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Illinois lawmakers went into overtime Tuesday, missing a midnight deadline to adjourn the spring session but approving a $42 billion state budget, a plan shifting next year’s primary to June and an ethics package requiring more financial disclosure of officeholders.

Strains between the Democratic-controlled House and Senate, under two new leaders, were evident when the House indicated its work for the spring session was largely finished and members headed home. The Senate, under President Don Harmon of Oak Park, planned to return to work later Tuesday and assess an unfinished legislative landscape.

Left unresolved were plans for future energy policy for the state, efforts to strengthen gun laws, an elected school board for Chicago and law-enforcement backed changes to a sweeping police reform law approved just months ago.

Despite the unfinished business, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who took over in January from embattled veteran Michael Madigan, said “this has probably been one of the most successful sessions around here in a long time.”

* But…

With full credit to a one former Sun-Times statehouse reporter, director of @UISPAR and budget nerd extraordinaire Charlie Wheeler, must point out that @DonHarmonIL put a brick on the state's BUDGET legislation early this morning after his @ILSenDems Caucus pushed it through 👀 pic.twitter.com/8PXvUJtIaR

— Hannah Meisel (@hannahmeisel) June 1, 2021

*** UPDATE *** John Patterson…

It’s a procedural move to protect our accomplishments from any political shenanigans.

We are tremendously proud of what this budget accomplishes and look forward to delivering it to the governor to sign.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 6:27 am

Comments

For the likes of me, I will never be able understand how we can let things drag on to the last second..

Comment by Blue Dog Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 6:49 am
How’s that remap Bill coming along?

Comment by Karen Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 7:05 am
Charlie’s still got it.

Comment by JLW Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 7:44 am
Charlie Wheeler is not only a legend, Charlie Wheeler is a treasure.

To President Harmon’s brick,

I mean, I hadn’t thought of the senate president doing such a maneuver, but these are new days.

“It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see it if pays off for him”

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:00 am
OK, I’ll bite. Why would Senator Herman put a brick on the budget legislation?

Comment by Out of Illinois Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:16 am
What’s up with Doris Turner’s No vote overnight on concurrence to House amendments 2 and 3 in the Budget bill (SB 2800)?

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/102/senate/10200SB2800ham003_05312021_052001C.pdf

Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:27 am
in fy2020, Illinois ranked 15th in total state budget in the US. Meanwhile Illinois was 5th in GDP. How does this reconcile and why such a huge difference where so many much smaller states in population and GDP have much higher state budgets?

Comment by truthteller Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:40 am
It’s going to be a real failure for the state if bluest of blue Illinois can’t get an enviro law through. We should be leading the universe on this issue.

Comment by Sonny Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:46 am
“OK, I’ll bite. Why would Senator Herman put a brick on the budget legislation?”

I’m sure he has his reasons, but in my opinion, it could be a huge miscalculation. Odds are the budget goes to the governor in short order.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:48 am
Woke up after a few hours of sleep of this morning. Had a terrible thought reminding me what the days of Blago/Jones vs Madigan were like. Please don’t this again Dems.

Comment by Give Me A Break Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:50 am
EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham

Possibly Sen. Turner’s vote is tied into her dispute w/ the Tantrum Tim / Sangamon County GOP? Their attempt to subject City of Springfield / Capital Township voters to their version of the “West Lothian” question?

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:53 am
The brick thing is a surprise, but my guess is this is all resolved today. Everyone wants to go home.

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:54 am
The “brick” may be a leverage for Harmon’s interest in keeping Prairie State Coal in the energy bill.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:07 am
==Possibly Sen. Turner’s vote is tied into her dispute w/ the Tantrum Tim / Sangamon County GOP? Their attempt to subject City of Springfield / Capital Township voters to their version of the “West Lothian” question?==

But isn’t both Sen. Turner’s and Rep. Butler’s proposals for Capital Township both completely against Mayor Langfelder’s wishes for the township? IIRC the mayor is wanting full consolidation of Capitol Township directly into the City, which neither the Turner nor Butler bills provide.

Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:10 am
==in fy2020, Illinois ranked 15th in total state budget in the US. Meanwhile Illinois was 5th in GDP. How does this reconcile and why such a huge difference where so many much smaller states in population and GDP have much higher state budgets?==

The federal government doesn’t give our state as much money and our taxes aren’t actually as high as people like to tell us.

Rarely mentioned about nearby states like Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio are the additional income taxes based on county or municipality. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the media mention Columbus, OH’s 2.5% income tax. Or the additional income tax by county in Indiana.

Comment by supplied_demand Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:15 am
===Rarely mentioned about nearby states like Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio are the additional income taxes based on county or municipality. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the media mention Columbus, OH’s 2.5% income tax. Or the additional income tax by county in Indiana.===

It’s usually only discussed when folks wanna talk about Chicago getting an income tax, and then the 317 hurdles needed for that to remotely happen.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:18 am
Maybe he’s giving the Senate GOP a chance to submit capital proposals.

===keeping Prairie State Coal in the energy bill. ===

Ah. Someone would need to use a brick for something dumb like this.

===and our taxes aren’t actually as high as people like to tell us.===

If only someone had 50 million dollars to spend on a campaign to tell us about this, and inform us about hour our neighbors have progressive income tax rates.

Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:23 am
EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham

Mayor Langfelder has given up on his proposal. He has an effective Sangamon County GOP majority of aldermen, and his proposal will never be approved.

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:35 am
-Anyone Remember-

The Dems hold the majority of the Springfield City Council. The Mayor is a Dino.

Comment by Politics ain't pretty Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:51 am
=== The Mayor is a … ===

It never ends… purity tests in politics.

It’ll be more than interesting come time the senate reconvenes

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 9:57 am
OW, this isn’t about purity it’s about fact. The Langfelders are their own party. There are plenty of them in a family of 12. He was very tight with Rauner. The Mayor wasn’t endorsed by the County Dems in his last race, so not really sure what he considers himself.

Regardless, my point was more about the Council than the Mayor.

Comment by Politics ain't pretty Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 10:08 am
- Politics ain’t pretty -

Fair enough.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 10:11 am
I’m guessing Harmon just wants to make sure the House comes back to finish the energy bill once it passes the Senate.

Comment by Maybe... Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 10:23 am
Politics ain’t pretty

Since 1987, Springfield’s mayors, with one exception, weren’t party loyalists. Both Langfelders weren’t favorites of the Democrats, Davlin drove both parties nuts with his use of Republicrats, and Houston’s refusal to use the City as a Sangamon County GOP hiring hall put him on the outs with them. The only party loyalist, Karen Hasara, gave Springfield the CWLP power marketing scandal, the aftermath of the Office Tavern beating, her open admission about racism in SPD, Renatta Frazier, etc.

As to aldermen, party labels mean nothing. If you have any questions, read Senator Durbin’s 1987 testimony in the Voting Rights Lawsuit. The Springfield power structure has never forgiven him for that, and that testimony was why he got the 1990 Census reapportionment district that stretched to Madison County.

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 10:31 am
This headline gives new meaning to the term “motion sickness.” I bet a lot of people are feeling a little queasy this morning after that bumpy ride over the weekend.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 10:40 am
- Out of Illinois - Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 8:16 am:

OK, I’ll bite. Why would Senator Herman put a brick on the budget legislation?

*****

I’ve been doing this a while too, not as long as Charlie Wheeler, but my take on it is this:
1) Leverage, as others have mentioned but also
2) I believe this is something that can only be done by a member voting on the prevailing side, and only done once, and can only be undone by the member that does it; so a member might do this to prevent anyone else from messing with it. That’s just my take though.

Comment by The Drummer Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 10:53 am
==Rarely mentioned about nearby states like Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio are the additional income taxes based on county or municipality.==

Rarely mentioned is that Iowa lets its residents deduct federal income taxes paid from their state taxable income. The lack of nuance cuts both ways.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 11:00 am
There was also a motion to reconsider on the Pembroke natural gas bill HB3404. I assume that was just a defensive move by the sponsor to make sure one of the opponents who voted in favor didn’t put their own brick on it.

Comment by Been There Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 11:09 am
===2) I believe this is something that can only be done by a member voting on the prevailing side, and only done once, and can only be undone by the member that does it; so a member might do this to prevent anyone else from messing with it.===

This is correct. Has to come from the prevailing side and can only be done once. The House has been doing this as a fairly regular course of action for ages. That said, I personally believe this isn’t the only reason it was done.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 11:11 am
City Zen, Illinois standard deduction is 6 times higher than Iowa for a single filer.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:09 pm
Anyone remember, I remember. Houston ran as an Independent his second time around the same way Cory Jobe did in both races. The Council is officially non-partisan and most votes are taken that way.

Again, my point was that this is not a GOP controlled Council. Not even close.

Comment by Politics ain't pretty Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:14 pm
City Zen, why you insist on living in this tax-heavy, over-regulated dystopian state amazes me.

Clearly you would be happier somewhere else.

Wait, no you wouldn’t.

Comment by efudd Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:37 pm
=== a procedural move to protect our accomplishments from any political shenanigans. ===

Is this what you call a political backfire - fighting shenanigans with a shenanigan?

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:46 pm
IPI shills aren’t really happy unless they’re cherry-picking facts.

Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:47 pm
Harmon puts brick on budget so JB accepts the energy bill he wants? Maybe?

Comment by Frank talks Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:53 pm
=== Is this what you call a political backfire - fighting shenanigans with a shenanigan?===

This is center cut filet steak. Tasty-Good

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 12:54 pm
@truthteller
== in fy2020, Illinois ranked 15th in total state budget in the US. Meanwhile Illinois was 5th in GDP. How does this reconcile and why such a huge difference where so many much smaller states in population and GDP have much higher state budgets? ==

Look up the per capita number of state employees. Last I checked we were 49th, ahead of only Indiana. We have a significantly smaller state government than any other comparably populous state. Some of this is made up for by doing lots of things at the local or municipal level. In theory the positive of this is local control on lots of things. The practical negative is it makes coordinating state-wide much more difficult (see local department of healths during a pandemic, for example) and wildly inefficient amounts of extra overhead.

Comment by Homebody Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 1:04 pm
Is that snark from Patterson? I can never tell if he’s serious or not.

Comment by Just Can't Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 1:19 pm
==Rarely mentioned is that Iowa lets its residents deduct federal income taxes paid from their state taxable income. The lack of nuance cuts both ways.==

Iowa has a far lower standard deduction and also taxes retirement income.

Comment by supplied_demand Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 2:06 pm
“Brick” has been removed… https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2800&GAID=16&GA=102&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=135528&SessionID=110

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 2:54 pm
Just an update - SB2800 is now showing that the motion to reconsider vote has been withdrawn. The last floor action now indicates Passed Both Houses.

Comment by Occasional Quipper Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 2:57 pm
Comparing states it’s best to look at the total taxing and spending at all levels of government in the state.

Illinois keeps state level down and local level up, for whatever historical reasons you care to mention.

Illinois ranks 5th, but the differences in percent taxation are pretty small within the middle rankings.

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494

Comment by DuPage Dave Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 2:57 pm
Truthteller: Illinois state budget tends to be smaller than many states in per capita- and per $1,000 of income-type comparisons of revenue/taxation because Illinois generates much more state/local revenue at the local level through property taxes for schools and other services, our local property taxes being arguably the highest in the nation.

Comment by Jim Nowlan Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 4:16 pm
The Governor should hire Jim Nowlan to run the next Fair Tax campaign. Lol.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 1, 21 @ 7:48 pm
==Jim Nowlan==
Don’t forget to factor in the relatively high median income of Illinois residents compared to other states. Making $100k and getting taxed at 20% is better than making $75k with zero taxes.

For example, the median Texan pays 8.19% in state/local taxes on $30,596 in income. The median Illinoisan pays 9.52% in state/local taxes on $32,495 in income. Even after the higher tax rate, the Illinoisan ends up with more money. More take home pay and better services (schools, health, infrastructure)? I’ll take that.

Comment by supplied_demand Wednesday, Jun 2, 21 @ 9:16 am