Republicans Want a Seat at Budget Table
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) speaks at a news conference Tuesday.
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As the spring legislative session slowly begins spinning its gears, House Republicans are declaring their intention early: they want to be part of the budget process.
“Many people say Republicans want to vote no. That preconceived notion is false,” said new House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna). “House Republicans are here to govern. We are here to give solutions. We want to help and are willing to share our ideas that address the budget shortcomings and provide tax reform policies that Illinois taxpayers and job creators need to stay in Illinois and need to grow in Illinois.”
In recent years, Republicans have been shut out of all budget negotiations in both the House and Senate. With a new House Majority Leader and budget negotiator for both House Democrats and Republicans, the GOP is pushing for more communication.
“The budget process should not be so difficult and it should be bipartisan,” McCombie said. “The budget bills do not need to come forward in the final hours of the session with little or no Republican input. And, certainly, the budget should not be used as a political football year after year.”
But, Republicans don’t seem likely to just sign off on Democratic spending plans. McCombie said she’s concerned about a likely proposal from Democrats to expand free college, free childcare, and free preschool across the state.
“There’s a lot of folks on the other side who think things really are free,” McCombie said. “We all know nothing is free and its paid for by taxpayers. Affordable childcare is going to be an issue that we will hopefully be able to provide some better solutions other than saying it’s free. I’m not afraid to support working families, but we have to do it in a way to grow working families [economically].”
GOP budget negotiator Rep. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) said she has already been in touch with new Democratic negotiator (budgeteer, in Springfield parlance), Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria). Hammond made it sound as if the two sides have agreed to deal respectfully, but it isn’t clear if Democrats are going to let the GOP in the door.
“Good luck with that,” scoffed one top Democrat yesterday. “[Republicans] would do everything they can to stall and destroy our agenda. Let them come up with their own budget and they can vote no on the good work we’re doing.”