* A bit of theater today…

House Democratic women request meeting with Gov
2 implore him to retract his threat to veto the budget & save our state from junk status. pic.twitter.com/pY3AxYnDCx

— Rep Sara Feigenholtz (@StateRepSara) July 3, 2017

Sit in by House Democratic women in Gov Rauners office demanding a meeting to save our state and keep schools open!! #DoYourJob pic.twitter.com/DL1T4pwkeU

— Elaine Nekritz (@ElaineNekritz) July 3, 2017

* Here’s the video. Richard Goldberg served up some trademark snark…

* And then…

House Repubs arrive to "protect" Governor Rauner from House Democratic women sit in. Seriously! pic.twitter.com/QbaaVrJZYc

— Elaine Nekritz (@ElaineNekritz) July 3, 2017

GOP Reps. Barbara Wheeler, Keith Wheeler, Margo McDermed, Grant Wehrli, Tony McCombie, Lindsay Parkhurst, Jeanne Ives and Peter Breen showed up.

The group of anti-tax Republicans whipped out their own phones and apparently started asking the Democrats about their tax hike plan. The Democrats then returned to the floor. I’m hoping to find video of the latter exchange. If you see it somewhere, post a link in comments.

…Adding… From the Democratic women…

“We believe now is the time to end this state budget impasse and yesterday’s votes are an important step toward a solution. Our group today visited the Governor’s office to request a meeting with the Governor to ask him to approve this package.

We have made significant compromises and have seen bipartisan support for a balanced budget. Rather than issuing veto threats, we want to meet with the Governor to explain why this is the right solution and hope he will meet with us soon.”