Governor Rauner Calls Special Sessions To Work On Budget
In this Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 photo, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner speaks to reporters after meeting with legislative leaders during veto session in Springfield, Ill. Rauner has called ten special sessions of the General Assembly beginning June 21. Seth Perlman/AP
Governor Bruce Rauner has called ten “special sessions” for the end of the month.
He wants lawmakers to vote on the Republican budget plan unveiled Wednesday — a plan that also includes items on his political and economic wish list.
Rauner has resisted calling special sessions during the previous two years of budget impasse. But in a video posted online Thursday, he says time is running out.
“For two years, the majority in the General Assembly has ignored our recommendations for a long-term, balanced budget,” Rauner said.
The Democratic majority disputes that. House Speaker Michael Madigan says Rauner’s agenda includes “non-budget items” that would hurt middle-class families — like changing the rules around compensating workplace injuries.
A spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton, also a Democrat, points out that the Senate already passed a balanced budget — one that includes elements of the governor's agenda.
The sessions are to begin Wednesday and run every day through the end of June. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
And even as the the governor was using phrases like “come together,” Rauner's Republican Party has been sending out mailers attacking Democrats.
Links
- Senator Rose Says Budget Pieces In Place, If Madigan Willing To act
- State Senator Says Republicans Reintroduce Budget Plan They Think Was Close To Passage
- Illinois Budget Fight Goes Back To Court(s)
- At Illinois’ Public Universities, State’s Budget Mess Tracked In Lost Jobs
- Gov. Bruce Rauner On Budget Impasse, Minimum Wage, And More
- Budget Failure Leads To Credit Downgrades
- How Illinois’s Budget Impasse Affects Schools, Businesses, Social Services; DCFS Director Resigns
- Illinois House Abandons Plans To Vote On Budget In May
- House Dem On Budget: ‘We Can’t Do It On Our Own’
- Senate-Backed State Budget With Income Tax Hike Passes IL House Committee
- Protesters Demanding Budget Block Rauner’s Office Entrance
- Even With State Budget For Schools, Local Districts ‘Categorically’ Underfunded
- Illinois Budget Fight Could Affect 2018 Elections
- State Senate Approves Democrat-Backed Budget Package
- LISTEN: Champaign Budget Forum