SPRINGFIELD – Democrats again delayed working to fix the state’s broken budget and instead chose to increase the state’s deficit, according to State Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford).

“We already can’t pay our human service providers, and our budget backlog just passed $10 billion dollars,” said Senator Syverson. “Instead of working with us to try to balance our budget, Democrats are just adding more bills to the pile.”

Democrat leaders began the first week of the fall veto session by skipping a budget meeting put together by the Governor. House Speaker Mike Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton attended the next two, but Madigan attempted to take a step back by restarting the process.

Meanwhile, the Comptroller’s office noted that Illinois’ bill backlog had grown to more than $10 billion, and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget released data showing that the FY17 budget would be $5.3 billion out of balance without further action.

Democrats responded by overriding a veto on a childcare bill, with a projected cost of $30 million per year. A second veto override on a home service bill would add $86 million in spending per year.

 “Democrats have added more than a $100 million in bills while stalling any attempts to fix the budget,” said Senator Syverson. “We have one more week of veto session scheduled. There is still time for Democrats to come back to the table and be reasonable, but they have to stop making empty promises that the state can’t cover.”