Patch Flash: Quinn Pushes for Action on State Pension System in Lame Duck Session

Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday resume efforts to fix the state's woefully underfunded state pension systems even as a new forecast suggested that the state will have to come up with $1.1 billion more in the next fiscal year to fund state pensions.

Legislators will begin meeting on Jan. 2 for the final time before a newly-elected legislature takes office later in the month. The so-called lame duck session is considered a good time to pass controversial measures because some lawmakers are retiring or were defeated and no longer have to answer to voters at the polls.Democratic Governor Pat Quinn has been pushing for action, warning that the pension liability grows by about $17 million a day and the state's credit ratings could be lowered further.

Nearly a year after a stroke left him barely able to move the left side of his body, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is expected to climb the 45 steps to the Senate's front door this week – a walk that's significant not just for Illinois' junior senator, but also for medical researchers and hundreds of thousands of stroke patients.

It's estimated only one-third of patients return to work after a stroke, said Dr. Elliot Roth, medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's New Patient Recovery Unit and AbilityLab, where Kirk recovered.

The 53-year-old Republican will return to the high-profile, demanding life of a Washington lawmaker after an experimental rehabilitation so intense it's often compared to boot camp, Roth said. 

Ahead of a vote that could come early next month, President Barack Obama is pushing for lawmakers in his home state of Illinois to legalize gay marriage.

White House spokesman Shin Inouye told the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet Sunday that the president "believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect" and that, were he still a member of the Illinois state legislature, "he would support this measure that would treat all Illinois couples equally."

A bill to bring marriage equality to the Prairie State, setting the stage for Illinois to potentially become the tenth state to approve same-sex marriage, will be introduced in early January during the upcoming legislative lame-duck session. The bill has won the support of Governor Pat Quinn, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and, per a recent poll, the a majority of Illinoisans.

Northwestern University’s football team capitalized on an early lead to defeat Mississippi State in the 2013 Gator Bowl on Tuesday. 

The Wildcats made four interceptions during the 34-20 victory in Jacksonville, FL, leaving the team with a 10-3 record over the season.That’s the team’s first double-digit win season since the 1995 Big Ten Championship Team, and it’s also Coach Pat Fitzgerald’s 50th win at Northwestern.

Chicago-area K-9 Comfort Dogs, a ministry from Lutheran Church Charities (LCC), have been aiding in the healing in Newtown, CT, since shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy occurred.

Ladel was invited to Newtown High School to provide the unconditional love and compassion that define Comfort Dogs.