SPRINGFIELD — The House has just voted to approve an omnibus appropriations amendment 90-25.

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan rose after the vote to thank GOPLeader Jim Durkin and the Republicans who voted for the amendment.

Madigan said he thinks it’s a good step forward and a step they can build upon but there’s much work still to be done. Therefore the House will be in session tomorrow.

He said he will quickly send a message to the bond rating agencies asking them to defer credit ratings on the state of Illinois until they have sufficient time to work things out.S&P and Moody’s had not released any statements on the amendment as of press time Friday.

The Chicago Democrat said he will next be convening a meeting of the leaders today to talk about non-budget issues and  will also convene a meeting of interested parties on the revenue bill.

Negotiations continue on issues unrelated to the budget that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner insists must be addressed before acceding to a budget.

They include a four-year property tax freeze, cost-cutting pension-benefits changes and reforms to workers compensation.

The state has a $6 billion deficit and $15 billion in overdue bills. Credit agencies have threatened to downgrade Illinois debt to “junk.”