South Central Reporter

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville) feels he's been right all along in his drive to bring transparency to the budget process.

“We’ve just recently been notified about the problems within the budget,” Davidsmeyer said in a video posted to YouTube. “This reiterates the need, and I’ve been filing a bill for about five years now that requires the budget to be posted online for at least 72 hours prior to any vote. When I was on the Jacksonville Council we always had two votes. That allowed the general public to come in and see the budget.”

Davidsmeyer says it's past time that approach came to Springfield, arguing that not many of the numbers in this year’s $42 billion spending plan hold up under tight scrutiny.

Republican lawmakers point to a debt price tag of $3.4 billion and a separate $3 billion loan from the Federal Reserve that will soon be due.

“When a new speaker was elected, we were told there’s a new day in Illinois,” Davidsmeyer said. “Well, the new day is the same exact process. You can even change the people, but if the process doesn’t change it’s the same thing.”

Davidsmeyer argues there’s a good reason Democrats oppose the idea of transparency as staunchly as he insists they always have.  

“It’s not because they’re worried about the minority party, it’s that their own members may come up with reasons not to fully support bad budgets,” he said. “They didn’t have an open process and it’s actually ridiculous that we're sitting here having a discussion. And now they’re talking about having remote voting because their members can’t even show up to vote for the budget. It’s the number one job for the state legislature.”