(Submitted by Aaron DeGroot)
Failure is the only way to describe this General Assembly. With the end of regular session, politicians in Springfield, led by Speaker Madigan, failed to meet their constitutionally-mandated duty to pass a balanced budget for the second year in a row.
In their fight to maintain the status quo, Speaker Madigan and the politicians he controls have decided to hold taxpayers hostage with a wildly out-of-balance, 500-page budget that was introduced, read, and passed in a matter of minutes.
Furthermore, Madigan and his allies have said no to job-creating reforms and no to a short-term budget fix that would fully fund our schools, prisons, social service providers, and others reliant on state services without raising taxes a single dime. Let there be no doubt that Speaker Madigan and the politicians that stand with him are standing in the way of growth and reform for Illinois.
“It is disappointing that legislators would leave Springfield without passing a balanced budget,” said Dan Swanson, candidate for State Representative in the 74th House District. “Failing to do so puts our schools, prisons, and social service providers at risk. By voting for Madigan’s phony budget that spends over $7 billion more than the state takes in, House Democrats made it clear that they support a massive, job-crushing $1,000 tax hike on every Illinois family. Illinois can’t afford Mike Madigan’s business as usual approach to state government.”
###
