Sen. Karen McConnaughay (R-Quincy) will look to Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), picked to be the next Senate Republican Leader, to take on his new responsibilities without missing a beat.
“I look forward to working with my colleague, Sen. Bill Brady, in his new role as Republican Leader," McConnaughay said. "At this critical juncture, I’m glad that we were able to swiftly vote in a new leader who could transition seamlessly into the role and ensure good-faith budget negotiations continue in earnest.”
Republicans unanimously chose Brady to replace Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) after Radogno announced her resignation from the Senate on Thursday.
Bill Brady
Brady takes over as the General Assembly is in its final hours of a special session called to negotiate a budget. Illinois faces the threat of another drop in its credit rating — to “junk” status — if it doesn’t have a budget in place by the start of the next fiscal year, which begins Saturday.
Brady said the daunting circumstances won’t stop the GOP from finding a solution for the state.
“The good news is I got a job and … that I got a great caucus behind me, as Leader Radogno had, that can help provide a real solution to the state,” Brady said. “There is a lot of important things that we need to get done that we’ve laid on the table. It’s my hope and prayer, frankly, that we can get that done in the next few hours to provide the relief and the plan that the people of Illinois need. Our caucus has been working day and night with their Democratic colleagues to get this plan done so that Illinois has something it can work to build on.”
Alerts Sign-up