The Illinois House pushed through a spending plan late Sunday despite Rep. Tom Demmer's (R-Dixon) call for a postponement to iron out details.
Voting on SB6 came right after lawmakers passed a divisive tax hike bill that would collect $5.4 billion in revenue.
“I think it’s just important that we understand that we’ve taken a momentous vote already today,” Demmer said. “This is a very important vote. This is the appropriations for the entire fiscal year. It relies on several contingencies and assumptions that may not have been all the way completed yet.”
SB6 is an appropriations bill that would allocate state spending for fiscal year 2018. Democrats call it a compromised and balanced plan that addresses many concerns and priorities of Republicans. The bill would provide $36 billion in funding to the state, giving money to pension payments, education, human services, health care, youth programs, state police and other important sectors to keep Illinois running.
Early Sunday, House Democrats made some last-minute changes to the plan, including spending approximately $395 million less than what was originally proposed.
In light of those sudden changes and continued discussions, Demmer asked his colleagues to carefully consider the bill before voting.
“Before we get ahead of ourselves and say that we have achieved a balanced budget -- that we have achieved the kinds of financial changes -- we need to make sure that the state continues to operate in a financially responsible way,” Demmer said. “There are still several other pieces of the puzzle that have to come together. That was the position of House Republicans all through this negotiating: is that we need to consider the big picture, we need to look for how all of these things can work together, we need to enact meaningful reforms that we think will put the state back on the right path.”
Demmer argued that voting on the budget piece by piece with a disregard for key components vital to a balanced budget is not “a responsible course to take.”
Despite his pleas, the House took less than 20 minutes to vote on SB6. It passed 81 -34.
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