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 "This could go on for weeks. Or a few months? It’s all uncharted
waters at this point," Christopher Mooney, director of the Institute
of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, said
on Friday.
He said pressure to pass a budget eased with Rauner's signing last
month of a funding bill ensuring schools will open on time in
September. The pressure could ease further if state courts
ultimately allow state workers to be paid without a budget.
While Rauner and Madigan exchanged barbs this week, Illinois
continued to have the worst funded pension system and the lowest
credit ratings among the 50 states.
The budget battle has not triggered any rating action that could
push Illinois into the low-investment grade level of triple-B rarely
assigned a state. That could change.
 Moody's Investors Service analyst Ted Hampton said the longer the
impasse continues, the harder it will become for Illinois to balance
its budget.
"At a certain point, the impasse, the gridlock does matter," he
said. "The question is who's going to blink first."
Standard & Poor's warned this week it could take "rating action
within the next two months, even in the absence of an adopted budget
if, in our view, there is limited progress in budget deliberations
or if credit fundamentals weaken."
On Wednesday, Rauner dared Madigan to use his Democratic House
majority to pass a tax hike, a move the speaker later said was "not
realistic." The governor also reintroduced a package of
controversial reforms, including a property tax freeze and
legislative term limits, that he wants before he considers new
revenue.
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Madigan shot back, releasing a list of seven House hearings that
Rauner's Administration failed to attend to answer questions despite
the governor's campaign pledge for an open and transparent
government.
"We have considered the issuance of subpoenas but we haven't done it
because we want to be reasonable," Madigan told reporters on
Thursday.
Overtime legislative sessions have given lawmakers a stage to vent
frustration at the impasse and each other.
During a Thursday House debate on a one-month budget, Republican
State Representative Chad Hays suggested that lawmakers be locked in
the capitol.
"This is ridiculous. Day after day after day we're no closer to a
budget," he said.
(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by David Gregorio)
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