By Eric Stock
NORMAL – Local lawmakers didn’t paint a rosy picture when they addressed local business leaders on the budget impasse and other state issues on Tuesday.
State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, said during a legislative panel discussion hosted by the McLean County Chamber of Commerce at Illinois State University Hancock Stadium Club, education funding remains a major sticking point.
“If you consider if one side is at $700 to $900 million and the other side is at $200 million, the gap there is massive,” Barickman said.
One glimmer of hope from State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, a temporary solution could be within reach.
“I think we are going to be going down the path of a second stop gap budget, a six-month budget,” Brady said. “I have great optimism we can get that done very shortly.”
Brady said the legislative working groups are still meeting, even though House Speaker Mike Madigan keeps canceling House hearings.
Brady added, though, social service agencies waiting for a year on state money might not get all they are owed, even if lawmakers approve a spending plan for the new budget year in July.
“I believe there will be direction to do some backfilling, but I don’t know that there’s going to be money to refill your contracts to the level you would like to have them,” Brady said.
The Chief Operating Officer of Chestnut Health Systems Alan Sender responded by saying its a failure of lawmakers and Governor Rauner.
“You can’t treat businesses like that,” Sender said.
State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, places the blame squarely on the House Speaker.
“When you have a dictator like Mike Madigan in Chicago who is literally squeezing the state dry, we can’t make guarantees because he has a supermajority in that chamber,” Brady said. “I don’t think anybody up here would not support the fact that we need to live up to those obligations just as any businesses needs to.”
State Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, said Central Illinois is an easy sell for prospective businesses in part because of its educational institutions and medical facilities
“It’s handicapped a bit by workers compensation costs,” Sommer said, nothing that a business owner told him at a recent forum “workers comp is killing us.”
Illinois’ current fiscal year ends on June 30. That would mark one full year since the state had a budget.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
