Rauner Pushes For Stopgap Funding

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner visited the East Moline Correctional Center today to promote two bills. They'd provide funding for education and government operations — including the state's prisons — despite the lack of a state budget.

Rauner calls the spring legislative session a "stunning failure." The General Assembly adjourned on Tuesday without passing a budget for the second year in a row. Now the governor is touring the state, calling on residents to pressure Democratic lawmakers to pass two stopgap measures that would pay for schools and government services.

"We have government operations that are on the verge of suffering, and maybe shutting down in portions, and we have schools on the verge of not opening. We need to focus, set our priorities and do the right thing for the people of Illinois."

East Moline Mayor JohnThodosjoined Rauner. He says the prison hasn't paid its water bill since August. 

"We are owed $572,000 in water and sewer. I'm the mayor of the city of East Moline, guess that happens if I don't pay my water bill. It gets shut off. It has not been shut off here because obviously I would probably end up in here, according to my legal counsel, so I don't want to do that. But the fact is this: we cannot continue to operate this way."

Rauner says Democratic lawmakers have said they won't agree to his legislative agenda before the November election. He’s set passage of that agenda as a prerequisite for negotiating on a full budget. The governor says the stopgap funding would help schools and government continue their services.

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