Illinois Budget

The Illinois Senate voted 31-27 Tuesday in favor of raising the state tax on cigarettes by $1, from 98 cents to $1.98 per pack. The House approved ...

Illinois legislators have approved $1.6 billion in budget cuts to the state's Medicaid program, which will reduce health coverage for hundreds of thou...

If Illinois does not close Tamms, the state will face the certainty of substantial long and short-term costs that taxpayers cannot afford.

As the Illinois unemployment rate continues to fall, Gov. Pat Quinn and other state lawmakers have been celebrating. But the rosy numbers are bad news...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Facing one of the nation's worst budget crises, the Democrats who run Illinois insist they're serious about overhauling the ...

A group of Illinois law enforcement leaders joined forces last week to speak out against cuts to state preschool funding, claiming cutting early educa...

Making sure everyone pays their fair share is extremely important, but we need to make sure that the money generated is used for programs and services that invest in human needs, redress inequalities and expand opportunities for everyone.

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), standing in for the still recovering U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, on Wednesday delivered a report on the state's financi...

We all know that the Illinois budget situation is a mess, but llinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka wants us to know just how messy it really is. ...

College-bound Illinois students seeking financial aid to offset their tuition costs will be turned away if their application was received after March ...

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's plan to shutter 14 state facilities could come with an even broader economic impact than originally expected. Accordi...

Legislation that would cut state lawmaker salaries and freeze raises otherwise outlined in Governor Pat Quinn's budget proposal advanced Thursday to t...

The Illinois Department of Employment Security on Thursday announced that the state's unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percent in January, the largest on...

Despite the state's dire financial situation, as outlined last month in Democratic Governor Pat Quinn's budget address, lawmakers in Springfield are s...

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's plan to close ten of the state's correctional facilities, two of which are juvenile detention centers, has drawn a mixed...

Women and girls are already receiving such a wafer-thin slice of the pie, and there's no room to trim it further without creating a domino effect that will hurt women, their families and their communities.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn once again found himself on the defense this weekend after another Illinois CEO slammed the state's business climate. ...

CHICAGO — A commission created by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn nearly two years ago with the ambitious goal of righting the wrongs of Chicago's polic...

One day after Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn delivered his second State of the State address, it would be difficult to find a single state leg...

In a Friday appearance on MSNBC'S "Morning Joe," Democratic Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said he would not be giving in anytime soon to state Republicans' ...

U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh has been a vocal critic of everyone from President Obama to "typical" Republicans, and during a Tea Party meeting in Darien, Ill. ...

Once again, employees at the Cook County Medical Examiner's office say there is an overwhelming number of bodies in the county morgue -- this time, du...

Illinois lawmakers have already expressed frustration with Sears about their decision to close 120 stores across the country after the state approved ...

Citing the state's ongoing financial problems, Moody's Investor Service on Friday downgraded Illinois's credit rating to the lowest of any state in th...

With billions of dollars in unpaid bills and a more than $500 million budget deficit this year alone, it's hard to imagine Illinois's finances getting...