By Jennifer Fuller
Carbondale, IL – IT MAY NOT BE PERFECT, BUT THE WAY CAPITAL SPENDING BUDGET WERE CRAFTED IN YEARS PAST WORKS TO GET THINGS DONE... ACCORDING TO ONE LOCAL POLITICAL ANALYST.
JOHN JACKSON WITH THE PAUL SIMON PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE ADMITS THERE IS A STRONG LACK OF TRUST BETWEEN ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS AND GOVERNOR ROD BLAGOJEVICH.
JACKSON SAYS WITHOUT A GUARANTEE THAT THEY CAN GO BACK TO THEIR DISTRICTS WITH ROAD AND BUILDING PROJECTS, LEGISLATORS ARE RELUCTANT TO PASS A MAJOR CONSTRUCTION BILL.
WHILE NEARLY ALL STATE LAWMAKERS SAY THEY SUPPORT A CAPITAL BILL IN THEORY, MANY SAY THEY HAVE TROUBLE AGREEING TO THE FUNDING MECHANISM IN THE CURRENT BILL... AND ALSO DON'T TRUST THE GOVERNOR TO RELEASE THE FUNDING FOR PROJECTS IN THEIR SPECIFIC DISTRICTS.
THE GOVERNOR SAYS HE'D LIKE TO HAVE A CAPITAL PLAN ALONG WITH A BALANCED OPERATING BUDGET WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS... BUT SAYS HE'S BECOMING LESS OPTIMISTIC SUCH A COMPROMISE CAN BE REACHED.
