No certainty on budget, economic reforms in final few weeks of session
ILLINOIS NEWS NETWORK
Lawmakers have until the end of the month to pass a balanced, full year’s spending plan with simple majorities.
The House is off this week but the Senate is in session beginning Tuesday, where there could be more action on the so-called Grand Bargain.
Gov. Bruce Rauner said last week he’s hopeful something will come together that’s good for taxpayers, but so far, proposed reforms have been minor.
“It moves the needle a tiny bit, but it doesn’t really change the dynamic to really make us more competitive and that’s the challenge,” Rauner said. “We’ve got to make sure that whatever the Senate works up, that it’s not a package of headlines.”
The grand bargain is a package of a dozen bills in the Senate all linked together. It includes 33 percent increases to income and corporate taxes, an expansion of the state’s sales tax to certain services, and minor reforms to workers’ compensation, pensions and procurement.
If lawmakers can’t pass a balanced spending plan for the entire year, Rauner’s office is open to another standalone spending bill for K-12 education.
The past two fiscal years, Rauner approved of standalone K-12 education funding above and beyond previous years funding. The governor criticized previous years of cuts in state funding for education.
State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said there’s a real possibility that schools across the state would not open for the new school year if there’s no budget.
“About 400 superintendents around the state have said that record funding for education is fantastic, but if it’s not backed up by some means to pay for it, it’s virtually meaningless,” Manar said.
