Illinois governor calls tax hike plan ‘disaster’
Urges lawmakers not to override budget veto
CHICAGO — Gov. Bruce Rauner implored lawmakers Wednesday not to override his veto of a proposal to end Illinois’ unprecedented budget impasse, calling the plan that includes a large income tax increase a “disaster” that will not solve the state’s many financial problems.
“This is not just a slap in the face to Illinois taxpayers. This is a 2-by-4 smacked across the foreheads of the people of Illinois,” he told reporters at a bar on Chicago’s far South Side. “This tax hike will solve none of our problems. In fact, in the long run, it will make our problems worse, not better.”
The first-term Republican, who has been deadlocked with Democrats controlling the Legislature since taking office in 2015, said he would do “everything possible” to persuade House lawmakers, who are poised to take an override vote Thursday. That includes 15 House Republicans who broke ranks and voted in favor of the measure last weekend.
Rauner, a former venture capitalist whose massive personal wealth has largely funded the state Republican Party, would not elaborate on his tactics.
Lawmakers have been in session for two straight weeks, capped by a flurry of activity on Tuesday, when the Senate sent a $36 billion spending plan to the governor funded with a permanent 32 percent income tax increase. Rauner rapidly vetoed it, only to have the Democratic-controlled Senate just as swiftly override him.
House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, scheduled his chamber’s override vote for Thursday afternoon.
“House Democrats look forward to working with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to begin healing the wounds of the last several years,” he said in a statement that preceded Rauner’s news conference.
But the House, which had approved the fiscal blueprint Sunday night with veto-proof majorities, has failed to summon enough members the last two days to take action. Fewer than 60 of the House’s 118 members answered quorum calls on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Deputy Majority Leader Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, mentioned some members who were dealing with deaths of relatives or friends.
With a $6.2 billion annual deficit and $14.7 billion in overdue bills, disaster is around the corner. The United Way predicts the demise of 36 percent of all human-services agencies in Illinois by year’s end. Billions of dollars in road construction work is shutting down. Public universities have been cut to the bone and face a loss of academic accreditation.
No other state has come close to Illinois when it comes to a budget impasse. The standoff entered a third straight year on July 1.
Credit-rating houses have threatened to downgrade the state’s creditworthiness to “junk,” signaling to investors that buying state debt is a highly speculative venture.