“Boss Madigan is beholden to the public-sector unions. Gov. Bruce Rauner appealed to the private sector. Yet he seems to be talking past many of those voters, unable or unwilling to connect with the worries and concerns of the people who put him in office.”

and you know how we like numbers.

“I can run my business from anywhere. It is becoming harder and harder for businesspeople like me to justify staying in Illinois to operate. It’s becoming hard for anybody to justify for any reason.” Comment: Yes, that thought has occurred to us, too.

This year, 247,818 people in Illinois signed up on the exchange by the Dec. 19 deadline to purchase coverage that would begin Jan. 1. That’s compared with 232,750 who signed up for coverage last year

“Newly elected Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza complained this week that her predecessor left the office in a shambles. Oh, please. Just do the job…she had proof of nothing.”

Local districts say they are getting word that their last two state payments for requirements such as special education and school buses likely aren’t coming.

By John Bury, an actuary: “Kill Defined Benefit plans. They do not work when run by governments. The main reason being that there are no funding rules so these plans all morph into pay-as-you-go arrangements at a level of benefits that taxpayers cannot possibly afford to pay so the participants suffer.”

“The unthinkable just happened…. For the first time in its 85-year history, the California Public Employees Retirement System, CalPERS, is drastically cutting benefits for public retirees.” Comment: Expect other states to similarly act to address their crises while Illinois does nothing.

They often fall under the radar, but compacts are becoming a top tool for managing interstate issues. Comment: Illinois should be leading the charge to form one to cease state relocation incentives to draw in employers. It’s a zero sum game for the nation as a whole, but states will continue to do it unless others agree to stop.

LaHood: “I think in the first 100 days, you have to repeal Obamacare,” LaHood said. “I think that will be easy in some respects. What you put in place of that, and the timeframe to do it, is going to be a little more complicated.”

Comment: I respectfully disagree with the Illinois Policy Institute’s blanket opposition to incentive programs. Yes, we’d all be better if no states did it and, yes, programs are often poorly designed and politically rigged. But we’re stuck with a system in which states tax companies based partially on what they bring to the table, and total, unilateral disarmament would be a mistake.

An Illinois school district under federal scrutiny for its past misuse of bond proceeds saw its rating fall to junk. Moody’s Investors Service (MCO) lowered the Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 one notch to Ba1 from Baa3.

Illinois’ top leaders aren’t meeting to discuss the state budget, but a group that includes rank-and-file lawmakers from both parties has been meeting more frequently in recent weeks to come up with a plan to overhaul the way the state funds public schools.

The BEST Coalition — whose name stands for Better Energy Solutions for Tomorrow — has touted itself as a “grassroots coalition created to advocate for smart energy policy in Illinois.” But a closer look at the roots of BEST suggests that interests beyond just the public good might have been foremost in mind when the seeds for the organization were planted and sprouted. Comment: Everybody had a lobbying effort on the new energy bill except consumers. CUB, the Citizens Utility Board, is supposed to do that but didn’t. They jumped in bed with the renewable energy industry and supported higher

Local taxpayers across the state are seeing a flurry of property tax increases this month. Almost all of them earmarked to pay for retirements for police officers and firefighters.