By Douglas Belkin 

The state of Illinois is approaching a one-year anniversary without a budget and lawmakers in Springfield are scrambling to find common ground ahead of the end of the spring legislative session May 31.

"I'm here all weekend, I'm encouraging the members of the general assembly to stay here all weekend," Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said Friday in the capital. "We know change is hard...but it is essential that we stop kicking the can."

Illinois has $7 billion in unpaid bills, the lowest credit rating of any state in the country, and it is the only state without a spending plan for the fiscal year that began July 1. Mr. Rauner and the Democratic-controlled legislature have little to show for the 11 months of on-again, off-again negotiations.

On Wednesday, as the legislative session deadline loomed, Democrats passed a 500-page spending plan that Mr. Rauner said he would veto, saying it was $7 billion out of balance.

Mr. Rauner has said he would consider higher taxes only if structural reforms are part of the deal. That includes some sort of giveback for public sector employees. He has warned Democrats that he is against raising real-estate taxes. Individual Democratic lawmakers have floated taxes on millionaires, motorists and soda over the past few weeks.

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has warned the governor's self-described reforms agenda "will destroy the middle class."

The state has been relying on court-ordered spending to pay state workers and keep some social services up and running. In April, with several state colleges threatening to shut down because of lack of funds, lawmakers passed $600 million in emergency funding to help the state's colleges get through the summer.

Chicago Public Schools, which are facing a massive deficit because of overdue pension payments, has warned that without help from Springfield significant cuts would be forthcoming. Mr. Rauner has said that politics could delay the first day of school in the fall.

The plan Democrats passed this week by a 65-53 vote doesn't include billions needed to cover pension and debt payments.

Those failings led Republicans to blast the budget for needing $7.2 billion in additional revenue.

"This is a repeat of last year on steroids," said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin during the budget debate, referring to when the debate initially stalled.

Democratic House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie said lawmakers must act.

"It is unconscionable this state has failed to do its job during the current fiscal year and it would be even more unconscionable for us to leave this assembly without taking care of our responsibilities for the fiscal year to come," she said.

Write to Douglas Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 28, 2016 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)

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