On Tuesday, House Speaker Michael Madigan and his Democratic majority passed a bundle of budget bills that propose spending at least $3 billion more than the state will take in during the budget year that starts July 1.
On Wednesday, as the Illinois Senate prepared to take up those bills, Gov. Bruce Rauner said senators face a choice: choose reform by voting against the unbalanced budget or choose loyalty to Madigan.
Here's the statement issued by Rauner's office:
A Time for Choosing
State Senators Will Either Choose Reform or Side with Mike Madigan to Block it
SPRINGFIELD - With House Speaker Mike Madigan refusing to compromise and doubling down on a broken system, the state Senate is scheduled today to hold hearings on parts of Governor Rauner's Turnaround Legislation.
Senate committees will conduct hearings on worker's compensation reform, lawsuit reform and property tax freeze legislation that were filed last Friday. The Senate, however, is refusing to consider Term Limits and Redistricting Reform measures that were also introduced.
Read the rest of Rauner's statement at Reboot Illinois to see what Rauner thinks of General Assembly politicians who vote in agreement with Madigan.
House Democrats already have shown that they mostly side with Madigan in a series of votes May 26. Nine budget bills were passed that would create a $3 billion hole in the budget. The bills re-appropriated money to several funds which already were zeroed out by Rauner's budget proposal earlier in the year. Check out who voted for what at Reboot Illinois.
