The Illinois General Assembly returns for the final day of its spring session not much closer to a budget agreement than when it started in January.
The House and Senate have until 12:01 a.m. Thursday to adopt an annual spending plan or face the prospect of needing supermajority votes to activate one.
A House committee positioned late Tuesday a Senate-approved budget for a floor vote Wednesday. That $37 billion proposal relies on a tax increase of more than $5 billion.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has turned thumbs down on that plan because lawmakers have not given him the “structural” reforms he desires in return.
They include workers’ compensation cost-restrictions and a local property tax freeze. The Senate OK’d versions of each but they don’t meet Rauner’s expectations.
