A proposed new state budget is on its way to Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk after being approved 97 to 18 by members of the Illinois House of Representatives today (Thursday, May 31, 2018).
State Representative Chad Hays (R-Catlin) says the bill was crafted through true and honest bipartisanship. ‘’Since this was the final budget vote I will ever take in the Illinois General Assembly, I am incredibly proud it was on legislation created through cooperation and respectful compromise,’’ said Hays. He added, ‘’As I conclude the final months of my service in the House of Representatives, my hope moving forward is that the remaining and new members look at this year’s budget process as an example of the positive results that can be achieved when politics and partisanship are set aside.’’
Earlier area lawmakers in the Illinois Senate praised the cooperation. ‘’Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worked incredibly hard to finally get a budget that will be balanced and also includes no new tax increases,’’ said Senator Chapin Rose, a Republican from Mahomet.
State Senator Scott Bennett of Champaign said the balanced budget agreement that was approved ‘’sets responsible funding levels that allow us to reprioritize spending to tackle some of our state’s most critical issues. In this budget,’’ said Senator Bennett, ‘’we commit to allowing social service providers to keep their doors open, increasing funding for public universities and community colleges, maintaining MAP grant funding and even creating a new tuition grant program for Illinois students.’’ Bennett also said the new budget proposal would provide fiscal stability and certainty for families, businesses, social service providers and schools and universities in Champaign and Vermilion counties.
[Representative Hays is on the left and Senator Bennett on the right in this earlier photo from a WDAN Radio Newsmakers program.]
