By Greg Halbleib
State Representative Dan Brady (R., Bloomington) says some can’t wait for lawmakers to end the budget stalemate.
Brady tells WJBC’s Scott Laughlin that rank and file lawmakers have worked out a plan to fund schools and social service agencies for a few months.
“These two bills are there, they are ready to go,” said Brady. “So let’s go back to Springfield, let’s pass those and bring some stability for this coming fall for the schools. Let’s see if we can’t get money out the door for social service agencies and then continue to bridge the gap of what we can do for the remainder of FY 17.”
Brady says he doesn’t know if House Speaker Mike Madigan will consider calling the temporary plans for a vote.
“He may not call these two bills,” said Brady. “I don’t know, I don’t have that crystal ball. All I know is that there are folks who continue to push an agenda forward from Democrats and Republicans. Quite frankly, if it was left to us we would have been there by now.”
Brady tells WJBC’s Scott Laughlin even though Madigan cancelled today’s House session, lawmakers are still working on ways to get through the budget stalemate. Brady says nobody in the state capital should be surprised.
“My calculations are it’s taken us about 14 years to get into this,” said Brady, “and warning after warning was said over the years and an unbalanced budget was pushed on and pushed on and pushed on. The most recent product was a budget passed in May with about $7 billion less than what we need. You can’t do this type of thing anymore and Governor Rauner has been clear about that.”
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
