By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News
SPRINGFIELD – With legislators leaving Springfield last week without a budget, leading to overtime sessions later this summer, many are voicing continued frustrations, including State Representative Tom Bennett.
Bennett admitted that no matter how great a bill is, if Speaker Michael Madigan doesn’t like it, the bill will never see the light of day.
“It might be the best budget bill you’ve ever seen, but if the Speaker doesn’t like it, it will never get to committee, it will never get to House floor, never get to debate and never get to a vote,” Bennett (R-Gibson City) added. “He’s been speaker for 32 of the last 34 years. At the end of this General Assembly, he will be the longest serving Speaker of the House in the entire country and this is truly, in so many ways, hurting the middle class from one end to the other.
“We have our work cut out for us, with much to do and we’re fighting for our families, for our communities and for finding ways to live within our means. So, we’ll continue to fight, but we have much, much more to do,” Bennett said.
Cynthia Grau can be reached at news@wjez.com.
