The Illinois state budget impasse that has lasted for more than two years is over. On a 71-42 bipartisan vote, the Illinois House has voted to override Governor Rauner's veto of the tax portion of the budget. That means a state income tax hike becomes law and the personal tax rate is rising from three-point-75-percent to four-point-95-percent. After that vote, two other override votes were approved, putting both the spending plan and the revenue package in place. The approval comes as Wall Street bond rating houses have threatened to reduce the state's credit rating to junk status. The package approved today does not include any of the pro-business, anti-labor reforms on which Governor Rauner has insisted.
