While all the political attention has been focused on Washington this week, the Illinois General assembly wrapped up a two day lame duck session, and Wednesday the new legislative session will begin. In the lame duck session, the two senate leaders floated a proposed budget bill. Kevin Semlow, Illinois Farm Bureau’s director of state legislation says the bill was kind of a trial balloon for an actual budget bill.

Meanwhile any budget bill needs to be signed by the Governor, and Semlow says that will only happen if the bill includes key provisions of Gov. Rauner’s ’Turn Around Agenda’.

Meanwhile, lacking a new budget, or an extension of additional emergency funding provisions, Higher Education and Social Service agencies contracting with the state continue to struggle without funding.