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State Senate GOP Leader Will Step Down Due To Budget Stalemate

"House Chamber" by Flickr User |=_=| / (CC x. 2.0)

The two-year Illinois state budget mess has prompted the Senate minority leader to call it quits.

Lemont Republican Sen. Christine Radogno is the first woman to lead a caucus of the Illinois General Assembly. She issued a statement Thursday that she will step down as senator on Saturday.

The 64-year-old Radogno said, "I have done everything I can do to resolve the state's budget crisis.''

She worked with Senate President John Cullerton to fashion a wide-ranging budget compromise to break the long-running stalemate with GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner. But she could not convince her 21 other Republican senators to vote for key parts of it.

Radogno is a social worker who was elected to the Senate in 1996. She and Cullerton took leadership of their respective caucuses the same day in 2009.

Rauner issued a statement following Radogno's announcement. “It's been an honor and a privilege to work alongside Leader Radogno these last two years as we continue to try to improve the lives of the people of Illinois," he said. "She is a consummate professional and public servant who has championed fiscal responsibility and human services that help our most vulnerable residents.”

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