Democratic State Rep. Carol Ammons of Urbana says Republican Governor Bruce Rauner continues to stick to reforms detailed in his 'Turnaround Agenda', as legislators debated budget measures in the last hours of their spring session May 31.  Ammons also refutes the comments of Republican counterparts that members of the majority party were fighting when debating a K-12 education funding plan that night.

Exelon Corp. says it will shut two Illinois nuclear plants, including the site at Clinton, because of legislative inaction on state financial support, but the company is still lobbying for the plan with legislators still dealing with the budget impasse. On Thursday, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he wanted to protect the estimated 1,500 jobs that would be lost, but wants to balance that with protecting rate payers and taxpayers, calling the company's Next Generation Energy bill 'a bailout.'

A $454 million bill to increase funding for financially struggling Illinois colleges and universities has cleared the state Senate. Lawmakers approved the bill on a near unanimous vote and sent the measure to the House on Thursday.

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) wants to tie restoration of state higher education funding to procurement reform that would streamline how public bodies buy or obtain goods and services.

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) is proposing legislation meant to make more information available to the public about landfills that sit atop aquifers in Illinois.