Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Monday, July 10, 2017.
Will the Illinois Republican Party challenge Republicans who voted for budget deal?
A handful of Republican members of the Illinois house went against Governor Bruce Rauner and voted for the Democrats’ spending plan and income tax hike last week. Fifteen GOP representatives voted for the plan the first time, and ten voted to override Rauner’s veto of the bills Thursday. The Rauner-funded Illinois Republican Party quickly issued a statement slamming the legislators, who said they were listening to their constituents’ wishes for a budget plan. “After all we have accomplished together, it is astonishing that these legislators would now turn their backs on taxpayers across the state,” GOP chairman Tim Schneider said in a statement. “I am confident voters will hold those politicians accountable for choosing Mike Madigan over the people of Illinois.” Repubican rep Michael Unes of East Peoria voted for the bills both times and is expecting the GOP to challenge him in the primary. “For me right here today, right here, right now, this is the sword that I’m willing to die on,” he said after the first vote. “And if it costs me my seat, so be it.” [Tribune]
