Rep. Batinick: Illinois should pass a two-year budget

News From

State Representative Mark Batinick

For Immediate Release                                                                      Contact: Debbie Kraulidis

        June 16, 2017                                                                                                       (815) 254-0000

Rep. Batinick: Illinois should pass a two-year budget

SPRINGFIELD – With the Illinois General Assembly scheduled to return to Springfield on June 21 for a 10-day special session on June 21 to address the budget impasse, State Representative Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) is calling for the passage of a full two-year state budget to take 2018 gubernatorial politics out of the budget process and provide stability to Illinois for the next two years.

Back when the current impasse began in 2015, Representative Batinick filed bipartisan legislation, HR 796, urging the General Assembly to work toward a two-year budget. Batinick’s bill had five Republican and two Democrat co-sponsors, but was never allowed a vote.

“I’m glad that we’re going back to Springfield to finally discuss the budget, after we spent the majority of this year voting on frivolous bills on feral cats, naming roads, and labeling catfish on restaurant menus,” Rep. Batinick said. “We have to put our priorities in the right place. Right now, that means toning down the rhetoric and passing a state budget to end this destructive, unnecessary impasse. While we’re at it, we should embrace this opportunity to pass a two-year budget, to take the politics of the 2018 election out of the budget process altogether and provide much-needed stability to our state at this critical time.”

The Illinois House of Representatives is scheduled to return to Springfield for a 10-day special session to address the state budget starting on Wednesday, June 21.

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