East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) derided the Democrat supermajority in the General Assembly for blowing past a May 19 budget deadline. 

"The General Assembly will be back this week to try and pass a budget, even though that should've been done by last Friday,” Miller said on Facebook. “The Democrats can't even follow the schedule that THEY created.”

The budget was scheduled to be passed last Friday at midnight. The General Assembly has until May 31 to pass a budget prior to the fiscal year ending June 30. Democrats notified legislators on Friday that the session was being extended regarding the $50 billion budget negotiations. Legislators are slated to be in session again this week, May 24-26, when a final budget is expected.

The draft budget has not been seen by many in the General Assembly. State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) has been denied in his repeated requests for a draft copy of the budget which will top 1,000 pages. 

“Funny story,” Keicher said. “After I made my inquiry last night, I had eight members of the other side of the aisle suggest to me that they hadn't seen one either.” 

According to Capitol News Illinois, Keicher’s sentiment was backed up by State Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) who responded, “You’re asking me?” When Keicher asked him about a draft.

One point of contention is out-of-control spending over the free healthcare for undocumented immigrants program which alone is worth nearly $1 billion of the projected budget of $50 billion, Peoria Standard reported. The program is for those aged 42 and older. Democrats sought to lower that bar to those 19 years old and older but have been unable to move the legislation.

Others are taking the Democrat leadership to task for how the budget process is handled. 

“Only a few top leaders in the Democratic supermajority in the General Assembly will have much of an understanding of the budget when over a thousand pages of budget bills get shoved to members for a vote, probably this week,” Mark Glennon wrote in Wirepoints. “The rest of us will get a full story only in coming months, if ever."