|
 The Democratic-controlled chamber voted 39-0 to send the measure
to the Republican governor, with 15 members voting "present." The
Senate had to take up the bill a second time after the
Democratic-controlled House last week amended it to add a provision
ensuring state workers would be paid in full and on time during
July.
An impasse between the governor and Democratic lawmakers has left
Illinois without a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1,
prompting lawmakers to offer the stop-gap measure of a single
month's budget. Democrats have been holding out for spending cuts
and new revenue, while Rauner wants lawmakers to adopt controversial
reforms, including legislative term limits and a local property tax
freeze, before he will entertain new revenue.
"Governor Rauner is committed to enacting a true balanced budget and
real reforms to grow the economy and free up resources to protect
the most vulnerable," his spokesman Lance Trover said in a
statement.
 Powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan urged Rauner to sign the
temporary budget and told reporters that his chamber intended to
take up further piecemeal appropriation bills.
The Senate attempted to address Rauner's demand on property taxes
with a bill calling for a two-year freeze, along with providing
pension funding relief for the Chicago Public Schools, and setting
the stage for revamping the state's school funding formula. But the
bill fell four votes short of passage on Wednesday, although further
votes are possible.
Republicans said it did not contain necessary cost-saving measures,
including limits on collective bargaining, that would help local
governments and schools cope with the freeze.
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Senate Democrats overrode Rauner's vetoes of five of the full-year
fiscal 2016 budget bills that Democrats passed in May. The governor
rejected all but the K-12 education budget bill, contending the $36
billion spending plan was short $4 billion in revenue.
The fate of the veto overrides was uncertain in the House, where all
71 Democrats would have to vote to override, but not every Democrat
originally voted for all of the full-year budget bills.
Meanwhile, state workers owed paychecks on Wednesday received them,
according to the Illinois Comptroller's office. Illinois Attorney
General Lisa Madigan asked the state supreme court on Monday to
decide on the constitutionality of paying workers in the absence of
an enacted budget.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Andrew Hay)
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