Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is likely to have disagreements with the new Governor Bruce Rauner. Madigan is a Democrat and Rauner a Republican.
But following the Governor's State of the State Address, the Speaker says he and Rauner are on the same page when it comes to limits on spending:
"You may remember at the beginning of the Blagojevich Administration, I may have been the only Democrat in Illinois preaching fiscal austerity," Madigan said. "Blagojevich didn't agree with me and I was generally criticized by the media for opposing the governor. 12 years ago I was preaching fiscal austerity and I think that's what we ought to do."
Rauner will lay out his budget plan for the next fiscal year later this month.
Madigan says the first priority should be to focus on the current budget, which faces a deficit made worse by the expiration of an income tax increase.
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