Rauschenberger and Kay Seek Sunshine on Budget Process

Last week the Illinois House approved over two dozen budget bills spending more than $50 billion in taxpayer dollars.  The $50 billion dollar spending spree was crafted behind closed doors by Democratic leadership in Springfield.  The massive spending of taxpayer dollars was made public just a few hours, and in some instances just minutes before the massive spending was approved.

Illinois budget expert and former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger thinks the recent budget approach is bad public policy which is why he joined Republican candidate for State Representative Dwight Kay in calling for more sunshine on the state budget process.

Kay and Rauschenberger are supporting a legislative initiative that would require a 3 day review period before the General Assembly can vote on the state budget.  The legislation would also require that all appropriation bills be posted on the Illinois General Assembly website 3 days prior to a vote.

“These backroom deals have accomplished nothing more than wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars,” said Kay.  “Illinois’ debt is over $106 billion and counting.  The state is broke, yet politicians in Springfield continue to spend money the state doesn’t have.  The legislature makes a decision to pass a multi-billion dollar budget quicker then most citizens decide which car to buy.”

According to Rauschenberger, the change would allow greater scrutiny of the budget by the public and media, but also lawmakers themselves.

“What you saw happen last Thursday was Republican lawmakers being presented with thousands of pages of spending bills moments before the vote,” said former State Senator Steve Rauschenberger.  “There is no time to even add up the total cost of the Democrat proposals, let alone see if there is wasteful or duplicative spending.  Quite simply, the system is broken.”

According to Dwight Kay, the public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.  “In the business world a budget would not be approved without careful consideration and reviewing the facts at hand.  Allowing the public to give input on how their tax dollars are spent would deter wasteful spending by Springfield politicians.  We need to shed some light on the budget process.”

Rauschenberger said the need for such legislation has never been greater, citing last year’s unbalanced budget that is projected to be over $2 billion out-of-balance and the recently passed House Democrat budget that is estimated at $3 billion out-of-balance.

“Greater transparency will yield greater results for the taxpayers of Illinois. All we are asking for is legislators to take their time and do the job right and allow for public input,” said Rauschenberger.