701 days without a budget. 14-and-half-billion dollars in unpaid bills. Those are the numbers in Springfield as state lawmakers move past another adjournment date. The next key day on the calendar is July 1. That’s the start of the state’s new fiscal year says Mark Gebhards—Illinois Farm Bureau’s Director of Governmental Affairs and Commodities.
Former State Senator Darin LaHood of Dunlap now serves in the U.S. House, representing Illinois’ 18th Congressional District. He places much of the blame in Springfield on what he calls “a legislature dominated by Chicago.”
Because the May 31st adjournment date has passed, it will now take a two-thirds majority vote in the Illinois House and State Senate for a state budget to be approved.