 Earlier this week, President Barack Obama signed off on legislation
that would provide $26 billion to states to help boost education
jobs and supplement Medicaid providers.Quinn said he expected the
state to begin processing the funds in the next 30 days. He noted
that he did not think he would need the approval of state lawmakers
to release those funds.
Quinn is running for his first full term as governor against
state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington. Illinois voters will decide
their next governor when they head to the polls on Nov. 2.
Brady said that taking in the federal money now would lead to
problems next year, when the federal money isn't there.
"At the end of the day, we have to learn to live within our
means. We cannot ask the federal government to continue to bail us
out because next year there's a cliff now. We need to make some
serious decisions and deconstruct and reconstruct. So while this
looks like an election year bailout, it's not going to solve our
permanent problems," he said.
Illinois' share of federal money will tally $550 million for
Medicaid, while $415 million will go toward retaining and hiring
teachers.
The money could help partially address some cuts proposed by the
Quinn administration. Earlier this month, Quinn announced a slate of
$1.4 billion in cuts to several state agencies, including agencies
that oversee Medicaid, education and community care.
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On Friday, Quinn criticized his opponent for not providing
alternative funding solutions for education.
"We're not going to have a state of Illinois that doesn't invest
in education for the people. That's a choice people will make on
Nov. 2. If they want to go in the wrong direction, go with Sen.
Brady who wants to cut education by over a billion dollars, doesn't
want to get federal money, doesn't want to help get it," he said.
Brady did say that if he were governor, he would take the federal
money.
"Our citizens deserve the same benefit. So yes, we would accept
it, but it doesn't solve the problems. The problems are not going to
go away if they're going to print money like it's going to last
forever. It's not," he said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By KEVIN LEE]
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