Illinois has a history of passing controversial legislation such as tax hikes during the last few hours before a new General Assembly is sworn in.

There’s two obvious reasons leadership uses this tactic: 1. Those members who were not re-elected are able to make votes for which they won’t be accountable to their districts, and 2. When the calendar moves into January, legislation no longer needs super majorities to pass, they go back to requiring simple majorities for bill passage.