McHenry Times

Children throughout the state should not be subjected to the bickering and lack of bipartisanship of adults, Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) said.

"Last week a local school superintendent gave me the complete list of what the state owes his district,” Skillicorn wrote on his Facebook page. “Currently K-12 education is appropriated by the legislature, but the state has so little cash flow even appropriated expenses are months and months behind. We need a balanced budget now! I'm sick and tired of the games, fluff, and partisan tricks being played at the expense of our communities."

An Illinois Review regarding Skillicorn and the financial woes of K-12 institutions said that while they have not faced as many hardships as public higher education institutions, they have not received state-mandated payments in seven months. By April, K-12 schools throughout the state should have received three payments, but they are now part of the state’s growing list of outstanding bills.

“K-12 education, higher education and social services need urgent, real solutions, not another stopgap that keeps growing Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills," Skillicorn said, according to the article. "Continuing to spend more money than the state takes in will just grow the problem more in the long run. I urge the speaker to work with both Republicans and Democrats to pass a comprehensive balanced budget immediately.”