Blue State Blues. Rauner, lawmakers piecing together education funding, allowing for tax hike

The Chicago Tribune reports Illinois may finally get a budget:

First, the state would add about $250 million in spending intended for school districts with low-income students. About $100 million of that would go to CPS. Second, lawmakers would approve a bill to allow Chicago to raise property taxes to help pay for CPS pensions.

For nearly a year, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been pushing Springfield to give him the authority to restore a property tax levy that would be dedicated to teacher pensions, and what's being bandied about at the Capitol would generate an additional $250 million for the district. Lawmakers could try to claim some political cover by voting for a measure that did not directly raise property taxes but only gave the Chicago City Council the ability to do so.

And third, the state would start picking up about $200 million of CPS' pension costs, but wouldn't start doing so until next year. The delay in part is meant to allow the legislation to pass with just a simple majority. That's because the threshold to enact bills with an immediate effective date jumped to a three-fifths majority after May 31.

Stay tuned.