The Illinois Senate is back in session in Springfield to consider a property tax freeze and possible funding relief for social service providers. Amanda Vinicky will join us with the latest on Chicago Tonight.

We discuss the CPS budget and other challenges facing the nation's third-largest school district with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new leadership team: CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and chief education officer Janice Jackson. 

Could Chicagoans soon be paying higher taxes for sugary drinks? We'll tell you about that and other items Chicago's City Council took up today.

Mayor Emanuel, back in Chicago after a vacation in Europe, returns to a fiscal situation that is bleaker than it was when he left, thanks to last week's court ruling throwing out a law that cut benefits for many city retirees.

A Cook County judge ruled Friday that Chicago's plan to change city workers’ pensions was unconstitutional. The city vows to appeal the decision. We look at the ruling, whether any pension reform can be constitutional, what the consequences are to the city's plummeting bond rating, and whether the city will have to raise taxes to cover the pension liability. 

Mayor Emanuel and the city of Chicago are back to square one in efforts to resolve the funding crisis for two of the city's four pension funds, likely exacerbating the city's ongoing fiscal problems. 

The Democratic-led Illinois Senate on Wednesday passed the temporary one-month budget by a vote of 39-0 (with 15 voting present) that the House passed last week, but can they override Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto? Amanda Vinicky joins us tonight with the latest updates from Springfield.

The City of Chicago will have to wait two more weeks before a judge's ruling on whether pension legislation supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel is constitutional. Lawyers representing city workers, as well as the city and the employee pension funds made their cases to Cook County Circuit Court Judge Rita Novak Thursday morning. Novak said she will issue a ruling on Friday, July 24.

Is Gov. Bruce Rauner's newest pension proposal constitutional? How will it impact city and state employees? John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, and Ralph Martire, executive director for the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, analyze the plan.

Chicago Public Schools was able to make its $634 million pension payment on Tuesday after using borrowed funds and cutting 1,400 jobs. Paris Schutz has the latest on CPS’ funding crisis, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s long-term plan to address how school districts and teachers’ pensions are funded.

As Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly continue to battle over the state’s budget, we talk with former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar (1991-1999) about the state’s pension-funding plan he signed into law, how he worked with Democrats in Springfield, and what advice he has for the governor. 

The Illinois General Assembly passes Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s long-anticipated changes to police and fire pensions. But will it stave off a massive property tax hike? And will Gov. Bruce Rauner sign on? Paris Schutz has the latest.

A much anticipated plan to shore up Chicago’s beleaguered police and fire pension funds has finally surfaced in Springfield. The measure would double the city's payment into the fund next year and triple it in the next five years.

Hearings on pension funding and Amtrak funding are happening in Springfield today. We discuss these issues and more with Chicago Tonight Springfield reporter Amanda Vinicky.

We speak with Mayor Rahm Emanuel about the Illinois Supreme Court ruling that found the 2013 pension reform law unconstitutional. What does that mean for Chicago’s pension reform? We’ll also ask him about the downgrading of the city’s credit rating to junk status and Obama Presidential Library coming to the South Side of Chicago. 

In the wake of the Illinois Supreme Court’s pension ruling, we analyze the options on a way forward for Illinois and Chicago.