Matt Murphy

— State lawmakers went home to march in holiday parades this weekend, leaving behind a full dance card that looks a lot like the one they put together when they started in January: pension reform, gun control, gambling expansion and a budget....

— A measure spelling out who can carry concealed handguns and where they can carry them emerged Thursday after months of contentious negotiations, a system with one set of rules for violence-plagued Chicago and another for the rest of Illinois....

The Illinois Senate pushed through its version of a pension reform proposal Thursday, setting up a potential stalemate with the House just three weeks before lawmakers are scheduled to go home for the summer. As Senate President John Cullerton hailed...

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Thursday passed a labor union-backed bill to reduce the state's nearly $100 billion unfunded public pension liability, giving lawmakers dealing with America's worst-funded state retirement system...

The pension deal cut by Senate President John Cullerton and state employee unions moved a step closer Wednesday to a collision course with a proposal backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan. Cullerton's Democratic majority delivered a 10-5, party-line...

— A measure to allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients with serious illnesses advanced in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday. The issue sparked an emotional debate, with supporters arguing for compassion for those suffering from...

SPRINGFIELD --- Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday signed into law an extra $1.5 billion in spending for road construction and child welfare investigations, even as Republicans decried the measure  as including ill-timed, pork barrel money. The...

For decades, state lawmakers have drawn criticism when they leave the Legislature and take another government gig with a fat salary that greatly boosts their public pensions, but soon the state might be on the hook for less of those retirement costs for a...

A panel of Democratic and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday recommended against Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to close six state facilities, including the state’s only super-maximum prison in downstate Tamms. The governor proposed closing the sites...

SPRINGFIELD — A local government that gives an ex-lawmaker a fat paycheck would have to pick up the costs of any automatic increase in his state pension under a proposal the House passed overwhelmingly Thursday. House Republican leader Tom Cross of...

SPRINGFIELD -- Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn will deliver a bad-news budget today, suggesting that Illinois close numerous prisons, mental health centers and social service offices, cut health care for the poor and shut down popular tourist sites for two days...

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn today delivered a bad news budget speech, calling for prison closures, layoffs and cutbacks to health care for the poor. "This budget contains truths you may not want to hear," Quinn said. "But these are truths that you do...