By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill – The Illinois budget is the hot topic at the state Capitol, but other important issues remain on the legislative agenda as the session heads into overtime.
Now the biggest question is whether any of them will get resolved.
Lawmakers have backed vastly different plans to solve doctors' high medical malpractice insurance rates.
Supporters hope Democrat leadership in the House will call either idea for a vote, but some Democrats say that may not happen.
The sponsor of a massive gambling expansion proposal says the budget quagmire gives his plan a glimmer of hope. But many lawmakers say the plan likely is too loaded and too controversial to get approved.
Legislators also are considering allowing ex-convicts to seal some criminal records and requiring that University of Illinois trustees be elected to their posts rather than appointed.