Illinois' top Senate Democrat says it's a bad idea to get out from under the wing of court-ordered spending.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner recently said he wants the state to not have to report to federal court for some basic government services. He says the courts force unnecessary spending, and he doesn't want that dictated by judges.
But Senate President John Cullerton said Monday he doesn't support rescinding those agreements.
"He's the executive branch, he could go back into court, but he'd have to convince a judge ... There's probably a lot of good reasons for those consent decrees, right? That's why there was an agreement. And so I don't see why we need to do that," Cullerton said.
Even though there is no state budget, Illinois is spending 90 percent of what it used to. That's largely because of the consent decrees agreed to by Gov. Rauner and previous administrations, and because of court orders where judges have ruled Illinois must continue payments. They cover everything from foster care services to health care to state employee payroll.
