THE ILLINOIZE: Walsh on his late night tax vote switch...Will Trump verdict hurt suburban Republican candidates in November?...Republicans slate 16 legislative candidates

June 4, 2024

Good morning, Illinois.

The Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox announced Monday they’re all dumping NBC Sports Chicago and launching their own network. But, as is usual with these well-run organizations, they have a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it. Good luck, kids, because any Cubs fan will tell you Marquee ain’t killin’ it.

Governor Pritzker speaks to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting at 11:45 and speaks at a National Guard deployment ceremony in Bourbonnais at 2.

Let’s get to it.

WALSH ON LATE NIGHT TAX VOTE SWITCH

It was 4:30 in the morning last Wednesday in Springfield. House Democrats had already passed a budget bill but had failed to pass a package of tax increases on business to balance the budget.

Not only had they failed to do so once, they failed twice.

That’s when moderate Democrat Rep. Larry Walsh, Jr. (D-Elwood), who had voted against the budget, against the Budget Implementation bill (BIMP), and had voted against the tax increase the first time (and second time, mistakenly, after Republicans pulled a fast one) switched his vote.