“If they were honest about the working groups and doing reform – we’ve been at this for a year – if they were honest, we’d be done”, Rauner said.
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The House overwhelmingly rejected the Senate’s plan.
The Illinois House has overwhelmingly rejected a almost $16 billion bill for public schools that the Senate had passed in the final hours of this year’s legislative session.
“His optimism comes from legislators saying that schools need to open on time”, said Springfield reporter Amanda Vinicky.
The Illinois Senate rejected a 40-billion-dollar budget yesterday that had been pushed through the Illinois House last week, which Republican Governor Bruce Rauner said was about $7-billion out of balance.
He says Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has controlled IL for 30 years and the state has huge deficits and billions in debt. Democrats have countered that Rauner’s insistence on hobbling unions and passing pro-business legislation is the cause of the 11-month budget stalemate.
The state has been without a budget for over a year, and with Rauner taking office just over a year ago, he has taken most of the criticism for the issue.
A temporary budget would provide funding up to January for schools, universities, prisons, and other state funded entities. One superintendent we talked to says he’s entering new territory, looking options in case it doesn’t come through from the state. CPS officials have warned of “draconian” spending cuts to deal with a $1 billion budget deficit.
In this Tuesday, May 31, 2016 photo, Illinois lawmakers press ahead on the last day of the spring legislative session inside the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. “It is designed as a bridge plan that allows schools to open, keeps the lights on, protects public safety and prevents a government shutdown”.
Although he said “I’m always for compromise and negotiation”, Rauner said he didn’t think the state could afford to spend more than the additional $55 million he had budgeted for elementary and secondary education.
Illinois, which already has the lowest credit rating of any state, also could be hit with another downgrade, which would increase taxpayers’ cost with any borrowing, Nuding said. After failing again to approve a state spending plan, Rauner and Democratic leaders in the Illiniois Legislature look to move past a chaotic night and convince voters the other side is to blame for the state’s enormous mess.
The resolution requires the state agency to conduct a study of lead in IL drinking water and publish results online.
Rauner has proposed two stop gap funding measures he wants lawmakers to pass as they work towards a grand compromise.
As a result, a group of Illinois-based human and social service agencies and companies filed a lawsuit against Rauner and members of his administration in May seeking payment for over $100 million. The governor’s budget office has hired consultants to help IL disentangle from interest rate swap agreements that could cost the state more than $100 million should its ratings fall below specified levels.
A budget now requires a three-fifths majority vote to pass.
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A temporary budget is not tied to new revenue or Rauner’s so-called Turnaround agenda, but Vinicky said those items have not gone anywhere.
