Cullerton: State Lawmakers Have No Gitmo Control
Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) says the General Assembly has no formal control over the decision to relocate Guantanamo Bay detainees to an Illinois prison. While a committee could review the proposal, any vote would be advisory.

Illinois Unemployment Hits 26-Year High
The state's unemployment troubles just keeps growing, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Between September and October, the state's unemployment rate jumped from 10.5 to 11 percent, the highest level in 26 years.

Cook County Board Passes Budget With No Tax Increases
The Cook County Board last night passed a $3 billion budget for next year that holds the line on taxes. Approval came more quickly than in recent years, likely because all but one of the 17 commissioners is up for re-election in 2010.

Heath System Chief Worries About Tax Rollback
Meanwhile, Cook County Health and Hospitals System CEO William Foley warned that a partial rollback of Board President Todd Stroger's controversial sales tax hike could have "huge implications" on the development of the health system's strategic plan. Commissioner Larry Suffredin (D-Evanston) says the spending reduction will be accomplished through attrition.

RTA Approves Quinn's Emergency CTA Plan
The Regional Transportation Authority unanimously approved Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to borrow $166 million to prevent a CTA fare increase. Still, potential service cuts and more than 1,100 layoffs remain on the table.

Users Flood New State Hospital Ranking Site
On its first day of operation, a new website allowing patients to compare rankings of Illinois hospitals for a wide range of performance and cost measurements crashed twice because of high traffic.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user Michael Kappel.