State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) released the following statement Senate Democrats called four budget package bills for votes:

“These bills aren’t ready yet, and because they are all tied together, we need to make sure if everything is right before we take action,” said Sen. Syverson. “As an example, the local government consolidation bill doesn’t allow any consolidation for elected units of government, and it doesn’t allow a popular vote to place consolidation on the ballot. That in essence takes weakens the power of the people, while putting the entire power to consolidate in the hands of the very boards and commissions who created the superfluous units of government in the first place. That bill isn’t ready, and the whole package isn’t ready. A real compromise is close, but acting too soon in haste threatens to undermine the entire effort. I hope we will now be able to spend more time negotiating instead of wasting time voting on bills that aren’t finished.”