SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois House on Thursday sank Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed expansion of casino gambling, possibly taking with it the last hope for funding a massive statewide infrastructure rebuilding plan.

But House Speaker Michael Madigan insisted the $34 billion rebuilding plan still could come to fruition through other funding methods, including what sounded like a hinted state income tax increase next year, an idea Blagojevich has long opposed.

Blagojevich and Madigan, both Chicago Democrats, have been sharply at odds this year over the state's fiscal problems. Madigan has called for belt-tightening, while Blagojevich is pushing major new spending and controversial ways to pay for it, including his gambling expansion plan.

House members loyal to Madigan voted Thursday to kill that plan, which would have opened three new casinos in the state, allowed existing casinos to expand and brought slot machines at horse racing tracks.

It was the second time this year the plan was voted down.

State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, said it's unclear when Democrats would next allow a construction proposal to be heard.

"That's up to Madigan and his minions," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said he knows the need for construction jobs first hand.

"Of all the places in Illinois that need work and jobs, it's Decatur and Macon County," he said.

State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, tried to deflect Republican criticism that Democrats hadn't come up with a successful construction plan.

"We've had solutions," he said. "We've had them on the table."

State Rep. Roger Eddy, R-Hutsonville, said he thinks forcing a vote on gambling was purely a political move.

"It was more of a political opportunity than a real attempt at addressing a serious issue," he said.

Some proponents said they were reluctant about expanding gambling but saw it as the only realistic way to pay for an infrastructure plan that would provide some 700,000 jobs revamping the state's crumbling roads, bridges, schools and other public amenities.

"Are we going to wait until a bridge collapses?" state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, said in floor debate.

Some opponents said they weren't necessarily opposed to all gambling expansion, but they don't trust Blagojevich to administer those new funds.

"What he's asking us to do, essentially, is to give him a blank check for $34 billion," said state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, one of many House Democrats who have been savagely critical this year of their party's governor.

The House went on to defeat the gambling expansion plan by a vote of 55-47. Madigan afterward blamed Blagojevich's "confrontational" governing style for the defeat, which he noted was by a wider margin than a similar vote taken earlier this year.

"My view is that the proposal for expansion of gaming today is a dead issue," Madigan said.

If he's right, it could doom Blagojevich's push for the infrastructure program, since gambling expansion (and the new state gambling tax income it would bring) was to be a primary funding source for the program.

Madigan, talking to reporters, declined to declare the infrastructure program dead, saying there were other possibilities for funding it. While listing those possibilities, he noted that, in the past, he has supported an increase in the state's 3 percent flat-rate income tax.

When pressed, Madigan said he didn't intend to call for an income tax increase during November's lame-duck session of the legislature. When asked whether he might support such an increase when lawmakers reconvene next spring, he responded: "Next spring is next spring. That's a long time away."

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero later alleged the comment was a clear indication that Madigan ultimately plans to push for an income tax increase, an idea Blagojevich has categorically refused to consider during his tenure.

Guerrero called the defeat of the gambling bill "yet another of Madigan's shenanigans, designed to thwart the jobs (infrastructure) bill and force an income tax increase on people next year."

Lawmakers have been in Springfield in special session this week to deal with a state budget shortfall. They will return next week to review about $1.4 billion in budget cuts that Blagojevich announced Wednesday.

Kevin McDermott can be reached at kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com.