Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – It was a tale of two states Wednesday, when the four legislative leaders – one at a time – addressed members of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce at a conference in Springfield.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (pictured, upper right) (R-Savanna) says she was optimistic about working with House Speaker Chris Welch (pictured, lower right) (D-Hillside) – at first. “Trust until you can’t trust, right?” said McCombie. “I said, I’m going to go meet with the speaker every week, and Kum ba ya, and we’re going to pass a budget. That didn’t work out real well. This year we are going a little differently. I’m not going to put that much effort into it with him.”

Welch has made “The Infinite Game” his theme for 2024, saying, “I can guarantee you there will be a 71st speaker, there will be another Black speaker. Illinois will go on for another 200-plus years.

“It’ll go on infinitely, into perpetuity.”

Senate President Don Harmon (pictured, lower left) (D-Oak Park), saying state government should be boring (“I want it to model itself after me!”) and get out of the way, praised Gov. JB Pritzker’s cheerleading for Illinois, but Senate Minority Leader John Curran (pictured, upper left) (R-Downers Grove) said Democrats are messing everything up: “The recent announcement that a large (Quaker Oats) plant in Danville will be closing its doors, resulting in more than 500 lost jobs in an area of the state that has a higher than average unemployment rate already, is a prime example of how we have to do a better job of taking care of our current employers here.”

Curran said Republican-dominated states enjoy great involvement from the business community, and it’s time for Illinois businesses to step up.