©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Frustration Mounting in Springfield as Illinois Budget Deadline Arrives |
Governor Pat Quinn now has the chance to sign the road-and-building plan the House and Senate passed, but State Representative Lou Lang (D-Skokie) announced Monday he was withdrawing the "motions to reconsider" he'd placed on the bills in the package, effectively freezing them.
Lang says he acts in hopes that Quinn will fulfill his promise to sign the legislation. Lang put the bills into limbo after Quinn backed away from his promise and instead said he would make the capital plan contingent on an operating budget.
Quinn's performance is drawing comparisons to that of his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, and the reviews are not all good.
Representative Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley), a member of the majority leadership team, praises Quinn: "There's a lot more that he's open about and willing to do. (Quinn understands) the need for new revenue - you can't cut your way out of this."
But a member of House Republican leadership, State Representative David Leitch (R-Peoria), is surprised Quinn has not been better at helping pull the state from its financial mess: "It requires a lot of cooperation, and a lot of thoughts from different constituencies to put together some solutions, but none of that kind of thinking has occurred."
And House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) complains Quinn is too unpredictable: "Is he going to veto things? Is he going to sign them? We really don't know what he is going to do."
Tuesday is the deadline for the general assembly to approve a new state budget. The new fiscal year begins Wednesday.
(Illinois Radio Network) |
|
| 06 29 09 by Newsroom |
Click here for the WGIL News Archive
Click here for national news
The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.
