CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is expected to give a rare address to a civic organization in Chicago.
The Chicago Democrat is expected to speak Wednesday before the City Club of Chicago.
He is one of the longest serving House speakers in the nation.
Madigan and other legislative Democrats are locked in a budget standoff with first-term Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has said he wants pro-business reforms ahead of a spending plan for July 1 fiscal year. Madigan has repeatedly called some of Rauner's proposed ideas "extreme."
In recent weeks though, there have small been signs of progress.
Madigan and the other legislative leaders have met with Rauner twice. On Tuesday, both sides agreed to try again to overhaul public pensions and to meet a third time.
