Will County Gazette

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) is asking Will and Kendall county residents to speak their minds on pressing issues via an online survey.

The 13-question poll, available at repbatinick.com, covers issues such as property taxes, the state budget, government reforms and the minimum wage.

On his website, Batinick says he will use the feedback to help him represent his constituents during sessions of the Illinois General Assembly.

“All of the issues covered in the survey have been considered by the state legislature in the past and are likely to be again in 2017,” Batinick told the Will County Gazette. “Your feedback helps me to know where residents of our district stand on a wide range of policy questions of concern to Illinois families and taxpayers.”

Constituents with questions or concerns outside the range of those in the survey may sign into the “Contact” page of the website, which can be found directly above the survey link on the homepage.

The last several months have been a busy time for Batinick, who recently rejected the notion of a “grand bargain” and proposed a simpler solution to the state’s longstanding budget crisis.

“Any new budget idea should start with the money that we have coming in and do a baseline budget based on that,” he said.

Batinick said his plan really isn’t a budget proposal as much as a common-sense approach for ending the 18-month stalemate that has largely paralyzed the state and left the region billions of dollars in debt.

“It would give everybody a reality of where we are,” he said.

The “grand bargain” budget is in limbo as of Monday, with the House and Senate expected to take it back up on Tuesday.

Some estimates peg Illinois to bring in approximately $44 billion in fiscal year 2017, but early projections have the state on the hook for much more in spending.

Two reasons Batinick does not approve of the current proposal is that it includes billions more in borrowing and a requirement that employees pay more into their pension plans.

“So many of us (in Springfield) are worried about keeping our job or getting our next job that nobody’s doing their job,” he said.