Buckner on Budget: Dems Won't Just "Push the Button" on Tax Hikes
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago). (Photo: Chicago Tribune)
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A top House Democrat played down frustrations within his caucus over Governor JB Pritzker’s proposed budget.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago), an Assistant Majority Leader in the House, was a guest on our podcast taped Thursday afternoon.
Buckner said Democrats are being thorough with every asset of Pritzker’s spending plan.
“I wouldn’t call it a fight and I wouldn’t call it pushback,” Buckner said. “I think these are constructive conversations. You don’t just push the button on tax increases or revenue enhancements, whatever you want to call them, without having substantive conversations about what they’re going to do and how we do it. And I think this is part of the process. I don’t see a lot of daylight between the House Democratic caucus and the Governor on this.”
Buckner admits Democrats are split among a group of progressives and a group of mainstream liberals over how much the state should be spending, a battle that drove lawmakers into missing a self-imposed budget deadline last year. He says it’s unclear yet if Democrats will be on the same page by the end of session.
“I think this is a healthy way for a caucus like ours to operate,” Buckner said. “The truth of the matter is that we’ve got a big tent and the things that are important to me as a person that represents the south side and downtown and the near north side of Chicago may be different than for a person that represents Belleville or Collinsville or Aurora or Rockford or Peoria or Champaign. It’s not just ideological, some of it is regional.”
Buckner predicts lawmakers will settle their differences and adjourn by their self-imposed deadline next Friday.
“The calendar is the calendar,” he said.
Here’s the video version of the podcast:
