The recently approved state budget hardly makes Illinois the beacon of fiscal prudence that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative leaders claim it is, budgetary analysts at Wirepoints say.

House Speaker Michael Madigan used his absolute power over the legislative process to move legislation to the floor on Friday that exchanges Illinois’ constitutionally mandated flat income tax with a progressive tax.

The Graduate Employee Organization (GEO), a union of graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), has inadvertently drawn military veterans into a battle over controversial legislation in the state House that would unionize research assistants who help teach courses under the GEO’s umbrella.

Dustin Peterson, chair of the DeWitt County Republican Party who is challenging Springfield’s Fred Floreth for his Central Committee post in the 13th congressional district, has a colorful past.