Illinois State Senator J. Bradley Burzynski and State Representative David Wirsing led a business roundtable Monday to review the state budget problems.

Members of the roundtable, a voluntary association of chief executive officers of Illinois’ leading businesses, invited the representatives to discuss policy and question goals of policy changes.

In the discussion, Wirsing said he recently convinced Blagojevich to shift the budget in order to add $100 million to state education funds and to take single-sales tax off the table.

Burzynski said there has been a lot of anti-business legislation passed lately, and once the economy picks up, everyone will be better off.

Illinois currently faces its largest budget deficit in history, $4.8 billion, and Burzynski believes that the Democrat-controlled General Assembly is pushing for a bloated budget.

In referring to the governor’s plan to change “business as usual in Springfield,” Wirsing said, “if you don’t understand Chicago politics, in the next four years you will.”

Wirsing said one of his main priorities is to help direct the governor with the budget.

Adding to these worries is the $2- to $3-million shortfall, which Wirsing said we can expect each year because of the new governor’s policy changes.

Bills like Illinois’ Prevailing Wage Act, which requires public bodies to meet certain prerequisites in the issuing of bids and the letting of contracts for construction projects, impact all of us, Burzynski said.

In an effort to alleviate further cuts from already deprived state interests, the state plans to sell tollway buildings.