Illinois Public Media News

School funding is one of the key issues in the General Assembly’s budget debate. Everyone agrees the current funding formula needs to change, but there’s less agreement on how to fix it.

State Senator Daniel Biss wants to beat Bruce Rauner in next year’s gubernatorial election. But the Evanston Democrat doesn’t blame all of the state’s problems on the GOP incumbent. The former University of Chicago mathemetician addressed a gathering of 50 people in a downtown Champaign bar on Thursday, three days after another candidate for governor, J.B. Pritzker, was in the area.

On the 21st: Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, says he has a solution for integration in schools that focuses on social and economic indicators. But first, a new proposal seeks to amend Illinois laws regarding civil forfeiture.

State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) says a higher minimum wage would help both workers and the economy. Ammons was part of a rally in Champaign Wednesday, pushing to raise minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 an hour over five years.

The regional branch of the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and International Trade Center (ITC) in Champaign-Urbana is expanding its scope. It will now offer its free services to businesses in the Decatur area as well.