Half a year into its deepening budget crisis, the state of Illinois is sitting on at least $4 billion in cash.

An Associated Press analysis of state records finds the money in 531 separate accounts set up for special — and specific — purposes, but precedent shows that lawmakers and governors in less anxious times have dipped into those accounts to pay regular state expenses and stave off financial distress.

Two weeks ago, Democratic lawmakers agreed with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on tapping a total of $3 billion from 112 of the special state funds — albeit to finance those funds’ intended purposes. The short-term spending plan sent more than $1 billion owed to cities and counties in tax revenue from income, fuel, gambling and more, as well as providing $400 million to keep state agencies operating and paying other bills.

At a meeting in November, Murphysboro city aldermen were reviewing some of the city’s financial statements when one questioned an item in the city fire department’s budget.

Fire Chief Steve Swafford explained that proposed budgetary increase was for someone preparing to retire and, as such, planning to take advantage of a contractual agreement that allowed him to change his job title for a salary and, eventually, pension boost. He would assume the position of “chieftain,” gaining a $10,000 salary increase in his final year or so of work and be positioned to bring home more money in his pension at retirement.

In recent years, this practice has cost Murphysboro tax payers about $700,000 a year in tax assessments.

The state’s leading lobbying group for retirees said today it’ll push back against attempts to tax Illinoisans’ retirement incomes as the battle over state spending approaches the end of its sixth month.

south suburb is threatening to lay off half the town’s police and other workers as part of a widening political dispute in a place long known for high crime, insider deals and precarious finances.

Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg’s administration has notified union leaders that layoffs are expected soon for police, fire, public works and water department employees.

For months Kellogg has battled a majority bloc of City Council members who say they’re demanding more transparency in a town the Tribune has shown has collectively lost millions of taxpayer dollars on insider deals, including at least one that has sparked a lingering FBI investigation.

New data show about half of Illinois high school graduates going on to the state’s community colleges need remediation in at least one subject.

That data was released this past week by the Illinois State Board of Education. It shows 48.7 percent of graduates who enrolled in the community college system needed remedial instruction to prepare them for entry-level college coursework.

The highest remediation rate was in math, with about 41 percent needing additional preparation in the subject.

Last week, the Chicago Public School Teachers’ Pension Fund posted its actuarial report for the 2015 fiscal year that ended June 30. Like the four pensions for the city itself, that pension for the school district is a major item in Chicago’s financial crisis.

First, a note about the report itself. It’s the usual for public pension actuarial reports — full of obfuscation, loose ends, hidden issues and terms used inconsistently. It presumably complies with accepted standards, but that’s the problem. Like almost all public pension reports, few reporters, policy makers or pension trustees can be expected to decipher it. It contrasts sharply with the report for TRS, Illinois’ pension for teachers outside of Chicago, which was written to be understood and clearly calls out problems.

To proponents taking their third shot in five years at getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to change the way legislative districts are drawn, their proposal can be the fix that makes all the other fixes to Illinois government possible.

An independent commission crafting legislative districts would create more competitive races, truly making lawmakers in Springfield responsive to voters and more likely to tackle the state’s long-unmet needs, reformers with the Independent Map Amendment coalition argue.

Opponents, though, see this attempt as one that would remove accountability from the process, disadvantage minorities and tamper with a system that isn’t broken.

One Illinois town cracked the top ten list of most liberal cities in the country, and it’s not Chicago.

Maywood, Illinois, ranks as the nation’s fourth most liberal city according to a nonpartisan political tech startup Crowdpac. Maywood is a western suburb located about ten miles from Chicago in Proviso Township, with a population of just under 25,000 people.

Peoria and Bloomington area homeowners are in the top quarter of property tax payers in Illinois, according to a new report issued Thursday by the Illinois Policy Institute, a Chicago-based nonpartisan research and education organization

The report, “Growing out of control: Property taxes put increasing burden on Illinois taxpayers,” takes a look at how much homeowners pay in property taxes as a percentage of household income.

The report found that all across the state, property tax bills are climbing at a rate greater than household income growth. In the Peoria and Bloomington areas in particular, property taxes are climbing at an even faster rate.