The Illinois Senate approved a new budget proposal (Tuesday) sending it to the House of Representatives for consideration. The bill’s future is very uncertain.

State Senator Scott Bennett of Champaign voted for the budget. He says the plan uses the same spending levels as the governor’s unbalanced budget proposal and contains both cuts and new revenues.

‘’This budget plan will bring necessary certainty and stability for struggling groups to plan for the future and grow,’’ Bennett said.

State Republican Senator Chapin Rose says Democrats voted to raise taxes and have still not balanced the budget.

‘’Unbalanced budgets, higher income taxes, and no property tax relief for Illinois taxpayers – this is typical of Chicago Democrats,’’ Rose said.

The new spending plan was approved without one Republican Senator supporting it. If approved by the House and signed by Governor Bruce Rauner the plan would increase the Illinois personal income tax from 3.75 to 4.95 percent.

And for the first time, customers would pay sales taxes on certain services in the state – including dry cleaning and laundry services, storage units, and tattoos. The sales tax rate on those services would be 6.25 percent.

94.1 WGFA