By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill. – Illinois lawmakers could vote on a new state budget Friday.
The governor and leaders in the House and Senate reached a tentative deal Tuesday night.
The budget would spend more money this fiscal year than it did last year. But it wouldn't spend as much as Governor Rod Blagojevich first proposed.
Blagojevich told reporters outside his Capitol office that he would end the string of 17 special sessions he's called.
The roughly $43 billion spending plan had a $2.3 billion deficit that leaders had to close.
The deal will defer $11 billion in capital construction; including Blagojevich's coveted economic-development program and the wildly popular school construction program. The plan is defered until the fall session so legislators can have more say in it.
The announcement comes on the 50th day of a record-breaking legislative overtime session.