A week from today, July 1, marks a shameful anniversary for Illinois. It will mean the state has gone a full year without a complete budget. But how long can this go on?
Bruce Rauner has been at the state's helm since last January, which means he'll be governor for at least another two and a half years. Back in May, Democratic State Representative Lou Lang remarked:
"That it was entirely possible that there would not be an agreed budget during the entire four years of Bruce Rauner's governorship."
Lang says he doesn't want that. But, he says, it's possible.
Recently, Crain's Business News reporters posed that question to the governor. Is it possible for Illinois to go four years without a budget? Rauner said no; Illinois would rack up too large a deficit. So, they asked him: how long can we go?
GOV: "Nobody knows."
REPORTER: "I didn't think we could go this long."
GOV: laughs
REPORTER: "Honestly."
Most people didn't, Rauner replied.
