Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Illinois - Quinn vetoes part of state budget

Quinn vetoes part of state budget

Posted by Ray Long and Rick Pearson at 1:02 p.m.; updated at 2:10 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD---Gov. Pat Quinn today vetoed a portion of the state budget dealing with social services, saying he "had no choice" and that this is a "fight worth fighting for."

The governor, however, said he was not taking action on the rest of the budget. The state entered its new budget year today without a spending plan.

For weeks, Quinn threatened major social service cuts if lawmakers didn't pass an income tax increase. They adjourned yesterday without approving any more money for the budget they approved May 31. And today Quinn vetoed part of that budget, saying it only funded services for the poor and disabled at 50 percent of what he wanted.
This part of the budget does not serve the needs of people who "have no lobbyist" or "friends in high places," said Quinn, sounding the same type of populist note favored by his predecessor, indicted ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Before Quinn's veto, top Democratic leaders today said lawmakers would come back to the Capitol July 14 for a special session to address the budget situation. House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton called the special session for the middle of the month to consider how to get a budget in place for the new fiscal year that began today.

Illinois is operating without a new spending plan as Democrats who control the House and Senate have approved a budget with multibillion-dollar deficits unless the state imposes drastic cuts.

Quinn told a joint session of the House and Senate on Tuesday that he would veto what he considers a partial budget that cuts to the heart of the state's social services safety net for vulnerable citizens. Quinn threatened on Tuesday to stay all summer if necessary to pay an income tax increase to help fill the gap in the state's finances.

"The practical and only reality we have to face is that our state is in a massive deficit," Quinn said following his address. "We have to correct it. And that means getting revenue. That means asking the taxpayers to pay a higher income tax based on the ability to pay. That's not easy. That's a hard thing to do. But I think taxpayers understand that it's better to be honest about a deficit than to pretend it doesn't exist and sweep it under the rug."

In a statement today, Quinn said: “Until a budget is in place, the state has very limited authority to pay its vendors and grantees. The state, however, will continue to operate and provide essential services to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Illinois citizens, such as maintaining prisons and providing emergency services and legally-required social services. Other vendors and grantees who currently perform state services do so at the risk of not being paid. We are working toward and are hopeful that a full, fair, and balanced budget will be enacted and will allow the state to pay its vendors and grantees for the services they perform. We thank our citizens, vendors, and grantees for their service and patience during these trying times.”

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said he did not know how long the special session would take, and the date was picked following a review of when lawmakers are available to return to the Capitol.

"We surveyed members and tried to figure out when their schedules would allow them to come back, with the least amount of disruption to their lives," Brown said. "The president and the speaker are trying to treat members as if they're human beings and they have their own lives."
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Originally posted: June 30, 2009
Quinn scolds lawmakers but they fail to approve more money

Posted by Monique Garcia at 10:25 a.m.; last updated at 8:32 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD---Gov. Pat Quinn this afternoon scolded state lawmakers, saying he will veto any state budget that doesn't provide enough money to keep social services going.

"If this General Assembly sends me a partial budget that decimates the social safety net of our state, I will veto that budget," said Quinn, addressing a rare joint session of the General Assembly for about 10 minutes.

Hours later, the Illinois Senate twice failed to approve a borrowing measure that would have provided $2.2 billion more to fund social services that were on the chopping block. The vote was 32-21, with four voting present. The measure, which passed the House yesterday, needed 36 votes because the General Assembly blew past its May 31 deadline.

Even if the borrowing plan had been approved, lawmakers still had not voted on Quinn's latest plan to raise the Illinois income tax. According to Quinn, that tax hike is needed to end the financial trickery that's long gone on in Springfield.
"We must not put off decisions until later in the summer or the fall or next winter. That's not what adults do," Quinn told lawmakers.

Prior to Quinn's address, Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said he and the three other legislative leaders agree that they should send the governor the budget they passed at the end of May, with an additional $2.2 billion in spending authority from a pending pension-borrowing plan. That budget, Cullerton said, gives Quinn the flexibility to keep social service spending at current levels and buys more time to try to get Republicans to back a tax increase.

"We want the governor to have authority to spend money for the next month without imposing any draconian cuts. And when we will have passed all of the (budget bills), we will have done that. And he then has the ability to spend at whatever rate he wants. We've given him that flexibility," Cullerton said "And then at the end of the month, if there wasn't any resolution to the budget deficit, then he can reduce the spending and spend at the draconian levels and then we'd be back here in a special session to vote on an income tax."

Cullerton said that idea was suggested to Quinn during a two-hour meeting this morning. "That's what we've suggested that he do, and I don't think at this point in time he's agreeing with that tactic," Cullerton said.

"He's somehow is saying that because we've appropriated all of the money we've had and it doesn't include a tax increase, so that's somehow a false budget. And that's not true. It's a balanced budget. It just doesn't have enough money to spend at the level that he wants to spend," Cullerton said.

This morning, Quinn said that lawmakers must approve an income tax increase or he'll force a "double overtime."

Quinn says an income tax increase is needed to fill what he estimates is a $9.2 billion hole---a gap lawmakers say is about $7 billion. The new governor has threatened massive layoffs and cuts to social services if no solution is found, but also has backed away from both threats.

"I think sometimes the governor has to be the quarterback and call the play. Legislators can react to each of those signals but it's not time for running in place," Quinn told reporters in Chicago before catching a flight to Springfield. "I'm not going to let the legislature send me a half-baked budget that does not include funding for those important services. If they do, we'll have to send it back and we'll have to go into double overtime."

The governor stopped short of saying he'd veto the spending plan lawmakers already approved, but said he will "not accept" it.

"If they throw that my way tonight, they will see it thrown right back at 'em," Quinn said. "For those who might be advocating things in the budget that are unfair, are not humane, or indecent, I'm not going down that road."

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