Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been urging House Speaker Michael Madigan to attend a meeting about the state’s budget. Now a member of Madigan’s own Democratic caucus is joining that call.
Blagojevich says he wants to sit down with the four legislative leaders this week to find ways to erase a budget deficit the governor pegs at $2 billion.
This is the kind of meeting Speaker Madigan has skipped recently, so the governor’s sending the invitation through the press. Today he got some help from Representative Julie Hamos, a Democrat from Evanston.
HAMOS: I do wish that Speaker Madigan was more engaged now, as one of our key leaders in the state of Illinois. You know, we have some big issues that we did not resolve his year, and if Speaker Madigan is not at the table, they’re really never going to get resolved.
A spokesman for Madigan says the speaker plans to send representatives to the meeting with Blagojevich and other leaders. He says past meetings with the governor didn’t accomplish anything.