Rauner Teams Up With Dems For Prison-Reform Measure, But Budget Deal Elusive
(CBS) -- Could all this holiday cheer be extending to Springfield?
There was a rare case of cooperation today between Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
The two teamed up to produce a measure aimed at helping ex-offenders.
CBS 2 Political Editor Derrick Blakley reports.
On the West Side, a sight seldom seen.
"This had been a huge team effort -- Democrats and Republicans coming together to work together," Rauner said.
He signed a law providing state IDs for inmates as they leave prison, to ease their transition to life on the outside.
"If you got your state ID, you got your fist step back into society and doing the right thing," one ex-offender at the event said.
It's part of a drive by Rauner to reduce the prison population by 25 percent in a decade and cut down on repeat offenders.
"Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody deserves a second chance," Rauner said.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is focusing on another element of criminal justice reform.
"The other piece of this is we have to have repeat gun offenders serve their time, and that is not done," he said.
Still, if Rauner and Democrats can agree on this, why not on a budget?
"We are stuck in a rut of the fear of going first. What if i propose a budget, and I'm responsible for new taxes? I don't want to be that person. I'm talking in general," state Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highland Park, said.
Meantime, West Side lawmaker La Shawn Ford, a Democrat, said he'd be willing to consider term limits for legislative leaders as a way to meet Rauner on a budget deal.
