By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON – While some in Springfield worry about an election year hindering a state budget, State Senator Jason Barickman says the opposite may be true.

“The perfect storm is that there is a lot of pressure which exists both on Democratic lawmakers and (Governor) Bruce Rauner to come to an agreement and be seen by the public as reasonable people,” Barickman, R-Bloomington, told WJBC’s Sam Wood. “I think that pressure is going to help.”

Barickman said the negative effects of not having a budget were recently obvious, which should provide more incentive to avoid another stalemate.

Barickman has received criticism from some pro-life supporters over his vote last week in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment, which he said is a stretch.

“There are some of the pro-life groups, but not all of them, who are suggesting they are going to re-look at this ERA vote as indicative of something regarding abortion rights,” Barickman said. “I think that’s unfortunate that they’ve drawn that conclusion.”

Barickman said a better indicator of his views is his opposition to House Bill 40, which provides state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].