 "The budget is an ongoing process," said Quinn. "We have to work on
it 365 days of the fiscal year."Quinn, who introduced a nearly
$36 billion budget, said he is not happy with the $33.4 billion
spending plan that Illinois lawmakers sent him, and he wants more
spending in education and human services.
But while Quinn can shift around money in the budget, he cannot
order more spending, said state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago.
"The governor has some limitations when he is acting on the
budget," said Feigenholtz. "He cannot add. He can only (order)
line-item reductions."
But Feigenholtz, who helped write the human services portion of
the state budget, said Quinn "should come back to the Legislature to
ask us for more" money this fall. And Quinn agreed.
"There may be some legislators that want to revisit certain areas
(of the budget)," said Quinn. "I think it's really imperative that
legislators not say, 'We did something in the spring,' and that's
the last word."
State Rep. Will Davis, R-Crestwood, who crafted the education
portion of the state budget, agreed with Quinn that more needs to be
done and said he hopes the governor acts.
Quinn "needs to think about the people that supported him in the
last election, as well as those who support his efforts in the
Legislature. And if he still has lump-sum dollars available, that's
where he needs to spend the money," Davis said.
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But Republicans remain skeptical of any attempt to spend more.
State Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Paletine, said that if Illinois is ever
going to roll back this year's 67 percent personal income tax
increases, then the state needs to start living within its means.
"If Gov. Quinn and the Democrats cannot make the tough choices on
spending now, after a tax increase, how will they be able to make
those tough choices down the road?" Murphy asked.
Feigenholtz said all lawmakers want to keep that promise, but the
state needs to provide services.
Davis said the tweaking of the 2012 state budget is going to
affect how lawmakers craft the 2013 state budget.
"I'm going to be less concerned about bipartisanship," said
Davis. "I'm going to be more concerned about making sure that I
provide the resources to the programs that are important to people
across the state.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
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