A plan to move Illinois to a graduated income tax is dead.
Wednesday was the final scheduled day for lawmakers to advance it. Instead, the Illinois House adjourned without taking a vote.
Illinois' constitution only allows income to be taxed at a flat rate.
Rep. Christian Mitchell and other Democrats wanted to amend the constitution, so the state could charge the wealthy more.
Mitchell says through much of Tuesday, he thought he had enough support to pass it.
But, when it became clear that had changed, he decided not to even try.
"When you do something as large as changing tax policy, you want it to be bipartisan. And we had three Republican members who were ready to vote for the bill, and, you know, Bruce Rauner sort of reached in and turned off the switch. And that was the end of the proposal."
Rauner - who's made about $60 million a year - would surely have seen his tax bill rise. He says a "tax on successful people" would drive wealthy business owners out of Illinois.
The House adjournment also means a constitutional amendment thought to get more money to schools is likely dead.
Above all else, Gov. Rauner, a Republican, says education comes first.
But apparently, he doesn't want to secure that with a constitutional guarantee.
His political foe, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, wants the constitution to say adequate education funding is a fundamental right.
Rauner isn't on board.
"We have a constitutional requirement to have a balanced budget. I don't know that our General Assembly has ever paid any attention to that constitutional requirement. And now to add other requirements that will get ignored?"
A spokesman for Speaker Madigan says the governor's shown education isn't a priority, given that last summer he vetoed all funding for colleges and universities. Higher ed went without state support for roughly ten months.
