By Will Stevenson
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Museum and its satellite locations may be making a comeback.
The bill approved by a supermajority in the legislature this week said, like the State Fair, there “shall” be a state museum and it “shall” be open. But co-sponsor, State Rep. Tim Butler (R-Springfield), said there’s no money attached to it. So, what does that mean?
“I think it just underscores the fact that we do need a budget,” said Butler. “At the end of the day, a lot of these programs are going to be able to continue once we have a budget in place. That’s why we need to get a budget deal done.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner closed the state museum a month and a half ago because there isn’t a budget deal, but the museum’s employees are still on the job.
Butler said beyond a budget needing to be passed, the museum needs to look at its own finances a different way.
“I think the museum, and the folks who are interested in the museum, realize that they need to change their business model a little bit moving forward. “We need to look at more private money coming in. They need to look at charging an admission fee, which they currently have not done.”
Butler said he doesn’t know how Rauner will react to this measure, but says he hopes it will get signed.
