There’s room for a healthy debate about political considerations at play in the policy shift, but whether someone endorses or rejects underlying motives, the situation illustrates the perils of delivering state services with federal money.

Nine of the governments that did submit plans took note of a fundamental challenge: they don’t control their residents’ salaries.

The present reality, at best, makes it harder for taxpayers to advocate for better allocation of public resources. At worst, the system offers an inviting shield for elected officials to deflect blame for poor (or intentionally harmful) decisions.

Density, infrastructure and other factors vary widely by ZIP code, but every state agency deals with similar regional discrepancies and SB 2111 simply didn’t go far enough in addressing concerns about the shared basic need to get from here to there.

The projects might’ve cost less if started earlier but the Department of Natural Resources budget was shuffled down the priority list during years when even social service agencies weren’t close to adequately funded.

What’s a better framing for the reserve, 2% or $29 million? What about Pritzker’s proposal versus what Democrats formally budgeted: who wanted to pull which levers of power at what time or, from the other side, who was willing to bear the criticism if the money doesn’t move?

Whether these bills might become law is analysis best saved for someone more familiar with Madison than Springfield but it’s interesting to at least consider the proposals as well as underlying factors in order to draw comparisons to Illinois.

After visiting a teller in person and signing off on several forms, we got seven letters confirming the change – one for each checking and savings account affected – then two days later seven more initially sent to the old house and rerouted to the current address.

The number of living veterans has generally decreased yearly, but again Illinois account for about 3.2% of the nation’s 14.2 million veterans.

That failure contradicts the General Assembly’s reputation as a place where powerful Democrats always get what they want and subverts the expectation of the veto session as a setting for ramming through transformative legislation on deadline in dark of night.

Proficiency rates “would have increased if we had kept the same cut scores. However, we changed the cut scores, so we can’t tell you what they would have been. But we know they would have improved.”

SB 2111 doesn’t represent a comprehensive, statewide solution and its passage puts the onus back on those dissatisfied with the status quo to push lawmakers to keep working on the challenges even without an imminent financial disaster.

The Budget Reserve for Immediate Disbursements and Governmental Emergencies is only $100 million. Democrats created the pool by sweeping money from 57 other funds in anticipation of federal decisions with negative fiscal implications for Illinois.

Clearly $20 is significant to someone counting every penny, but as a yearly figure it won’t sway anyone’s vote. The loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits is a different story, with an average of about $184 per beneficiary each month.

It is simply too late. Candidates have expended considerable time and resources gathering petition signatures, the filing deadline is Nov. 3 and any alteration now costs money the state doesn’t have while inviting legal exposure that could exponentially increase fiscal liability.

From pure cynicism, there may be wisdom in getting Republicans on board with anything Democrats could present as endorsement of gun registration. But more practically, there’s no faster way to clear an administrative backlog than to erase it altogether.

Voters could see some future relief in the unlikely event the General Assembly amends state law to clarify donation and disclosure timetables, but at worst Harmon has only reputational damage via a hearing officer’s recommendation to reject his appeal of the fine.

'We’re not clinical, but we’ve walked that path and can be a trusted entry point to guide and inform programs – something people without that experience often can’t do.'

'Families need long-term stability, not short-term uncertainty. We still don’t know how much funding this measure provides, how quickly states will receive it, or how long it will sustain operations.'

Opinion from Scott Holland: If the veto session conversation involves sales tax reform, this issue absolutely must be incorporated. Modernizing the tax structure is overdue, including for the opportunity to resolve unintended consequences

In much the same way local governments (especially schools) must dance with the state as its dominant yet clumsy partner, Springfield’s steps are too often intertwined with those from Washington, D.C.

‘If I were the federal government, I’d strongly urge holding off until Thursday,’ she said of the plan to activate troops. But she added, it’s ‘up to them.’

The Illinois ag sector is vital to the local, state and national economies.

Opinion by Scott Holland: This project could be transformative beyond even bold predictions, but that degree of potential also drastically elevates the stakes of failing to deliver.

It’s important to remember that any development at this scale necessarily impacts public resources, even if just transportation infrastructure and emergency response.

Plenty of legislative proposals are perennial, some with the same diligent sponsors and a few that represent old ideas under new names. On rare occasions, one party claims the other’s idea as its own and runs it up a different flagpole. That won’t happen with HB 2827.

"Numeracy – like literacy – equips students to think critically, solve problems and make informed decisions in daily life."

Candidates should be motivated to increase turnout. But for elected officials, there are myriad better tweaks to enhance participation.

"To ensure DOJ receives a voter registration list that reflects this de-duplication and removal of out-of-state deceased, the agency will provide DOJ with an updated list once these efforts are complete."

I’ve been blessed over the course of my lengthy journalism career to observe and document these seasonal celebrations in many communities.

Energy subjects are especially interesting because they represent one of the few topics where typical political alliances are realigned.

Rep. Curtis Tarver II, D-Chicago, questioned the logic of introducing the tablets under the guise of drug smuggling prevention but starting by selling access to streaming content.

With four announced tickets so far, and plurality sufficing to advance to November, the winner needs to amass at least 200,050 votes if turnout remains consistent.

Illinois is uniquely violating the Constitution.

Public statements flowed forth Sunday evening, almost all of them glowing tributes to a dedicated public servant or, at the very least, sincere respect for someone who could cling to their principles without crossing the lines of decency and fair play.

'The question is, why is IDOC now saying it’s an emergency, right? What has changed?'

There’s always reason to be wary of bureaucrats seeking credit for the successes of private entities. But outcomes like this rely at least in some part on public investment.

It takes an awful lot of screen taps to get to that information from your average Instagram story slide, and that’s only if there’s a link in the first place.

Farming accounts for $1 in every $7 in the Alexander County economy. The school district enrolls about 300, fewer than the middle school I can see from my front porch.

Nerheim’s quote is directed at lawyers and detectives. Fair, given his background, but the lesson applies to everyone: presented reality is not always the truth.

Whether the subject is data centers or just about anything else outside of personal privacy concerns, NDAs where one party is funded by tax dollars seem to run directly counter to the ideal of government transparency.

A more valuable solution would be a nationwide approach to dictating Congressional district boundaries, as it has become untenable for so many states to operate under different conditions.

Opinion from Scott Holland: Hopefully I look back at those paragraphs in a year – or a month! – and see only unfounded hyperbole

Adopting a conciliatory tone is proper, but the way this story is developing provides little comfort to people who saw the red flags waving far ahead of the current situation.

Opinion from Scott Holland: Bail is for the accused, not the convicted, but “presumed innocent” as a legal concept is rarely relevant in the court of public opinion

Put another way: when everyone agrees there’s a loophole, why isn’t anyone tightening that string?

Political posturing invites holding a mirror to partisan talking points.

'The House is supposed to be the People’s House, and should represent all people equally across the whole country. House district sizes should be set by the population of the least populated state, so each state gets at least one representative'

It’s easy to picture a different state official next decade saying college enrollment isn’t a viable (or the primary) measure for the adequacy of secondary school classrooms.

Every time someone suggests consolidating or streamlining various public operations, there’s a counterargument regarding the importance of local versus state versus federal control and concerns about privacy, protection and simply letting subject-matter experts do their jobs.