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Quinn could have made some of the cuts himself but instead chose to
veto a budget bill and leave it to lawmakers.
"We've got to do that as a joint exercise because, as governor, I am
only one branch of government; we have to have both branches of
government -- the legislative branch and the executive branch --
executing a balanced budget. And we'll get there," Quinn said.
Lawmakers aren't due back to work at the Capitol until next week,
but Illinois has been without a spending plan since a new fiscal
year started July 1, with Quinn and lawmakers at an impasse over the
budget.
Quinn wants an income tax increase to help fill a budget deficit he
estimates at $9.2 billion, while some lawmakers have said they
wouldn't even consider a tax increase without cuts, spending reforms
and government efficiencies.
Quinn already has vetoed another budget bill that would have slashed
spending on social service programs.
Quinn labeled this latest budget bill "inadequate" because it didn't
sufficiently reduce the size of state government.
But lawmakers quickly shot back that the measure was based on
funding levels introduced by the governor in March.
"So it's impossible for it to be out of balance," House Speaker
Michael Madigan's spokesman Steve Brown said.
The governor was accused of flip-flopping.
"Once again, he was for it before he was against it. Is he
acknowledging that what he sent to us was flawed?" said Senate
President John Cullerton's spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon in an e-mail.
The clash over additional cuts seemed to come out of nowhere.
Quinn told reporters two weeks ago that he and legislative leaders
had agreed to reduce spending even further as they struggled to
close the budget deficit. An outline of some of the proposed cuts
has been public for more than a week.
Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the problem is a lack of
specificity from the governor about the additional $1 billion in
cuts.
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 The proposed cuts that Quinn wants didn't offer the kind of detail
that some lawmakers had expected. For example, Quinn has suggested a
10 percent cut in programs and grants in some departments without
spelling out which ones, and he recommends downsizing some
"correctional facilities" without naming them.
"We'd like him as the chief executive to propose the cuts that he
would make," said Harmon, the assistant Senate majority leader.
Republican state Sen. Dan Rutherford blasted Quinn for wanting more
than 1,000 job cuts in the Department of Corrections, because
workers in the prison system are already stretched thin.
"We are absolutely putting a very overcrowded situation, short on
staff today, on the brink of a disaster," said Rutherford, whose
district includes the Pontiac Correctional Center.
The 2,600 layoffs Quinn wants -- those in corrections and about
1,600 more in other agencies and departments -- would save the state
a small fraction of the money it needs to close its deficit.
The Democratic governor also wants employees to take 12 unpaid
furlough days, a concession that would have to be union-approved.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
the state's largest employee union, said an income tax increase --
and not job cuts and furloughs -- will fix the state budget.
"These cuts will slash vital services and undermine public safety,
they will throw thousands of Illinoisans out of work -- worsening
the recession -- and we will still be left with a
multibillion-dollar deficit," union spokesman Anders Lindall said.
[Associated Press; By DEANNA BELLANDI]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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