"Recent events have made me increasingly concerned about the actions of our executive branch and the growing instability they cause both at home and abroad," Mike Gallagher of Morris writes in a letter to the editor.

The bill would amend the Illinois Insurance Code by requiring certain health care plans to fully cover an annual PET scan for clients age 35 or older, regardless of symptoms or a doctor’s order.

Those pushing Pritzker to opt in make the logical argument that federal tax credits don’t affect the Illinois budget. Opponents who have always stood against tax dollars funding private education challenge the new federal program on the same grounds.

Please think of the trees before choosing to print something like Chapter 6: System Reliability Investments (243 pages), but there is good information available for those willing to spend the time.

Counting all four-year public schools and nearly 50 community colleges, the state has a physical infrastructure presence geographically proximate to virtually its entire population.

"The back of the Will County property tax bills will include a warning to get ‘same day’ or ‘manual’ postmarks if sending payments on or near the due dates. I’m predicting more than usual payments considered ‘late’ due to the change."

Anyone running for governor now has about four weeks to craft their own budget proposal for the next fiscal year and can do so in the context of Thursday’s memo. That means going deep into details.

As the session continues, I suspect we’ll find McCombie correct. Not just on the push to increase revenue, a bit like guessing the sun will rise in the East, but in her other prediction: the toughest votes will wait until January’s lame duck session.

With the caveat that our state’s ballot access laws allow for changes before the November election, here’s a look at the current electoral math.