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Speaking at grade schools in Chicago,
Decatur and Rockford, Blagojevich said legislators embraced his
fiscal plans to raise $3.7 billion in revenue, trimming more than
$1.43 billion in waste and inefficiency from state government and
starting the state on the road toward fiscal reform.
"When I ran for governor, it was clear
that the people of Illinois had lost confidence in their state
government after years of corruption, cynicism and waste,"
Blagojevich said. "This budget crisis gave us a chance to prove to
the people that we could be responsible, not just with their
hard-earned money but with their trust.
"Despite a historic $5 billion deficit
and numerous spending pressures, we have passed a budget that does
not ask taxpayers to bail out the state for its past misdeeds. We
have changed business as usual in Springfield. We have stopped years
of mismanagement and unchecked spending that had left the Illinois
with the worst financial condition of all 50 states."
The $52 billion spending and revenue
plan approved by the legislature Saturday gave Blagojevich what he
proposed for the fiscal year 2004 budget on April 9 -- nearly $400
million more in education spending, including an increase of $250
per student, $30 million more for early childhood education and
almost $100 million for school programs mandated by state law, such
as special education and student transportation; creation of a $50
million rainy day fund to protect the state in the event of a
economic downturn; $24 million to reopen Sheridan Correctional
Center as a national model to deter drug crime; $23 million to
expand FamilyCare eligibility to 65,000 working parents; $4 million
to expand KidCare eligibility to 20,000 more children; 6,000 fewer
state employees than in the current fiscal year; and streamlined
government by merging state agencies such as the Illinois Racing
Board, the Illinois Liquor Control Commission and the Department of
the Lottery into the Department of Revenue.
"By being disciplined, doing things
differently and making the tough choices, we have found a way -- to
not only balance this budget, but to invest our money where it
matters -- in education, in health care and in public safety," the
governor said. "At a time when states like New York and California
are each proposing cuts to their education budgets by over $1
billion, we are investing millions more in new state money into our
schools."
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The increase of $250 per student in
general state aid is larger than in the previous three years
combined and the highest since 1999. It boosts payments for each
student to $4,810, and Blagojevich has pledged to keep increasing
funding until it reaches $5,665, the level recommended by the
Education Funding Advisory Board. Spending for school construction
was funded at $500 million, the same amount as the current fiscal
year.
The budget also begins to make
structural reforms like paying overdue bills; using honest,
realistic revenue projections; instituting quarterly budgeting for
state agencies; and providing a complete accounting of Medicaid
spending.
"The state has taken a major step
toward real reform and fiscal responsibility," the governor said.
"Spending was kept in check, a. rainy day fund was created and, for
the first time in more than 20 years, the state will spend less than
the year before. This is the kind of reform I promised on the day I
was sworn in as governor, and it's a principle that will continue to
guide me in the future."
While many viewed the massive budget
deficit that Blagojevich inherited upon taking office in January as
an insurmountable obstacle, the governor viewed it as an opportunity
to force a change on a system desperately in need of a change.
Rather than ask taxpayers to bail out
the system by paying more in sales and income taxes or take the easy
way out by embracing the numerous proposals to expand gambling,
Blagojevich opted to balance the budget through a mix of budget
cuts; an innovative pension financing plan to save $1.9 billion;
$1.3 billion in new, recurring revenue; and $800 million in one-time
revenue sources. "I refused to let the promise of expanded gambling
allow us to escape the hard choices our system so desperately
needs," the governor said. "We took this fiscal crisis and used it
to turn this state around."
The plan
included higher casino taxes on the most profitable boats; higher
riverboat admissions; the decoupling of the estate tax; 5 percent to
7.5 percent service fees on special interest funds, the sale and
lease-back of state assets, including the James R. Thompson Center
in Chicago; a sales tax on natural gas bought out of state; taxing
interstate trucking; closing corporate tax loopholes; non-consumer
fees for state regulatory services and licenses; and a tax amnesty
program.
[News
release]
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