Gov. Bruce Rauner is lashing out at Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Democratic lawmakers for what he calls stalling efforts to end the state budget stalemate.

Rauner, a Republican, still insists Illinois needs term limits, a property tax freeze, better funding for schools and other things to stay competitive with other states. He says he’s not demanding anything specific to restart budget negotiations with Democratic legislators.

North Shore officials are not thrilled with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal for a property tax freeze, worrying it will force them to make cuts at the local level.

The governor recently made the freeze one of two conditions for a budget deal with leaders of the Illinois General Assembly for the fiscal year which started July 1. The state has been without an official spending plan since then.

The S.S. Michael J. Madigan continues to plow through Illinois’ stormy waters, warding off the political cannonballs fired its way as if they were spitballs.

But there are signs this aged, previously impregnable political vessel is taking on water, not nearly enough to sink it but enough that Madigan-watchers have noticed that what is now isn’t quite what once was.

Academy Award- and Grammy-winning songwriter and rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith is not surprised by the latest turn of events in the 20th Ward, where Ald. Willie Cochran was indicted last week on federal criminal charges.

But that doesn’t mean Smith, who pushed Cochran to a runoff election in 2011, is contemplating taking another shot at the City Council seat representing parts of Englewood, Back of the Yards, Washington Park and Woodlawn.

Illinois group homes for adults with disabilities will face tougher licensing standards and enforcement and they will be graded for the first time on quality and safety, a top official for the Illinois Department of Human Services vowed to state legislators Tuesday.

Secretary James Dimas told Senate and House lawmakers that his department has launched more than a dozen reform measures to heighten enforcement of 3,000 group homes statewide and increase public transparency involving the care of 12,000 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Illinois’ new comptroller says she was left on Day One with offices with little furniture, locked desks and missing documents.

“It did kind of feel like the place was looted,” Susana Mendoza told WLS-AM’s Bill Cameron in a “Connected to Chicago” interview to be aired on Christmas Day. Mendoza said she couldn’t make a “definitive statement” on whether “pilfering” was involved.

Earlier this spring, at OpenTheBooks.com, we identified more than 50,000 Illinois public employees who make at least $100,000 per year.

These “highly compensated” public servants cost Illinois taxpayers over $8 billion. We found Cook County animal-control officers making $105,000; suburban school administrators at $503,000; university doctors earning $1.3 million; and 72 small-town ‘managers’ out-earning every governor of all 50 states.

Drivers who want an express trip down the Eisenhower Expy. will have to join a carpool or pay a toll, according to the latest plans to expand and improve Chicago’s oldest and second-busiest stretch of highway.

State transportation officials have unveiled a “High-Occupancy Toll” lane, in which drivers would have an average speed of 45 miles per hour — light speed compared to the current pace of traffic on the Ike (Interstate 290) during peak times.

The number of Illinois school districts with a majority of students coming from low-income families has jumped from 13 percent to 43 percent over the past decade, a new report shows.

The finding was released by Advance Illinois, a business-backed education reform group, in its biennial report “Every Student Counts: The State We’re In 2016-2017.”