This fall, as students head back to school, millions in taxpayer dollars are being diverted to private schools for the first time ever in Illinois. Last summer, Illinois lawmakers ended a years-long budget impasse after being faced with the daunting prospect that public schools across the state might not open. They passed a sweeping overhaul of public school funding after years of debating the issue. But at the eleventh hour, they also added a massive school choice program with virtually no debate or public vetting. WBEZ’s Linda Lutton explains how this happened and what we know so far.

WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch tells the story of Esperanza Villalobos and many more like her who rely on public hospitals in Cook County for critical health care. New data show that public hospitals are providing more and more free health care, while other private hospitals are providing less. Schorsch talks with host Becky Vevea about why that is and what the consequences are when the safety net starts fraying.  Each week at On Background, WBEZ’s team of political reporters brings you the backstory on the week's big story. Host Becky Vevea and guests take you inside the back rooms of Chicago and Illinois government to better understand the people, places and forces shaping today’s politics.

The Illinois State Fair is a heavy dose of Americana that draws hundreds of thousands of people each summer. It’s also become a required stop for Illinois politicians from Abraham Lincoln to current Gov. Bruce Rauner. WBEZ state politics reporters Tony Arnold and Dave McKinney join host Becky Vevea to explain how politics ended up alongside hog calling, and how this year’s state fair is setting the stage for the upcoming election season.

Video gambling machines are not allowed in Chicago. What Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants is one big downtown casino. But meanwhile, unregulated, ‘slot style’ machines have started popping up all across Chicago — in convenience stores, gas stations, and even a laundromat. WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos explains what he found when he started looking into these “mini-casinos” and why it matters.

The votes have been cast, and the results are in. The March 20, 2018 primaries weren’t even cold in the grave when candidates started scheming for November’s general elections. Here’s what the WBEZ politics team breaks down this week: Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner eked out a win against his primary opponent, state Rep. Jeanne Ives, but he did poorly in Chicago’s suburbs and he leads a fractured Republican party.Democrat J.B. Pritzker won his party’s nomination for governor handily. Strong turnout from Democratic voters offers Pritzker signs of encouragement. A few members of the so-called ‘Democratic machine’ could be on their way out of politics. Losses by two incumbents, Cook County assessor Joseph Berrios and state Rep. Dan Burke, could have broader implications. Get excited for February! Former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy announced he is challenging Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The 2019 Chicago mayoral race has begun.

The Illinois primary election is upon us! Election day is this Tuesday, March 20. Here’s the latest news from the week preceding primary day: The three Democrats at the top of the polls in the race for governor debated one last time on Wednesday. They sat mere inches from each other. We look at one of the testier moments. Just hours before that debate, the Chicago Tribune released a report detailing ties between candidate J.B. Pritzker and offshore banking trusts in the Bahamas. We break down whether that’ll really hurt Pritzker. This week, Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a gun bill, released a plan for the beleaguered veterans’ home in Quincy, and dropped a new attack ad. The moves indicate that he’s not taking his primary opponent, state Rep. Jeanne Ives, lightly. WBEZ’s politics team broke all of that down during our weekly Illinois Elections 2018 podcast.

Just when you think Illinois politics can’t get any weirder … it does. This week, WBEZ’s politics team digs into the heated primary race between U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski and challenger Marie Newman that could be a bellwether for where the Democratic Party is headed. The team also breaks down the flurry of campaign donations made by Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker — and why they’re causing a dustup. And last but not least, WBEZ’s Dave McKinney walks listeners through what happened after a state hearing on the deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak, when he tried to get answers from officials in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration. Here are some highlights for this week’s Illinois Elections 2018 podcast, which also includes host Becky Vevea and WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel and Tony Arnold. You can get the podcast delivered to you every week by subscribing here.

March 20 primary is less than three weeks away, and the daily news cycle is bursting with election-related news. But don’t worry: WBEZ’s Government & Politics desk has your back: The six Democrats running for Illinois governor shared the same stage Thursday night at a forum sponsored by WBEZ, Politico, and the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. WBEZ’s Tony Arnold and Dave McKinney were two of the event’s panelists and they share their takeaways. During the forum, the candidates played The Price is Right, sorta. Each candidate got quizzed on the price of everyday goods and services. Some answers were spot-on. Others? Not so much. WBEZ’s Dave McKinney shares the answers for listeners who were playing at home. Somehow, some way, the Democratic primary race for Cook County assessor has taken another surprising turn: If you vote early next week and cast a ballot for Andrea Raila, “very simply, that vote will not count,” says WBEZ’s Becky Vevea. She explains why. WBEZ obtained 1,400 internal emails involving Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration regarding the 2015 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a state-run veterans home. Some of the emails discuss how to spin the deadly outbreak to the public. We take a look at campaigns’ reaction to the report. WBEZ’s politics team broke all of that down during our weekly Illinois Elections 2018 podcast.

It’s less than a month away from primary day. This week, two stories in particular have continued to roil state and local politics:The Rauner administration reported a fourth new case of Legionnaires’ disease this year at a state-run veterans’ home in Quincy. The waterborne illness has already claimed the lives of 13 veterans and sickened dozens more since July 2015. Gov. Bruce Rauner has been against moving residents out of the facility, but he might be changing his tune. We catch you up on what’s become an especially politicized issue and the continuing fallout. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has fired another longtime political operative over allegations of misconduct. Last week, Madigan removed a different top aide after accusations of sexual harassment. Questions remain about why Madigan waited so long to remove both individuals, but many Democrats are remaining silent. We take a look at how candidates and officials are reacting to the news. WBEZ’s politics team broke all of that down during our weekly Illinois Elections 2018 podcast. (We also talk about U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' endorsement of Jesus "Chuy" Garcia and a curious chocolate milk analogy.) 

Once again, there’s been no shortage of drama in Illinois politics this week:A political operative accused powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of waiting too long to act on her sexual harassment claim against one of his top aides. We catch you up on the details and the political fallout. Cook County residents who own modestly valued homes pay more property taxes than they should, according to a report released this week. We explain how the findings could blow up an already nasty race for Cook County Assessor. Three more residents of a state-run veterans’ home have contracted Legionnaires’ disease, one of whom was reportedly a recent guest of Gov. Bruce Rauner at his State of the State address. We explain how Rauner and his Republican primary opponent, state Rep. Jeanne Ives, propose to respond to the outbreak. WBEZ’s politics team broke all of that down during our weekly Illinois Elections 2018 podcast.