Turner Calls on Governor to Come to Table, Negotiate with Legislators

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Arthur Turner, D-Chicago released the following statement on May 31, which was scheduled to be the close of the spring legislative session:

“I am disappointed that once again, we ended the legislative session without a compromise on the state budget. Over the past two years members of our community have lost access to important services, including home health care, Meals on Wheels, violence prevention programs, breast cancer screenings and services to people with disabilities. It is wrong for the governor to ignore the very real needs of people across the Illinois in order to pass an agenda that would help wealthy and well-connected politicians.

“My colleagues and I have repeatedly asked the Governor Rauner to negotiate with us on the budget and other non-budgetary items. Each time he has refused. To move forward, House Democrats have been working on items of the governor’s agenda to show him that we are ready and willing to negotiate. We have passed many items on his agenda, including cutting property taxes, reducing fees on businesses, enacting workers’ compensation reform and more.

“It is time to put aside political differences and game playing and do what for the people and communities we serve. I am ready and willing to negotiate with the governor at anytime, anywhere and that starts by working together to craft a budget.”

For more information for this or other pieces of legislation Turner is working on, please contact his constituent service office at 312-277-4700 or arthurt@ilga.gov.