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Deadline for budget action looms over Illinois Legislature

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The Illinois General Assembly returns for the final day of its spring session not much closer to a budget agreement than when it started in January.

The House and Senate have until 12:01 a.m. Thursday to adopt an annual spending plan or face the prospect of needing supermajority votes to activate one.

A House committee positioned late Tuesday a Senate-approved budget for a floor vote Wednesday. That $37 billion proposal relies on a tax increase of more than $5 billion.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has turned thumbs down on that plan because lawmakers have not given him the "structural" reforms he desires in return.

They include workers' compensation cost-restrictions and a local property tax freeze. The Senate OK'd versions of each but they don't meet Rauner's expectations.

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