By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner is urging lawmakers in the House to not override his veto, saying that without reforms the state will soon be back for more money from taxpayers.
An override vote in the House is scheduled for Thursday.
Visiting the Chicago-area community of Hegewisch Wednesday, Rauner said the General Assembly should not raise taxes without substantial reforms to grow the economy.
“The economy has to grow faster than government spending. That is a fundamental truth. That is a fundamental fact,” Rauner said, “And we’ve been ignoring that truth in Illinois for 35 years.”
Rauner was asked about a possible credit downgrade if there’s no budget.
“Speaker [Michael] Madigan and his subordinates should not be working for Wall Street credit agencies, they should be working for the people of Illinois,” Rauner said.
The Senate overrode the governor’s veto of the more than $5 billion tax hike and $36.5 billion budget on Independence Day. The House didn’t have enough members to even conduct business, let alone override, both Tuesday and Wednesday.
State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said those who supported the tax hike should’ve been in Springfield to back up their vote. He said the veto should be sustained so that meaningful reforms can come together.
“The only chance we’re going to have of reforms is if the veto stays in place,” Skillicorn said. “If it’s overridden, we’ve already seen talks [on reforms] have stopped. … There’s no reason [not] to address the structural spending problems that Illinois has, that no one can deny that those exist. Unfortunately just throwing another $5 billion at it does not solve these problems, it just kicks the can down the road for a couple more years.”
Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, said House Democrats have “always continued to work in good faith with the governor.”
As to advice for families that would have to cut from their budget to pay for a possible increase in the state income tax, Harris, who voted for the tax increase, said he doesn’t have much to offer.
“I can’t speak to what every family’s decision will be,” he said. “As a person, I’m happy to pay what I’m going to be asked to pay so that our schools will be open, so that our emergency responders will have the funds they need, so that our road projects will be finished this summer. To me, that will be well worth it.”
Speaker Michael Madigan said the House will vote for a veto override Thursday. That requires 71 votes. The tax hike initially received 72 votes, and it’s uncertain if the vote tally will still be there. That number does not include two Democrats who changed their votes from “yes” to “no” once it became clear their votes were not needed to pass the bill.
Rauner said his administration is “doing everything we can to push to make sure my veto is not overridden.”
