Illinois has gone nearly a full year without a state budget.  Now, it's time for legislators to craft a new one. They have just about three weeks left.

As the state budget impasse has entered an eleventh month, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner says he's hopeful a "grand bargain" can be worked out by the end of May; but he's leaving the bargaining to others.

Groups of legislators have been meeting in private, attempting to hammer out compromises. Rauner says even though he's the governor he's not directly involved in talks.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed SB 2059, which provides $600 million in emergency funding for Illinois' public universities through the rest of the semester.  In a statement, the governor says "now is the time to build on this bipartisan momentum and focus on enacting a truly balanced budget for Fiscal Years 2016-2017."  But he reiterated his call for business reforms at the same time.

A stalemate persists, as Illinois begins a tenth month without a budget. Legislators are back in Springfield after a spring break. They now have a few months to also find an agreement on a new budget, to cover next year.

St. Rep. Phillips, a Charleston businessman, spoke with Illinois Public Media's Jim Meadows as he seeks the GOP nomination to run for a 2nd term in the 110th District.