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Illinois debt is rallying the most since 2011 as investors bet lawmakers will end two decades of inaction and pass a measure to fix the worst-funded U.S. state pension system. With 11 days left in the budget session, each legislative chamber has
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SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — The Illinois General Assembly has just two weeks left in Springfield before it adjourns for the summer, leaving lawmakers with a tight deadline for action on issues including tackling the state's pension crisis, gay marriage a
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Although delayed payments from the state are to be expected these days, university officials say the predictability doesn’t make it any easier. Nearly 11 months into this fiscal year, which ends June 30, Illinois’ nine public universities have r
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Our view: By focusing on broad goals, our state’s leaders can compromise and create an effective and fair pension reform program. It won’t be easy, but there is a good chance of Illinois having a workable and equitable public employee pension re
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SPRINGFIELD— As Illinois lawmakers weigh a pair of competing pension reform plans this spring, a big factor they're considering is how much each approach would save the beleaguered state treasury. Illinois already spends more on government worke
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Sometimes it’s good to spell things out and create lists, so I’m going to try a bit of that today in an attempt to help more of us understand why we should be actively engaged in pushing our state legislators to do something to resolve the state’s $1
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SPRINGFIELD — Less than half of the money from Illinois’ primary road construction fund was spent directly on highway construction, repairs and improvements over the past decade, according to an audit released Tuesday. Auditor General William Ho
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Last week was a good example of why important legislation often stalls in Illinois. As expected, the Illinois Senate approved a pension reform package backed by Senate President John Cullerton. The vote was 40-16; Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, was one of
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We arrive here, in the middle of May, with momentum building for real public pension reform but still with it being anyone’s guess whether anything meaningful will happen. The Illinois House has passed one plan. The Illinois Senate has passed an
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We hope “Twilight” fans won't mind if we borrow the Team Edward and Team Jacob meme, but in the equally lurid, adolescent and bloody Illinois pension drama, we are decidedly Team Mike. House Speaker Michael Madigan earlier this month pushed thro
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The Illinois Senate pushed through its version of a pension reform proposal Thursday, setting up a potential stalemate with the House just three weeks before lawmakers are scheduled to go home for the summer. As Senate President John Cullerton h
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SPRINGFIELD — Although state legislators have passed two pension reform proposals this spring, the plans are so dissimilar that lawmakers seem to be no closer to a solution for the state's $100 billion pension liability today than they were months ag
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It is hard to imagine the state of Illinois could sink any lower. But it could. And it will if the meager pension cost-cutting bill passed by the Illinois Senate on Thursday becomes law. Legislators should bury this bill before the st
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There's a time in life to keep your head down and quietly push ahead, trusting that progress is being made. And there's a time to take a risk in the name of boosting your odds of success. Such a time has arrived for Gov. Pat Quinn, a good-hearte
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Gov. Pat Quinn says House Speaker Michael Madigan’s pension-reform plan deserves a Senate vote. The Democratic governor said the proposal is comprehensive. Illinois has nearly $100 billion in pension debt because of years of state underfund
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The Illinois legislative effort to repair the nation’s worst-funded pension system moved closer to a showdown as the Senate passed a restructuring measure endorsed by public-employee unions. The bill, approved today by a vote of 40 to 16 i
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SPRINGFIELD — Senate President John Cullerton today sent his version of pension reform to the House, setting up a high-profile clash with the rival plan Speaker Michael Madigan already pushed through the House. The showdown puts more than
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The Illinois House of Representatives passed a pension-overhaul plan Thursday that would cut retiree benefits and increase required employee contributions, in the biggest move yet toward addressing the nation's worst state-pension crisis.
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If lawmakers would have listened to Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes 11 years ago, Illinois might not be in the fiscal mess it is in today. In 2002, the state’s bill backlog was “only” $1.2 billion in bills due and people doing business with the s
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SPRINGFIELD— Senate President John Cullerton on Monday rolled out his latest proposal aimed at fixing the state's heavily indebted pension system, striking a deal with unions just days after House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed through a plan that's
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SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — Senate President John Cullerton announced Monday his chamber will move forward with a new union-backed pension reform proposal he says will save Illinois money and is at less risk of being tossed out by the courts than a plan appr
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