He added that IL led the nation in the number of people leaving the state and that family incomes are now lower than they were 17 years ago.
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Republican House Leader Jim Durkin called it “laughable” to believe there isn’t enough time to pass a temporary fix and said Democrats have “been able to move mountains in matters of minutes” when they want to approve something.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s suggestion for a last-minute, short-term budget to give the state some near-term stability amid the 11-month impasse also failed to gain traction with ruling Democrats, who also clashed among themselves in the final hours Tuesday.
The new Equity Grant considers a district’s poverty level and local resources, according to House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago.
The bill sought a $900 million increase in school funding, an amount Republicans said was too high.
Rauner, a Republican, has been at odds with the Democratic leadership in the General Assembly since taking office in 2015, but the political discord widened Tuesday to encompass internal Democratic ranks after the House and Senate could not agree on a budget or education package. He says they should review research about marijuana’s possible adverse effect on PTSD symptoms.
The legislation session is scheduled to end on May 31, and most anticipate there will be no finalized budget in that period, or even before the presidential election.
One would fund K-12 schools for a year, the other would cover government operations, including money for social services and higher education, through December. A proposed budget passed by the House died in the Illinois Senate. Instead, lawmakers agreed to continue to meet over the summer to continue to debate a budget compromise, in a repeat of last year’s end-of-session drama that also ended without an agreed-upon budget plan for the state.
Rauner and Democrats who rule the Legislature have been gridlocked for almost a year over how to proceed with a budget for the fiscal year that began in July 1.
IL social service providers and schools sounded the alarm warning the Springfield budget stalemate is crippling the state.
Rauner said the General Assembly is trying to prioritize a buyout for Chicago areas schools ahead of other schools in IL. Full foundation of K-12 schools right now so they can open on time and our teachers know they can depend on school funding.
Democrats, meanwhile, are looking to boost their numbers in each chamber to have solid supermajorities that will allow them to impose their will on the first-term governor. “That’s why we are asking for those two bills, they will get us to January, ending the crisis”, Rauner said. What they didn’t do, for the second year in a row: Pass a budget. “They need to stand up to Madigan and start representing the needs of their legislative districts and not the needs of Chicago”, he said.
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“If the Democrats leave here today without having done that, every single rank-and-file Democrat who sides with their leader against keeping the state operating wears the collar”, she said.
