Democrats said the governor’s conditions have nothing to do with the budget.
Advertisement
“I firmly hope that right now we’ve hit the bottom, that this is the low point” for Illinois, Gov. Rauner said. It’s hard to say what could have happened. Franks is leaving the House to run for McHenry County Board chairman. He says there were no “profiles in courage” on Thursday.
The talks come as lawmakers and the governor face increasing public pressure to end the impasse. Charles, and Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods – joined a unanimous Senate vote to approve the stopgap budget.
Today in Springfield, the General Assembly got back to work.
Democrats said the deal will provide big benefits for Chicago.
Chicago will get some relief on pension payments for teachers.
Democratic state Senate President John Cullerton said Wednesday morning that offers and counteroffers have been exchanged.
The compromise omnibus bill had the support of legislative leaders and Governor Bruce Rauner. Schools will get just more than $11 billion to stay open for a full year.
The stopgap budget also means that road construction projects, plans to modernize and extend the CTA Red Line, university education and health and human services that were in jeopardy will receive funding.
While Republicans and Democrats agreed that more money should be spent on elementary and secondary education next school year, how much more – and how much of that would go to Chicago Public Schools – was a major roadblock. The House approved it 105-4.
But even with the new money, many services are still coming up short.
No school district loses money compared with the current year. Bills that passed both chambers would pave the way for a possible $250 million Chicago property tax increase and a one-time $205 million state contribution for CPS pensions.
Rauner and legislative leaders held marathon meetings earlier this week which led to a package of bills that were passed in bipartisan votes. The bill also freezes lawmaker pay and per diems for another year and extends online lottery sales.
IL lawmakers were moved to compromise on a stopgap budget after a year-and-a-half stalemate by a powerful force: a high-stakes November election and a voting public one legislator described as near “revolt”. About $1 billion would be funneled to the state’s higher education system, with about $655 million going to the nine state universities, $114 million going to community colleges including City Colleges of Chicago, and $151 million to cover tuition grants for low-income students that were promised past year but never paid.
Advertisement
The budget includes $500 million more to schools and fund critical state services into January. About a dozen IL newspapers used their front pages Wednesday to publish editorials demanding that the two sides strike a deal and stop the bickering that has led to layoffs at colleges and forced social service providers to close their doors or make cuts. This unprecedented organized effort by so many disparate news organizations illustrates the depths to which the budget impasse is affecting all corners of the state.
