Illinois Senate Passes Budget; House to Vote Today

The Illinois Senate voted 56-2 Wednesday to approve a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The budget is reportedly balanced and totals $38.5 billion.

State Senator Dale Righter of Mattoon voted for the measure; State Senator Kyle McCarter was one of the two senators who voted against the proposal.

(RIGHTER)

Righter said a spirit of bipartisanship "not seen in sometime" was reflected in passage of the measure. McCarter said he couldn't support the plan since it included funding for abortion (the provision was to be broken out of the package for a separate vote) and because the income projections and proposed cuts to balance the budget "won't happen".

(MCCARTER)

The Illinois House is scheduled to vote on the measure today (Thursday). This is the final day that a measure can be passed by a simply majority; after today, it will take a super majority to get a measure approved.