There are only two weeks left for Illinois lawmakers to pass a budget before the new fiscal year begins. But they weren't at the statehouse today, not most of them, anyway. The Illinois Republican Party is paying for robocalls lambasting certain downstate Democrats.
"State Senator Gary Forby won't go back to Springfield and stand up to House Speaker Mike Madigan to pass a balanced budget."
Except Forby was in Springfield, at the Capitol.
"I come up every Wednesday, at least come up once a week to try to make sure I'm here, and try to find some way we can get a budget."
Forby's part of a small, bipartisan group of legislators negotiating a budget. After a yearlong impasse, Gov. Bruce Rauner is now making a push to pass a temporary one, something to keep operations running through January. But Forby says that hasn't come up at all; the working group is having broader talks.
Rauner says he frequently talks to some Democratic legislators, but declined to say whom. Senator Forby says he isn't among them.
