|
The governor's vetoes ranged from
reducing the operations budgets of the state's constitutional
officers to rejecting salary increases for government officials to
cutting the number of regional offices of education in half to
eliminating appropriations for Department of Corrections' captains.
"We need to show the same fiscal
restraint in state government that working families have been forced
to do throughout Illinois," Blagojevich said. "The budget passed by
the General Assembly was an important first step, but we need to
continue to look for ways to do more with less and to be fiscally
disciplined in this budget process. When times are tough, you have
to tighten your belt and live within your means.
''Many difficult decisions had to be
made because of the fiscal mess I inherited. These choices included
closing corporate tax loopholes, reducing agency administrative
costs, halting merit compensation employees' pay raises and ending
the state's practice of picking up the employees’ share of their
pension contributions. Making those tough choices gave us the
funding necessary to allow for spending more on education, health
care and public safety and gave us a cushion in case the economy
continues to falter."
Blagojevich has now completed work on
all fiscal 2004 appropriations except for the capital budget (Senate
Bill 1239), which was only recently sent by the legislature to the
governor's desk. Of the spending vetoed, $112 million was in general
revenue funds and $110 million in other funds.
Offices and administrators
As he had promised shortly after the
budget was passed, Blagojevich vetoed $4.5 million set aside for pay
hikes for judges and government officials, including the governor
and other constitutional officers, agency directors, and
legislators.
The General Assembly's budget had
included a $3.7 million cost-of-living increase for Supreme Court,
Appellate Court and Circuit Court judges and $791,000 for pay raises
for the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary
of state, comptroller, treasurer, auditor general, agency directors,
assistant agency directors and legislators.
The governor also met with the state's
constitutional officers last week to ask that they reduce their
budgets in order to help address the fiscal crisis. The governor's
and lieutenant governor’s offices both reduced their budgets by 15
percent for fiscal 2004, which began July 1.
As a result of the meetings, the
governor decided to cut a total of $53 million spending in the
offices of the attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state and
state treasurer.
"These are difficult economic times,
and we all have to find ways to do more with less. That's what
leadership is all about," Blagojevich said. "I'd like to commend
Comptroller Dan Hynes for volunteering to reduce his budget by 7.5
percent. That reduction will help us set aside more money for
schools, for hospitals, for public safety -- money that helps
working people and makes their lives better. Dan Hynes has long
demonstrated a strong commitment to fiscal discipline and integrity,
and his decision to voluntarily reduce his budget in these tough
times underscores that commitment.
"Attorney General Lisa Madigan also
deserves credit for her decision to reduce her budget 3 percent.
Considering the incredible caseload her office handles and her
office's clear responsibility for helping keep the people of this
state safe, her willingness to dig deep and find ways to save money
on behalf of the taxpayers is noteworthy."
[to top of second column in
this article]
|
Blagojevich also said he appreciated
the willingness of Secretary of State Jesse White and state
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka to reduce their budgets by 3 percent but
felt further savings could be made.
"Jesse White deserves praise for his
efforts to reform an office historically plagued by corruption and
waste," the governor said. "Jesse has taken important steps to help
restore the public trust in the secretary of state's office, and his
work has been crucial in helping us recover from the scandals of the
past. However, I do believe there is more room for savings in the
secretary of state's office and the treasurer's office and have
decided to reduce the budgets of both by 7.5 percent."
School
administrative costs cut
The budget reductions announced include
the governor's intention to trim $22 million from the State Board of
Education's budget for administration of grant programs and to the
administrative costs of the regional offices of education.
"I remain solidly committed to
providing support for our classrooms, our teachers and our school
children," Blagojevich said. "The education spending plan increases
state funding for preschool through 12th grade by $285 million,
which includes an increase of $250 per pupil -- an increase larger
than the prior three budget years combined and the highest since
1999. These reductions are intended to be in administrative costs
only and not to reduce grants to school districts, community
organizations or other recipients."
The funding level approved by the
General Assembly for the regional offices of education was cut from
$17 million to $11 million, and the governor ordered the number of
those offices to be reduced from the current 45 to no more than 22
by July 1, 2005. Funding for the offices in the last fiscal year
amounted to $23 million
.
The regional superintendents will have
until May 1, 2005, to develop a new set of not more than 22 regions.
The regional superintendent representing the largest county in each
new region will serve as the successor regional superintendent and
be the fiscal agent, overseeing the distribution of all grants and
other appropriations. The remaining regional superintendents will
serve as transitional superintendents and work cooperatively with
the successor regional superintendent on the reorganization plan
until 2007.
As part of the agreement with the
governor and his Office of Management and Budget, the regional
superintendents and their assistants have agreed not to increase
their salaries during fiscal year 2004.
DOC
facilities and captains
The governor also vetoed $25 million
included in the Illinois Department of Corrections' budget by the
legislature for a 360-bed juvenile correctional facility in
Rushville and a 200-bed work camp in Paris and for the continued
employment of 219 prison captains, who were paid an average of
$75,200 a year.
The elimination of the $17.3 million to
fund the captains' positions is part of a plan to streamline the
agency's top-heavy management structure. The governor stressed that
proposed cuts to the DOC bureaucracy are aimed at shifting the
agency's emphasis to staffing front-line security positions that are
critical to the safety of its employees and the inmates incarcerated
in the state's prison system.
The sum
total of the governor's actions July 3 is much greater than the $222
million in cuts. The other reductions reflect technical cuts for
funds already expended in fiscal 2003, errors and spending also
included in the capital budget bill, which is still under
consideration.
[News
release] |
