The new legislative "working groups" designed to hammer out compromises on Governor Bruce Rauner's "Turnaround Agenda" finally began meeting in secret last week. At least one of them got a bit heated.
A working group tasked with writing ethics legislation hit a brick wall right off the bat when it came time to discuss Rauner's term-limits constitutional amendment. Two Democrats on the committee reportedly said there was plenty of time to deal with the amendment next year, since it couldn't be placed on the ballot until November 2016.
Nope, said the administration representative, according to sources. The governor wants that amendment passed by the end of the spring legislative session. When he was met with stiff resistance, the administration official reportedly became agitated and more than implied that if the constitutional amendment isn't passed by May 31, the governor would not support any revenue increases to patch next fiscal year's massive $6-billion hole.
