Comment: Having seen solid support for comprehensive immigration reform from Rauner and the GOP Congressional delegation, Cullerton evidently needed to find something else.

A Belleville Township trustee is among a group of local officials who want to shut down a unit of government that shares a name and exact boundaries with the southern Illinois city. Critics describe townships as plagued by waste, inefficiency and political patronage.

Comment: Since our media has been so lax discussing pros and cons of municipal bankruptcy, here’s one perspective from elsewhere.

IDOT asked the Illinois Finance Authority, on its behalf, to ask Fitch Ratings, one of the big bond-ratings companies, to look at whether the Illiana numbers would be good enough to qualify for a TIFIA loan. Fitch was paid up to $125,000 for the financial review. The rating turned out to be negative.

Texas is so awash in money, with so much of it politically untouchable, that even some conservative Republicans want to stop salting away so much in savings.

Michigan surpassed Illinois in total manufacturing jobs in October 2014, less than two years after passing a statewide Right-to-Work law.