funding

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network For Trisha Rodriquez of Belvidere, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is her “dream school.” “It's such a huge school, and there are so many opportunities that I don't really get where I'm from,” said the first-generation college student, a sophomore majoring in economics and political science, “to work for all these awesome organizations and be part

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network Passenger rail advocates are trying to maintain the state's subsidy for Amtrak. The state is paying $42 million this year to support most of the trains from Carbondale, St. Louis and Quincy to Chicago...

Last year when then-Governor Pat Quinn came to Rockford to unveil Amtrak service starting in 2015, we argued on the show that this was another one of Quinn's empty campaign promises that would be unlikely to come true. That the announcement was an attempt to curry favor with voters in the midst of a heated campaign for re-election...

As local officials continue to discuss a proposed $41 million jet repair hub at the Rockford airport, Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen joined "Riley & Scot" to update the progress on the funding for the facility. It comes after a story in the Register Star that stated aldermen and county board members had questions about millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network Another bill meant to improve education through setting goals is being introduced. The buzz-phrase is “evidence-based models” to be used, examining each of the state’s more than 800 school districts...

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network It’s back to the drawing board on changing Illinois’ education funding formula. That outcome pleases Republican lawmakers in districts in the Chicago suburbs, such as State Rep. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove), as the proposed changes to the formula would have resulted in school districts in those areas receiving less state aid thanks to collecting more in prop

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network The Republican legislative leaders are sounding the alarm about what a change in the state’s school funding formula would mean for some districts. The proposal would base state funding to schools more on need...

Jim Anderson -- Illinois Radio Network The state is providing $11.6 million to local governments to help cover their costs from the tornadoes last fall. Gov. Pat Quinn made the announcement in Washington, Ill., explaining how everyone got federal help except local governments...

There was a bit of controversy over last week's vote to devote $100 million in taxpayer dollars toward a Barack Obama presidential library. In case you missed the story, you can read a bit more about it here. There's also this account from a Chicago-area radio station: Nine representatives were recorded as voting for the bill, even though there were five lawmakers in attendance at the hearing... R