 That's one day before the nearly $30 billion spending plan is set to
take effect.Lawmakers sent Quinn a budget with a $13 billion
deficit in May and then headed home, leaving the governor to manage
Illinois' finances.
Quinn said there will be cuts, but he hopes to spare schools,
social service providers, prisons and the Illinois State Police from
the worst of them.
"The decisions I'm making right now are designed to definitely
make sure we protect education as much as humanly possible, to
maintain our health care safety net for everyday people and to make
sure we have good public safety," Quinn said.
That seems to shift cuts to what the governor calls the
bureaucracy of state government.
"We're having furloughs for me and for all state employees under
our jurisdiction, and we're going to have to tighten the belt as
tight as it can be," said Quinn.
State Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, said it's impossible to
balance the state's budget by ordering a few unpaid days for state
workers. He thinks anything that Quinn does will only be a temporary
fix.
"The governor says he's going to fund human services, education
and public safety ... Well, that's 90 percent of the budget. He's
probably going to be out of money in about seven or eight months,"
Bomke said.
Bomke said he believes the budget details to be released this
week are just more of the same game that's been played at the
Statehouse for two years -- a game he says won't end until after
this fall's election.
"It's all politics," Bomke said. "That's what it's all about."
[to top of second column] |
Quinn's most pressing political problem, however, is not Election
Day. He hasn't been able to convince Democrats in the state Senate
to return to Springfield and authorize short-term borrowing the
governor says he needs to balance the budget.
"The most prudent course to follow is to have strategic borrowing
where the state does the borrowing, rather than hoist the borrowing
onto people and businesses owed money by the state," Quinn said.
But Bomke said cuts would be more prudent and are likely what
voters expect.
"The general population is having a tough time. People who are
not public employees are finding themselves out of a job," Bomke
said. "And I think the general population is saying: Live within
your means."
Quinn's office said they expect to have final budget details, as
final as they can be, by Wednesday afternoon.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
 |
