By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are skipping the first of the scheduled summer session.
And state Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) said that’s fine.
Brady said there’s no need for lawmakers to sit around the Capitol if there’s nothing to vote on. And there isn’t anything to vote on yet, Brady said.
“I really think there is tangible change that we are inching toward,” Brady said June 7. “And we’re continuing to work.”
Brady is one of a handful of lawmakers in one of the General Assembly’s special working groups. The groups are tasked with finding a behind-the-scenes agreement to move Illinois toward a state budget.
Brady said the groups are talking about workers’ compensation reform, school funding and a six-month budget. He said he thinks the working groups are close to an agreement.
Gov. Bruce Rauner, however, has less faith.
“We’re encouraging [the working groups] to continue, but [House Speaker Michael Madigan] has inserted a few additional people.” Rauner said, referring to Madigan’s “lieutenants,” who Rauner believes have slowed the process down.
The governor said he would accept a six-month budget to get Illinois to January, and past the November election. Many schools, social service providers and universities in the state have said they might not make it to January without state money.
Brady said lawmakers understand, but the working groups don’t have a “drop-dead date.”
“Every time we get to a date that’s supposed to be a drop-dead date we find that we can go a little bit further,” Brady said.
Brady didn’t offer specifics on what the working groups are working on, but said workers’ compensation reform could be the first piece of the puzzle on which lawmakers agree.
