McLean County Times

Friday, April 23 marked the deadline for House Bills to be voted on and moved to the Senate, and state Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Watseka) said there is still lots of work to be done in these final weeks of the legislative session. 

In an update from the Illinois House GOP last week, Bennett said there was much to be done in the dusk of the legislative session. 

"[...] We still have a lot of work to do. We need real ethics reform and action to bring down the FOID card backlog, fix the unemployment system, help with property taxes and a whole lot more."

Bennett also talked about redistricting and the need to pass a balanced budget by the end of May.

"We're going to be busy over the next month," Bennett said. He isn't the only House Republican frustrated with the Democrats this session; earlier this month the Pantagraph reported that other lawmakers, including Rep. Amy Elkin (R-Alton), Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) and others are exasperated with what they call the Democrats' seeming unwillingness to focus on bipartisan solutions. 

In the article, House Speaker Chris Welch's spokeswoman said that it is Republicans who have not worked across the aisle, accusing the GOP of wasting time on bills that were already rejected at the ballot box and ignoring Democratic bills "that will help build a better future for the people of this state."

Republicans say that their platform aligns with constituents' priorities: corruption, job creation, public safety and fiscal responsibility. 

"How many more cases of corruption need to be exposed before House Democrats act on ethics reform?" state Rep. David Welter said.