A press release from State Rep. Steve Andersson:
House Democrats Pass Unbalanced Budget for FY16
Yesterday, Democrats in the House of Representatives presented a series of budget bills for appropriations. Although the bills presented were debated for hours on the House floor, the legislation failed to address the existing budget deficits. In what they declared as an effort to move the process along, House Democrats pushed these budget bills forward, despite their severely unbalanced nature.
Representative Steve Andersson (R-Geneva), found this process to be just another example of the broken process and partisan politics that has been all too common in Springfield.
Steve Andersson
“The very essence of a sound budgeting process was ignored.
“The Constitution requires that we pass a balanced budget.
“The Democrat leadership admitted that its budget is almost 4 billion dollars short.Illinoisans should not stand for this.
“This is not right and, quite frankly, it’s a stick in the eye of every Illinoisan who is looking for change.
“We cannot keep putting off our state’s fiscal problems: the people of Illinois deserve better.
“We cannot ignore the situation we are in now, we must put in the hard work today to plan for the future.
“The entire budget process, from start to finish, has been frustrating.
“I spent five years on the Geneva Library Board and we budgeted in a responsible manner.
“We started with expected revenues and then determined what the District’s priorities are to be for the year.
“We spent only what we had (or less)-a simple formula for budgeting.
“Sometimes it made for difficult decisions as there are never as much revenues as one might want.
“It meant we had to reduce or cut good programs.
“We did our level best to utilize the funds in the best way possible and cut it where the impact would be felt the least.
“But make no mistake, there is always pain in budget cutting. Someone’s program gets cut and every program has its advocates.
“Not so here in Springfield.
“Here in Springfield, we ignore any discussion of realistic budgeting.”
Despite the disheartening process and unbalanced budget presented in the various bills, the legislation passed in the House today. After receiving a constitutional majority, the bills will move on for further approval in the Senate.
Do Democrats, especially Madigan and Cullerton really ‘hate’ children?
Two consecutive UNBALANCED budgets have been submitted to place the burden of paying for them on the backs of your children.
I have the same question for teacher unions.
Do the teachers hate their students so much they keep striking for more wages which can ONLY be paid for by financing the future of our children.
Nest on the horizon is a strike by State employee members of public sector unions!