 The Democratic governor argued
that even after slashing the budget, Illinois has a major hole in
its budget and unmet needs in important services.
The fairest way to change
that is to raise the income tax, he said.
"We have cut. We have cut
from here to kingdom come," Quinn said at a news conference. "We've
done all this, but we have to deal with the fiscal reality that we
have a revenue shortfall to pay our bills."
Lawmakers gave Quinn the job
of deciding where to cut about $1 billion in spending and how to
divvy up $3.4 billion in lump sums.
Quinn offered his first
explanation Friday of what he intended to do.
Much of the money available
will be used to pay local organizations that provide child care,
drug counseling and similar services on behalf of the state.
They still face a reduction
in state support but not the deep cuts that were once proposed.
Quinn also put money into
the state's child-welfare agency and the State Board of Education,
reversing some of the school cuts that were announced last week.
But Quinn said he still
planned to eliminate about 2,600 jobs, including 1,000 at the
Department of Corrections.
That amounts to almost 10
percent of the department's total work force.
Quinn chief of staff Jerome
Stermer said one prison might be closed, others would be reduced in
size and the number of inmates would be cut.
He would provide no details.
Money for the Illinois
Student Assistance Commission, which provides college scholarships,
will be cut by more than half. As a result, the commission will not
offer its Monetary Award Program next spring.
Unions representing state
employees or workers at local agencies that are paid by the state
took up Quinn's call for a tax increase.
"Every Illinoisan must
demand that lawmakers and the governor renounce these damaging cuts,
commit to raising new revenue, and return to the Capitol as soon as
necessary to fix this broken budget," said Henry Bayer, the top
Illinois official for the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees.
[to top of second column] |
Keith Kelleher, Illinois
president of the Service Employees International Union, added: "The
General Assembly's failure to pass a responsible budget with a plan
for new revenue means that vital programs and services that families
count on face billions of dollars in devastating cuts."
Democratic legislative
leaders, particularly Senate President John Cullerton, are
interested in tackling a tax increase, perhaps early next year.
Republicans signaled Friday that they remain opposed.
"House Republicans continue
to stand up for Illinois taxpayers who believe they should not have
to contribute more of their hard-earned income to a broken system,"
said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego.
Quinn's actions Friday were
the latest twist in efforts to close an $11.6 billion budget
deficit.
Quinn originally proposed
filling the gap with spending cuts, budget maneuvers and a tax
increase.
Legislators rejected the tax
increase. That resulted in a stalemate that saw the state's new
budget year begin on July 1 without a budget in place. Eventually,
Quinn and the Legislature agreed on a plan to paper over the deficit
by borrowing money, allowing bills to go unpaid and promising to
make unspecified cuts.
Lawmakers left many of the
hard decisions to Quinn. He said Friday that they didn't want their
fingerprints on the cuts necessary to balance the budget.
[Associated Press; CHRISTOPHER
WILLS and DEANNA BELLANDI]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
 |
