Gov's aide says Blagojevich focused on budget, not verdict
The elephant could have been in the room, but no one heard its trumpet.
Tony Rezko's name never surfaced when Gov. Blagojevich met with legislative leaders Thursday trying to find a budget compromise.
(AP/Sun-Times)
"Certainly not," House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) said when asked if the discussion ever veered toward the former gubernatorial confidante and fund-raiser's conviction Wednesday on corruption charges.
"Certainly it's a problem, and it's one that's concerning to all of us," Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson (R-Greenville) said.
But the more pressing matter, legislative leaders said, was the budget.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff suggested that the governor wasn't distracted by Wednesday's guilty verdict and instead is focused on doing his job.
The Blagojevich administration estimates there's a $2.1 billion shortfall in the proposed budget passed by the Legislature. The governor is proposing a $34 billion capital plan that has stalled in the House.
Watson said there was more "finger-pointing and more dysfunction" during the nearly two-hour meeting Thursday at the Thompson Center.
Currie, sent as a representative of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), said it's up to the governor to manage the budget.
"We think he's manufacturing a crisis," she said.
The group plans to meet again Wednesday.