* From December 12, 2014…
On a preliminary trip to Springfield after winning the November election, Governor-elect Bruce Rauner held a press conference to draw attention to some of the gimmicks included in the current State budget, including interfund borrowing.
Mr. Rauner called the plan to use $650 million borrowed from Special State Funds for FY2015 General Funds operations “fundamentally wrong.” The Governor-elect critiqued the practice, known as interfund borrowing, due to the requirement to pay back the funds over the next 18 months and the gap it creates in the FY2016 budget.
* Well, the governor has reversed course…
Gov. Bruce Rauner has borrowed $454 million from special state funds to help manage cash flow as Illinois begins a new fiscal year without a budget.
The Republican borrowed the money from more than two dozen funds designated for other purposes. The largest amounts came from an account for school infrastructure and a fund to help low-income people pay utility bills.
Rauner, you will recall, refused to tap into that borrowing authority during the spring, demanding instead that lawmakers permanently sweep special funds.
* An e-mail from Mike Schrimpf…
Gives us greater flexibility to manage cash flow without a budget and helps reduce the specter of prompt payment penalties, which the state has routinely faced.
The School Infrastructure Fund is hit for $179 million, LIHEAP will take a $75 million hit, etc.
This is actually not a bad idea on both the governing and political sides of the equation. It will most definitely help the administration keep its head above water for a while as it struggles to pin the blame for the budget crisis on Democratic intransigence.
…Adding… A commenter asks…
Ok. Pardon my ignorance but if the AG says money can’t be spent without an appropriation how can the gov spend this?
They can use this money to pay FY 15 bills, which will help keep some not for profits, etc. afloat.
…Adding More… A valid complaint registered in comments…
(T)hat’s a nice little $450 million hole we’re starting off with in FY ‘17 without even wrapping up FY ‘16, isn’t it?
The governor loves to use the phrase “kicking the can,” and he did just that today.
Again, this is I believe a prudent move, but it’s not anywhere near consistent with even his recent remarks.
- Joe M - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:51 am:
Is the Governor shaking up Springfield - or is Springfield shaking up the Governor?
- Mason born - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:52 am:
Ok. Pardon my ignorance but if the AG says money can’t be spent without an appropriation how can the gov spend this? Or is this another diference of opinion to be sourted out in front of a judge?
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:53 am:
Rich, your side is losing.
- Skeptic - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:54 am:
I think it just goes to show (and I’m not singling out Rauner or anyone else on this) how easy it is to say something on the campaign trail and how hard it is to actually do it.
- downstate commissioner - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:54 am:
Already posted a negative comment about Rauner and crew a few minutes ago; time to get off of here for a while…
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:57 am:
It’s a great idea unless you are poor and hoping that LIHEAP will help with your utility bill.
- Juice - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:58 am:
Skeptic, he made his comments after he was already elected.
Mason Born, it helps pay down what is left of FY ‘15 bills, would have no impact on the FY ‘16 budget.
But that’s a nice little $450 million hole we’re starting off with in FY ‘17 without even wrapping up FY ‘16, isn’t it?
- John A Logan - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:59 am:
“Governing is hard.” Bruce Rauner
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:01 am:
Milking enterprises dry was the guvs bread and butter in his former life.
- Skeptic - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:02 am:
Juice: Ah, ok. Well, my statement still stands…what had popped in my mind was “Read my lips, No New Taxes.” We all know how that turned out.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:03 am:
Learning on the job, it’s always tough.
Pretending you knew what the job was about before having that job, makes the learning tougher.
Agree, - Skeptic -, Rauner isn’t the first, and won’t be the last to face duality.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:04 am:
===Rich, your side is losing===
And which side would that be?
- Mason born - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:05 am:
Thanks Juice.
I thought ‘15 bills had appropriations from last year? As for the hole in theory can’t those funds be put back if/when the ‘16 budget comes in?
A friend of mine explained the budget mess as bvr and mjm having a peeing contest and the entire state is stuck in the impact zone.
- AC - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:09 am:
==And which side would that be?==
Sanity?
- slow down - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:11 am:
Interfund borrowing is a more honest approach than fund sweeps. Fund sweeps take $ collected for a specific purpose from a specific community and use that cash for the state’s general purposes which have nothing to do with the reason the cash was collected for in the first place.
Interfund borrowing, on the other hand, allows the state to use the cash it holds in special funds to bridge certain gaps while eventually returning that cash to the fund for the purpose it was collected for in the first place. This is a necessary power for the Governor to have and Rauner has Quinn to thank for it (not that he’ll ever acknowledge it).
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:14 am:
He wants to keep paying employees on time. Are we not for that?
How else to peel this onion?
Please leave out signing this unbalanced budget. That’s already way off the table.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:16 am:
== Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 9:53 am:
Rich, your side is losing.===
With a comment like that, I’d post as anonymous too. Oy.
- Tommydanger - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:17 am:
Do as I say-not as I do
- Defeated - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:19 am:
A guy - which employees are you referring to in terms of paying on time? These are funds from FY15. They can’t be used to pay state employees for work done starting today
- jake - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:20 am:
Rauner really burned bridges behind him by vetoing the entire budget, instead of line-item vetoing it down to his desired size and shape. Yes, he would have taken heat for the cuts. But that is nothing compared to taking heat for a prolonged government shutdown, even if he shares that heat with the legislature.
- Juice - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:21 am:
A guy, there is a provision in the Constitution that would have allowed the Governor to veto everything but the line items that would have covered Government operations. Article IV Section 9 lays it out quite nicely.
He chose not to do that, which is why what he is proposing is not only illegal, but fairly boneheaded. The courts never like to get dragged in to a political fight if there are other constitutional methods to arrive at the desired outcome, which in this case, there most definitely was.
The Governor chose to shutdown state Government, but then refuses to acknowledge the consequences of his actions. So it goes.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:23 am:
Paying salaries earned in FY16 without the spending authority would be unconstitutional. The administration is against unconstitutional stuff.
- Norseman - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:27 am:
Learning is also tough when you come in with preconceived notions that everyone your dealing with are corrupt or acting on their own special interests.
- Anon - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:32 am:
Maybe he doesn’t know what’s going on.
- walker - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:38 am:
Welcome to the realities of trying to operate without an agreed budget. Not optimal, but a hard trade off that’s been done before.
In retrospect this reinforces the frustration many knowledgeable folks felt when hearing naive criticisms of previous administrations.
- mokenavince - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:41 am:
When the Punch and Judy show is over please get back to governing. Madigan is not going to play ball as long as his trial lawyers and unions are in play. Governor Rauner thinks he’s David, and Cullerton smiles like the court jester. It will get settled and there will b some blood.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:41 am:
It’s wrong until it’s not. That’s basically the message.
- Just saying... - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:45 am:
Hypocrisy is the middle name of this administration…we’re used to it…ugh.
RICH - Question…what if anything has the LT. Governors office and her many working groups come up with as it pertains to cost savings and reforms such as the reduction of unfunded mandates…?
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:46 am:
Inter fund borrowing has a trickle down effect stopping and delaying programs funded from those special funds. So thus the state is paying Those people for not doing much
- Left Leaner - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:46 am:
Do as I say, not as I do.
Rauner might need to enact a Turnaround Agenda on himself before too long.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 10:54 am:
===The Governor chose to shutdown state Government, but then refuses to acknowledge the consequences of his actions. So it goes===
I guess that’s one way of looking at it. If you want to. And you do.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:06 am:
- A Guy -,
Define “choose”? lol.
- nona - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:06 am:
The rule is that sweeps are wrong only when the other party does them.
- Juice - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:07 am:
A guy, then you explain to me why on Earth the executive branch would essentially say, “yeah, I know I vetoed that, but my veto is absolutely meaningless.” That is a pretty large delegation of executive power right there, yet he doesn’t even seem to care since he is much more interested in being a super-legislator than acting as the executive.
- facts are stubborn things - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:23 am:
The realities of governing vs campaigning.
- Lefty Lefty - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:32 am:
Is there a place to see which funds were the source of the “borrowing”?
- Get a Job! - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:34 am:
=They can use this money to pay FY 15 bills, which will help keep some not for profits, etc. afloat.=
Rich, to add to this……..…That’s true, but they can use these funds for any appropriated expense, regardless of the fiscal year the expense occurs. There is no fiscal year limitations on cash, only appropriations. If an appropriation (or continuing appropriation) exists in FY16, the Governor can absolutely use these borrowed funds to pay them. People often get confused between the difference of appropriation and cash (I’m not implying you are one of them) so I just wanted to clarify that for everyone.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:34 am:
=== Juice - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:07 am:
A guy, then you explain to me why on Earth the executive branch would essentially say, “yeah, I know I vetoed that, but my veto is absolutely meaningless.” That is a pretty large delegation of executive power right there, yet he doesn’t even seem to care since he is much more interested in being a super-legislator than acting as the executive.===
Well Juice, there are not a plethora of options available to him. He’s clearly choosing between some priorities and needing to move on some to soften the crisis felt by state employees. This obviously extends to the people they are serving as well. I very much doubt this is a preference of his more than an unpleasant adjustment he’s willing to make for the greater good. But the theme is that he’s completely inflexible.
To make that work, you gotta shaft state workers. He doesn’t appear to be prepared to do that. Are you?
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:42 am:
Guy, surprisingly, you’re making things up.
Nowhere in this post do you see anyone claiming that this borrowing is going to state employee payroll for FY16.
Schrimpf says its going to be used to avoid prompt payment penalties to vendors. That can only be for FY15 services.
There is no legal authority to pay state employees for the work they are peforming starting today.
- Juice - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:42 am:
A guy, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. But I also didn’t spend $50 million to get the gig, but I also didn’t go around the State saying I’d be willing to shut the Government down. But once again, just like the $26 million, just like “sham” introduced budget, just like his 16 inch softball hitting television campaign, we have a Governor who talks a big game, but when push comes to shove is willing the shirk the constitutional authority that comes with the office if it means avoiding consequences to his actions.
- Qui Tam - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:44 am:
=“Governing is hard.” Bruce Rauner=
“democracy is messy” - Donald Rumsfeld
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:02 pm:
== Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 11:42 am:
Guy, surprisingly, you’re making things up.===
Dude, I was going to ask what I made up, before I realized that I didn’t care what you think about this since you’ve long lost any objectivity on this or the Governor. So, don’t bother.
To continue on the path many are on is to simply be in complete denial that anything (anything!!!) is wrong with how we’ve been doing things.
That’s just utterly nonsensical to me.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:12 pm:
Guy, what you’re making up is that this borrowed money can “soften the blow” to pay state workers so as not to “shaft them.”
There is no legal authority to pay state employees for work starting today. As Schrimpf said, the money is for vendors for FY15 services. Those are simple and objective facts.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:37 pm:
=To continue on the path many are on is to simply be in complete denial that anything (anything!!!) is wrong with how we’ve been doing things.=
And that is precisely the “thing” with our new governor.
He criticized, really excoriated, Quinn et al for the fund sweeps and borrowing etc. And he was right, it is not the right way to handle the business of the state. The problem with all of that, which he said he would change, is that he is doing the EXACT same thing.
Regardless of rationale he made such a big deal of it, and it definitely helped him win an election. But he is doing the same thing. That is where he loses the high ground, credibility, call it whatever you want. He loses when he does EXACTLY what he said he wouldn’t. This isn’t about compromising and being criticized for it. This was a (if not the) foundation of what he campaigned on.
Contain costs, stop the growth of spending, all good, but you also have to pay some bills. In a state with spending so far out of whack from revenue, every intelligent person knows that there has to be revenue even with cuts. Depending on the day he said he could do it without revenue, even with less, or there might be some new revenue, or the economy would be boomin’. Now you are starting to see the results of all of that misdirection. Talk tough, tuck tail, change direction, pr campaign.
Enough already, egt serious, admit reality, make something good happen in Illinois. He does have the opportunity to get some change from MJM and Cullerton, but not if he continues on this path.
- Kurt in Springfield - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 12:40 pm:
Guy,
I usually just read and soak up your sparring with other commenters; I find it both informative and entertaining. However, regarding the current budget crisis, the governor appears to be the most unreasonable and is the only one to blame for the current crisis in July.
While an ideological case can be made for vetoing the 19 bills, with which I do not agree by the way, Rauner owns the devastation and personal cost of the shutdown during the month of July. When he says he is not even willing to approve a temporary one month budget, the purpose of which is to provide money for the most needy citizens during this standoff, he is being very unreasonable and comes off as an elite plutocrat. Madigan is definitely upstaging Rauner on this one issue.
- Bulldog58 - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 1:59 pm:
If there was any doubt before, Rauner has now taken ownership of this mess. He now holds the deed title clear of any liens. By kicking his own can down the road he no longer can blame past administrations. If I was in the General Assembly, up for election in ‘16 and on the GOP ticket I’d warily be watching this unfold. I wouldn’t want to be aboard the SS Rauner and get caught in the vortex this ‘crisis’ is most likely to create.
- Anonin' - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:39 pm:
Rich, your side is losing===
And which side would that be?
With all due respect that side is the one that tries everyday to make TeamBungle and the Bobblehead look credible and capable of understanding even the smallest operation of state government. it is a noble effort, but failing effort that we know you are tiring of, but it is what is.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:40 pm:
===With all due respect===
lol
Yeah. OK.
- walker - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:43 pm:
Oh, it’s only Day One.
Let’s hold our grand dudgeon for when this gets serious.
- REE - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 2:46 pm:
I hope that the people of Illinois are taking time to reflect on their own past choices. Our vote is too precious and should be cast based on facts and plans that are candidly put forth by candidates. Politicians need to get this message, “No details in advance, no vote for you.” Voting out of anger is a dumb strategy. You never know what you going to get. Hopefully, lesson learned.
- Enviro - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 3:13 pm:
- REE -@ 2:46 pm:The people of Illinois are taking time to reflect on the upcoming July 4th holiday weekend and are not thinking about the states budget problems.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 5:06 pm:
===Madigan is definitely upstaging Rauner on this one issue.====
Kurt in Sfield, that’s a fair and reasoned approach for how you feel and why you feel this way. I respect your opinion on the matter despite arriving at a different conclusion. Perhaps our locations have something to do with a friendly disagreement. If in fact, you’re in Springfield, I’m sensitive to the fact that there’s a greater impact and immediacy being felt there.
I’m hoping state employees get paid in full and on time. We’re seeing the complications of doing so and I’m sincerely hoping there’s a resolution that doesn’t disrupt their lives.
I’m also in favor of the structural change the Gov is working to include. Much of the region where I live would as well. No one should like to see anyone suffer. Anyone. We’ve got to adopt better policies to do the things the state must do.
With every step comes the same loud cries of the most vulnerable and the neediest. People are looking out for them. I’m paying attention to that. We need a breakthrough. It can’t be completely partisan or we’re just making our crisis even worse.
I hear you friend. Hope there’s a way to get folks paid. In this mortal game of tug o war, state workers should not be the rope.
- Norseman - Wednesday, Jul 1, 15 @ 5:33 pm:
=== state workers should not be the rope ===
State workers have been the rope in this State since 1818. That’s why the pension protection clause was passed. It’s just that the rope gets twisted extra hard at times.