SPRINGFIELD - Illinois lawmakers tried to finally finish their year-long wrangling over the state budget Thursday, but lawmakers say success for Chicago commuters will come at the expense of downstate construction projects.

Lawmakers voted Thursday to send about $600 million to schools across the state, an issue that had been lingering for more than two months. And, by a slim margin, they sent Gov. Rod Blagojevich a proposal to solve the financial problems of Chicago area mass transit systems by raising sales taxes in Chicago and its surrounding counties by a quarter cent.

Blagojevich, who has vowed to veto any sales or income tax increases since he took office five years ago, said he will make changes to the legislation in order to offer free bus service to all seniors in the state.

The politically risky maneuver means lawmakers will have to take at least one more vote on the transit bill before the record-setting overtime session can be gaveled to a close.

The flurry of activity this week has left some raw wounds.

Some downstate lawmakers said it was a mistake for their colleagues to vote for a Chicago transit plan before there is an agreement on a plan to repair and build roads, bridges and schools.

Republican and Democrat lawmakers from outside of the Chicago area had been holding out their votes for the transit bailout in hopes it would leverage a statewide capital construction plan.

Among the projects that will remain in limbo are new university facilities in Carbondale and the Quad-Cities and countless road and bridge projects across the state.

In the end, however, both the House and Senate were able to muster the bare minimum number of votes needed to get the transit proposal to the governor's desk.

State Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said he understood that the legislature's mostly Chicago leadership would likely get what it wanted.

"What ticks me off, though, is our House Democratic colleagues," Rose said, saying they should have withheld their support for a transit fix in hopes of getting a construction plan.

Rose's comments sparked a testy response from House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who halted floor debate to remind Rose that he helped with legislation to aid in landing plans for the $1.8 billion FutureGen project in Mattoon, a town Rose represents.

"I think I played a significant role in the FutureGen project," Madigan said.

Still, some Republican lawmakers bluntly criticized Democrats who voted for the transit plan, saying any leverage they had to get billions in construction projects is now gone.

"The downstate Democrats blew it," said state Rep. Bill Mitchell, Forsyth.

"It didn't happen, so they have to deal with that and their constituents," said state Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.

State Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, defended his "yes" vote for transit because bus systems across the state get more money in the deal, and the transit plan only raises taxes on counties in the Chicago area.

"It works both ways," he said.

State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, who also voted for the Chicago transit plan, said a capital construction program could still happen.

"When you're cooperating, the projects and the dollars that will come to downstate Illinois will be higher than if we refuse to work together," he said.

In the meantime, Thursday, lawmakers also approved budget legislation that will send about $600 million to schools everywhere.

Blagojevich had delayed acting on the school measure for months, leaving some local school officials restless.

"It has really just put a halt to trying to plan," Decatur Public Schools chief Gloria Davis said.

Gary Niehaus, superintendent of the Normal-based Unit 5 school district, said his district hadn't necessarily suffered without the extra money. But Niehaus said he wasn't confident the state would ever send it.

"It's always good news to get more money from the state," he said.

It's not clear when the General Assembly will reconvene to act on the governor's changes to the transit bill. Some lawmakers, such as Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, had hoped to be on vacation next week.

Watson said if lawmakers are called back into action, he will return to Springfield.

mike.riopell@lee.net / (217) 789-0865@lee.net / (217) 789-0865