Illinois legislators who have been working privately for the past month to craft a temporary budget have one drafted, but that doesn't make it a done deal.
Illinois lawmakers will return to Springfield Wednesday. That’s only two days before the new fiscal year begins and the end of a full year of the state having no budget.
The strain of going nearly a year without a budget coupled with doubt that a full deal can be reached in the near future have made a stopgap budget the priority.
"There's positive momentum, and certainly the ability to get a stopgap done," said Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, a member of the bipartisan group.
She says the group's work is done -- mostly.
Outstanding issues remain, including how much money should go into education. Democrats' previous plans send hundreds of millions of dollars more than Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed -- something he has characterized as Democratic leaders' attempt to "bail out" Chicago Public Schools.
Other issues include whether Republicans will agree to state funding for autism, homelessness prevention and after school programs.
"So I think the real next step is that the leaders need to meet, take up what we've done, and make some final decisions on that," Steans said.
Steans says the leaders include Gov. Rauner, Senate President John Cullerton and House Speaker Michael Madigan, who head supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Wednesday will be a key test to see if the feuding leaders can do it. That will be the legislature's first meeting in Springfield since the General Assembly recessed at the end of May without passing next year's budget.
They never passed one for the fiscal year that is coming to an end, either.
House Speaker Michael Madigan had said representatives would meet every week this month. Instead, those meetings were canceled.
Senate President John Cullerton had never given a timeline for returning to the capitol, but Senators will be in session next week too.
Cullerton's spokesman says it makes sense, and that the President is hopeful a partial budget can pass.
Rauner also says a deal is "very close."
The political stalemate has had negative effects on the Illinois business climate, forced cash-starved social service agencies to shut down, left Illinois with a lower credit rating, and chased away university students and professors. Lately, Rauner has been warning of potential prison shutdowns and halted road construction.
The Illinois Department of Transportation announced earlier this week that it has begun the process of shutting down all of its projects as of June 30, barring passage of a budget.
