MARION - Neither Gov. Rod Blagojevich nor state Rep. John Bradley were in attendance Tuesday afternoon at the Williamson County Regional Airport, where Illinois Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary David Phelps hosted a press conference.

One chose not to be there; the other was not invited.

Officially, Phelps was speaking on behalf of the governor. He urged legislators to put differences aside and make sure education and health care needs of Illinoisans are met first and foremost.

Unofficially, the conference appeared to be a preemptive strike on the governor's part directed at Bradley, a Marion Democrat who is hosting a regional budget hearing at 7 p.m. tonight at John A. Logan College in Carterville, where residents can explain how important it is that the governor's veto of the state budget be overridden.

Phelps said Bradley was not invited to Tuesday's conference because he had chosen to host his own public forum. State Sens. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, and John Jones, R-Mount Vernon, will also attend Bradley's forum.

"Any representative who accuses someone of being political (referencing the governor's budget cuts) is being political himself," Phelps said.

While the oft-repeated mantra at the press conference was that working together can help solve differences of opinion, the opposite appeared to be in effect. How else would one explain the fact that Bradley was not invited to a press conference held in his own district by members of his own party?

Meanwhile, Phelps emphasized that state spending should be focused on education, health care and infrastructure. He urged legislators to find new revenue to fund projects in their districts rather than threatening to cut money for education or health care, or raise taxes.

"Governor Blagojevich was presented with a budget that neglects one of the biggest problems facing working families all over Illinois - access to affordable healthcare," Phelps said. "The governor used his authority to cut spending we don't need or can't afford so that we can make sure we're meeting our obligation to help people get health care.

"Some of the projects that he cut were frivolous and didn't belong in a state budget. Others served a good purpose and would be worthwhile if funds were available after our core priorities are met."

Phelps said the budget that was passed does not include enough money to meet those priorities and pay for all the special projects.

"If lawmakers want to identify new funding to pay for the projects and they can do it without raising taxes on people, we would be happy to work with them. In the meantime, our focus should be on meeting our priorities. That means ensuring people who need health care can get it and passing the budget implementation bill so schools throughout Illinois receive the funding increase they are counting on."

john.homan@thesouthern.com

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