* Press release…

Today, after 736 days, a bipartisan compromise budget passed into law. With the state on the cusp of junk status, Rauner continued to cling to his crisis with a desperate and reckless veto. But Republican and Democratic members of the General Assembly overrode the failed governor. Illinois now has a budget, but the damage is done and Bruce Rauner’s manufactured crisis will have long term ramifications for Illinois families.

In response to the override vote, JB Pritzker released the following statement:

“Bruce Rauner manufactured a 736-day crisis to force his special interest agenda on our state. Today, Democratic and Republican members of the state legislature came together to say enough is enough, but Bruce Rauner’s damage is already done,” said JB Pritzker. “Rauner led the state to $14.7 billion in unpaid bills, interest on state debt continues to skyrocket, and local governments across the state have been forced to raise taxes to compensate for a lack of state funds. Social services agencies closed, impacting countless families across Illinois, students fled to go to college in other states, and we lost opportunities for job creation. The suffering of Illinois families can’t just be erased. It will take years to clean up the mess of this failed governor’s creating and it’s clear that getting our state back on track can only happen with a new governor next November.”

Let’s take a look at Bruce Rauner’s damage to Illinois:

$14.7 billion dollars in unpaid bills piled up without a spending plan in place.
$2 billion dollars is owed to Medicaid doctors and hospitals.
130,000 students’ MAP grants were jeopardized.
37,508 residents fled the state amid historic fiscal uncertainly.
20,000 workers’ paychecks were put in limbo after IDOT halted road construction.
22 local health departments were forced to reduce services.
5 state universities were downgraded to junk bond status.
Countless social service agencies have drastically cut programs or closed altogether.

While passing a state budget marks an important first step in bringing our state back to fiscal sanity, Bruce Rauner’s damage is done. The wreckage from this over 700-day crisis will take years to address. This is what it looks like when a governor fails and it’s time Bruce Rauner was held accountable for the damage he’s inflicted on the people of Illinois.

* Sen. Daniel Biss…

“I’m glad that because rank and file legislators on both sides of the aisle followed their consciences instead of their leaders, we avoided the catastrophe of yet another year without a budget. Now it’s time to solve our long term problems. We need to build on this collaboration and come together to create real progress by making the rich pay their fair share to fund our schools, protect people’s health care, and get our economy moving.”

I’ll post other gubernatorial candidate reacts here. Otherwise, the rest will be found on our live coverage post.

…Adding… Ameya Pawar…

“Republicans and Democrats in both houses came together this week to pass a responsible budget that protects middle-class families and finally puts Illinois on a steady fiscal path. While Bruce Rauner’s reckless veto made clear he doesn’t care about the future of our state, today’s bi-partisan veto-override proves there are legislators still willing to put Illinois’ hard-working families over reckless partisan politics.”

“This episode is just another reminder that when we elect people like Bruce Rauner, who hate the institutions they seek to represent, they will try to destroy it once in office. That’s what Donald Trump is doing in Washington, D.C. and it’s what Bruce Rauner is doing in Springfield. We need to stop electing people who hate government more than they love their city, their state and their country.”

*** UPDATE ***   Chris Kennedy kinda criticizes the tax hike…

“Illinois finally got the balanced budget it needed. Our state had little choice but to carry through with the budget agreement finalized today,” said Kennedy. “It came to us at the 11th hour after the Governor stood on the sidelines for years, shifting the goal post whenever we came close. Now we’ve raised taxes that impact the poor and middle-class without asking more of the wealthy. Rating agencies are still hesitant about our financial health, and our political leaders have done little to restore voters’ faith in our state government. Other states don’t need to threaten the future of their institutions in order to create a balanced budget. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can have a balanced budget. We can honor the contracts of our pensions and we can invest in our economy and see it grow. But, we need to give our state a budget and a government that’s free of corruption, that’s free of self-dealing, that’s free of self-interest. If we do that we can turn this state around,” added Kennedy.