Guest Speaker: Rep. Bob Pritchard

State Rep. Bob Pritchard says the focus of the General Assembly is turning to the fall election, and the drive to gain a super-majority; thus, the state's long-running budget stalemate will be going on the back burner for a while.

Pritchard spoke to the Sycamore Rotary Club on the State of the State during its July 27th meeting. He says there's little to no movement on either a long-term budget plan, or a second stopgap measure to keep the state going beyond January 1st. Illinois has been operating without a budget for more than a year, due to the standoff between Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic legislative leaders; a six-month stopgap budget was enacted just before the end of June.

Pritchard says the state still faces an $8 billion backlog of bills, along with an ever-expanding deficit and increasing pressure on the many agencies which rely on state funding.

Returning exchange student Gracia Watson was unable to attend this meeting; her presentation has been rescheduled for August. We thank Rep. Pritchard for stepping in at the last minute as our guest speaker.