Illinois Lawmakers have adjourned their regular legislative session without approving a spending plan for the third consecutive year.
The Democrat-controlled legislature and Republican Governor Bruce Rauner are already deadlocked in the nation's longest-running state budget standoff. Lawmakers left the Capitol Late Wednesday, May 31st, again without a budget deal.
Legislators faced at 12:01 a.m. deadline Thursday, June 1st to adopt an annual budget. They needed a super-majority of votes to approve a plan.
The house adjourned without taking up a $37 billion Senate spending plan, saying senate Republicans didn't provide any votes. House Speaker Michael Madigan says Democrats will meet in "continuous session" over the summer to negotiate a deal.
Governor Rauner held a press conference Late Wednesday night saying, "Today, we've seen a complete dereliction of duty by the majority in the general assembly. Once again, a tragic failure to serve the people of Illinois. A tragic failure to pass a balanced budget, along with critical structural changes to protect taxpayers and grow more jobs. Instead, the majority in the general assembly passed phony bills trying to manage phony headlines, rather than trying to solve the real problems of the people of Illinois."