Southern Illinois Democrats blast a short-term state budget proposed by Governor Bruce Rauner for failing to fund vital services in the area.

Lawmakers have met in working groups for months, trying to agree on some sort of funding. The fiscal year ends at the end of this month.

Representatives John Bradley, and Brandon Phelps held a press conference in Herrin Thursday afternoon to address a stopgap budget.

Bradley and Phelps discussed Funding everything from schools to senior services to road construction.

Bradley said Rauner’s stopgap plan, which would fund most basic government operations through January, doesn’t include money for vital programs in southern Illinois, like the Anna Veterans Home or the Franklin County Juvenile Meth program.

The governor’s office disputes that claim, and said in a statement that the Anna Veterans Home is funded in the governor’s stopgap plan. 

In response to the Thursday press conference, Rauner’s office said that

If they truly cared about Southern Illinois, they would be pushing the Democratic super majority to vote for this stopgap because of its benefits to the region like ensuring the millions of dollars it receives in road projects continue, ensuring the vendors at our prisons and the Anna Veterans’ Home receive payment, and ensuring that vital social services like child care continue