CHICAGO, June 18 (Reuters) - Seeking to break a weeks-long impasse in efforts to fix the state's woefully underfunded pension system, Illinois will ...

CHICAGO, June 12 (Reuters) - Just a week before Illinois' legislature is to meet in special session to address the state's $100 bill...

ABC 7 Chicago investigative reporter Chuck Goudie caught up with House Speaker Michael Madigan last week, sort of. Madigan didn't share any thoughts o...

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, June 10 (Reuters) - The Illinois public pension system, the worst funded among U.S. states, will be tackled w...

Gov. Pat Quinn today called lawmakers back into special session June 19 to deal with the public employee pension shortfall after another rating agency...

CHICAGO, June 6 (Reuters) - Illinois' bond rating slid down the credit scale on Thursday to the lowest level in the state's history ...

Since legislators ended their spring session Friday night with little significant to show for it other than fracking regulations and the concealed...

THE BIG FAIL Who is to blame for last week's epic collapse in the Illinois General Assembly? Certainly there was some ego involved, as the two top D...

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, June 3 (Reuters) - Illinois' governor and lawmakers this week hope to revive efforts to address the state's p...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn had claimed he was "put on earth" to solve the nation's worst pension crisis, but the goal eluded him onc...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 30 (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly defeated a sweeping reform of the state's sinki...

We covered the background of Illinois' budget- and state economy-crushing pension crisis in our last post, but with the Illinois General Assembly scheduled to adjourn at the end of Friday, things are changing quickly.

Lawmakers need to learn the lessons of the state's pension history. Don't give us another set of quotes, like those above, to dredge up in another eight years. Don't make another bad decision. Pass Senate Bill 1.

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, May 28 (Reuters) - With less than a week left to go in Illinois' spring legislative session, ...

In the final two weeks of the 2013 spring legislative session, lawmakers are weighing two bills that address what is arguably the greatest financial crisis in state history.

On a range of issues, our state faces tough problems that can only be solved by stakeholders and elected officials working together. The new pension reform legislation, Senate Bill 2404, shows the way.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 9 (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Thursday passed a labor union-backed bill to reduce the state's nearly $...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 8 (Reuters) - An Illinois Senate committee on Wednesday passed a union-backed plan to reduce the state's nearly $100 billion ...

CHICAGO, May 6 (Reuters) - A union-backed plan to reform the worst-funded state pension system in the United States will be introduced in the Illino...

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, May 5 (Reuters) - Now that the Illinois House of Representatives has passed a plan to repair a state pension ...

By JoAnne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 2, (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives in a 62 to 51 vote on...

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, May 1 (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate president and labor leaders on Wednesday began pushing a new plan to re...

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, April 30 (Reuters) - Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday proposed a comprehensive plan to fix t...

By Karen Pierog CHICAGO, April 7 (Reuters) - Illinois lawmakers begin a two-month push on Monday to enact major pension reform, under ...

By Joanne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Ill. March 21 (Reuters) - The Illinois House on Thursday voted to drastically limit ...