The recently approved state budget hardly makes Illinois the beacon of fiscal prudence that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative leaders claim it is, budgetary analysts at Wirepoints say.

House Speaker Michael Madigan used his absolute power over the legislative process to move legislation to the floor on Friday that exchanges Illinois’ constitutionally mandated flat income tax with a progressive tax.

Governor Rauner and his hand-picked state GOP Chairman Timothy Schneider are declaring victory in Southern Illinois. But did they actually win?

State Rep. David Reis (R-Willow Hill) had plenty to say on the House floor in October 2015 about his resolution endorsing former Rep. Frank Mautino, a Democrat, for auditor general. But he has nothing to say – at least to SE Illinois News – about Mautino’s ongoing troubles in the courts over questionable expenditures by his now-defunct House campaign.