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Welch and Harmon defend budget process

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* Rich posted earlier earlier on the House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon 21st Show interviews. Here’s another moment from Brian Mackey’s interview with Speaker Welch on the budget process…

Mackey: The reason I’m pressing on this a little bit is, I guess the larger issue I’m trying to get at is that you have talked about a different kind of process in the General Assembly. And here was still a budget that’s passed in the middle of the night, maintaining what I’ve heard referred to as the sort of ‘undergraduate work habits.’ I wonder if we’ll ever have a budget that passes you know, say, two in the afternoon and that will have been out there for the public to scrutinize for days and days, or weeks, potentially before it’s enacted.

Welch: Brian, let me take issue with the way you phrased your question. I think that’s poor journalism. But let me say this, it doesn’t take into account anything that we’ve done the last three years to address the concerns about bringing more light into this process. We intentionally engaged in a process. The House did not give the Senate an appropriations vehicle. We intentionally embarked on what we called a trust exercise, where the Senate would pass us an agreed budget on a Senate Bill, which under our Constitution has to in the House sit for three readings on three separate days before it can get passed. In previous years, budgets have come over from one chamber or another and the minute you get it you put it on the board and you pass it. We have tried to address the concerns from members of the Democratic caucus, members of the Republican caucus, folks like you in the media and create a process that would give more time. The budget was posted about eight o’clock on Wednesday night. People had the rest of Wednesday night to read it. They had all day Thursday, all day Friday. And we passed it at about 2-2:30 in the morning. As opposed to coming back at 10, 12 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, a holiday weekend, when folks wanted to go home. But that budget was out there three days to read. More than any budget in my 11 years in the General Assembly. And so yes, I take issue with the way you frame that question because I’m proud of the fact that we slowed the process down very intentionally. Give folks more time to read this budget. And rather than read it, the Republicans took the budget and wrapped it in a bow. But what I suggest is people use the changes that we put in place, read the budget and let’s have an honest discussion about it.

Mackey: Well, I’ll take your criticism on it. I will think about that. But I will say yes, it is an improvement over the past. I think other states have even more time. Maybe we’ll get there in the future.

* Senate President Harmon…

Mackey: I had a little back and forth with the House Speaker on this very point, because he talked about the idea that the budget was sort of hanging out in public, right? I think it was from Thursday afternoon, was it until the House voted on it early Saturday morning. So I guess one business day, maybe two days, depending on how you want to look at it. There are states though, where the budget process is much more open, and it’s out there for public input. Why not actually pass a budget over the course of a week or two weeks instead of this still where it’s sort of negotiating, negotiating, and it all kind of comes together? It used to be in a few hours, now it’s in maybe a few days? I mean, is that a trend? Are we going to ever see a process where it’s just kind of slow and calm and out in the open?

Harmon: Well, I would argue that’s the process we have. And Brian, you’ve been around Springfield a long time. Every single bill passes the chamber in about 60 seconds when the roll call is called. It’s the work that leads up to that and we began our budget process with the governor’s budget address. The House and Senate both had countless appropriation committee hearings, where we heard from the state agencies that are funded as well as all of the stakeholders that wanted to testify. We have a very, very public process. I reject the premise that the budget itself is the introduction of the final budget with the roll call on the floor. There’s so much work, public work that goes into that. It’s easy to criticize the last 60 seconds, but it’s not fair to the work that people do over the months of the spring session.

Thoughts?

posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 1:57 pm

Comments

I agree with Harmon’s point that most bills, including budget bills, have likely been floating around and being discussed by members, staff, lobbyists, etc, for a long long time before they ever get actually filed or moved for a vote. That is where the bulk of the real work is occurring. Focusing just on the final filing and voting is a bit disingenuous.

Comment by Homebody Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:02 pm
Entities like working groups would have more strength if their meetings were more open to the general public, in my opinion. There is a budget working group correct?

Comment by Lake villa townships Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:06 pm
Both are thoughtful reflections to “process”

My own take to their takes and the question boils down to these things;

* Republicans are red on all these bills, many times seemingly as a way to signal “I’m against Democrat policies and tax and spend”

* Same Republicans tout items in that same budget, in those same spending bills, as “wins”, even though these Republicans, again, are red on all these bills they are taking credit for in programs they “supported”

* At no time, publicly that I recall, did Republicans tout they are willing to support a bipartisan budget or spending package, if anything, it was the timing of faux hand wringing “I can’t vote for this”… which included the pay raises… which is a phony and cowardly way to be overall red

* These are the same caucuses, for an entire General Assembly refused Illinois a budget, so thinking these caucuses want budgets for Illinois without acknowledging or owning they held illoid hostage, what leverage do these caucuses have now in showing any want to govern?

The goal of the GOP exercise is to be against the budget, even if it helps the state and their districts to pander to rapid partisan primary voters.

The leaders answered smartly and sharply as best they could, given the truths they could put out there that would too be very partisan, even if truthful.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:13 pm
Such “complaints” from the minority party (this includes you, 1993-2023 Senate Democrats & 1995-1997 House Democrats) are a performance worthy of “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

First, the minority party gets the same ISL forms as the majority. Second, the minority party gets to ask questions at the public appropriation committee hearings that start after the Governor’s Budget is introduced. Third, I defy anyone to read the ISP telecommunications line item and tell me how many radios / phones that’ll fund. DCFS personal services line item and how many case workers that’ll fund.

These complaints are a bunch of bunkum, pure and simple. And I don’t remember Pate Philip & Lee Daniels complaining about the “Conference Committee Report” approach in the 1980s.

Comment by Anyone Remember Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:25 pm
==Entities like working groups would have more strength if their meetings were more open to the general public==

You would get absolutely zero accomplished in that sort of a setting because nobody would be honest and you would see nothing but partisan posturing. You don’t negotiate deals in public.

Comment by Demoralized Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 2:53 pm
This year was the first year in a long time that we saw improvement in the process. This is something to celebrate.

Is there more work to do? Yes. Are Brian’s criticisms fair? Yes.

But let’s not ignore the improvements that were made this year.

Comment by Mr. Middleground Friday, Jun 23, 23 @ 3:24 pm