 Early last week Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced that he would not
sign the budget as it was presented to him; he would veto $500,000
million of the member initiatives, commonly referred to as "pork
projects," and would expand new or existing health care programs.
Mitchell first pointed out that the member initiative projects are a
one-time expense, as compared with the heath care programs, which
are a recurring expense. Last year we were spending more on Medicaid
than on K-12 education, he said.
When asked about the future and security of funding for the
health department, Mitchell said that he couldn't say what would
happen.
In regard to the health care initiatives that the governor has
been pushing, he said that a lot of legislation that comes through
is real vague. He had a problem with the All Kids program and voted
against it. It was poorly constructed and the new FamilyCare plan is
also. Of the kids who signed up for KidCare, 60 percent are illegal
aliens, not citizens of the United States. The program is a 50-50
state-federal match. "How does that affect the Illinois taxpayer?"
he asked. Medicaid requires a Social Security number. When that
cannot be supplied, then 100 percent falls on the state putting more
of the burden on Illinois taxpayers.
Budget cuts that would affect Logan County
Mitchell said that he represents seven counties and had almost
$700,000 submitted in line items, including $50,000 for the Lincoln
and Logan County law enforcement building and $20,000 for the
Atlanta sewer plant.
Sens. Bomke and Brady, who represent this area, would have had
some local items in the budget also, he said.
Schools have several options that they can exercise, Mitchell
said. They can pass tax anticipatory notes. Once a budget is passed
they will receive their funds quickly, he said.
One of the ongoing problems he sees is that there has not been a
capital bill introduced in seven years, including five years under
the Blagojevich administration. A capital bill
helps get funds for projects that local officials recommend to the
legislators, such at the Fifth Street Road project. In his many
years of being involved at the state level, he said, "I've never
seen anything like this."
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Mitchell is committed to watch and not allow Chicago to get funds
and not get something for the rest of Illinois. Chicago wants new
funds for their RTA. "I'm not going to vote for it unless we get
something," he said. "We need roads downstate." There are also some
areas that need school construction and more.
The capital bills that have been proposed were overloaded and
failed.
"Am I hopeful that we'll do something in the next month and a
half? I'm hopeful," he said.
A few budget facts:
-
The Illinois budget
is 1,400 pages.
-
Each year the budget
has gone up.
-
The proposed budget
is 8 percent higher this year than last year.
-
Most of the budget
increase was in pensions and education.
-
There was $980,000
budgeted for maintenance at Lincoln Estates
Legislators are waiting to see how the governor's veto language
reads before they respond to the cuts, Mitchell said.
The veto could be challenged in a court of law on a
constitutional basis by a special interest group, the General
Assembly or the attorney general.
The House has not passed a budget implementation bill yet.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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