Illinois Budget Standoff Nears One-Year Mark
28 May 2016 - 10:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Douglas Belkin
The state of Illinois is approaching a one-year anniversary
without a budget and lawmakers in Springfield are scrambling to
find common ground ahead of the end of the spring legislative
session May 31.
"I'm here all weekend, I'm encouraging the members of the
general assembly to stay here all weekend," Illinois Republican
Gov. Bruce Rauner said Friday in the capital. "We know change is
hard...but it is essential that we stop kicking the can."
Illinois has $7 billion in unpaid bills, the lowest credit
rating of any state in the country, and it is the only state
without a spending plan for the fiscal year that began July 1. Mr.
Rauner and the Democratic-controlled legislature have little to
show for the 11 months of on-again, off-again negotiations.
On Wednesday, as the legislative session deadline loomed,
Democrats passed a 500-page spending plan that Mr. Rauner said he
would veto, saying it was $7 billion out of balance.
Mr. Rauner has said he would consider higher taxes only if
structural reforms are part of the deal. That includes some sort of
giveback for public sector employees. He has warned Democrats that
he is against raising real-estate taxes. Individual Democratic
lawmakers have floated taxes on millionaires, motorists and soda
over the past few weeks.
Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has warned the
governor's self-described reforms agenda "will destroy the middle
class."
The state has been relying on court-ordered spending to pay
state workers and keep some social services up and running. In
April, with several state colleges threatening to shut down because
of lack of funds, lawmakers passed $600 million in emergency
funding to help the state's colleges get through the summer.
Chicago Public Schools, which are facing a massive deficit
because of overdue pension payments, has warned that without help
from Springfield significant cuts would be forthcoming. Mr. Rauner
has said that politics could delay the first day of school in the
fall.
The plan Democrats passed this week by a 65-53 vote doesn't
include billions needed to cover pension and debt payments.
Those failings led Republicans to blast the budget for needing
$7.2 billion in additional revenue.
"This is a repeat of last year on steroids," said House
Republican Leader Jim Durkin during the budget debate, referring to
when the debate initially stalled.
Democratic House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie said
lawmakers must act.
"It is unconscionable this state has failed to do its job during
the current fiscal year and it would be even more unconscionable
for us to leave this assembly without taking care of our
responsibilities for the fiscal year to come," she said.
Write to Douglas Belkin at doug.belkin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 28, 2016 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)
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