Leader Jim Durkin asked the Attorney General in May to
weigh-in on the necessity of having a revenue estimate.

Did the Illinois General Assembly pass an illegal budget? House Republicans are asking Attorney General Lisa Madigan to weigh in on whether lawmakers skipped a vital step in the process.

For nearly two years, state Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-Oswego, has been pleading with House leadership to adopt a revenue estimate in its budget-making process, which he believes state law requires.

In May, Wheeler and many others asked Madigan to give her opinion as to whether lawmakers need to officially adopt an expectation of how much they'll bring in before they can pass a budget. He did not receive a response, although Madigan was not required to provide one. Read the rest of the story.

A few days ago, state Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, wrote a Tribune commentary accusing Gov. Bruce Rauner of not caring about the people of Illinois and state government's role in serving their needs. I'm here today to disagree. To borrow the opening construction my colleague used in attacking the governor:

Mike Madigan doesn't care. That's the conclusion I've come to after serving in the General Assembly since early 2015.

It has been clear that he doesn't care about the financial well-being of the residents and businesses of Illinois since he first took office in 1971. Unbalanced budgets, chronic overspending, increased debt load, underfunded pension schemes and expansion of entitlement programs have left Illinoisans paying one of the highest overall tax burdens of all 50 states. And it is still not enough to pay for his reckless ways. Madigan doesn't care.

Over the past 2 1/2 years, rank-and-file House members have been working across the aisle to fix some of the systemic problems connected to our state budget — workers' compensation reform, pension reform, a fair and equitable K-12 education funding formula and meaningful property tax relief — only to have Speaker Madigan swoop in at the last minute and kill the discussions. Why would he do that? The answer is simple, power.

Read the rest of Rep. Grant Wehrli's commentary:

At some point, many of those elected by the people stopped caring about the people and started putting the whims of the political hierarchy above all else.

Their actions have jeopardized the well-being of the state and thrown the liability onto those too often ignored in the halls of the Capitol, the taxpayers.

It was apparent for the better part of two years that the majority was not interested in reform or spending controls. Instead, they wanted a massive tax increase to feed their insatiable need for abusive over-spending. Read the rest of editorial in the Alton Telegraph.

Schools may be at risk of not opening on time in the fall, affecting thousands of students, if the Senate does not immediately send a school funding bill to the Governor for his action. Illinois Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti is encouraging Illinoisans to get involved by signing her petition urging the Senate to send SB1 at once to the Governor. 

After a bill passes both the House and Senate it should be sent to the Governor to sign, or veto. However in this case, SB1 was held by the Senate in a parliamentary move to prevent the Governor from taking action. This move has the potential of creating chaos and crisis for our schools and Illinois families.

Tell the Senate to release the bill and prevent the unnecessary stress and pressure on our families by signing the petition.

EDUCATION FUNDING
Governor Rauner calls on State Senate to send him education funding bill. Earlier this week, Governor Bruce Rauner called on members of the Illinois Senate to send him Senate Bill 1, the education funding bill. Democrats in the Illinois Senate are using a procedural quirk to keep the bill from advancing. If the bill is not sent to Governor Rauner’s desk soon, public schools throughout the state may not open in time for the new school year.

As part of Illinois' Keep Cool Illinois campaign, Governor Rauner has made over 120 state facilities available as cooling centers. The cooling centers will provide Illinoisans a place to stay cool and comfortable during hot summer days.

• Tollway Oasis locations are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
• Department of Human Services cooling centers are open during normal business hours from 8:30AM - 5:00PM, Monday through Friday. 
• Find a Cooling Station near you: https://www.illinois.gov/KeepCool/SitePages/CoolingCenters.asp

For more information about DHS Cooling Centers, please call the Illinois Department of Human Services hotline at (800) 843-6154 during normal business hours.

Where would you rather your hard earn tax money be directed, into the classroom for kids or to prop up Chicago’s mismanaged pension system?

A new 32% income tax increase just went into effect on July 1 and Chicago politicians want to use it to bail out a pension system they failed to fund instead of using it to educate children across the state. The once bipartisan SB1 was a plan that would have equitably funded all schools in Illinois, ensuring each and every child was treated fairly. However in the waning moments of regular session, Chicago interests hijacked the bill and earmarked some of the money for the City of Chicago.

An effort to get a clean bipartisan equitable funding formula back on track emerged with HB 4069. Every district is treated fairly and benefits at the highest level under HB 4069. To see how your schools benefit click here: