Madigan: Rauner Shouldn't "Give Up Hope" Of Reaching Budget Agreement Next Month
CHICAGO (CBS) -- House Speaker Michael Madigan on Tuesday called on Gov. Bruce Rauner to be more reasonable so a settlement can be reached on the state budget.
While visiting the Quad Cities on Monday, Rauner said he doesn't expect a budget agreement will be reached when he meets next month with the state's four legislative leaders – the first such meeting since May. The governor stood by his demand that any state spending deal includes pro-business anti-union reforms from his so-called "turnaround agenda."
Madigan said there's an epic struggle going on between the Democratic majority legislature and the first-term Republican governor, one that eventually will be settled, and he said it's "unfortunate" the governor isn't more optimistic about the meeting with legislative leaders on Nov. 18.
"I wouldn't give up hope so soon. Hopefully there will be a meeting. Hopefully it will be productive. Hopefully there will be some kind of a settlement coming out of the meeting. I wouldn't just give up hope before we even settle down to look at each other and start to talk," he said.
Madigan repeatedly has insisted the governor drop his demands for non-budget issues before agreeing to a spending plan for the current fiscal year. The state has been operating without a budget since the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
"Everybody has to be reasonable. People cannot function in the extreme. My view is that when the governor talks about non-budget issues, he's functioning in the extreme. He has to come to a reasonable position," Madigan said.
The speaker said if Rauner were reasonable, a deal could be completed immediately.
Rauner said he doesn't expect any resolution to the budget standoff until January, which would be only weeks before he normally would present a budget plan for next year.
"I'm prepared to do a settlement today, if everybody were reasonable," Madigan said.