Illinois Public Media News

The Illinois House will vote Sunday on a revenue plan after all. House Speaker Michael Madigan issued a statement saying he was "encouraged by the progress we continue to make." 

 The FBI has made an arrest in the Yingying Zhang case, and the agency believes that the 26-year-old University of Illinois visiting scholar from China is dead. The FBI said in a news release that agents arrested 27-year-old Brendt Christensen of Champaign, a former University of Illinois graduate student, on Friday.

Work on two federally funded road construction projects in Champaign-Urbana will have to halt --- unless state lawmakers and the governor act quickly this weekend to pass a budget to authorize the state to spend the money on the projects in the new fiscal year.

A $36.5 billion plan to rebuild Illinois' crumbling finances passed a critical test on Friday, but a powerful legislative leader said no deal would be reached before a midnight deadline — meaning Illinois will enter its third consecutive fiscal year without a budget.

And it means entering dangerous territory: The state comptroller will be unable to cover basic services ordered by courts, road construction and Powerball ticket sales could halt, and the state's credit rating could be downgraded to "junk."

The head of a Champaign social service agency says that if there is still no state budget by next week, she will have no choice but to lay off staff and cut services. But the agency head says there's reason for optimism.