Illinois' budget crisis will continue, unabated. The regular spring session came to an end Tuesday night, without any resolution to the stalemate that has the state entering its twelfth month without a complete spending plan. There's no plan for the next fiscal year that starts July 1st, either.
Illinois could be heading into a second year without a budget. Lawmakers are beginning their final day of the regularly-scheduled spring session without a deal.
Illinois lawmakers continue their budget negotiations in private, while Gov. Rauner continues to say publicly that he'll agree to raising taxes only if Democrats accept his pro-business, union-weakening agenda.
Senate President John Cullerton and Governor Bruce Rauner think they have a way to reduce the state's expenses for its underfunded pensions, without violating the state constitution.
Thanks to a law signed last week, Illinois' public universities and community colleges are finally getting state money for the first time since last summer. Now, more could be on the way.
