 Also this week, Senate lawmakers were busy introducing bills to meet
a Feb. 10 deadline and attending Senate committees. The Senate
wrapped up the week by bidding farewell to a longtime colleague.
Members of a Senate budget committee were frustrated Tuesday by the
lack of information on Quinn's upcoming budget and the failure of
the governor's chief budget officer to appear before the committee
to answer questions. With the budget address fast approaching,
little has been revealed about the governor's plans. Committee
members also criticized representatives from Quinn's office for
being unable to offer details on the governor's claims that he has
cut state spending by $3 billion.
Even with the Democrat's recent 67 percent income tax increase,
the state must make serious cuts to spending in order to address the
budget deficit. Despite a supposed spending "cap" included in the
tax hike passed last month, if spending isn't reduced, Illinoisans
will likely face a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall in five
years. Senate Republicans explained that the spending limits adopted
by the governor and his fellow Democrats are so generous that they
will not actually reduce or control spending.
Senators are anxious to see if Quinn will adhere to the
requirements of "budgeting for results" legislation recently
approved in the General Assembly, which requires the budget message
to outline a spending plan based only on funds actually available to
the state. In the past, governors have often built their proposed
budgets using taxes or other revenues that they were asking for but
which had not passed. This allowed governors to submit overly
generous budgets and then blame legislators for "cutting" the budget
when those tax hikes or revenue increases did not materialize.
Senate lawmakers also hustled to file bills by the Thursday
deadline. GOP lawmakers are once again pushing legislation to make
additional Medicaid, pension and ethics reforms. Senate Republicans
are also advancing changes to the state's Meritorious Good Time
prison program, measures to add additional oversight to personnel
changes at state agencies, and legislation that would eliminate the
vast number of state task forces and commissions, while making it
more difficult to create many of these bogus entities.
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Also this week, retiring Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Rochelle, was
recognized by his Senate colleagues with a resolution on the Senate
floor. Burzynski served as a state senator since 1993 and was a
member of the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993. The 35th
District senator is a respected advocate for education, well known
for his efforts to increase access to higher education and improve
the quality of education in Illinois schools, and he has served as a
powerful voice for the state's school districts and public
universities.
Finally, the Illinois Senate acknowledged the centennial of
Ronald Reagan's birth. A Senate resolution was introduced that
honored Reagan's youth in Illinois, his career in motion pictures,
his military service and his service as the governor of California
from 1967 to 1975. In particular, lawmakers praised his presidential
legacy of leadership, optimism and prosperity.
[Text from file sent on behalf of
Sen.
Larry Bomke by Illinois
Senate Republican staff]
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