Illinois Should Stop Passing 3,000-Page Budgets Sight Unseen

For at least the past several years, in the middle of the night on the last day of the legislative session, Illinois lawmakers have been asked to vote on budgets of over 3,000 pages mere hours after first seeing them. With more than $56 billion in play, you'd think there'd be a better process in place. Instead, Illinois' budgeting leaves lawmakers and taxpayers in the dark. Year after year, the state bypasses basic steps to ensure transparency and accountability. Illinois needs a more responsibl