The face-to-face meeting is scheduled to bring together Governor Bruce Rauner and the leaders of the four General Assembly legislative caucuses, including House Republican Leader Jim Durkin. Originally scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 18, the meeting has been reset for Tuesday, December 1. The new time will allow preparations to continue over the Thanksgiving holiday.

In addition to budget issues, questions dividing Illinois leaders include workers’ compensation, property tax relief, public-sector labor pay and benefits, tort reform, election process reform, and term limits. Many key items of House Republican advocacy have been barred from discussion and debate within the Illinois General Assembly in recent years. The role of House Speaker Madigan has come under discussion as an element in the overall operation of Illinois state government, often characterized in recent years as one of the “worst in the nation.” Illinois currently has the lowest bond and credit ratings of any of the 50 states.

Between 2013 and 2014, the number of Illinois meth lab incidents increased from 670 to 729, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

Meth production has plagued the Midwest more than any other region in the U.S. In 2014, nearly 60 percent of meth lab incidents reported by the DEA were in the nation’s heartland. Illinois had the sixth most incidents behind Indiana (1,471), Missouri (1,034), Tennessee (961), Ohio (939) and Michigan (750).

Read the rest of Reboot Illinois staff writer Kevin Hoffman's article here.

The Illinois Finance Authority took steps on Thursday to speed funds to local emergency call centers and providers of essential state services that are in dire need of cash due to the state's ongoing budget impasse.

A stalemate between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the legislature has left Illinois without a budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. While various court orders and ongoing appropriations have kept money flowing to some services, bond payments and worker salaries, other items have not been funded, prompting Rauner's office to enlist the IFA's assistance.

The IFA board agreed to move forward with a plan to pay vendors for essential state goods and services through the authority's issuance of up to $115 million of bonds backed by Illinois' moral obligation pledge. The IFA would pay off the bonds through a state appropriation based on the amount of money Illinois owes the vendors. Read more by Karen Pierog at Reuters.

Illinois bow-hunters are once again well ahead of the deer harvest from last year, which may or may not bode well for firearm deer hunters, whose first season is Friday through Sunday.

Here is the story from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Gov. Bruce Rauner says the state of Illinois will temporarily stop accepting new Syrian refugees in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. WGN has the story.