A day after the Illinois Senate failed to vote on its “grand bargain,” lawmakers are wondering how to pick up the pieces. Democrats were angry when most Republicans refused to vote on the budget deal. They blamed it on the intervention of Governor Bruce Rauner, who’s reportedly been meeting with Republicans this week. Rauner says the deal isn’t good enough.
Senator Chapin Rose, of Mahomet, says he’s never been ready to support the grand bargain. But the Republican says both sides are closer than ever, and a little more delay is worth it.
“Part of the problem here are these expectations that people keep creating by saying, ‘Well this is the day — or this is gonna be the day. But if you look where you’ve gotten, in each incremental space there, you’re taking issues off the table.”
Rauner has been pushing a permanent property tax freeze for two years. Democrats are offering a temporary freeze, and after three months of negotiations, they say they’ve gone as far as they can go.
