Illinois lawmakers would do better to make reforms and do some budget cutting instead of raising the state's motor fuel tax by a proposed 20 to 30 cents, a Village of Elizabeth official said during a recent interview.

Illinois's outgoing Republican governor saw a few of his vetoes overridden during the Fall Veto Session in Springfield and a few new laws have been passed, a QUAD city area lawmaker said in a summary recap released last week.

Illinois's "other debt disaster" is $73 billion in unfunded state retiree health insurance benefits and more than twice that amount owed over the next four decades, according to a special report issued this week by an online news outlet.

Illinois Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) believes state lawmakers need to reject political pork spending that was hidden in the budget passed earlier this year.

Supporting a proposal to cut Illinois property taxes in half and a slate of political candidates who would help make that happen is part of Liberty Principles PAC's recently announced "Save Your Home" campaign.

Not only is Illinois' overall population in deep decline, the number of people in prime working age also is going down in the state, a Chicago-based Conservative think tank said in a recent report.

Sometimes the fact-checker needs a good fact-checking.

While state lawmakers ended a two-year budget impasse, the measures adopted by the Illinois Legislature will not fix the state's fiscal mess, an analyst who co-wrote a paper that places the state 49th in long-run solvency told the Sangamon Sun.

Public sector employees and retirees could accept less than their constitutionally protected pensions if they understand it's them or public education, an economist said during an appearance on a recent Chicago-based radio show.

Democratic state lawmakers showed their true colors in May when they demanded an investigation into an article about apparently doomed school funding reform legislation, a radio show co-host said recently.

Illinois lawmakers betray their ignorance of the needs and opinions of taxpayers when they pass huge tax increases as a way out of the ongoing budget impasse, a policy expert said on a radio program recently.

There won't be any coming back for high-wage earners who will exit Illinois in a hurry if the so-called "Illinois Comeback Agenda" passes, a financial services professional said.

Lawmakers in Springfield hammering out the so-called Grand Bargain need to restore the faith of business in Illinois, a former state senator turned technology and manufacturing advocate said during a recent Chicago-based radio talk show appearance.