Illinois lawmakers are expected to vote on a short-term budget on Wednesday, when they'll be back in Springfield for the first time in a month. There's no budget plan in place for the new fiscal year that starts Friday, something which could create even more disarray after a year-long stalemate. Gov. Bruce Rauner made it sound like a partial deal could be imminent.
"The good news is… it looks like we pretty well have an agreement on the stopgap budget itself."
Still, it's not finalized. Rauner went on say that the supermajority of Democrats want to spend more than he does. Then there's the partisan divide over spending for schools.
After criticizing Democrats all year for not putting enough money toward education, the governor complains that they're now trying to spend too much. And especially so for Chicago Public Schools; Rauner says he won't go along with what he calls a CPS "bailout." So a bipartisan consensus may not be so close after all.
