Government unions bloated with overhead Comment: Read the numbers in this article. Bureaucracy spending far exceeds spending on real work.

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150211/news/150219809/

How unions spend workers’ money

http://www.wsiltv.com/news/three-states/Rauner-Forms-Commission-to-Study-Criminal-Justice-System-291525531.html Comment: The criminal justice system was among the first casualties of insolvent government in Illinois. Indigent defendants are put on a conveyor belt of unfairness and forced plea bargains.

The Urbana-Champaign campus’ Academic Senate voted to approve a plan to build a small, engineering-centered medical school. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IL_U_OF_ILLINOIS_MEDICAL_SCHOOL_ILOL-?SITE=ILBLO&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

“Rauner’s goal here is not pro-business but anti-union, and he should say so. In the political arena, fighting unions is defensible. Coating it in a phony rationale is not.”   http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-right-work-unions-bruce-rauner-illinois-perspec-0211-jm-20150210-story.html

In short: pension reform requires trade-offs—tough trade offs. http://reason.com/blog/2015/02/09/public-vs-private-employees-on-the-pensi

Fueled by low gas prices and deteriorating roads, at least a dozen states — Democrat and Republican — are considering increasing gas taxes this year. http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-low-gas-prices-deteriorating-roads-fuel-push-for-gas-tax-hikes.html

Nine oil companies are being urged to tell their franchise service stations to stop selling synthetic drugs. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says some of these products may be illegal, and most can be unsafe. Madigan’s office says the list includes synthetic marijuana and bath salts. http://abc7chicago.com/health/illinois-ag-calls-for-end-to-synthetic-drug-sales-at-gas-stations/512180/

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2015/02/rauner-takes-the-lead-as-il-gops-minority-whip.html

The Illinois Supreme Court now has the case. There are two good reasons the court should back the Legislature, not the lower court. http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/358967/draft-pensions-op-ed

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/rauner-union-attack-puts-gop-in-awkward-position/article_9b2807b7-23dc-5479-b28d-30a7f4bf8eeb.html

The sages of Springfield are saying that Mr. Rauner can’t win and so would be smarter to go along with a tax increase in return for small pensions reforms. But that won’t solve the state’s problems and would mark the Governor instantly as a lame duck. via Rauner’s Illinois Revival Project – WSJ.

Gov. Bruce Rauner says he’s confident state schools and other critical programs can be fully funded despite the state’s budget crisis. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/28075578/rauner-illinois-has-money-to-fully-fund-schools-programs

House Bill 1455 adjusts the funding formula that’s used by the Illinois EPA to fund these in-demand electronics recycling programs. If nothing is done, the steep cost of recycling could shift to consumers or to local governments that hold collection events. http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2015/02/10/compromise-possible-in-states-recycling-programs/a6dwaz1/