Wednesday, June 1, 2016

amending Illinois Constitution so Governor actually submits a balanced budget

The deadline for Illinois General Assembly to pass the annual budget for State of Illinois by simple majority has passed. Legislation passed by May 31 on needs a majority. After this date, legislation requires 3/5 majority to pass.

Starting July 1, 2015, Illinois has been operating without an annual budget.

Democrats, like Rep. Rob Martwick, tell audiences that Gov. Bruce Rauner submitted budgets to the Illinois General Assembly that weren't balanced. Rauner calls the budgets proposed by the Democratic majorities in Illinois General Assembly "phony" because they aren't balanced.

State of Illinois can't pay for basic services and pensions without raising taxes. Democrats don't want to take the political heat/backlash for raising taxes without Republicans sharing the discomfort.

Rauner doesn't care about budgets. His agenda is to harm the interests of organized labor. So, he refuses to pass an annual budget unless he gets bills harming labor.

Why don't Democrats impeach Rauner? Democrats have 39 of 59 seats in the Illinois Senate. It will take 40 votes to remove the Governor.

Neither the Governor nor the Illinois General Assembly is fulfilling their duties under the Illinois Constitution.

I propose amending the Illinois Constitution to put more pressure on the parties to fulfill their duties.