Schimpf speaks on 'grand bargain'

At this juncture in time, Paul Schimpf has been a state senator for almost a month, sworn in on Jan. 11 as part of the 100th General Assembly.

But the Republican Waterloo attorney and former Marine, who represents the state’s 58th District, is making the rounds this week and spoke to the Herald Tribune on a number of topics, including the cornucopia of legislation that’s been nicknamed the “grand bargain.”

The 58th Senate District includes all of Perry, Jefferson, Monroe and Randolph counties, and parts of St. Clair, Union, Jackson and Washington counties. The district represents an average of 217,400 people.

“I have not taken a position on this ‘grand bargain’ and there’s really two reasons that I haven’t,” Schimpf said. “First, the terms keep changing on a daily basis. The idea is that there are 13 bills that they all have to pass, but if they don’t all pass, none of them do.”

“I’m not sure I like that,” Schimpf continued. “There are some things I think are unpalatable and the negatives outweigh the positives.”

Senators left Springfield on Jan. 26 without voting on the package that could end the state’s two-year-old budget stalemate.

Senators, including Schimpf, are spending this week canvassing their districts and listening to their constituents before reconvening on Tuesday.

Before the senators left the capitol, Republican Leader Christine Radogno told them that the bills that make up the grand bargain were still going through revisions.

And those revisions have given Schimpf a reason to pause.

“You start out with a sugary beverage tax, that disappeared,” he said. “Supposedly, the minimum wage hike is disappearing. I heard (Tuesday) morning that they’re adding in a tax on Second Amendment rights.

“The terms keep fluctuating, so until we get a final package, I don’t know whether I’ll be able to support it or not.”

The Herald Tribune asked Schimpf a series of rapid-fire questions covering everything from his first weeks in Springfield, to the strike authorization vote by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, to the Chester Bridge replacement project.

Read the full interview in the Feb. 10 print edition of the Herald Tribune.