Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Monday said she fears what will happen in Illinois should the nation slip back into recession, warning the state’s finances are so bad there’s nothing to fall back on.
Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Monday said she fears what will happen in Illinois should the nation slip back into recession, warning the state’s finances are so bad there’s nothing to fall back on.
The plan to merge the Illinois treasurer and comptroller's office is stuck in the state House of Representatives. Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, both Republicans, say combining their offices will save millions of dollars. Topinka blamed Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan for stalling the plan.
As speculation builds about a possible independent run for governor by disgraced lieutenant governor candidate Scott Lee Cohen, we're hearing that a speech Cohen's due to make tonight "is going to affect the election this year."
That's the word from William J. Kelly, a former Republican comptroller candidate who then founded Reform Chicago Now.
Kelly declined to confirm whether Cohen would announce a new campaign at the group's first meeting tonight. Cohen could not be reached immediately. Read more...
This article appears in tomorrow's print edition of the Current.
Half a century ago, Chicago’s workers oiled the machine. There was Big Boss Daley and, close behind him, Chicago’s union bosses.
But the city has changed. Blue collars have become white collars. Warehouses have become galleries. Factories have shut down. Read more...
The state's largest union of public-sector workers declined to endorse a candidate for governor this year, expressing reservations about each of the leading Democratic candidates.
The abstention, by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, is the second such blow to the candidates — and especially Gov. Pat Quinn — in as many weeks, after the Illinois AFL-CIO, the federation of state labor organizations, also did not endorse a candidate in a vote of its delegation.
The restraint is notable because it indicates ambivalence about a sitting Democratic governor's record on labor issues. Despite past membership in two unions, Quinn has lagged in union endorsements versus primary challenger and Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes. Read more...
