Report: GOP lawmakers don’t cash Rauner checks during budget battle

Bruce Rauner
Gov. Bruce Rauner reportedly issued campaign checks to 67 GOP lawmakers in May. (Photo by Adam Studzinski/WJBC)

By Eric Stock

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner gave about $400,000 to Republican legislators in May but close to one-third of those lawmakers haven’t cashed the checks, according to a published report.

The Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises reports the first-term Republican governor issued the checks to 67 members of the Illinois House and Senate as he and the legislature squabble over a state budget that remains unresolved nearly two weeks into a new budget year.

According to the report, several GOP lawmakers said it didn’t seem appropriate to take the money while issues were being debated.

Rauner has said previously his political funds have helped him push his agenda.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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