The Latest Breaking News from Springfield

In their 16-minute news conference, Pritzker and the Democratic leaders never mentioned the amount of overall spending called for in the budget plan, which had not yet been filed. Late Thursday, the governor’s office said they expected it to fall between $46 billion and $47 billion.

The tax relief in the plan announced by Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris falls squarely in the middle of the $1 billion in cuts Gov. J.B. Pritzker highlighted in his February budget proposal and the $1.8 billion that state Senate Democrats pitched last week.

The swagger that Illinois’ Democrats have displayed since taking full control of Springfield three years ago had already been tamped down by the political realities of confronting crime and COVID when corruption reared up as one more daunting campaign issue heading into this year’s elections.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Twenty-five years ago this fall, Jackie Stiles left Claflin, Kansas, (pop: 700-ish) for what was then-Southwest Missouri State — the school she chose over Connecticut and Tennessee, among other elite programs around the nation.

Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) has acquired the assets of Northstar Pulp & Paper Co., Inc., Northstar Disposal Corp., and certain real estate holdings. Deal terms were not disclosed. Northstar is a resource management company in Springfield, Massachusetts, focused on recycling processing, brokerage services, and collection across the northeast for industrial, institutional, and…

The four were accused of arranging for the ex-House speaker’s associates and allies to get jobs, contracts and money in order to influence Madigan as key legislation worked its way through Springfield.

Deferring the annual adjustment in the motor fuel tax would be repeating the mistakes of the past — exactly what the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan was designed to avoid.

Thursday marks 15 years since Barack Obama officially launched his first presidential campaign on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

The governor’s top advisers say Pritzker’s new spending plan keeps the state on track to end in the black for back-to-back years for the first time in 25 years. But state House GOP Leader Jim Durkin said, "The governor’s budget address is always a wish-list, and this year it’s clear…