The Illinois Senate is expected to continue its work on the so-called "Grand Bargain" this week - and many fear this is the last, best hope for a spending plan.
SIU President Randy Dunn tells WSIU's Jennifer Fuller that without passage of the bipartisan package of bills, the state may go two more years without a full budget.
"I have great concerns that if that doesn't come to pass - that if we can't get a budget out of the Senate that has some level of bipartisan support - we may go for another two years without any budget."
And that, in his words, would be "bad."
"We would have to see some sort of stop-gap payment, somewhere along the way. We're really working with other universities to build support for that '17 budget. It would also get us fairly close to a 'normal' budget if you look back to the last time we had one."
The "Grand Bargain" package of bills, pending in the Senate, would increase the income tax, freeze property taxes temporarily, bring a casino license to Williamson County for Walker's Bluff, and provide funding for agencies and organizations that have relied only on stop-gap funding for more than a year.
