[Password protection removed since others have picked up on the story.]

* 4:31 pm - The House is coming back on Monday. No word yet on the Senate. [ADDING: I’m hearing maybe Tuesday for a Senate return.] From a memo sent by House Speaker Michael Madigan…

To: All House Members (District Office & Springfield Office)
Date: December 6, 2011
Re: House Session

The House will convene on Monday, December 12, at 12 noon.

The schedule will be:

Monday, December 12, 2011

10 am House Revenue Committee, Room 114

11 am House Republican Caucus

12 noon House convenes Floor Session

The House plans to convene and adjourn on Monday, December 12.

…Adding… Greg Hinz…

A spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton said that while he has not yet announced anything, “Tuesday is a good possibility.”

House Revenue Committee Chairman John Bradley, D-Marion, who has been leading negotiations on a big tax-break deal, said nothing yet is complete, but seemed to suggest that just a a few loose ends need to be tied up.

The fact that a session has been called “is not a bad sign,” Mr. Bradley said. “We want to get this done before the holidays and have some certainty.”

* Dow Jones wires…

llinois lawmakers will return to session Monday to consider a series of tax breaks, hoping to head off departure of Chicago’s largest derivatives exchanges and a major retailer to other states.

Only a week ago, the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected the measure, which would provide tax relief to CME Group Inc. (CME), CBOE Holdings Inc. (CBOE) and Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD).

It isn’t clear whether legislative leaders and Democratic Governor Pat Quinn have reached agreement on how to present the legislation to the General Assembly. It is possible lawmakers will vote on each of the tax breaks individually, rather than grouped together in a large package.

“It’s a work in progress,” Quinn’s spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said Tuesday night.