Most parts of the deal passed quickly and easily in the House, but the GOP balked at language added to the final piece, a spending bill, that Republicans said was not part of the deal agreed to Wednesday night.
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“This is not a budget”.
The budget passed in a 105-4 vote in the House and unanimously in the Senate.
McSweeney said the stopgap bill does nothing more than set the stage for a major income tax increase, with no accompanying reforms or major cuts, after the election. “That’s what this is”.
Without a plan – IL went through the entire 2016 fiscal year without a budget – authority to spend for public education would have run out, meaning school likely would not have started this fall, months before the November 8 election.
Illinois Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, speaks to lawmakers while on the House floor during session at the Illinois State Capitol Thursday, June 30, 2016, in Springfield, Ill.
It’s the same legislation that allocates money for other core services in state government like colleges, construction projects and human services for the next six months, effective immediately. That’s a good thing; schools need to be funded and need to be open on time. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign. “It was important that all levels of government, regardless of any political party, find a way to work together to reach a compromise”. That included almost $170 million in tuition grants for low-income students. Of that total, $25 billion will cover expenses from the fiscal year that just ended, and the remainder will be for the new year.
The Chicago Public Schools (CPS), which is deep in debt and facing a $1 billion shortfall, could gain as much as $555 million in state and local money, mainly for its teachers pension system, despite Rauner’s adamant opposition to a state “bailout” for the district.
Education funding is the only portion of the budget for the current year that Rauner approved, so schools have largely been spared the consequences of the impasse. “Every corner of IL will be impacted, with much-needed improvements delayed indefinitely, tens of thousands of workers sent home and millions of unnecessary costs added”. Plus, there’s almost $700-million for social service programs, a billion dollars for higher education. Another $100 million for CPS would be generated by a statewide grant to aid to districts with large numbers of low-income students.
Both sides hope this short-term resolution will lead to a more balanced, healthy budget for our state.
Aides to Rauner and the Democratic leaders were not commenting on the proposal Wednesday evening. She said she will continue to fight to make sure social service agencies that have long struggled with delayed and shorted state payments get made whole.
“Pumping more money into Chicago simply because it’s Chicago, I don’t think is fair”, Pritchard said.
“This is not a budget”, he said.
“Nothing with what we’re doing here will fix the financial problems of this state”.
From Chicago, Mayor Emanuel was closely watching the action in Springfield.
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The four top legislative leaders – House Speaker Mike Madigan, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, Senate President John Cullerton and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno – walked into Rauner’s office about 9 a.m. and spent several hours negotiating with their attorneys and chiefs of staff.
