Gov. Rauner Calls Special Session Ahead Of Deadline, Touts 'Compromise' Budget

By Mae Rice in News on Jun 15, 2017 8:00PM

Gov. Bruce Rauner has presided over a state with no budget for almost two years, and on Thursday, he decided it might be time to address that. In a Facebook video and statement, he called for a special, 10-day legislative session, during which the state legislature can hopefully pass a "compromise" budget before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

The session will start on June 21, and end when the fiscal year does: June 30.

Here's Rauner's Facebook video, in which he announces the special session:

"We have tough, urgent choices to make," Rauner says in the video above.

He also says of the compromise budget plan, somewhat defensively, "It's real."

The state of Illinois has been without a full budget since July 1, 2015. This has wreaked havoc on everything from school funding to Illinois' bond rating to, just today, roadwork and casual gambling. Yet the legislature left their spring session at the end of May as they end all of their sessions these days: by not passing a budget.