At least one Republican member of the General Assembly says Gov. Bruce Rauner should call a special session until a budget agreement is reached.
State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) says Rauner should keep members of the General Assembly in Springfield until the state budget stalemate ends.
Rauner has maintained he wants his legislative agenda considered before he’ll agree to a tax hike in this year’s budget. McSweeney says he supports the governor’s proposals, but fears the long-term damage being done to the state due to court-ordered spending outpacing revenue.“I don’t think anyone knew how this was going to turn out, but it’s been a failed experiment,” McSweeney said. “It’s not working. Nothing good is happening. Mark me down as a yes on the governor’s agenda. Let’s get it over with, let’s vote on it.”
McSweeney may be alone on the Republican side in believing a special session is the solution. State Rep. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove) says it’d be a waste of time.
“Being hauled down there to stare at one another in hopes that that brings an end to gridlock I think is largely wishful thinking,” Sandack said.
Sandack himself had called for a similar open-ended special session to settle the pension reform debate in 2013, but he feels what McSweeney is advocating would be “futile.”
Illinois is now into its fourth month of the fiscal year with no budget being in place, and lawmakers aren’t set to return to the Capitol until October 20
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