SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A statewide property tax freeze demanded by Gov. Bruce Rauner as part of a deal to end a two-year budget stalemate has failed in the House.
The 59-46 tally Wednesday fell one vote short of passage.
It would have created a four-year freeze on the nation’s next-to-highest property taxes. But it would have exempted Chicago, the city’s school system and 17 other financially distressed school districts. It also would have exempted many cities’ payments on long-term debt and their contributions to police and fire pension systems.
The sponsor was House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie. The Chicago Democrat says it went further than she even wanted. But she says it was crucial to getting Republican Rauner’s agreement to the state’s first budget deal since 2015.