Kankakee Times

Friday, April 23 was the final day for House bills to be voted on and sent to the Senate, and state Rep. Tom Bennett (R-Watseka) reflected on a productive session for his own bills, nine of which cleared the House and progressed to the Senate for consideration. 

In a video update from the Illinois House GOP last week, Bennett also expressed frustration about what was supposed to be a session that focused on bipartisanship. 

"This session began with a promise of more cooperation between the two parties, but it was pointed out last night that nearly six times as many Democrat-sponsored bills were called for votes as compared to Republican bills," Bennett said. "Republics were elected to represent almost 5 million Illinoisans, but our bills are being ignored, even those with bipartisan support.

"That doesn't seem like working together to me."

Bennett isn't the only House Republican frustrated with the Democrats this session; earlier this month the Pantagraph reported that other lawmakers including Rep. Amy Elkin (R-Alton), Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) and others are exasperated with what they see as Democrats'  unwillingness to focus on bipartisan solutions. 

In the article, House Speaker Welch's spokeswoman said that it is Republicans who have not worked across the aisle, accusing the GOP of wasting time on bills that were already rejected at the ballot box and ignoring Democrat bills "that will help build a better future for the people of this state."

Republicans negated that their platform does align with constituents' priorities: corruption, job creation, public safety and fiscal responsibility. 

The Democrats ignoring the need for ethics reform is one of the biggest frustrations for the GOP. The Pantagraph pointed out that the State Senate ethics committee has not met this year despite ethics reform a hot ticket item for many lawmakers in the wake of former House Speaker Madigan's scandal and resignation. 

"How many more cases of corruption need to be exposed before House Democrats act on ethics reform?" State Rep. David Welter said.