“Put it in writing: No lockout”.
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A panel of lawmakers sent a message to Gov. Bruce Rauner Wednesday: Don’t close the Illinois State Museum in Springfield or the Hardin County work camp in southern Illinois.
“The governor’s actions have not matched his words”. But union officials said layoffs could be avoided if Rauner would drop his “extreme political agenda”. “That’s what he said he’d do as a candidate, and his administration’s recruiting retirees to replace state workers, talk of calling up the National Guard, and his false claims about the fair arbitration bill all suggest that remains his plan”.
The state’s 138-year-old museum system also includes the Springfield institution, the Dickson Mounds burial grounds in western Illinois, and the artisans’ galleries in Chicago and Rend Lake.
Rauner supports the idea of a tax freeze but opposes Senate President John Cullerton’s bill because he wants the freeze to be coupled with a measure to allow local governments to opt out of collective bargaining with public employee unions.
The Republican said Wednesday: “I hope we don’t have to take a strike, but I don’t control that”. The change was advocated by the Illinois Farm Bureau, and Bill Bodine with the organization says it brings consistency to county regulations that vary widely. “This is frightful legislation”. The union and Rauner have agreed to keep workers on the job through September, though contract negotiations have been contentious. “Public service workers in state government deserve fair treatment, our union is committed to reaching an agreement at the table”. But, he said the loss of tourism spending in the community, the cost of closing the 138-year-old facility and the potential for lawsuits surrounding the closure could come back to haunt Rauner.
Case in point is the pay raise lawmakers are set to receive and now most likely won’t, if the Senate follows the House this week and votes to reject it. Was there ever a question that this had to happen?
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Senate Democrats also passed Senate Bill 162, sponsored by State Sen.
