ROCKFORD - It's an old expression: hard work pays off.  However if you do no work, should you still get paid?  Some house republican leaders say if our nation's leaders can't reach a deal on the budget that our representation in Washingtonshouldn't get paid.  They've laid the platform for a debt-ceiling extension with that caveat that democrats come to an agreeance on the nation's budget.  House republicans plan to introduce the legislation next week.

"It's a sad state of affairs if the only way that you can get the United States Congress today to do something is to threaten to take money out of their wallet," said Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada.  Heller is the author of the "No Budget, No Pay" bill that originally surfaced in the house back in 2011.  The bill sheds a sad light on the political indifference in Washington, and Stateliners agree it's something we should seriously consider.

"They're not doing what we need them to do even though we elected them into office," said Cheryl Schmidt expressing her support for the bill.

Carla Shewmon says her husband might lose his job if the Belvidere School districtdoesn't balance their budget. 

"Let them see what it's like to go without getting money like a lot of us other people are doing," said Shewmon.

Chester Zapatka is a maintenance man and says he doesn't get paid when he doesn't work.

"If they're not doing their job they shouldn't get paid either," said Zapatka.

The "No Budget, No Pay" bill stems from the organization called No Labels, a bipartisan group urging today's politicians to put party differences aside.  On Friday, House Speaker John Boehner (R) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) announced their support for the plan.  Representative Adam Kinzinger (R) is a member of the No Labels organization and he says he's throwing his support behind, "No Budget, No Pay," too.

"I wish we never had to go to this kind of length but again over the last four years we haven't been able to get a budget out of the Senate and that's required by law," said Rep. Kinzinger. 

"Every year you're supposed to produce a budget on April 15^th, so I think we have to take an unfortunately drastic step in order to try and guarantee that the Senate actually does its job."

Since Representative Cheri Bustos (D) is a newcomer to Congress, she isn't familiar with the "No Budget, No Pay," proposal, however she did release this statement:

"Like middle class families do across our region, I believe that Congress needs to do its job by passing a budget and living within it.  That's what I support a 10% pay cut for members of Congress and no pay raises until lawmakers get their act together and pass a budget."

If the "No Budget, No Pay" measure were to pass, the nation's debt deadline would change from mid-February to mid-April, giving legislators more time to prevent default on America's loans and pass a balanced budget.