Rep. D'Amico Calls for Bipartisan Focus on State Budget, Protection of Essential Services

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. John D’Amico, D-Chicago, issued the following statement today after Governor Bruce Rauner’s Budget Address Wednesday:

“Governor Rauner’s budget address today clearly demonstrated that he has fallen out of touch with the hard-working people of Illinois. He has proposed a budget for Fiscal Year 2017 despite the fact that we still have not funded essential services for the current fiscal year. We have social service agencies closing their doors, at-risk women losing access to life-saving cancer screenings and college students dropping out of school because the governor refuses to compromise. We need to be focused on restoring vital social services, not playing politics with people’s lives.

“From the Mayfair neighborhood to the village of Niles, this community has felt the impact of the governor’s refusal to craft a responsible budget and instead focus on driving down wages and the standard of living for middle class families. We sent him a full spending plan, voted to freeze property taxes and supported a measure to reform workers compensations, but the governor has not met us halfway.

“I stand ready and willing to work with Governor Rauner and my colleagues to craft a responsible budget that protects funding for working families while eliminating perks for politicians and cutting wasteful government spending. We cannot balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable residents, and I will continue my fight to protect those vital services from dangerous cuts.”

# # #