The tough proposals did not go over well with either party. Gov. Quinn proposed adjustments to health-care eligibility that could affect more than 215,000 poor Illinoisans. Quinn also proposed a $1 per pack cigarette tax to help close the state’s $2.7 billion Medicaid budget gap. more ›

Illinois Senate Pres. John Cullerton had decent comedic timing, laying a political burn down on Gov. Pat Quinn. more ›

You have to appreciate Senator Cullerton's stick-to-it-iveness... After a "clean coal" bill he championed was voted down for the third time, he pulled a slick parliamentary move this week to keep the proposal alive. more ›

The chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board minced no words about what he thought of the gaming expansion bill yesterday. Real talk, y'all. more ›

The Illinois DREAM Act passed the state Senate yesterday in a 45-11 vote. The DREAM Act would establish a scholarship to dole out dollars to undocumented students for higher education. In addition, the bill would allow undocumented immigrants aged 18 to 29 to invest in the Bright Start and College Illinois programs. The bill was supported by 34 Democrats and 11 Republicans. more ›

Yesterday, State Senate President John Cullerton floated a proposal to increase the cigarette tax by $1 per pack. Today, in a move that was shocking to everyone but Capitol Fax's Rich Miller, Cullerton moved to repeal the state's troubled video gambling law. more ›

Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton is proposing a $1 increase in the cigarette tax as a means of financing the state's troubled capital improvement program. The $31 billion program has been deemed unconstitutional by an appellate court because it relies too heavily on other sin taxes. An appeal of that ruling is to be heard before the Illinois Supreme Court. more ›

Gov. Quinn today signed into law House Bill 3659, which will require all online retailers with a physical presence in the state to collect state sales tax on all online purchases. more ›

A bill to amend the indoor smoking ban to exclude casinos and bars passed the Illinois House Executive Committee yesterday. Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, framed the legislation now going before the full house in terms of lost casino revenues, which he claims are more the result of gamblers running to border states where smoking is allowed in casinos than the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. more ›

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton floated the idea of taxing retirement income yesterday while addressing a City Club of Chicago luncheon. "It would just be a matter of fairness," Cullerton said, according to the Tribune. Although he says details are still being worked out, Cullerton suggested that taxing retirement income at the current five percent rate that Illinois taxes other income could yield the state around $1.6 billion. more ›

Gov. Quinn announced that he would be moving former Manny Flores from Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission to the role of head of the banking division of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Senate President John Cullerton, however, apparently told Quinn that Flores had run into opposition from both the state Senate's Latino Caucus and from utility companies that saw Flores as being too pro-consumer. Cullerton indicated to Quinn that there weren't enough votes to confirm Flores. more ›

We're still trying to wrap our heads around how the $52.7 billion budget Gov. Quinn proposed to the Illinois General Assembly yesterday can be called "lean" when one of the centerpieces of the budget is a record $8.75 billion borrowing plan that GOP leaders have adamantly opposed. Maybe that's why Quinn tried to focus on the spending cuts in his address. more ›

Despite data and arguments to the contrary, state and local officials have repeatedly insisted that red light cameras are a measure to increase driver safety, not revenue. If that's the case, one Illinois Senator wants them to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, and eliminate cameras that catch what he says are non-dangerous infractions, rolling right turns on red. more ›

State lawmakers will begin their six day veto session before the Thanksgiving recess today. The Illinois Legislature will have its hands full for the next few days, with votes scheduled for some hot ticket items. more ›

Oh, by the way, the state legislature adjourned over the weekend without a final state budget passed. With Gov. Quinn wanting that income tax increase and a $13 billion hole to fill, there's still work to be done, especially for Dems who have until May 31 to pass any budget. After that day, the legislature will require a super-majority (i.e., Republican support) to pass the budget. So when will the legislature reconvene? more ›

State Senate President John Cullerton has returned the SUV that his son, Garritt Cullerton, was driving when he was arrested in April for DUI. The SUV was a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid, one of three state-owned cars Cullerton is responsible for, and was transferred to the state's Department of Central Management Services today. In a statement, Cullerton's office said: “It is our hope that the vehicle can be obtained by one of the many state agencies that has expressed a need for a vehicle but has been unable to proceed due to the state budget crisis." more ›

After this weekend's DUI arrest for Garritt Cullerton, son of state senate president John Cullerton, there's been a bit more digging and it turns out Garritt has been pulled over a number of times in recent years for a variety of offenses. According to the Tribune: more ›

Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton is having a rough start to his week as his son Garritt, 26, was arrested over the weekend, cited for DUI in his father's state-issued SUV. Police pulled him over in the 800 block of North Dearborn just after midnight on Sunday and reported that Garritt had a BAC of .188, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. According to a release by Cullerton's office: "A Senate vehicle assigned to the Senate President for official legislative business was used by his son without his authorization. The Senate President is disappointed that this incident occurred and takes this matter very seriously. He will work to ensure that this does not occur in the future." more ›

The Illinois State Senate has passed Senate President John Cullerton’s (D-Chicago) red light camera reform bill which has been the subject of ire from red light camera opponents for not being tough enough. The Parking Ticket Geek has more on the bill and the battle over it. more ›

The Parking Ticket Geek has tipped us off to a pair of protests happening this weekend in regards to the ongoing battle over red light cameras. The first happens in Roscoe Village tomorrow from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the intersection of Western and Addison. Sayeth the Geek: more ›

After a lot of hootin' and hollerin', it's finally done: we have a state budget. And one without an income tax hike. But with the state facing somewhere in the neighborhood of a $9 billion budget gap, how will the state actually manage to make ends meet? In a word: borrowing. The $26 billion spending plan depends on borrowing $3.5 billion to pay state worker pensions and around $3.2 billion in bills is pushed off to next year's budget, but the move means that most of the state services that were on the brink of getting cut will now remain. For now, anyway, as Gov. Quinn has the option to cut any additional money as he sees fit. Still, Quinn said the budget still puts the state between $4 billion and $5 billion down. more ›

Fox 32 is reporting that House Minority Leader Tom Cross has said a tentative agreement has been reached on the state budget, which has been in limbo for weeks after the last legislative session ended without a new budget in place. There's no income tax increase in the budget, though State Senate President John Cullerton said that an increase of some kind was inevitable in the future. Gov. Quinn backed off his push for an income tax hike last week in a bid to increase the chances of a speedy resolution. more ›

With a major deadline to vote on his controversial new budget approaching, Gov. Quinn has made some adjustments he hopes will help the plan get an easier passage. According to the Sun-Times: more ›

Governor Quinn said Wednesday that he plans to reopen several state historic sites that former governor Rod Blagojevich closed late last year. At the time, Blagojevich said that cutting nearly $3 million from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency was necessary to plug a hole in the state budget. Quinn has already reopened several state parks that Blagojevich closed along with the historic sites. Although the state is facing an unprecedented budget crisis this year, the governor says that merging state agencies will offset the cost of the reopenings. more ›

In the state where we tax the shit out of everything, there's a new gas tax proposal just waiting to raise our ire. State Senate President John Cullerton and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan are co-sponsoring a bill that would raise the tax on a gallon of gas to 27 cents a gallon; motorists currently pay 19 cents a gallon. The reason? To help fund "Grow Illinois", which would pay for debt services and capital improvements the wake of the state's budget shortfall. Another co-sponsor, State Rep. Luis Arroyo, (D-Chicago) said, "No tax for the taxpayers of Illinois is easy. We need infrastructure and we need jobs. Everybody's crying for jobs. There's a lot of people getting laid off. We have to do a capital bill." That raises taxes on people who can't afford to travel to their jobs as it is? more ›

Shortly after meeting with President Barack Obama and the other big wigs in D.C. today, Governor Pat Quinn announced that he will focus on passing the much needed, (and much delayed) capital spending bill. Setting April 3 as the date, Quinn told the press that "it will give us a target to shoot at and keep an urgent approach," and mentioned that while he planned to present the date to the legislature Wednesday, he had already discussed it privately with some members of the General Assembly. "We will (pass a capital bill)," said Quinn, adding that he will present the bill, along with the rest of his budget, to the public and the legislature on March 18. more ›

The long, arduous impeachment process has given way to a long, arduous deliberation in the state senate. Sen. Rickey Hendon (Chicago), who has voiced his opposition to the impeachment, requested the separation of the health care charges from the articles of impeachment, a motion that State Supreme Court Justice (and presiding trial judge) Thomas Fitzgerald denied. With that, Justice Fitzgerald left and allowed deliberations to begin. more ›

Never one to make a fuss about anything, impeached Governor Rod Blagojevich will today make his first appearance at the State Capitol since his arrest on December 9. Blago is on hand to preside over the swearing in of newly elected state senators, something he is required to do by law. Still, we're expecting him to receive a chilly reception at the high noon ceremony. Also occurring at noon will be the swearing in of new House members by Secretary of State Jesse White; the House will then re-vote on the impeachment of Blago, a technicality because of the newly sworn-in members. After the new senators are sworn in, Blago will then preside over the roll call vote for the Senate President, who we already know will be Chicago's John Cullerton. Cullerton will then address the senate and it's expected Blago will exit stage left, though without the traditional escort of senators. more ›

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast