SPRINGFIELD, IL – In a late night maneuver, the Illinois Senate Democrats pushed through a budget even its sponsor hasn’t read, according to State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford).
State Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), the sponsor of HB 859, admitted that he hadn’t read the measure and people who examined the legislation would “find a lot of questions I don’t have answers to.”
“Other than the fact the legislation includes pay raises for state employees and skips scheduled pension payments, we have very few details about what’s in this measure,” Syverson said. “What we do know is this is most unbalanced budget in history. We have two weeks until the adjournment deadline, plenty of time to put forward a budget and give the public and media an opportunity to thoroughly examine it. The fact the Democratic leadership rammed through this measure in the dead of night, demonstrates a failure of their leadership.”
Syverson expressed concern that, when questioned, the sponsor of the bill didn’t know how much spending, and spending reductions, were in the measure.
The Senator also noted the maneuver flies in the face of a previous measure sponsored by Senate Democrats ensuring four days of sunshine before lawmakers can vote on a budget – time to give concerned parties an opportunity to review its fine print. The measure, Senate Bill 3622, is currently stalled in the Illinois House.
“When it comes to budget transparency, the Democratic leadership doesn’t live up to its own rhetoric, and that’s unfortunate,” Syverson said.
Once more information on the budget is known, the Senator will publish the details on his Web site – www.senatordavesyverson.com.