In a new campaign ad, Gov. Bruce Rauner uses a piece of duct tape as a prop to demonstrate the General Assembly’s over-reliance on temporary fixes for intractable problems.

House Democrats proved him right on Thursday. They used a full roll of metaphorical duct tape by passing, again, a stopgap spending plan instead of a full-year budget. Democrats who voted for it said they want to work with Republicans on an actual budget, too. But there have been no serious efforts — and no votes — on a bipartisan spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 from the party that controls the process. And the legislature is scheduled to adjourn next month.

Congratulations to the winners of the Tuesday’s election and to the others who sought to make differences in their communities, on school boards, library boards or in other capacities.

The Illinois House last week approved a bill that would allocate $817 million to human-services programs and higher education.

Proponents said the bill will not make the state’s financial problems worse since the cash is available to cover the spending for the rest of the fiscal year that ends June 30.

A bill to allow and regulate online daily fantasy sports betting has been introduced in the General Assembly, but opponents say it will hurt other forms of gambling in Illinois.

The bill is intended to supercede a 2015 advisory opinion by Attorney General Lisa Madigan that daily fantasy sports betting was illegal under state gambling law.

The Illinois General Assembly has sent legislation to Gov. Bruce Rauner that would prohibit further privatization of health care workers in state prisons.

Lawmakers sent the measure to Rauner Friday. It won House approval a day earlier 68-42.

Rick Guzman has conceded the 2017 mayoral race to Richard Irvin, assuring that Irvin is the mayor-elect of Aurora.

Guzman made the concession early Friday evening in an email to supporters, despite the fact, he said, that the Aurora and DuPage County election commissions had not yet counted outstanding ballots they said would be counted by now.

For decades, barber Bob Anderson has been waging what was at times a one-man war against the need for township government in Illinois.

Although he excelled at keeping the issue in the public eye – he became the statewide face of the movement to consolidate or eliminate them – success in terms of legislation or election was elusive.

There have been at least eight proposals in the past two decades to redevelop the Amerock building in downtown Rockford.

None of the previous failed attempts will matter if Rockford aldermen on Monday approve a revised development agreement with Gorman & Company to build a hotel and conference center in downtown Rockford.

It looks as if a bureaucratic battle over the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has come to a merciful end.

Establishing Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln library and museum as a free-standing state agency could have been done two years ago. But it’s better late than never.

In early March, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan introduced legislation to separate the prestigious museum and library from the state’s historic preservation agency. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner followed up on March 31 with an executive order that accomplishes Madigan’s legislative goal.

According to the Institute for Justice, from 2001 to 2014, the forfeiture funds of the Department of Justice and Treasury Department took in nearly $29 billion. This provides financial incentive to both federal agencies and state and local partners, who get a cut of the money through “equitable sharing,” to increasingly focus on cases with revenue-generating potential.

The Chicago Tribune reported in November that Illinois law enforcement confiscated more than $319 million in property and cash from people over the past decade, according to a study by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the Illinois Policy Institute. The study found the state’s law enforcement agencies receive about $30 million in forfeited property each year.

Ignorance leads to poor decisions, such as buying a big-screen TV when you don’t have enough money for diapers. Could that explain why St. Clair County leaders think it is prudent to accessorize an airport when you hardly have any deputies to keep residents safe?

On Tuesday voters clearly said they would not willingly give any more money to St. Clair County until Chairman Mark Kern and County Board members learn to get their priorities straight. The top priority for any government is public safety, and that means deputies on patrol and a jail that is not crumbling.