Hinz: Springfield Just Goes Through The Motions As Train Wreck Nears
From Crain's Chicago Business
With just a week and a day to go before the state begins a new fiscal year without a budget, a slow-motion fiscal train wreck continues to unfold in Springfield with everyone from Chicago Public Schools to state workers and vendors wondering if they'll soon become collateral damage.
At the moment, the House and the Senate are due to convene at midday tomorrow. Members then are scheduled to head home. The state's current budget, meanwhile, is set to expire June 30.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bruce Rauner had no public schedule at all today.
The House in tomorrow's session will take up some legislation, but Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Mike Madigan, said he's "not sure yet" what it will be. What he is fairly certain of is that "we'll be done by the end of the day."
In the Senate, members will convene into a committee of the whole to consider changes in the state's minimum-wage and sick-pay laws, said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton.
Phelon, whose boss lately has been somewhat more optimistic than Madigan about the possibility of a budget deal, did add that talks are continuing between Senate and gubernatorial staffers about two key items in Rauner's "turnaround Illinois" agenda: workers' compensation reform and a property tax freeze. Rauner has declined to sign off on tax hikes needed to balance the budget until Democrats agree to back at least part of his agenda.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From Crain's Chicago Business
With just a week and a day to go before the state begins a new fiscal year without a budget, a slow-motion fiscal train wreck continues to unfold in Springfield with everyone from Chicago Public Schools to state workers and vendors wondering if they'll soon become collateral damage.
At the moment, the House and the Senate are due to convene at midday tomorrow. Members then are scheduled to head home. The state's current budget, meanwhile, is set to expire June 30.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bruce Rauner had no public schedule at all today.
The House in tomorrow's session will take up some legislation, but Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Mike Madigan, said he's "not sure yet" what it will be. What he is fairly certain of is that "we'll be done by the end of the day."
In the Senate, members will convene into a committee of the whole to consider changes in the state's minimum-wage and sick-pay laws, said Rikeesha Phelon, spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton.
Phelon, whose boss lately has been somewhat more optimistic than Madigan about the possibility of a budget deal, did add that talks are continuing between Senate and gubernatorial staffers about two key items in Rauner's "turnaround Illinois" agenda: workers' compensation reform and a property tax freeze. Rauner has declined to sign off on tax hikes needed to balance the budget until Democrats agree to back at least part of his agenda.
Read more in our daily News Update...