* Finke…

Democrats held a private meeting to review a Republican proposal that calls for spending $36 billion next year and not increasing that amount for four years. Rauner and Republican lawmakers have touted the plan as a compromise that should be acceptable to everyone.

“There are some things in it I think we could be in agreement with. There are some things in it we could be in opposition to,” said Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago, the House Democrats’ top budget negotiator. “I think we looked at the Senate Democratic plan the same way.” […]

During Wednesday’s news conference, Durkin reiterated that the House Republicans aren’t interested in another stopgap measure if agreement can’t be reached on full-year budget. Cullerton has also said he will not consider another stopgap spending plan since the Senate has approved a budget. And Rauner has said he won’t sign a stopgap without approval of the other reforms he’s been demanding.

Still, Harris said the House Democrats “have not ruled anything in or out” when it comes to a stopgap budget.

* Garcia & Geiger…

Chicago Rep. Greg Harris, who is acting as chief budget negotiator for Madigan, said House Democrats continue to review both of those plans and are likely to consider changes. Harris said neither plan is balanced, as they count on savings from an overhaul of the state employee pension system that is likely to face legal challenges and reduced health care costs from a union contract change that is already winding its way through the courts.

House Republican leader Jim Durkin said it was hypocritical of his Democratic colleagues to question whether the GOP budget plan was balanced, noting their history of passing budgets that spend more than the state has on hand.

“They couldn’t balance their way out of a wet paper bag,” Durkin said.

He didn’t actually answer the question, however.

Republicans say the employee healthcare issue is taken care of with BIMP language.

* Bishop…

“In Rauner’s first year in office, the House passed a budget. In his second year in office, we passed a budget,” Madigan said. “We’re now in the third year in office, and we’re fully engaged.”

Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, had a different take on history and responded to critics who said the GOP plan isn’t balanced either.

He remembers “last year that the House Democrats passed a $7 billion unbalanced budget. The year before, $4.5 billion; and the year before that, $1.5 billion.”

Granted, but the governor has never proposed a balanced budget and has more than tripled the bill backlog since he took office because he can’t pass a budget. It’s now $15.2 billion.

* Kozlov…

But the source of the problem continues to be disputed by state democrats and republicans – who have been pointing fingers at each other for years.

“The fact is when the Governor decides to walk into a room, with the four legistlative leaders, and say I am ready to do a budget, we will have a budget in two days, it’s not that hard,” said Lou Lang. […]

House minority leader Jim Durkin is backing a budget proposal crafted last week that includes some of the items democrats say they want, like an increases in the personal and corporate income tax. Madigan is mum about whether he supports any or all of it.

“My message is to the rank and file democrats, ask your leader on whether or not he wants to find a resolution, to help me find votes to bring this to a conclusion,” Durkin said.

Um, the governor says he “wants” an income tax hike, too, Dana.

* Vinicky…

Though Republicans’ budget is predicated on higher taxes, such as the income tax hike approved by Senate Democrats, no GOP legislator has actually introduced or formally signed on to a tax hike.

Democratic Sens. Heather Steans and Toi Hutchinson held a press conference today and dinged the Republicans on that very issue. “The hardest part of working on a budget is the revenue side,” Hutchinson rightly said. At the end of the press conference, Hutchinson pointed out that a GOP press conference on education funding reform was about to begin and that their plan would require more state revenues. So she placed a form on the lectern that the Republicans could fill out to sign on as tax hike co-sponsors.

Good one.