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.

An election guide posted on the Communist Party USA’s (CPUSA) website said that the party is “deploying its resources” to unseat U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), as part of a larger effort to flip 24 Republican seats the Democrats need to capture control of the House.

Consideration of the Lincolnshire case by the U.S Supreme Court, which is likely given a recent appeals ruling, would be tainted by a political agenda, a union lawyer said.

Republican candidate Ken Idstein is calling for Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) to join him in condemning “extreme political attacks” after an Idstein campaign sign was defaced with an anti-gay slur.

Former House Republican candidate Adam Solano told the Lake County Gazette he stands behind the website he created, scamyingling.com, that illustrates how low state Rep. Sam Yingling’s (D-Grayslake) property taxes are compared to his neighbors.

Lake County assessment records show that removing the lake bottom property from an assessment of Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) house has made little difference in the home’s value.

State Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) pays less in property taxes on his 3,460-square-foot Highland Lake home than he did six years ago, a review of records at the Lake County assessors office shows.

First-term state Rep. Nick Sauer (R-Lake Barrington) has resigned his House seat in light of a news report that he posted nude photos of an ex-girlfriend on a fake Instagram account as a ploy to lure men into online conversations.

Barrett Davie, Republican challenger to state Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), said voters should believe her candid, if inadvertent, spirited defense of higher property taxes before the Lake Forest City Council.

Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) is drifting away from a campaign pledge to freeze property taxes.

Joe Woodward, political director for the Illinois House Republican Organization (HRO), evidently learned a campaign trick or two when he worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential primary campaign.

State Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) says a Lake County GOP fundraiser that included a gun raffle was insensitive, in light of the Las Vegas concert massacre two weeks earlier.