Bipartisanship was practically oozing at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Thursday.
House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) tweaked chamber president / CEO Todd Maisch just a little.
“I want to remind folks I distinctly remember Yodd offering some praise for the work that we did on our state budget, getting our fiscal house back in order,” Welch said, “and I gotta tell you – if this guy’s impressed, I know we did something special.”
Acknowledging that, Maisch said, “This is the most responsible budget “I’ve seen in twenty-some years – now, it was funded a little bit by the Biden bucks, I will say that – but we paid down bills and, hopefully, we will keep that up – Speaker?”
Maisch also pointed to the infrequent endorsement of a Democrat running for election: incumbent Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
“Evidently, some people paid attention to that,” Maisch added.
Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) added that after the Nov. 8 election, everyone will be together at the Capitol working on constitutents’ needs – including the needs of Chamber members.