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Lawmakers Head Back To Springfield This Week
(IRN)-Lawmakers return to Springfield this week to take care of the state's business.

Legislative session was to begin last week, but the blizzard had top lawmakers call off the gathering. Representatives and senators began filing into Springfield over the weekend and more will be coming in Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) says she expects Gov. Pat Quinn's borrowing plan to be one of the things on the lawmaker's list.

"He's rolled out a proposal which is $8.7 billion," Radogno said. "It's structured in a way that's pretty significantly back loaded which means the payments will escalate after the first few years. That's a problem.”

The borrowing plan was introduced during the Lame Duck session, but failed to pass. It is being pushed again by State Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago).

Quinn has been touting the plan as a "restructuring of debt" which Radogno disagrees with.

"Well it is borrowing and the fact of the matter is we will have, by their own estimates, probably about $7 billion in new revenue coming into the state from the tax increase," Radogno said. "It seems to me that some of that revenue ought to be used to pay existing bills because frankly it would be less expensive to just pay those bills off using our Prompt Payment Act, even if we have penalties, than to borrow the way he's proposed."

Lawmakers will officially be back in session on Tuesday.

(Source: Illinois Radio Network)
02 07 11 by Newsroom
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