IL House Dems Urge Budget Meeting with Governor

Top Illinois House Democrats are publicly asking Gov. Bruce Rauner why the Republican won't meet with them on state budget matters with just two weeks left in the spring legislative session.

House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie of Chicago and three other Democrats wrote Rauner last week offering to discuss an agreement on Illinois' first annual budget since 2015.

Currie told reporters Tuesday she's not received a response. She notes that House Democrats are willing to discuss Rauner's demands for workers' compensation restrictions and a property-tax freeze. Rauner has demanded those and other changes before agreeing to a budget plan since 2015.

Currie says Democrats have their own ideas too.

Rauner said at a separate event that Democrats are trying to "create a distraction" to the Senate's attempts at compromise.