The Illinois General Assembly was back in Springfield Wednesday for the first of 10 special sessions on the budget and other priorities of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Brian Mackey reports on day one of special session.
Not much happened, at least in public. The special session lasted about seven minutes. Republicans and Democrats then separately went behind closed doors to strategize.
Republicans also reiterated their requirement that passing the governor’s political and economic agenda is a prerequisite to passing a balanced budget.
“It has to be a compromise,” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin says. “We’ve always said, for the last two years, ‘reforms before revenue.’”
But House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat, says the focus should be on Illinois' finances.
“We ought to working on balancing the budget: That means there ought to be cuts and new revenue. I’ve said that for two and a half years,” Madigan says.
It seems the one thing both sides agree on is that neither has changed negotiating positions.
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