Illinois Valley Times

The supposed olive branch offered by House Democrats was more like a carrot stick meant to lead Republicans back down a dark alley of fake compromise, Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) suggested recently.

“We need to call this what it is,” Demmer said. “It’s the House Democrats running out the clock on the legislative session, appearing to engage, only to pull back at the last minute and offer simply rehashed proposals in a take-it-or-leave-it fashion that ignores the input from House Republicans and ignores any opportunity that we’ve had over the past few weeks to work together.”

Demmer, joined by Reps. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) and Patti Bellock (R-Hinsdale), said House Democrats had employed similar methods in 2015 and 2016 when, after working on bipartisan budget agreements, they increased spending by $4 billion and $7 billion, respectively, at the last minute. 

Demmer called the reforms proposed by the House Democrats had already been rejected as being ineffective.

 “It’s disheartening to see this same playbook at play again with these reforms,” Demmer said. “We as House Republicans are here to say that’s not the direction we need to take. That path has failed in the past, and we don’t think it will be successful this time.”

The legislative session ends on May 31.