Suburban Political Recount

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul will keynote tonight's Northwest Suburban Lincoln Day Dinner at the Cotillian in Palatine. Schaumburg Township Committeeman Ryan Higgins tells us that U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who will be honored, has recorded a special video for guests.

WLS's Dan Proft will serve as the master of ceremonies.

Friday, we told you 5 reasons the state budget matters in the suburbs.

Sunday, we laid that out in more detail.

This morning, Doug T. Graham explains how the state's financial crisis means more college costs for local students and parents.

And as Gov. Pat Quinn is scheduled to give his budget plan to lawmakers Wednesday, here are five reasons why the state's budget hole exists. More in tomorrow's paper. Stay tuned.

Friday has finally come on a wild week in politics, from the federal sequester to Illinois lawmakers positioning same-sex marriage for a final vote and rejecting severe cuts to teachers' pensions.

And next week, Gov. Pat Quinn will deliver his budget address on Wednesday. To mark the occasion, we'll start running a handful of stories starting Sunday about the depths of Illinois' budget despair and what it means to people in the suburbs.

We know this can be a complicated topic. So we put this Storify together to outline five reasons the state's budget trouble brewing 200 miles away might affect you in the suburbs.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk's bipartisan plan to help veterans - one that first began to materialize through a conversation between Democratic colleagues in the wake of his stroke last year - is formally taking off in the 113th Congress.

The Highland Park Republican's office tells us that Wednesday, Kirk, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, Republican Rep. Jeff Denham, of California, and Democratic Rep. Tim Walz, of Minnesota - co-chairs of the Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus - held a "Day on the Hill" session highlighting the caucus' commitment to increasing veterans employment.

Madhu Krishnamurthy this morning writes about a plan in Springfield trying to prevent hazing like the recent scandals at Maine West and Hoffman Estates high schools.

This morning, state Rep. Marty Moylan, a Des Plaines Democrat, got the proposal moved through a House committee.

It now moves to the full House floor.

State Rep. Dennis Reboletti, an Elmhurst Republican, questioned Moylan over some of the details of the plan. He asked, for example, about where exactly the line is between hazing and just joking around.

Despite those questions, the committee approved by a 15-0 vote.

Our friend Dan Vock at Stateline has an interesting story today about the use of red-light cameras nationwide.

Illinois is second in the country in the number of towns with the cameras at 75, and of course many of those communities are in the suburbs. California is first at 84.

From the story:

This year, lawmakers in 22 states have filed more than 100 bills dealing with traffic cameras, says Anne Teigen, a senior policy specialist with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Cook County Clerk David Orr's office Monday sent a warning to reporters about a Palatine Township Republican flyer that inappropriately uses his name, title and logo, and, he says,
"therefore may imply my endorsement of particular candidates."

"That it is not the case," Orr continues. "As the election authority, I make it a practice never to endorse local candidates. I wanted to clarify this situation for the voters before tomorrow's election."

The flyer is drawn up to look like a sample ballot, with arrows pointing towards the Republican candidates who were not slated by the township party.

President Barack Obama's administration has put out a list of consequences for Illinois should Friday come and automatic federal budget cuts kick in.

Some Republicans have said some of the items are scare tactics, but the suburbs stand to see some impact if these come true.

Aside from the education cuts and other service reductions that would be felt statewide, there are a couple bullet points on the list that might raise suburban eyebrows. Here are some of them, straight from the White House list:

- "Navy: Four planned Naval Station Great Lakes demolition projects ($2 million) could be canceled..."

Kerry spoke this morning with a group of Russian lawmakers and journalists visiting the state through the World Chicago program for the week and learned that the powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan had them into his Springfield office for a full hour on Wednesday. Organizers described Madigan as a “Russiaphile” who has a great interest in the laws and culture of the country. He marched them into the House chamber as well.