Bipartisan Compromise Only Route to Budget Deal

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Michelle Mussman, D-Schaumburg, released the following statement Wednesday as the House of Representatives returns for special session:

“The only way we can end this devastating budget impasse is with a real bipartisan agreement between Republicans and Democrats. A responsible budget cannot be agreed to along party lines alone. As we continue to work in good faith to pass a budget, we must avoid any disguised costs or phony savings if we want to deliver real reform for the people of Illinois.

“When the Senate passed their budget plan last month, it passed with only Democratic votes. Because of this, I think the Senate missed an opportunity to find common ground. The Senate’s budget plan hosts many phantom savings and other budgetary gimmicks that will cost taxpayers in the long run, which is exactly what we don’t need.

“As the clock ticks on the survival of domestic violence shelters throughout Illinois, Governor Rauner has decided to instead begin campaigning more than a year before his election. As the future of more than one million Illinoisans in need of vital services hang in the balance, the governor pumps hundreds of thousands of dollars into empty rhetoric and political grandstanding. And as I head back down to Springfield with every single intention of finding common ground with my colleagues, the governor continues to spend lavishly on negative political advertisements throughout Illinois.

“It’s been over 700 hundred days of gridlock under Governor Rauner. We need real reform that reaches across the aisle and does right by people in Illinois. I am urging the Senate and the governor to join us back at the negotiating table. We all need to keep working until we have a budget passed by both chambers and the governor.”