Budget negotiations have been proceeding in Springfield, but no final product has been released yet for review. The Republican and Democrat leaders in each chamber have been meeting with the governor to negotiate next year’s budget. This in itself is an encouraging sign because in recent years we have approached late May with nobody talking at all, says State Representative Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City). Bennett adds he is optimistic about a balanced budget being completed before the midnight May 31st deadline.
Also this past week in Springfield, the House passed House Bill 4290, which Representative Bennett says is long over-due legislation to appropriate money for back pay owed to thousands of AFSCME workers around the state. The back pay dates back to the Quinn administration. State workers were owed raises which were part of their contract, but the legislature refused to appropriate the funds. The matter went to court where the state was ordered to pay up.
House leadership cancelled 2 days of session that were on the calendar for Saturday and Sunday.
