The measure now moves to the House. The governor vetoed most of the budget Democrats sent to his desk for the fiscal year that began July 1, noting it was nearly $4 billion short of revenue.
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While there wasn’t any progress on a broader budget, there was bipartisan movement in the Senate to allocate money to social service agencies. Some, already struggling after years of state funding cuts, have closed their doors. Because of court orders and state law, state workers are still being paid, pension payments are being made and even Illinois’ two state fairs are slated to be held this month as scheduled. He said the agencies were in a “death march”, struggling to survive.
Democratic Sens. Kimberly Lightford of Maywood and Emil Jones III of Chicago voted no. “We know that”. Union officials say layoffs could be avoided if Rauner would drop his “extreme political agenda”. Insiders say it’s a long shot to pass and has virtually no chance to be signed by the governor in its current form.
Most of the layoffs are in the Department of Natural Resources, where 107 people will lose their jobs. Rauner said that he’d put in writing that he will not lock out state workers during the protracted talks on a new contract, but says contract negotiations with the largest public-employee union are “stuck”. Amanda Vinicky joins us from Springfield with the latest on Chicago Tonight.
About $260 million for community block grants through DCEO.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday passed a measure that ties together property tax freezes, a rewrite of the state’s school aid formula and aid for the Chicago Public Schools pension system.
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said Tuesday he wants to study the legislation before bringing it up for a vote.
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While many airports have reacted proactively in adding lactation rooms, it was a welcome sight to see the Gov. sign the bill into law in the wake of a series of incidents over the last year in which breastfeeding mothers were treated poorly.
