Mounting pension debt, persistent cash flow issues, and political gridlock – Illinois has a lot of problems. But it wasn’t always this way.

On The 21st: We talk to Microsoft director Eric Horvitz about the future of artificial intelligence. Also, we heard from Laurence Msall of the Civic Federations for his inputs on what Illinois can do to solve the budget crisis. Also, the race for governor is shaping up to be the most expensive in history- ProPublica Illinois is helping you keep track of how much each candidate is spending. And, we continue our series of candidate interviews, today with Sen. Daniel Biss. 

The head of a Champaign social service agency says that if there is still no state budget by next week, she will have no choice but to lay off staff and cut services. But the agency head says there's reason for optimism.

By late Wednesday afternoon, Illinois Republicans and Democrats only appeared to be moving farther apart on a budget deal.

There was more movement in budget negotiations Tuesday in Springfield, where Illinois House Democrats introduced their own budget plan. But it will need Republican support, and the GOP House leader says Democrats are needlessly complicating the process with a new demand.