9:52 AM
Thursday evening was a great time in Orion. The festivities started at St. Paul's Lutheran Church where they were serving up some great food. The lighted parade started at dark and what a gathering! I had quite a time meeting many people and sharing some candy with some fantastic kids. I saw an "old friend" along the way. He is Adam Browning from Andover, who is quite a parade goer since he was at the Colona Memorial Day Weekend Parade on May 25.
On a serious note, Adam represents our future and we can't leave that behind or saddle his generation with more unmanageable debt. But that is precisely happening with Illinois government today. A pension liability worth $44 billion and unpaid Medicaid bills worth $1.7 billion. Legislators go back in special session July 9 & 10 to hammer out the unbalanced budget and perhaps bring forth a capital works plan.
Can lawmakers find compromise to solve these pressing problems? If they don't, state government could shut down. I'll keep you posted!