• Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings is the second of the three major Wall Street agencies to weigh in on Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed budget and warn that it may not put Illinois back on the path to fiscal stability — at least not in the way the agencies would like to see. Meanwhile on Tuesday, a transgender woman prisoner filed a federal lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Corrections to get her moved from a men’s prison, where she alleges she’s suffered abuse and harassment, to a women’s prison.

  • The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund continues to be a model in funding its pension liabilities, while most other retirement systems in Chicago are funded at an average of 37 percent, according to a report out last week from the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

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    Inspector General Meryl Paniak [Linked In]

    The number of children who died after a Department of Children and Family Services caseworker inspected a claim and ruled it “unfounded” increased in 2018, according to a report by the agency’s inspector general.

  • Major ratings agency Standard and Poor’s on Friday weighed in on Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed budget delivered to lawmakers last week, saying that while it “precariously balances” the state’s budget, it “punts measures to address fiscal progress to future years.”

  • A bill introduced earlier this month in Springfield would fully define “consent” in the context of sexual activity so that schools with a sex education program will be held accountable for teaching consent.

  • A crack in a steel beam shut down Lake Shore Drive for 24 hours in early February. [Photo courtesy of Ald. Brian Hopkins (2)]
    A framework for a much-anticipated capital bill is unlikely to emerge any time before May, Democratic senators said Thursday, as they embark on a six-city statewide “listening tour” that will last until late April — trying to gather as much public input as possible about capital needs in Illinois.

  • Gov. JB Pritzker delivers his first Budget Address in Springfield on Wednesday. [Lee Milner]
    Gov. JB Pritzker received raucous applause during his inaugural address last month when he promised to do his part to fulfill the “most basic responsibilities” of state government — proposing, debating and passing a balanced budget.

    “Balancing the budget means lowering the cost of government while delivering the high quality services Illinoisans deserve,” Pritzker said Jan. 14, moments after being sworn in.

    The new governor got his chance to propose that balanced budget Wednesday when he addressed a joint session of the General Assembly and his administration released hundreds of pages of budget documents to the public. But whether Pritzker’s budget proposal is truly balanced is up for debate.

  • Gov. JB Pritzker previewed his budget plan, set to be unveiled Wednesday. [Hannah Meisel/The Daily Line]
    Gov. JB Pritzker will present his framework for a state budget on Wednesday, after dropping breadcrumbs for the last week about what his administration may rely on in order to balance a budget that incorporates campaign promises of increased spending. Meanwhile on Tuesday, lawmakers who served on the Illinois Senate’s Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Task Force introduced six pieces of legislation inspired by more than a year’s worth of hearings.

  • Lawmakers from DuPage and Lake Counties introduced three pieces of legislation Tuesday to regulate the use of the chemical ethylene oxide, which is often used to sterilize medical equipment.

  • Illinois will start down the path toward a $15 minimum wage after Gov. JB Pritzker signs his first major bill in Springfield on Tuesday — the result of weeks of pushing from the Pritzker administration to have the bill be done by the time the governor gives his budget address on Wednesday. Also on Tuesday, the Illinois House Energy and Environment Committee will hear testimony on ethylene oxide emissions.