The state imposes an additional sales tax in the Regional Transit Authority’s jurisdiction. Last week’s study found that expanding those specific RTA sales taxes to services could generate an additional $315 million a year.

State Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, chair of the House Transportation: Rail Systems, Roads & Bridges Committee, is heading into the transit funding discussions armed with an inch-and-a-half-thick binder filled with CTA salary data.

Advocates say a major storm is brewing that could overwhelm the state’s child foster care system.

The latest report from the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability shows that spending on “core” state services in the governor’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget will be 9.1% less in real dollars than it was in fiscal 2000.

Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch didn’t sound all that enthused about passing any new ethics reforms during an interview last week.

Mike Madigan knew for a very long time that the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI badly wanted to put his head on a spike.

The latest report from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget projected Illinois is facing a $3.2 billion deficit in fiscal 2026.

"Illinois is heading into a fiscal storm in 2025, facing a trifecta of challenges that could have mammoth consequences for both the state and its municipalities," writes state Sen. Craig Wilcox.

To many Statehouse types, some of last week’s news out of Washington, D.C., felt eerily familiar.