Illinois will refund money to about 75,000 state retirees who’ve been paying a portion of their pensions for health insurance over the last year and a half after a court hearing in Sangamon County. Judge Steven Nardulli on Friday scheduled a Dec. 18 hearing to establish how to distribute more than $60 million to the retirees. http://www.sj-r.com/article/20141121/NEWS/141129862/10511/NEWS?rssfeed=true

http://illinoistimes.com/article-14737-will-rauner-compromise-or-compete-with-madigan.html

President Abraham Lincoln waged a costly civil war to prevent secession. Now, nearly 10 years after a presidential library in his honor was opened in Springfield, supporters of this nation’s 16th president are waging their own war of secession. http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/2014-11-20/jim-dey-lincolns-library-has-own-fight-secession.html

Thousands of people in Missouri and Illinois would lose a total of more than $2 billion in annual health insurance subsidies if the Supreme Court rules against the Obama administration in a case next year. http://www.stltoday.com/news/special-reports/mohealth/missouri-illinois-health-insurance-subsidies-in-jeopardy/article_a0640c2d-b3e0-5419-ac35-c9c59141043f.html