McCombie on End of Session: Lawmakers "Going Through the Motions"
House GOP Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna)
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With just two weeks to go before the scheduled adjournment date of the General Assembly, Republicans again find themselves on the outside looking in.
But for House GOP Leader Tony McCombie, she’s watching the calm before the inevitible storm in the final days before adjournemtn.
McCombie, in her second term as House Republican Leader, sat down for a conversation with The Illinoize podcast this week. She says it appears lawmakers are “going through the motions” so far in the month of May.
“It just seems a little calmer,” McCombie said. “But we have a lot of time to really amp some crazy up yet.”
McCombie says, so far, House Democrats have been unwilling to include Republicans in budget talks, though they’ve found more receptive partners in the Governor’s office and from Senate Democrats.
She continues to criticize sharp increases in state spending in Governor JB Pritzker’s administration and says revenues won’t keep up with the spending in the long term.
Without getting into much detail, McCombie said there is a scenario could get behind a taxpayer funding role for a new Chicago Bears of Chicago White Sox stadium project.
“I don’t see why we couldn’t,” McCombie said. “Public-private partnerships work a lot of the times. But I don’t see where it could include a tax increase that would hurt the public. I think there’s a way. I’m certainly open to having those discussions.
McCombie panned a bill rushed by Democrats last week to end slating of legislative candidates for the fall election, which she and many other Republicans have alleged was a political tactic to protect Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville).
Republicans rushed to get former Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven on the ballot before Democrats could pass the bill, beating the governor’s signature by a couple of hours last week.
McCombie said the move to block candidates will hurt Democrats, and Stuart.
“We’re gonna take the 112th,” McCombie said. “It’s gonna be a hard race, but [Keeven] is gonna fight and he’s gonna win.”
Here’s the video version of the podcast: