Posted: 10:47 PM Standard & Poor's rating services has lowered Illinois' credit rating, blaming the state's pension problems.

Posted: 10:51 PM Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon is inviting new lawmakers from across Illinois to work with her on a concealed carry law.

Posted: 10:50 PM Illinois' public employee unions are asking for a meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders to come up with an agreement on pension changes.

Updated: 11:29 PM Bustos spent part of her morning talking with the Rockford Economic Development Council and the Rockford Chamber.

Posted: 10:56 PM Gov. Pat Quinn has filed an appeal over a Cook County judge's ruling that the state must pay wage increases promised to workers in 2011.

Posted: 9:49 PM Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk plans to retire from the Naval Reserve, ending a 23-year military career.

Posted: 10:39 PM Despite grumbling in his own party, John Boehner has been easily re-elected to a two-year term as House speaker.

Posted: 10:26 PM A Senate committee has rejected a measure that could have provided $675 million more for road and bridge projects and averted layoffs at the Department of Children and Family Services.

Updated: 11:08 PM An Illinois Senate measure to curb union growth among state employees has stalled.

Posted: 10:21 PM Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn remains optimistic that lawmakers will send him a solution to a monstrous pension problem next week despite the Senate's abrupt departure from the Capitol on Thursday.

Updated: 10:52 PM The Illinois Senate has canceled a session scheduled for Friday and has adjourned.

Posted: 11:45 PM President Barack Obama has signed a $633 billion defense bill.

Updated: 11:43 PM President Barack Obama has signed a bill that boosts taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while preserving tax cuts for most American households.

Updated: 12:43 PM Both Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel are praising an Illinois Senate committee's approval of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Updated: 11:27 PM Members of Illinois religious groups, from Catholic to Muslim , have sent every state lawmaker a letter calling gay marriage "dangerous" to religious freedom.

Updated: 11:39 PM The Reclaiming First bill has died in committee.

Posted: 7:02 PM There will 150 new laws taking effect in Illinois on Tuesday.

Updated: 7:00 PM President Barack Obama says it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues.

Posted: 5:44 PM Illinois comptroller Judy Baar Topinka says the fiscal cliff could cost the state a billion dollars in economic impact. Topinka describes the consequences as "devastating."

Posted: 5:44 PM President Barack Obama says "the hour for immediate action is here" on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Posted: 9:56 PM With a year-end deadline looming, President Barack Obama will meet with congressional leaders at the White House tomorrow.

Posted: 9:55 PM Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf's sister says he died of complications from pneumonia.

Posted: 11:09 PM A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital.

Updated: 10:25 PM President Barack Obama and members of Congress are heading back to Washington -- but that doesn't mean there's hope of a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

Posted: 11:01 AM Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is welcoming the news that a nonprofit organization plans to offer health insurance in the state starting in 2014.