SPRINGFIELD – Over the course of a week, Illinois Senate committees asked more than a dozen of Governor Rauner’s cabinet directors to identify budget cuts to reduce the $5 billion budget hole proposed by the governor earlier this year.

At the end of the week, Rauner’s administration was unable to identify a single dollar in savings.

“The Rauner administration failed to provide the Senate any budget cuts nor did he provide his staff with any direction on cuts to help resolve this two-year budget impasse,” said Laura Murphy, a Des Plaines Democrat.

Previously, the Senate had constructed a budget and reform package containing a dozen proposals. After nearly half the proposal passed the Senate with bipartisan support, the governor threatened Republican members of the Senate with political retribution if they supported the remainder of the package, effectively killing the deal.

“Roughly $11 million is added to the budget deficit every day the state is without a budget,” Murphy said. “It’s past time for the governor to demonstrate some leadership and join us in negotiating a balanced budget that protects our most vulnerable citizens.”