Topspin Democrats who want to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto of a bill to license gun stores face a Wednesday deadline to act, or else the governor's rejection will stand. Democratic Sen. Don Harmon of Oak Park said late Tuesday that he was still building support. He said he had enough votes in the Senate but was still a few short in the House. Harmon said that if those votes don't materialize Wednesday, he would not ask senators to vote on an override that would fail in the House. "I recognize the political dynamic at work here, and it's a tough vote for a lot of members in the Senate," Harmon said. "So I want to make sure we have at least a realistic chance of overriding the veto in the House as well." The legislation would require many firearm dealers to get a state license, at a cost of no more than $1,000 every five years. In vetoing the plan, Rauner called the proposal "duplicative" because the federal government already licenses them. Backers say those efforts don't go far enough. Harmon said his focus was on convincing suburban Republicans to override Rauner. He said changes to the plan were being discussed in an effort to minimize the impact on gun shop owners. Wednesday is not only the last day for the Senate to act on the override, but it's also a major lobbying day for gun owners, who are expected to show up and make their opposition known. "It's like the final scene in a dramatic movie perhaps, I don't know," Harmon said. "This is democracy in action." (Monique Garcia) What's on tap *Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be at an early morning event in Washington D.C. to talk to former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He'll be back in Chicago later in the day for an appearance with Israel's Consul General to the Midwest Aviv Ezra. *Gov. Rauner will be back from his trip overseas, and he'll also attend the event with Ezra. *The Illinois House and Senate are in session. *President Toni Preckwinkle will preside over a Cook County Board meeting. From the notebook *By the numbers: Illinois' pile of unpaid bills has long been large, but a report from Democratic state Comptroller Susana Mendoza tries to put it in perspective. In short, when the state doesn't pay its bills on time, it has to pay late penalties. Here are the key numbers, according to Mendoza's office. *$1.14 billion: The amount in penalties the state has racked up in the last 2 1/2 years for not paying bills on time. That time period includes the long budget stalemate that ended with last year's income tax hike. *$1.04 billion: The amount late-payment penalties the state paid from 1998 to 2015. *$8.06 billion: The size of the state's unpaid bills pile as of Tuesday afternoon. In a little more than a year in office, the Democratic state comptroller has become a chief foil of Rauner. She kept it up in her latest report, saying that it is "asinine" that "the state allowed its bill backlog to grow to a point where we incurred nearly two decades' worth of late payment interest penalties in just over two years." Rauner has called getting a full-year budget a top priority, but Democrats haven't agreed with him on a spending plan since he's been in office. *Another candidate for Pawar's seat: An attorney in Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office is the latest candidate for the City Council seat being vacated by North Side Ald. Ameya Pawar. Matt Martin announced his bid in the 47th Ward on Tuesday. Former Emanuel policy chief Michael Negron is also in the race. Pawar abandoned a primary bid for governor and isn't running for re-election. *Quick spin: U.S. Rep. Bill Foster has invited Argonne National Laboratory scientist Philippe Noirot to French President Emmanuel Macron's speech to Congress on Wednesday, a spokeswoman said. Noirot directs the lab's Bioservices Division. ... City Treasurer Kurt Summers announced his new spokesman is Peter Matuszak, who most recently worked on Democratic state Sen. Kwame Raoul's attorney general bid. What we're writing *Alderman wants tougher fines for people caught with weapons near nursing homes. *Mother says staff sent her to men's room to pump breast milk while she was at Daley Center for jury duty. *Romeoville mayor made "hostile and threatening" statement during booking for alleged DUI: police report. What we're reading *Ex-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald on James Comey's legal team. *Indiana pizza joint that refused to cater same-sex weddings now shuttered. *"Schoolhouse Rock" composer dies. Follow the money *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *Judge sides against Trump administration on DACA. *White House gets behind VA nominee after Trump suggests he drop out. *Pence to speak to NRA meeting. *Pruitt signs rule restricting use of some scientific studies in decision. | 
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