* Rep. Tom Cross voted against the new state budget. Sen. Michael Frerichs voted for it. Cross is now trying to make this a campaign issue in the race for state treasurer. From a press release…

Illinois State Representative and candidate for Illinois State Treasurer Tom Cross today released a letter he sent to Governor Quinn urging him to veto the unbalanced budget approved by the Illinois General Assembly. Cross also informs Quinn that should the legislature’s budget become law, and should he be elected State Treasurer by the people of Illinois, his first official will be to challenge the legality of the budget by defending the state’s constitutional requirement for a balanced budget.

Excerpts from the Letter

“The General Assembly’s inability to honestly address the budget situation has led to the passage of an unbalanced and irresponsible budget that relies heavily on borrowing, one-time revenues and delaying the payment of bills. The budget approved by the General Assembly exacerbates Illinois’ worsening fiscal condition while increasing our state’s backlog of bills and creating a multi-billion dollar budget deficit for FY16.

“I strongly urge you to use the powers given to the Governor and reject the budget as passed by the General Assembly. Now more than ever, Illinois needs a responsible and honestly balanced budget. If this budget is signed into law and should I be so fortunate to be elected Illinois State Treasurer, my first act upon taking the oath of office will be to immediately seek to protect Illinois taxpayers by asking for the courts to declare the budget in violation of the state’s constitutional requirement of a balanced budget.”

* Meanwhile, Frerichs voted to expand the sales tax to services a few years back, and he’s talking about it again…

Frerichs says he would work to create a more fair revenue stream… in part by pushing to expand the sales tax to include services, while lowering the overall rate to make it a more progressive tax.

* Frerichs’ campaign supporters basically say [changed because the campaign isn’t actually saying that, but some supporters are - I was moving too fast when I wrote it] three things…

1) Illinois is a “blue” state

2) Statewide Democrats who outspend Republican opponents never lose

3) Frerichs has outraised Cross and will outspend Cross

Except that ever since Cross voted against the state pension reform bill that he helped negotiate, there’s been rampant speculation that Cross essentially traded that vote for bigtime monetary support from Team Rauner.