Jul 29, 2007 7:30 am US/Central
State Budget Impasse Lingers On
Lawmakers Have Until Tuesday To Adopt Budget
by Mai Martinez
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ―
The budget battle in Springfield continues. CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports that it's been a record two months now, and state lawmakers have still not passed a temporary budget to keep state government running in August.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich was hoping a special session Saturday would get lawmakers to pass a state budget, but that did not happen, so the governor's calling for another special session Monday.
For a record two months, state lawmakers have been battling it out is springfield, haggling over every aspect of the state budget.
Blagojevich said he's disappointed with the commitment of some state lawmakers to pass a workable budget which invests in education and healthcare.
Saturday, after 63 of the 118 members of the state House of Representatives did not show up for a special session, the governor released a statement expressing his disappointment with the work lawmakers have done thus far and stressing the importance of getting a budget in place before the Tuesday deadline.
The statement read in part: "failure to pass another interim budget will mean that state government shuts down and only emergency public-safety services will continue to operate."
In the statement, Blagojevich went on to say that without a budget "schools will have to start their school-years without the state funding they rely on, and thousands of state employees will not get paid."
Blagojevich is not the only one in Springfield disappointed with the lack of progress on the state budget.
On Wednesday, Rep. Bill Black of Danville arrived with black carnations in hand to mark the record breaking 55th day of the budget impasse. The flowers were accompanied by a verbal lashing.
"We're steaming on in circles and what we're doing is rearranging the deck chairs while he steams into another iceberg," Black said.
Lawmakers have until Tuesday to pass either a full budget or a temporary one. If they do not, Blagojevich says the people of Illinois will pay the price for their inaction
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