SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Illinois House approved $5 billion income tax increase on Sunday, followed by a spending plan for the new fiscal year, with some Republicans defying Gov. Bruce Rauner and joining Democrats in a dramatic step to break the nation’s longest-running budget stalemate.
But the Republican governor immediately issued a statement saying he would veto the tax increase if it is not accompanied by business-friendly reforms.
Fifteen Republicans joined majority Democrats in the 72-45 vote for the tax increases, providing one more than the three-fifths majority necessary for the law to take effect immediately. Rauner derided the proposals as lacking spending restraint or “structural” changes he wants.
“Illinois families don’t deserve to have more of the hard-earned money taken from them when the Legislature has done little to restore confidence in government or grow jobs,” Rauner said. “Illinois families deserve more jobs, property tax relief and term limits.”
It was unclear if the votes on Sunday would set Illinois on a path to a resolution of the impasse. The 72 votes for tax increases are sufficient to override a Rauner veto, but whether the Republicans who joined the majority Sunday would vote again against the governor is uncertain. Rauner, a wealthy businessman, has poured tens of millions of his fortune into the Republican party and the campaigns of GOP legislators.