A year ago Thursday ... then Governor Pat Quinn conceded his race for re-election to Republican Bruce Rauner.
Voters once again sent Democratic legislators back to Springfield with supermajorities. The divided government has led to unprecedented gridlock.
Rauner came into office promising he'd shake up state government ... and that much, at least, has happened.
Rauner insists that lawmakers institute a series of changes -- from legislative term limits, to a more business friendly workers' compensation system, and a clampdown on collective bargaining -- before he'll talk revenue.
Democrats who oppose those concepts, like Rep. John Bradley of Marion, say it's time for Rauner to set those ideas aside.
"We all know that there are problems in the state of Illinois. We had been making some progress on that, with more work to go. But you can't say the condition of the state is better since Nov. 4 of last year."
But Rauner's budget director -- Tim Nuding -- rises to his boss's defense.
"This is way bigger than the budget ... We're never going to solve Illinois' financial problems by leaving everyting aside and just raising taxes and moving on."
Illinois' in its fifth month without a budget.
