Democrats Relent, Adopt ‘Clean’ Federal-Funds Bill

“I’m a big advocate for the state fair, it’s a very important economic driver and a just celebration of all the great things that we all love about Illinois”, the governor said.

Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan says he wants to know how much spending is being dictated by court orders during the budget impasse. Turner says the cuts imposed by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration are “shameful” and will put kids in danger.

The argument over the latest budget fix comes as the state is in the midst of its seventh week without a spending plan in place.

The Senate voted last week to authorize spending $4.8 billion in federal funds for programs such as nutrition for women and their children and energy-bill assistance for low-income residents.

What began as a bipartisan effort to distribute $5 billion in federal funds and keep some Illinois programs afloat despite a budget stalemate unraveled, Tuesday August. 11, 2015, and appeared headed for a veto by Rauner amid a continuing financing feud Democrats in the General Assembly. New legislation signed by Gov. Rauner on Wednesday pushes more departments to follow Lynwood’s path. Under the law, cameras will be required to record law-enforcement related interactions; they will only be turned off at the request of crime victim or witness.

A hearing is planned Tuesday.

“The reality is these are critical services, life-and-death services, for these families”, said Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana.

“Governor Rauner has supported and continues to support a clean federal pass through appropriations bill”, Rauner spokesman Lance Trover said.

In a posting to its website Wednesday, AFSCME said the bill “would provide state employees with the option of utilizing the same kind of arbitration procedures that have been available to police officers, firefighters, and other public safety employees in Illinois for more than 30 years”.

Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon, said the move amounted to the state spending “funny money”, while Democrats shot back that the GOP is focusing on numbers and not people.

If the House OKs the amended legislation, it must return to the Senate for concurrence on the changes, delaying action for at least a week even without the threatened Rauner veto.