Results tagged “budgetcrisis”

With a state budget still not in place and lawmakers trying to figure out how to plug a budget hole that ranges somewhere between $9 billion and $11.6 billion, Governor Quinn has decided to go straight to legislators instead of the usual dealings with party leaders. Among those who Quinn has met with is Sen. James Meeks, who supports Quinn's proposed income tax hike. Quinn told reporters, "I have a number of other legislators -- Democrat and Republican, House and Senate -- I will be meeting with over the next few days. We believe in consensus-building.''

We mentioned it yesterday, but the numbers are in and they aren't pretty. In the first round of cuts meant to save money, the Chicago Public School System has cut 557 jobs. The cuts lower the CPS deficit by about $100 million, from $475 million to $375 million with even more cuts expected in the near future. According to the Sun-Times:

Amid the ongoing game of political football that has defined negotiations over how to close the gap in the city's looming budget hole, one voice has been remarkably absent: city workers who would bear the brunt of the mayor's economic sanctions. That silence was broken yesterday as SEIU Local 73 members descended on the city council meeting to vent their anger at both the city and the union. Workers are angry at the city for forcing layoffs on them, and at their union for not accepting furlough days. “We will take the [furlough] days. We will make the adjustments. But somehow people are demanding something that we haven’t demanded,” detention aide John Joynter told the Sun-Times. “We are not being represented by either the city or the union. We have not had a voice in any of this. It’s like we’re pushed aside.”

House Democrats passed a 50 percent income tax hike for the next two years today, but final approval is still questionable as the General Assembly moves one day closer to adjourning.The proposal was a move to get lawmakers who didn't approve of Quinn's permanent hike on board. Although Quinn has previously said he wouldn't stand for a permanent hike, he "backed off that position today," the Chicago Tribune reports. Republicans say they "aren't ready" to vote for a tax hike, noting it also includes increasing the cigarette tax and decreasing public pension plan payments.

Among the mayor's more quixotic statements, his declaration yesterday that he is "leading the way" on ethics reform is at the top. At a press conference where he outlined his wishlist from state lawmakers (including more education funding, better gun control laws and property tax reform), he left out ethics reform. When asked why, he announced that Chicago is "more transparent than any other government." Said the mayor: "We've done everything here. We're leading the way with our inspector general, office of compliance, all the things we've done." Adding that "we're doing a tremendous job here, we lead by example," he noted that he hasn't finished reading Governor Pat Quinn's reform commission's recommendations. "I haven't completed reading it yet," he said.

Mayor Daley's plan to enforce furlough days on nonunion city workers has been delayed indefinitely while some changes are made. The City Council balked at Daley's original plan and insisted, instead, that a sliding scale be implemented: the higher a worker's salary, the more furlough he or she has to take. Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) told the Sun-Times, "It would have been very difficult to pass without it. When you get to a certain level of income, the impact should be greater. We have to take that into consideration for those on the lower end of the pay scale." And while Daley seems to have agreed to make the concession, he wasn't happy about it, especially the suggestion that workers making under $35,000 should be exempt from furlough days altogether.

Talking about the budget recently, Governor Quinn dropped the word "doomsday," rattling the nerves of residents who have had enough "doomsday" budget talk (thankyouverymuch, CTA). The threat came over the possibility the state legislature wouldn't approve Quinn's desired income tax hike. According to WBEZ, Quinn said, "We are going to let people know what the consequences are if we don't do this plan. A doomsday budget is very, very dangerous for our state. It will harm our state. It will harm people, very vulnerable people in our state. And I don't want to ever have a doomsday budget."

Mayor Daley took issue with President Barack Obama's assessment of the economy yesterday, saying that he didn't see the "glimmers of hope" for an economic recovery that Obama does. "When you talk about a glimmer of hope, I don't know what that meant," Daley said. "I don't know where you see it. Maybe you see it in Washington, D.C., but I don't think you're seeing it across the country," he added. "I don't want to do it [layoffs]. But if next year, everything falls apart and the economy gets worse, what do we do? ... That's the problem," Mayor Grouchypants said. "I'm not trying to be a doomsday person. I'm just telling you the facts. ... Someone said, 'There's a glimmer of hope' [for the economy]. What is the glimmer of hope? Where is it? We don't see it. ... The recession could last for a few more years."

Da Mayor giveth and Da Mayor taketh away. On the heels of finally showing his hand on plans for the city's stimulus money, Mayor Daley is back to huffing and puffing about the budget shortfall. Apparently tired of waiting on the unions to get back to him on an agreement, Daley will take out his budget rage on 3,500 nonunion employees who will have to take up to 16 unpaid days by December via furlough days and an elimination of sick and vacation days. Da Mayor's hoping by taking his frustration out on nonunion employees, he'll spur the unions to action. A mayoral aide told the Sun-Times, "We can't control the unions. But this is a piece we can control. We're facing a serious budget deficit. The unions will have to help us, or there will be layoffs."