The Governor's Office of
Management and Budget is pleased that members of the Civic
Federation recognize that we are moving forward on changes that will
secure our state's finances, but what is not emphasized in their
analysis is how budget cuts, borrowing and the surcharge for
education are all necessary this legislative session to move
Illinois toward budget and fiscal stability.
Budget cuts in discretionary spending made by the Quinn
administration both last year and this year must continue, and new
revenues are needed to restore fiscal balance. One without the other
cannot do the job. Both are necessary to secure our state’s bond
ratings and the ability to engage in the short-term and
intermediate-term borrowing needed to pay our bills on time.
Our budget plan makes the tough decisions necessary to address
the state's challenges and provides solutions to pay our bills,
protect jobs and save taxpayers money. The largest taxpayer savings
comes from the historic pension reform bill that Gov. Quinn recently
signed into law. As the Civic Federation points out, this law will
save taxpayers money while stabilizing the state's retirement
systems.
The Civic Federation also disagrees with moving forward with the
capital plan. Our capital plan is putting people back to work and
helping Illinois recover from the longest and deepest recession
since the Great Depression. Over the next several years we have
plans to move forward with $13 billion in borrowing to create and
retain jobs; build roads, schools and communities; and invest in
Illinois’ future. Without proper funding, our core infrastructure
suffers, and that’s something we cannot afford. For fiscal 2011 we
have enough revenue to support $4 billion to $5 billion in bonds,
and we will not issue additional bonds until we secure the revenues
to repay them. This fiscal year, the Capital Projects Fund is
expected to raise $600 million in new revenues for various projects
across the state.
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Currently, we have more than $6 billion in accounts payable. This
is a pressing challenge before us that needs immediate action. Our
plan reduces those bills to $2.9 billion by using excess revenues
from other state funds that will be repaid within 18 months. The
Civic Federation advocates this approach. Our plan also includes
partially liquidating the revenue from the tobacco settlement to get
needed cash now. These strategies will immediately provide the state
with billions of dollars to help stabilize the budget, pay our
bills, refinance our debt and keep people employed.
[Text from news release from
the governor's office]
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