 The governor's annual budget address is Feb. 22."The State of the
State address Feb. 1 had some interesting ideas, but there was a
real disconnect from reality," Brady said. "The fact is that despite
a massive income tax increase pushed through by Democrat leaders a
year ago, Illinois still has staggering budget deficits, a huge
backlog of bills and sagging credit ratings."
According to projections released by the governor's
administration in early January, Illinois faces a deficit of more
than $500 million in the current fiscal year, not including $2
billion in fiscal 2012 Medicaid obligations that will be deferred
into the next fiscal year.
For the coming fiscal year, the governor's office promised a
tightly balanced budget that would spend $33.7 billion, based on
$34.1 billion in projected revenues. Ideally, that budget would keep
spending slightly under revenues and allow for a modest surplus that
could be used to reduce the state's backlog of bills.
"Achieving that goal will be far from easy, and I hope the
governor has the will to carry through with his plans," Brady said.
"In the past, he has charted a course of action, only to back off
when the heavy lifting was required. I would like to hear something
in his budget address that indicates he is willing to do the tough
work needed to get our state back on track."
Under the outline presented by the budget office last month,
virtually all state spending must remain flat for the next three
years. In order to achieve a balanced budget, there could be no
increase in education, public safety, welfare and health care
spending. Brady said the plan could be difficult without more
reforms, given that current Medicaid projections show that Illinois
would need to spend about $3 billion more next year just to retain
the program's current level of services and prevent the existing
backlog of bills from growing.
Brady says the people deserve more information about how Quinn
plans to address the unsustainable costs associated with Illinois'
Medicaid and public pension systems. Both programs are growing at an
alarming rate, elbowing out other essential public services.
[to top of second column] |
Quinn has indicated that he will propose to cut Medicaid by $2
billion and hold Medicaid spending to current levels; however, that
would still not be enough to rein in the projected growth of the
program. Unless serious action is taken to address Medicaid
obligations, it's estimated that within five years the annual cost
of the program could reach $12 billion and the bill backlog could
jump to $21 billion.
Brady says an important first step is to implement bipartisan
Medicaid reforms signed into law in 2011. He explains that it has
been more than a year since the reforms were approved by lawmakers
and none of the reforms have been implemented, but the
administration now appears to be taking steps to do so. In time, the
reforms would save the state billions of dollars.
Brady says he also wants to hear from the governor on several
other issues, including his plans for attracting and retaining
employers and jobs, ending the scandal-plagued legislative
scholarship program, and the proposed closure of any state
facilities.
[Text from file sent on behalf
of
Sen.
Bill Brady by
Illinois Senate Republican staff]
 |
