With the State of Illinois sorely in need of a budget, it’s essential for Democrats in the legislator and Gov. Bruce Rauner to find common ground. Unfortunately, it appears he is determined to obstruct any good-government measure that isn’t attached to his political agenda.

The latest example is automatic voter registration, a sensible cost-savings measure that many Republicans backed – until the governor decided they shouldn't.

The concept of automatic voter registration is simple. Eligible voters would be automatically registered to vote when they conduct business with certain state government agencies, such as the secretary of state to renew a driver’s license. People can choose not to be registered, and there are safeguards to protect against fraud.

Essentially, automatic registration creates a convenient opt-out system for voters, rather than the more burdensome opt-in system that most states, including Illinois, currently have. This reform would have enabled us to curb redundant government paperwork, clean up the voter rolls and enable taxpayers to save time and money.

In fact, automatic registration is such a good idea in this fast-paced, technology-driven age that five other states have adopted it, most recently Republican-leaning Alaska, and more are considering it.

Read more: Things are stuck in Springfield. Here's why.

Senator Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) issued the following statement today following the state Senate’s vote to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of automatic voter registration in Illinois:

“Automatic voter registration is an issue that brought Democrats and Republicans together in the Illinois Legislature in the spring, and it continues to generate bipartisan support all over the country – Alaska being the most recent example.

“I was pleased to join my Senate colleagues in overriding the governor’s misguided veto of this important and sensible legislation. I hope lawmakers in the House will do the same.

“Every day that we carry on with our current, duplicative method of registering voters is another day that taxpayers foot the bill for unnecessary government bureaucracy. Senate Bill 250 has been thoroughly vetted, it makes sense and it should be the law in Illinois.”

Senate Bill 250, the automatic voter registration bill, garnered bipartisan support in both houses of the Legislature in the spring but was vetoed during the summer by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

With so much attention focused on the past week's alarming national events, I want to take a moment to update you about developments in Springfield and to assure you that Illinois' pressing financial problems have not been forgotten.

State lawmakers will return to the Capitol this week to consider overriding some of the governor's vetoes of legislation we passed earlier this year.

But that's not the most important matter awaiting our attention. The six-month stopgap budget that we passed in June mostly runs out on Dec. 31. The stopgap spending plan for elementary and secondary schools covers the entire fiscal year, but essentially the rest of the measure was temporary and only guaranteed funding for state operations through the end of 2016 (and, by the way, much of this funding is wholly inadequate even for this calendar year).

If we enter 2017 without another plan in place, Illinois' universities, community colleges, human service providers, businesses and others will face renewed uncertainty, the state's mountain of debt will climb higher and our reputation likely will be further damaged. This is particularly alarming given the deterioration that all these entities have experienced during the long, grueling 18 months we've endured without a proper budget.

Illinois has been in turmoil for a year and a half, and it's not clear that we're any closer to a resolution than we were when the governor took office nearly two years ago.

The uncertainty has to stop. The unnecessary and self-inflicted wounds we're subjecting our social safety net and higher education system to are not only cruel, they are also likely to have extremely long-term negative consequences.

State leaders can’t address any of that until we start working together to find a different path forward. We need a responsible, long-term plan for spending and revenue that fuels the state’s economic engine without targeting working families and the social safety net. The governor has to set aside his radical anti-union agenda if he wants to move forward, and Democrats must come to the table in a spirit of cooperation on the fiscal issues that matter and will make a difference for the state.

My message to the governor is simple: "Let’s work it out. I'm willing to compromise where it's consistent with my basic principles — and you should do the same. We probably won't be able to convince each other on your union-busting agenda, and just as I respect your right to your opinion I hope you respect mine. In the meantime, to move our state out of this mess, let's find the areas where there's a chance at an agreement and tackle those first."

I'll keep you posted.

On Sunday, President-Elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of white nationalist Stephen Bannon as a senior adviser in his administration. Bannon is considered to be an extremist who peddles racist viewpoints, anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic writings, misogyny, xenophobia and other divisive rhetoric.

Today, Senator Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) issued the following statement condemning Trump’s choice and calling on others to urge the president-elect to withdraw the appointment:

“The White House is no place for bigots. I am outraged and deeply troubled by the president-elect’s choice of Stephen Bannon as a top adviser. This man has made it his mission to fan the flames of hatred, bigotry, sexism and intolerance in our country, and now he’s being rewarded with the ear of the leader of the free world.

“Bannon’s appointment is an insult to the people of this nation, to our ongoing struggle for civil rights and to the values held by Americans of both political parties. I enthusiastically support the right of the president-elect to assemble an administration that reflects his policy priorities, whether or not I agree with those policies. However, we must draw the line when it comes to bigotry.

“I am calling on him to withdraw the appointment and to do everything within his power to unite the country and to quell the racially charged attacks that have spiked since his election last week. I hope Democrats and Republicans in Illinois and across our country will join me in that call.”

Bannon is the former editor of Breitbart News, an alt-right website that, under his leadership, promoted material encouraging hate and intolerance.

For example, postings on the site labeled former Congresswoman and assassination survivor Gabby Giffords “the gun control movement’s human shield” and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol a “renegade Jew.” In the aftermath of a mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Breitbart published a piece titled, “Hoist it high and proud: the confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.” Another headline asked, “Would you rather your child had feminism or cancer?”

Bannon also hosted a SiriusXM radio show during which he interviewed numerous anti-Muslim extremists and promoted Islamophobia. A former Brietbart employee called Bannon a “legitimately sinister figure.”