Miscellaneous
The Illinois budget crisis now is in its tenth month, but the feared "government shutdown" it was supposed to bring never really materialized. That's because a circuit court judge's ruling last July ensured that state employees would be paid even if there was no budget in place authorizing their pay -- as required by the state constitution. Now, however, a state supreme court decision says the opposite, and could open the door to a lawsuit that would halt state worker pay and launch a true shutdown of state government. That likely would create such intense public pressure that Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative Democrats would swiftly find a way to get a budget done. But will Attorney General Lisa Madigan pursue such a lawsuit and endure the ire of state employees and the public? Meanwhile, Rauner has changed his message on the budget in a significant way. That's our topic on this week's "Only in Illinois."