Illinois Lawmakers Approve Plan to Initiate Sale of Thompson Center

Marchers sang and chanted Tuesday on the final stretch of a 200-mile trek across IL to demand a state budget, a mood that was dampened later when several allegedly disruptive protesters were removed from the House gallery and a tired group waited outside Gov. Lawmakers still have not agreed on a budget.

CULLERTON: “Republicans didn’t vote for anything – with some exceptions – and as a result we don’t have a budget”.

The last bill, which passed the 59-member Senate by a unanimous vote of 41-0, would outlaw the use a “gay panic” or “trans panic” defense as justification for committing crimes against members of the LGBTQ community.

Rauner and Republican legislative leaders returned fire. State Representative Will Guzzardi [official website] responded to the criticism by arguing that putting more money into the hands of workers and increasing their spending power will stimulate business growth and economic development. We just need to stay strong, get a balanced budget, with changes to fix our system.

“They are fleeing this state, and all we do in this Chamber for the last two and a half years that I’ve been here, is dump on businesses”, he says. He blamed their failure to vote on a budget on Rauner – and the governor’s intervention in grand bargain negotiations. “I’ve had arrows gone through me before so I can take it”.

Local legislators say they hope that prospect of needing a supermajority more votes will encourage bipartisanship, but Democrats and Republicans have opposite ideas on where the breakdowns have occurred.

“We in the Senate did do our job”.

So the spring session ends with no budget deal in sight, leaving social service agencies and state universities high and dry.

However, the Governor could correctly point out that since he took office, the legislature, dominated by Democrats, has failed to pass a budget for him to sign. “I have been very outspoken in my displeasure about this process and not just with the other side”. That means it prevents federal authorities from stopping, questioning or detaining immigrants unless they have a valid federal warrant.

Moody’s also lowered the state’s ratings.

The increase would be phased in, starting with $9 an hour in January and hitting $15 by 2022.

Gov. Rauner hasn’t said what he’ll do. He said the Democrats’ work is not done.

There’s only a day-and-a-half left to pass a budget.

Brian Mackey reports on how Illinois Democrats and Republicans reacted to their failure to enact a budget by the May 31 end-of-session deadline. That’s because in the years that followed, the state underpaid schools by prorating the school funding formula anywhere from 8 to 11 percent per year. The situation without a budget three years running is dire – so much so that U.S. Congressman Bill Foster (D-Illinois) weighed in overnight.

However, that’s not the whole story, according to Superintendent Kelly.

“The idea of civil disobedience is to escalate tensions and to really make sure that (politicians) pay attention”, Brown said. Democratic legislators admit the measure is a direct response to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which they say has caused IL communities to “live in fear”.

That’s put a lot of districts in a lurch.