SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Democrats who control the state budget have reached agreement on next year's spending plan. Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the deal Thursday afternoon.
It includes $1.8 billion in tax relief, including a freeze on an automatic motor fuel tax increase. It's mostly the result of higher-than-expected revenue.
But even with the extra cash, the tax break relies in part on money from a different account.
Because freezing the motor fuel tax would cost the road fund $135 million, officials would divert $140 million from an account set up to clean up environmental hazards caused by leaking underground fuel-storage tanks. But petroleum and other retailers note that the state already owes at least $900 million from the tank fund to reimburse completed or ongoing cleanups.
The total spending plan is more than $45 billion, WBBM Newsradio's Dave Dahl reports.