Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Thursday evening that his colleagues will approve a capital improvement bill without the roughly $400 million in social service riders they'd wanted.
Gov. Pat Quinn had set a Friday deadline for lawmakers to agree on the construction bill and avert a work stoppage of up to 52,000 workers.
"The state's construction program should continue uninterrupted. The Senate intends to return to the Capitol on Wednesday to fully fund the construction program for the full 12-month period," Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, said in a statement.
Democrat and Republican members of the Illinois House, including Speaker Michael Madigan, refused to go along with the bill as long as it was laden with the extra education and social services spending.
"This agreement will ensure that the state's biggest jobs program continues, creating thousands of jobs building roads and repairing bridges throughout our state, and boosting our economic
recovery," Quinn said after Cullerton's announcement.
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