The Illinois House on Sunday approved a major income tax increase as more than a dozen Republicans broke ranks with Gov. Bruce Rauner amid the intense pressure of a budget impasse that's entered its third year.

The Republican governor immediately vowed to veto the measure, saying Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan was "protecting the special interests and refusing to reform the status quo."

The measure, which needed 71 votes to pass and got 72, is designed to start digging the state out of a morass left by the lengthy stalemate. Madigan, in a statement, praised the action as "a crucial step toward reaching a compromise that ends the budget crisis by passing a fully funded state budget in a bipartisan way."

The tax hike now heads to the Senate, but whether there will be enough votes to send it to Rauner's desk is in question. When the Senate approved its own tax hike in late May, no Republicans voted for it and several Democrats voted against it. Senators return to the Capitol on Monday.

The crucial vote in the House was the big story Sunday, though. Ultimately, pressure that had built up in districts across the state moved enough Republicans to defy the governor.

With state government operating without a budget for two full years, public universities risk losing their accreditation, social service providers are closing their doors and layoffs of road construction workers are imminent. Adding to lawmakers' anxiety was a promised downgrade of the state's credit rating to junk status, which could spike the cost of borrowing at a time when the state has $15 billion in unpaid bills.

Left out of the House budget package was a plan for dealing with the unpaid bills, though both sides generally agree that some amount of borrowing will be needed.

Rauner, a former private equity specialist from Winnetka, had spent tens of millions of dollars on legislative campaigns and TV ads to prop up the Illinois Republican Party as a counterweight to Madigan and his labor union allies. And Republican lawmakers largely had stuck by their governor — until Sunday.

A pair of Downstate Republicans summed up the split.

"For me right here today, right here, right now, this is the sword that I'm willing to die on," said Rep. Michael Unes, a Republican from East Peoria. "And if it costs me my seat, so be it."

Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said while she hated taxes, as a fiscal conservative she could not stand by while the state cannot pay billions of dollars in bills owed to small businesses.

Bryant teared up when explaining that she must do what is best for her district, which includes Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

"I hope you will help me bring my university back," said Bryant, who added that she expected to face a primary challenge because of her vote.

Fifteen Republicans broke ranks with Rauner to join 57 Democrats in voting for the tax hike. A dozen Republicans were from Downstate, where many of the state's public universities, prisons and other state facilities are located. Another three were from the suburbs.

Getting so many Republican votes allowed 10 Democrats to vote against the tax increase. Six are from the suburbs and four Downstate, and all are potentially targeted for defeat next year by the Rauner-funded Illinois Republican Party.

Democratic leaders portrayed the vote as an attempt to let rank-and-file lawmakers from both sides do something to show their seriousness about putting an end to the budget stalemate in the face of concerns the state's credit rating will hit a first-in-the-nation junk status.

Republican leaders, though, saw it as a politically motivated attempt to force those in their ranks into a corner. Shortly before voting began, Democrats introduced revamped tax and spending plans, prompting House Republican Leader Jim Durkin to say the process had been "hijacked."

Following the vote, Durkin rejected the notion that the outcome amounted to a defeat for Rauner and Durkin's own leadership of House Republicans. The governor had kept out of the public eye during much of recent negotiations, and Durkin assumed the role of Rauner's proxy in the talks with Madigan and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton.

Durkin said House Republicans who voted for the tax increase succumbed to intense pressure made worse by the belief that Democrats would not cave on the changes Rauner wanted.

"There's going to be another vote on this, but the fact is we've done a pretty good job over the last three years hanging together," Durkin said. "I knew this was going to be a tough vote. I'll let my members decide how they characterize me after today. I've done what I could to operate in good faith and keep my caucus together."

Durkin noted that the vote may not mean Illinois is out of the woods when it comes to a potential credit downgrade.

"It is not law yet. It is not law," Durkin said. "I don't know how much value the bond houses put into legislation that is facing a veto from the governor."

Sponsoring Rep. Greg Harris, Madigan's top budget negotiator, said during debate that it was time for lawmakers to "rise above" the partisan gridlock of the past several years that is likely to have repercussions for years to come.

"Today, we can change the awful trajectory of the last several years. We can vote. We can do our jobs. We can get it done," Harris said. "We all love this state, and we know we cannot delay any longer."

Justin L. Fowler / AP State Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, yells during the overtime session at the state Capitol on July 2, 2017, in Springfield, Ill. State Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, yells during the overtime session at the state Capitol on July 2, 2017, in Springfield, Ill. (Justin L. Fowler / AP) (Justin L. Fowler / AP)

Just two days earlier, nearly two dozen Republicans had joined Democrats to tentatively approve a spending plan, with Madigan and Durkin telling lawmakers the vote was an expression of good faith as negotiations continued.

State spending has been on autopilot during the impasse, vastly outpacing revenues after the January 2015 expiration of a temporary income tax increase.

The proposal mirrors a plan the Senate passed earlier this year and calls for raising the personal income tax rate from the current 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, which would generate roughly $4.3 billion. An increase in the corporate income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 7 percent would bring in another $460 million.