Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the legislative leaders went half a year without all getting together.
They met Thursday for the third time in as many weeks, but a major player was missing.
Five months into Illinois' budget impasse, top Republican lawmakers reported small progress out of a meeting Thursday with the governor and the Democratic Senate President.
But House GOP Leader Jim Durkin expressed disappointment that the Democratic Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, wasn't there.
"We were missing the Speaker. But the fact is, as long as we're continue to meet, it seems like we talk a little bit more and we get a little bit more into details,” Durkin said. “So I think that's healthy."
Durkin says they talked about pensions, workers' compensation, revising how lawmakers' districts are drawn, legislative term limits and how schools are funded. He says the burgeoning Illinois deficit didn't come up.
The private meeting in the governor's office lasted an hour and 40 minutes. Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno also says it was a good meeting.
"We are still talking about the same issues we've been talking about," she said. "We'll be digging in a little deeper on pensions and workers' comp. We also talked about redistricting reform, term limits."
That concerned House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
"The fact is, we're not going to move this along unless we're all are fully participating and actively involved in these negotiations," Durkin said. "We're four of us, we had a good discussion. But we're not going to get any further down the road unless we have everyone in this room."
Madigan spokesman Steve Brown says the longtime Democratic leader had a "conflict in scheduling." He wouldn't specify what that conflict was.
Brown defended Madigan’s absence, saying the speaker has been “fully involved” in budget discussions. He said the governor was notified in advance that Madigan would not be able to attend the meeting, but Brown couldn’t say when the notification occurred.
Rauner and Cullerton didn’t comment after the meeting in Chicago.
Cullerton spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said the senator was “encouraged by the fact there was a robust discussion on school funding reform.”
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.