Conroy Committed to Working Through Summer to End Budget Impasse

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – On the last day of the legislature’s scheduled spring legislative session, state Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, released the following statement:

“Today marks the 700th day of Governor Rauner’s budget crisis. It is unacceptable that for 700 days families, seniors, schools and taxpayers in our community have suffered as they wait for funding. Important mental health services have gone unfunded, 15,000 women have lost access to lifesaving breast cancer screenings, and domestic violence shelters and other critical social services are closing their doors.

“For the last 700 days, Gov. Rauner has made it clear that he won’t negotiate a budget until his non-budgetary demands are met. House Democrats have made good-faith efforts to find common ground with the governor on these items in the hope we could work together to craft a solution to this impasse. I passed legislation that would cut property taxes, reform worker’s compensation, allow voters to eliminate duplicative layers of government and put small and medium sized businesses on an equal playing field to the large corporations. Through these efforts, we have responded to his requests for reform.  Now it is his turn to come to the table, end his political games and work with us to end the budget impasse.

“I will continue to work over the summer to pass a responsible, long-term budget that meets the needs of my community. I remain, as I have been since Gov. Rauner first took office, ready to compromise to pass a balanced budget that invests in our schools, mental health and critical social services. I hope he will join me in ending this outrageous budget impasse and ensuring our community and our families have the resources they expect and deserve as taxpayers in the State of Illinois.”