State Rep. Candidate Katherine Ruocco's Petition to Send House Representatives Back to Work

With more than two-thirds of fiscal 2016 having passed with the state lacking an overall budget, and as of this month, Illinois’ unpaid bills at $7.3 billion (according to the state comptroller’s office), our Illinois State House of Representatives has decided to take a four-week Spring Break.

A motion was made to bring the House back in session however, the Chicago Democrat leadership ignored the motion and House rules by adjourning session business until the House returns to work on April 4.

Despite the budget impasse, the Illinois House was only scheduled to be in session a handful of days prior to the upcoming primary election. The session schedule in Illinois is set at the sole discretion of the leader of the respective chambers, and was selected by House Speaker Michael Madigan who is heavily engaged in primaries throughout Illinois. By contrast, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton scheduled session throughout the month of March.

With over $7 billion of unpaid bills, and the most vulnerable and higher education and many social services having gone largely without, these legislators have shown no sense of urgency for putting their duties to Illinois citizens above their personal agenda. Our State Representative and the legislature controlled by Chicago Democrats should have joined their colleagues in urging Speaker Madigan to stay in session until a budget compromise is reached.

We, the undersigned, stand with State Rep. Candidate Katherine Ruocco to oppose the Illinois State House of Representatives Spring Break and demand they immediately return to Springfield and do the important work that they were elected for and are being paid to do.