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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Rauner To Cabinet: 'Get Ready' In Case Budget Is Not Finished by July 1

Flickr user 401(K) 2012 / "Money" (CC v. 2.0)

Governor Bruce Rauner met with members of his cabinet Wednesday. Rauner says the heads of state agencies should prepare for the “very real possibility” that Illinois won’t have a budget on time.

“I wish I could sit here and tell you, ‘We’ll get there for sure.’ I can’t say that,” Rauner said. “And so that puts pressure on all of you, and I apologize. … But we’ve got to prepare to run the government as best we can with the resources we have."

Democrats and some outside groups say, unless Illinois finds a way to increase tax revenue, it would have to make drastic cuts in services. But Rauner demanded lawmakers vote for his pro-business agenda before he’d consider a tax hike.

Rauner told officials to be ready for anything in case the budget isn’t ready by July 1.

“We’ll be asking each one of you to review in detail your operations, your departments, and get ready for the very real possibility that we are facing [a] cash crisis, and a major, major restructuring of the government," Rauner said.

Rauner’s comments come a day before the Illinois House is set to meet in Springfield for a rare summer session.

Speaker Michael Madigan says they’ll vote today on a set of changes to the worker’s compensation system. That’s a main part of Rauner’s agenda, but he says the House proposal is "not real reform."

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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