Springfield… Today Illinois House Democrats forced a partisan vote on a spending bill aimed at undermining the budget process and thwarting the ability of minority legislators to participate. Democrats introduced a multi-billion dollar spending bill, HB 4141, mere hours before the vote, denying Republicans an opportunity to fully read or offer input on the bill before it was rammed through. Republicans voted Present to highlight this irregular and purely partisan disruption of the budgeting process.
In response, State Representative Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) released the following statement…
“Today’s actions send a clear message that Democrats are not serious about fixing our state’s financial situation,” said Rep. Sosnowski. “This move to force a vote upon legislators’ just hours before the bill was released is disingenuous and disrespectful to the taxpayers of Illinois. I am disappointed that they would bypass the committee process and disregard all of the hours we have spent in budget working groups trying to negotiate a bi-partisan solution. Enough with the games, It’s time for transparency and bi-partisanship.”