Results tagged “statebudget”

After a lot of hootin' and hollerin', it's finally done: we have a state budget. And one without an income tax hike. But with the state facing somewhere in the neighborhood of a $9 billion budget gap, how will the state actually manage to make ends meet? In a word: borrowing. The $26 billion spending plan depends on borrowing $3.5 billion to pay state worker pensions and around $3.2 billion in bills is pushed off to next year's budget, but the move means that most of the state services that were on the brink of getting cut will now remain. For now, anyway, as Gov. Quinn has the option to cut any additional money as he sees fit. Still, Quinn said the budget still puts the state between $4 billion and $5 billion down.

Fox 32 is reporting that House Minority Leader Tom Cross has said a tentative agreement has been reached on the state budget, which has been in limbo for weeks after the last legislative session ended without a new budget in place. There's no income tax increase in the budget, though State Senate President John Cullerton said that an increase of some kind was inevitable in the future. Gov. Quinn backed off his push for an income tax hike last week in a bid to increase the chances of a speedy resolution.

We're less than 12 hours from the deadline to pass a budget that won't completely mess with the state's finances and it seems we're no closer to having a solution than we were before. Last night, the House approved a plan to borrow $2.2 billion to help soften the blow of the expected cuts, but Gov. Quinn isn't too happy about it and, though it still has to pass the Senate, he seems hell-bent on making sure a tax increase is somehow passed. Without saying he'd veto it, Quinn did say, according to the Tribune, "If they throw that my way tonight, they will see it thrown right back at 'em. For those who might be advocating things in the budget that are unfair, are not humane, or indecent, I'm not going down that road."

Just days after giving his budget address to state legislators, Governor Pat Quinn challenged critics to come up with some solutions of their own. "It's easy to chirp about making a budget better," the governor told the Tribune editorial board. "If you've got a better plan, you'd better lay it out now because we are in a crisis." Quinn acknowledged that his plan to raise taxes and cut state spending may cost him politically, but he's also counting on honesty paying off at the ballot box. "My hunch is that people will rather have a governor that levels with them and sometimes delivers information that may not be easy to hear about, but is absolutely essential for the well-being of our state and the common good," Quinn said. "Most political consultants would say don't do what we're doing, I suppose, if you're just interested in your personal election future. But here I am."

Although he's already announced that he won't be calling the State Senate back into session until after the November elections, Senate President Emil Jones is under pressure from lawmakers to call a vote on the state ethics bill. The House overrode Governor Blagojevich's amendatory veto of the bill last week, leaving the Senate just 15 days to take action or the bill dies.

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones circulated a memo Thursday saying that the Senate won't reconvene until November 12. That means that the fate of the state ethics bill may be in jeopardy. The ethics bill, subject of an amendatory veto by Blagojevich and overridden by the House just the day before, could die if the Senate doesn't take action within 15 days. But Jones spokesperson Cindy Davidsmeyer told CBS2 that the Senate has 15 days from when it holds its next meeting to take action.

The Illinois House voted to restore almost $500 million in cuts that Governor Blagojevich made to the budget earlier this month, although it remains to be seen if that money will make it into the budget. That’s because the State Senate still has to vote to approve the funds – and Senate President Emil Jones, a Blagojevich ally, says Illinois can’t afford it right now. "Overriding the cuts is being totally irresponsible," said Jones. "Without any money to spend, what are you going to do?" Many legislators believe that Blago cut the funds, which would fund hospitals, drug counseling and other social services, to retaliate against his political opponents. "The governor simply went too far. The governor had other options available, but he simply decided to balance the budget ... by taking it out on the workers of the state of Illinois," said Rep. Gary Hannig, on of the key budget negotiators.

Rod Blagojevich's office has enlisted bipartisan bigwigs Dennis Hastert and Glenn Poshard to send a flashy memo (PDF), jam-packed with information they hope will convince lawmakers that Blagojevich can be trusted with a construction plan that would fund roads, bridges, and schools, among other capital projects.

G-Rod is calling lawmakers back to Springfield to work on that pesky, still unsigned state budget. [Trib, S-T]

Like deja vu all over again, midnight came and went on Monday, and Illinois still had no budget. June 30 was the last day of the state budget. Like last year, the potential for a showdown between the governor and legislators, as well as the requisite in-fighting among Democrats, seems right around the corner.

If Illinois's legislators can't reach an agreement over a capital spending bill by October, "Gov. Schwarzenegger in California, Gov. Rendell in Pennsylvania, Gov. Crist in Florida, Gov. Paterson in New York, all are ready to" try and take the $9 billion in federal matching funds set aside for Illinois, said 10th District Congressman Mark Kirk. That money has been waiting in the federal budget since 2005. To get it, leaders in Springfield must first figure out how to fund roads, schools and other projects.

Amidst the perpetual dick-wagging that goes on in Springfield over the state budget, State of Illinois employees are feeling the pinch. Thousands of state workers, members of AFSCME Council 31 rallied at the State Capitol Monday before marching to the Hilton hotel, where negotiations between the state and the union are being held. The governor's office refused to comment on negotiations, saying "it would be irresponsible on our part to negotiate this contract through the media.”

Who knows? Could anyone have predicted the mess that happened last spring? It seems that this time around Governor Blagojevich might not be as interested in strutting his testicular virility by getting into a huge pissing match with legislators.

Illinois state legislators are at it again today, after yesterday's close-but-no-cigar attempts to resolve the transit funding crisis. The House passed a sales-tax increase plan yesterday, but it fell one vote sort in the Senate; those so-and-sos are going to give it another go today because three of them abstained (courteously?) yesterday.

The biggest cultural stories of 2008 are likely less predictable than this week’s Rose Bowl. Every year we see our share of breakout artists and surprising storefront gems, and 2008 promises to be no different. But 2007 left some unfinished business and we’re eager to see how these stories play out:

The Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center site is being considered for redevelopment as the Olympic Village, moving the proposed site west off the lakefront. Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc. has already received bids on the land, which Medline Industries Inc., Michael Reese's parent company, is trying to unload. The hospital is in discussions with Cook County to form a potential partnership, although no formal agreement has been reached yet. Among the benefits of moving...

Here are some things in the news while we do spit takes at the ticket prices for the upcoming Van Halen tour. A $300-a-year parking permit created for realtors, home health care providers, and social workers to plug a $2.4 million hole in the city's 2007 budget only generated $15,900 in revenue. Facing increasing criticism in allowing BP to increase the amount of pollution it can discharge into Lake Michigan, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels...

While the state budget fiasco is one of the most embarassing things we've seen in a long time, we'd still rather hear about it than ComEd — ever again. We think the rate hike, the bankruptcy line and even the idea that people would have to choose between food and electricity are all a part of an exceptionally huge steaming pile of horseshit. That's why we're not even a little bit surprised that Blago, who...

Yesterday Willowbrook family practitioner Steve Sauerberg announced his candidacy for the United States Senate, hoping that he will be the lucky Illinois Republican to challenge Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin for his seat in Congress. “Sen. Dick Durbin has been on the government payroll for the last 37 years.... Quite simply, he is part of the problem in Washington, D.C.” Sauerberg told Crain's Chicago Business earlier this week. With no other name-brand Republicans willing to...

Now that Blago's $7.6 billion tax plan has crashed and burned in the state legislature, he's doing a total 180, embracing expanded gambling in Illinois to try and cope with a state budget that is in serious trouble. The legislation, backed by Emil Jones, would expanding gambling in Illinois to include three riverboat licenses for Waukegan, the south suburbs and an as-yet undetermined point within an eight-mile radius of O'Hare Airport. As part of...

Rich Whitney, Green Party Candidate for Illinois Governor

Chicagoist loves the Capitolfax Blog. Man, that guy is a hoot!

The race for State Comptroller - normally a bit of a snore - has gotten downright weird in the last few days. First, Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes, son of Southside ward committeeman Tom Hynes, urged his one-time rival for US Senate Barack Obama to run for president, calling him “a man for these times,” who can “restore the hope and optimism that made this country great”.

Yesterday Gov. Gonad made Illinois the fourth state in the nation and the only state in the Midwest to allocate public funds for stem cell research. He signed an executive order directing the Illinois Department of Public Health to create the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute. The IRMI will give $10 million in grants to medical research facilities for the study of adult, cord blood and embryonic stem cells. A ">similar bill stalled in the state...

Governor Blagojevich and his staff are currently studying a proposal under which the state of Illinois would sell the rights to its name for an official state beverage. We already have many official state other things, and it wouldn't be the official beverage the way, say, tomato juice is the state beverage of Ohio. Nope, this would a corporate sponsorship deal through and through. Under the proposal, the company would pay the state for the...