Illinois’ top four legislative leaders used to hold marathon meetings with the governor to work out their differences. But that changed this year. The state’s top leaders haven’t met in months.When is the last time House Speaker Michael Madigan met with Gov. Bruce Rauner? "Last meeting with the governor? I don’t recall exactly when it was."
He said that Wednesday night. A few weeks earlier, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on the same question:“It was a month and a half ago."That’d be late June. But a spokeswoman for Senate President John Cullerton says his calendar shows the last full meeting was May 29th.So while the governor and legislative leaders have been staking out positions and attacking each other in the media, they have not been delivering that message face to face.Durkin has a theory as to why.“The last meeting we had was unproductive. There has to be something meaningful in these leaders meetings. And I can’t say why there’s not more."State government is now in its third month of operating without a budget.
