Suburban lawmakers - except Hultgren - vote for Congress' budget deal
Most suburban lawmakers of both parties voted for the budget deal Congress sent to President Barack Obama Friday, avoiding a government shutdown.
The $1.14 trillion spending package was opposed by U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren, a Plano Republican.
The sweeping spending plan included provisions both parties both praised and criticized.
"From important research at our national laboratories to highway construction projects throughout our state, this bill will create Illinois jobs and keep America's economic growth on track," Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said in a statement. Durbin's fellow Democratic Reps. Mike Quigley of Chicago, Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates, Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Bill Foster of Naperville all voted for the proposal.
Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Highland Park and Reps. Peter Roskam of Wheaton and Bob Dold of Kenilworth likewise voted for it. But Hultgren criticized the spending proposal as adding to the country's debt. He voted for tax relief legislation paired with it.
"My constituents put their trust in me to cut the federal debt, spend money wisely and support legislation that creates opportunity for them to succeed," he said. "This bill fails to do that."
The legislation pairs two enormous bills: A $1.14 trillion governmentwide spending measure to fund every Cabinet agency through next September and a $680 billion tax package extending dozens of breaks touching all sectors of the economy, making several of them permanent and tossing the entire cost onto the deficit.
• The Associated Press contributed to this story.