Past Due

Watch the first Illinois Issues Forum from Springfield. Our 2018 election coverage starts discussing the fiscal health of Illinois. This forum is produced and hosted by NPR Illinois with support provided by AARP Illinois. The Panel: Jim Edgar, Retired, Illinois Governor / Visiting Senior Fellow, University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA) Donne Trotter, Retired, Illinois State Senator Beverly Bunch, PhD, Professor, University of Illinois Springfield / State Budget Research Team, Volcker Alliance Brian Mackey, Statehouse Reporter, NPR Illinois Emcee: Sean Crawford As someone who values being knowledgeable about Illinois, please support this public radio station by clicking on the, "Donate" button at the top of this page. If you're already a supporter, thank you!

A national study of state government budgeting gives Illinois low marks.

As we get ready to welcome 2018, we thought we’d take a few minutes to listen back to another wild year in Illinois government and politics.

Watch the eleventh Illinois Issues forum on the state budget and Illinois' financial future in Edwardsville.

Watch the tenth Illinois Issues forum on the state budget and Illinois' financial future in Carbondale, Illinois. The forum is hosted by NPR Illinois and WSIU Radio with support provided by AARP.

Watch the ninth Illinois Issues forum on the state budget and Illinois' financial future in DeKalb, Illinois. The forum is hosted by NPR Illinois and Northern Public Radio with support provided by AARP.

NPR Illinois and WVIK hosted the eighth Illinois Issues Forum on the state's financial health and the lasting impacts of the two-year-long state budget impasse on the Quad Cities community.

More than two months after the Illinois General Assembly finally approved a state budget, Gov. Bruce Rauner is moving ahead with a plan to begin cutting into the $15 billion backlog of bills.

It’s been two months since Illinois government finally passed a full budget. Legislators hoped that would accelerate the payment of overdue bills, which total more than $15 billion. But the governor’s office is holding that up.

NPR Illinois and Tri States Public Radio host the seventh Illinois Issues Forum on the state's financial health and the lasting impacts of the two-year-long state budget impasse.

NPR Illinois and WGLT host the sixth Illinois Issues Forum on the state's financial health and the lasting impacts of the two-year-long state budget impasse.

NPR Illinois hosted its fifth Illinois Issues forum August 9 at the Union League Club of Chicago. The listening tour of the state focuses on the financial health of Illinois and the lasting impacts of the two-year-long state budget impasse.

Another voice is urging Gov. Bruce Rauner to work with the budget that was passed over his objections.

We talked to leaders at the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and The Civic Federation to learn about their insights on the state's first spending plan in more than two years.

NPR Illinois continued its listening tour on the state's fiscal health co-hosting an Illinois Issues Forum in Peoria on July 20. Community members attended to tell how they have been impacted by the state budget impasse.

After more than two years, 16 Republicans split from Gov. Bruce Rauner to help Democrats pass a budget for Illinois. It spends less than Illinois has been during the impasse, and raises the individual income tax rate from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent. What was the breakthrough? Was this really an uprising among rank-and-file legislators? Does Rauner benefit from this outcome? And is the end of Illinois' fiscal problems?

Illinois’ two-year budget impasse is over. The House of Representatives on Thursday overrode the governor's budget veto, giving final approval to a spending plan and tax increase.

The Illinois House will meet Thursday to try to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget veto.

A day after Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois vetoed the state’s first budget plan in two years, the Democrats who control the legislature are plotting when they'll try to override him.

Two bond rating agencies say Illinois is on the right path with the budget plan passed Sunday in the state House of Representatives.