Just a few of the budget bills Democrats passed have made it to Governor Bruce Rauner's desk --- where he has the ability to sign them into law, reject them entirely, or cut down the levels of spending.
The rest are still on hold.
Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said Democrats did this for a reason.
“So (Gov. Rauner) just wouldn't abruptly veto the whole thing, at first. We want to make sure that he's had a chance to look at it, and reflect on it," Cullerton said.
It's not like the hold prevents the governor from deciding what he'll do when the measures arrive. They're public and they're even online. The governor’s team has had weeks to review the proposed budget.
Still, some members of the GOP, such as Representative Eddie Sullivan (R-Mundelein), said Democrats should stop stalling.
"Send the governor your budget and let him act on it and see where we go from there, at least then we're moving forward," he said.
"By at least putting a budget out there, and letting the governor -- whatever he chooses to do -- moves the ball forward to some degree. At this point we're all at a standstill while imaginary sides negotiate on imaginary issues, because nothing's really going on."
Democrats said the governor will get the budget bills by the end of the month. Their $36 billion proposal spends $4 billion more than the state is projected to take in. It boosts funding of prisons and of elementary and high schools, but otherwise it by and large reduces most all other state agencies and programs by 2.25%.
Democrats said the solution to filling the budget gap is a combination of cuts and revenue increases such as a tax hike.
Governor Rauner said he's willing to consider higher or new taxes, but only if his pro-business, anti-union agenda advances.
Thus far, his proposals to create local right-to-work zones, to freeze property taxes, and others have fallen short in the General Assembly.
