State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) comments on the state budget, beginning with her thoughts on Monday's state Senate hearing at the U of I Urbana campus on Gov. Rauner's proposed budget cuts.

Democrat Scott Bennett's bill passed a Senate committee Tuesday.  It's aimed a protecting residents in Central Illinois from contaminated drinking water.

The legislation appears designed to block the Clinton Landfill in DeWitt County from accepting PCB or manufactured gas plant waste.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner wasn't the only new face in the Capitol for Wednesday's State of the State speech. The Champaign-Urbana area has two freshman legislators and they weren't happy with the governor’s plans for the minimum wage.