Illinois lawmakers on Thursday overturned Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of the state’s budget, ending Illinois’ 736-day budget impasse.
“I believe it’s a historic day because it’s a day where we decide the fate of our state,” Rep. Steve Andersson, a Republican from a northwest suburb of Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune. “Do we want to save it? Or do we want to let it go into meltdown?”
Lawmakers worked through the holiday weekend to devise a solution that included a 32 percent income tax hike.
Rauner quickly vetoed the tax hike, which prompted House Speaker Michael Madigan to schedule the vote for Thursday. Illinois House Dems Pass $5 Billion Tax Increase
“If they were just going to do a tax hike with no reforms, they could have done that two years ago,” Rauner said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Instead they caused a crisis and they hurt innocent people. This is wrong. This is broken politics.”
Democrats and about one-fifth of the Republicans supported the overturn appealing to the institutions put at risk from the lack of budget including education. A representative whose district includes Eastern Illinois University argued his vote to override doesn’t affect his position as a conservative republican, he simply had to think about the people in his district.
The vote was delayed over an hour after the state capitol was put on lockdown due to white powder thrown in the vicinity of the governor’s office. The powder was determined harmless.