Members of the Illinois Senate spent hours Tuesday considering a deal meant to end Illinois' 18-month budget standoff.
The package has many moving parts. Somewhere between a minimum wage increase, cuts to government pensions, and higher income taxes a diverse group of nay-sayers emerged, spanning the political spectrum from big business to organized labor.
Cinda Klickna is head of the Illinois Education Association, one of the state’s two big teachers’ unions.
At a committee hearing, she spoke against a proposed two-year property tax freeze. Klickna said many schools are already strapped.
“Instead of trying to find an answer to that funding question, we are discussing legislation that would actually worsen the already terrible situation," Klickna said.
Senate leaders had hoped to put the deal up for a vote this week, but opposition from interest groups — and among senators — could make that difficult.
