By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – There were some big sticking points as Illinois state Senators began voting on various reforms that were once all lumped together with tax increases, but some of those reforms and the tax increases have not yet passed.
One issue was a proposed two-year property tax freeze. Senate President John Cullerton,
D-Chicago, said a two year freeze is all Democrats are willing to give.
“If the constituents clamor for it we can come back next year and extend it. It shouldn’t be hard to pass such a popular bill. But for now this is what we can agree upon,” Cullerton said.
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said it’s not ready yet.
“This is not reflective of the most current agreements that we’ve had or discussion have really much better ideas to protect our taxpayers at home,” she said.
The measure failed.
Gov. Bruce Rauner had said he wants the property tax freeze to be the same duration as any proposed income tax increase.
State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, said the Democratic school funding reform measure is one sided and a bailout for Chicago.
“This bill keeps the Chicago block grant into perpetuity, forever. This bill picks up the Chicago public school system’s pension costs and it does it on a continuing appropriation basis, forever,” he said.
That measure passed. The sponsor said changes are expected in the House.
State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, voted for three pieces of legislation that were tied to the so-called grand bargain, including the pension reform measure.
“In recent days, we have made significant progress negotiating additional components of this package including property tax relief, job-creating reforms, and a balanced state budget,” Brady said. “I believe we were close to reaching bipartisan compromise on those and I wish we could have continued negotiating, instead of calling bills that weren’t quite ready.
“We’ve made a lot of progress, but this has to be a good deal for the taxpayers, and that means having a balanced budget and fundamental reforms that will move Illinois forward. As these measures move over to the Illinois House for consideration, I hope our negotiations will continue to achieve that goal.”
Meanwhile, supporting some of the cuts in proposed supplemental budget, State Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, said it doesn’t do anything to control spending.
“The problem I have is the end result of this which is a really big tax increase that’s coming our way,” McCarter said.
The tax increase bill wasn’t brought up Wednesday.
Senate President John Cullerton’s office said they’ll keep trying to get an agreement.
Other measures that passed included gambling expansion, government consolidations and procurement reform.
The Senate is back in session Thursday.
