Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, has been one of his party’s main budget negotiators as the two sides look to make a deal. Over the past few months, Righter said he has seen people from both sides of the aisle do their part to reach an agreement, adding the Republicans are not willing to walk away.

“Republicans are going to stay at the negotiation table,” he said.

He and Rose both emphasized that they will not sign off on a bill just to pass one, echoing Rauner’s sentiment that ‘a bad deal is worse than no deal.’

On the other side, Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said Democrats have been willing to move on items like term limits on leadership, a property tax freeze, and workers compensation reform, and it is time for the Republicans to decide whether they want to join the Democrats in approving a budget.

“One way or the other, the Senate Democrats are going to pass a balanced budget prior to May 31, whether that is with Republican agreement is still to be determined,” Manar said. “We’ve bent over backwards, we have sought compromise and middle ground time and again. We’ve made upwards of 58 specific changes to bills at their request over the past five months, but Republicans keep wanting to delay, delay, delay.”