SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (KWQC) – Illinois lawmakers are advancing budget legislation without disclosing what the budget will include.

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon said Thursday night that his chamber received a house bill with an appropriations title.

“We are reciprocating [Thursday] by sending an appropriation title back to the house and we’ll negotiate with the house on passage of a final budget,” Harmon said.

Harmon called the bill a vehicle with no content.

State Senator Li Arellano is the former mayor of Dixon, Illinois. He said transparency matters.

“It’s impossible, impossible to have input if there is this short of notice. This would not be legally acceptable at a municipality. So my critique going forward is we have to find a way where transparency is a part of the process,” Li Arellano said.

The shell bill, SB 2510, passed by a vote of 31 to 19.

The General Assembly’s legislative session is scheduled to end Saturday.

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