Bomke: General Assembly should be in session over the weekend
Springfield,
IL-
As the clock runs out on the state budget, State Senator Larry Bomke
(R-Springfield) is outraged by the General Assembly not being called back into
session until July 14th.
“I am livid that Governor Quinn
is not calling the General Assembly back into session for two weeks,” Bomke
said. “People are facing cuts in services and job losses while no action will
be taken on the budget for 13 days.”
Springfield,
Ill…The state’s Democrat leaders adjourned a special legislative session and
made plans to return the following week, but made no progress toward adopting a
Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal, despite the fact the end of the current
fiscal year is rapidly approaching.
Frustrated
by the lack of progress, Senate Republicans offered an alternative “bridge”
budget, which would keep state government functioning and social service
programs operational. State
Senator Larry Bomke (R-Springfield)
said they decided to offer the temporary proposal because negotiations that
should have been going on back in March are only now beginning to take place.
As was the case when Rod Blagojevich was governor, the current Governor and his
fellow Democrats who control the state legislature have been unable to agree on
any plan.
SPRINGFIELD – The General
Assembly may have passed a stop-gap budget on May 31 that will keep state
government functioning, but State
Senator Larry Bomke (R-Springfield) says the state’s legislative leaders
have gone back to the drawing board to negotiate a new budget that will keep Illinois operating
long-term.
The four ranking
Republican and Democrat leaders in the House and Senate have met several times
this week, working together to identify areas to cut and reform. It is likely
that the leaders will look to suggestions from the Taxpayer Action Board, which
Gov. Pat Quinn established to examine state government and identify long-term
solutions to the state’s financial and operational problems.
SPRINGFIELD
– Recognizing the pressing need to capture federal funding from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act, area legislators, Senator Larry Bomke
(R-Springfield), Representative Raymond Poe (R-Springfield), and Representative
Rich Brauer (R-Petersburg) hesitantly supported yesterday’s $9 billion capital program
despite reservations about the level of funding headed back to their
districts.
“This wasn’t a fun vote, but the fact of the matter is we
couldn’t put in jeopardy the federal stimulus money.” Poe stated. Brauer added, “We’ve been talking about
capital for some time now, and although I am disappointed at the level of
funding coming back to our area, something had to give.”
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers got their first look at
Gov. Pat Quinn’s $53 billion budget proposal during the week, a plan consisting
of tax hikes, changes and raids to the state pension system, and increased
state spending.
State
Senator Larry Bomke (R-Springfield) said
the primary component of the Governor’s plan consisted of a 50 percent increase
in state income taxes. The $3 billion tax hike, if passed, would be the largest
tax increase in Illinois history – three times larger than any other major tax
increase ever approved.
