Illinois House Passes Workers’ Comp Reform, GOP Says It Falls Short
From the Peoria Journal Star
Partisan divisions remained in full view Thursday as Democrats in the House passed what they said were compromise workers’ compensation reforms but which Republicans said would do nothing to bring down costs for businesses.
The 63-39 vote capped a day when House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, had a meeting with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner at which he said he reiterated that balancing the budget is the top priority facing the state.
“I don’t think the state should move into the month of July without the authority to spend money,” Madigan said at a Statehouse news conference. “I made that point very emphatically. Come July 1, he will be expected to manage the executive department, and he will not have the authority to spend money on executive agencies unless we finalize this work on the current spending plan and this work on elimination of the deficit.”
The state’s new fiscal year starts July 1. Democrats have passed a budget that spends $3 billion to $4 billion more than estimated state revenues next year. Democrats said they have made budget cuts and want revenue increases to make up the difference.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Peoria Journal Star
Partisan divisions remained in full view Thursday as Democrats in the House passed what they said were compromise workers’ compensation reforms but which Republicans said would do nothing to bring down costs for businesses.
The 63-39 vote capped a day when House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, had a meeting with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner at which he said he reiterated that balancing the budget is the top priority facing the state.
“I don’t think the state should move into the month of July without the authority to spend money,” Madigan said at a Statehouse news conference. “I made that point very emphatically. Come July 1, he will be expected to manage the executive department, and he will not have the authority to spend money on executive agencies unless we finalize this work on the current spending plan and this work on elimination of the deficit.”
The state’s new fiscal year starts July 1. Democrats have passed a budget that spends $3 billion to $4 billion more than estimated state revenues next year. Democrats said they have made budget cuts and want revenue increases to make up the difference.
Read more in our daily News Update...