Today, the Illinois Senate approved the budget package that the House of Representatives sent over on Sunday.
SB 9, which contains provisions for a permanent increase in the State's income tax rates, was approved on a mostly partisan roll call vote of 36-18. 35 of the 37 Democrats in the chamber voted for the measure while
Representative Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) was the lone Republican supporter.
Here is the roll call vote results.
SB 6, which makes the appropriations necessary for the budget, was approved by the Senate on a vote of 39-14. This time, four Republicans joined the Democrat majority in passing the bill. Here are those roll call
vote results.
Alliance members are urged to call and thank those legislators who voted for SB 6 and SB 9 today.
The final bill in the package is
SB 42, the budget implementation bill (BIMP). The BIMP, which makes the substantive changes necessary to operate the budget, was approved on a 36-17 vote.
Governor Bruce Rauner
has indicated that he will veto the bills in the budget package because no legislation on reforms have been approved. Generally, the General Assembly has 30 days to send a bill to the Governor and the Governor has 60 days to take action. However, the process on these bills will likely be expedited. Whether that means it will happen in days - or weeks - remains to be seen.
The Senate has been in recess since the passage of the bills this morning. The House is set to return this afternoon at 4:30. To this point, no new legislation has surfaced regarding the remaining sticking points: workers' compensation reform, school funding reform, and a property tax freeze.
The Alliance will continue to provide updates throughout the day via legislative reports, Twitter reports, and blog articles.
