State Sen. Bill Brady comments on passing of unbalanced budget

One positive: increase for veterans

[June 02, 2008]  SPRINGFIELD -- After weeks of budget negotiations, the General Assembly passed a budget Saturday of over $30 billion for fiscal 2009 and sent it on to the governor for final approval, said state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington.

The budget, contained in House Bill 5701 and Senate Bill 1102, contained appropriations for state agencies and general operations. However, the budget contained a hole of approximately $2.7 billion and is almost certain to compound the state's currently brewing fiscal storm. It also relies of natural revenue growth of over $1 billion, which might be generous, based on current economic indicators.

"There are good things in this budget; however, the good don't out-weight the bad," Brady said. "This past week we decided to borrow $16 billion to avoid a payment of $500 million to the pension systems. The Chicago Democrats swept an additional $500 million in economic stimulus funds, we decided to sell the lottery, and today borrowed $3 billion for a capital plan. The current practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul has got to stop."

Brady did not vote for Senate Bill 1102, because it is unbalanced; however, he noted that there was an increase of over $20 million for the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

"While, the overall budget faces an uncertain fate when it reaches the governor, I did find solace knowing that our veterans services will finally receive the funding they deserve," stated Brady. "We have seen far too many games played with those that served our country. This additional funding was long overdue."

The budget now moves to the governor for final approval. The governor has 30 days to approve the budget proposal or submit either a complete or line item veto of the plan.

[Text from file sent on behalf of Sen. Bill Brady by Illinois Senate Republican staff]