Illinois Senators discuss the newly passed budget and explain why they voted the way they did.

At long last, Illinois has a budget – its first in more than two years. And residents will be sending more of their paychecks to state government to help pay for it.

The Chicago Police Department says the city saw 56 shootings and eight homicides from Friday night to Tuesday night, with the majority occurring Monday on the city’s South and West Sides.

After a bruising two-year battle, Illinois may be on the brink of a budget. Lawmakers from either side of the budget divide join us with insights.

The head of the nonprofit group Violence Interrupters says his platform includes job creation, reducing gun violence, boosting public school funding and bridging gaps between Democrats and Republicans.

Thursday will be do or die for an income tax increase and Illinois’ first budget since July 2015, following a warning from Moody’s that the state is under review for a credit rating downgrade.

Illinois is a single step away from having its first budget in years, after a whirlwind of Fourth of July action that saw the state Senate swiftly overriding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s vetoes of a $5 billion tax hike and $36.1 billion budget that the senators had passed just hours earlier.

Illinois senators will spend Independence Day voting on a budget and income tax hike. Even if both plans pass, it doesn’t necessarily mean Illinois will get its first budget in two years. 

City officials say the ordinance affirms that government agencies will not practice discrimination-based operations, but some activists say the city could do more to protect immigrant and minority rights.

In a stunning turnabout from the partisan divisions that has kept Illinois without a budget for the past two years, Republicans joined with Democrats to pass $5 billion in new taxes, along with a $36 billion budget.

Illinois escaped an immediate slump to “junk” bond status as it began its third consecutive year without a budget—a politically depraved condition that’s a first for modern state governments. Get the latest from Springfield.

A new penny-per-ounce sugary drink tax will not take effect in Cook County on Saturday.

The state will begin a third fiscal year without a budget in place, despite a potential breakthrough Friday morning, when a $36.5 billion spending plan cleared a major hurdle in the Illinois House.

President Donald Trump has selected former federal prosecutor John Lausch to be the next U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, according to multiple reports Friday.

A coalition of attorneys general and the city of Chicago is prepared to challenge the Trump administration’s environmental policies in court.

Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno resigns. Three more cops are indicted in the Laquan McDonald case. There’s talk of a high-speed tunnel to O’Hare, and Miguel Montero is out at home.