Illinois Budget Crisis Is About to Get Even Harder to Solve
- Starting Thursday, three-fifths majority needed to pass budget
- State at risk of being first cut to junk since at least 1970
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Illinois leaders will blow past a deadline that will leave the state careening toward the third straight year without a budget.
The Illinois House isn’t voting on a budget on Wednesday, which means the gridlock-prone government won’t pass a spending plan by midnight. That means approving a budget -- a usually routine task that has eluded the state for 700 days -- will become even more difficult because a three-fifths majority will be required. Democratic lawmakers, who control both chambers, and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner have repeatedly failed to agree on how to solve chronic budget deficits worsened by the expiration of tax hikes in January 2015.