* Press release…
State Representative Mike Unes (R-East Peoria) called on both parties to come to a temporary, balanced budget to avoid major interruptions to state services on Thursday. As the State of Illinois begins its new fiscal year without a balanced budget in place, the Democrat Supermajority attempted a piece-meal approach on Wednesday, in the way of a temporary 30-day state budget funding some state services. However, Rep. Mike Unes (R-East Peoria), criticized the bill as still being, “unbalanced and unconstitutional” and not including funding for programs like The Autism Program (TAP).
The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget released a letter on Wednesday explaining that the attempt by the Democrat supermajority to pass their temporary budget would result in ultimately spending much more money than revenue is expected for the fiscal year. The letter describes that the Democrat proposal, “marches the taxpayers of Illinois toward an unbalanced budget one month at a time.”
Rep. Unes went on to urge an attainable solution to remedy this situation, “if we simply divide our expected revenues by 12 months and pass an extension of spending levels commensurate with expected revenues, we can keep state government services open, pay our employees, and not have major interruptions in the lives of vulnerable Illinois citizens dependent on the state safety net.”
“I’m for a comprehensive approach that gives a voice to the voiceless. It’s a cruel game to string along the most vulnerable when you know the money won’t be there at the end of the year. Unfortunately, the math simply doesn’t add up here on Madigan’s budget extension. We are charged by the Illinois Constitution with not spending more money than incoming revenues. Today, I suggest a simple solution to keep the doors open- pass a temporary budget that simply divides expected revenues and fund the programs we can based on priorities established by the legislature. We cannot simply make up our own numbers, though,” said Unes, “we have to operate in the real world.”
Thoughts?
* Meanwhile…
As anxiety spreads over dangerous cuts to social services demanded by Gov. Bruce Rauner in his ongoing budget crisis, a new TV ad debuted today in markets across Illinois showing the benefit of child care to two working mothers.
In the 30-second ad which targets legislators, the moms explain the ripple effect of removing child care from tens of thousands of working parents, as Rauner proposes.
In the ad, Courtney McLure, a mother from Riverton who works as a teacher’s assistant, says, “If I can’t take my kids to day care, then I can’t work.”
Leading Julia Adams, a mother of two from Springfield who works as home aide, to conclude that, “Governor Rauner would not cut child care if he walked a day in my shoes.”
Watch the new ad here.
The ad joins two others that began airing Monday.
- The Muse - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 9:57 am:
“Look, I’m not one of the bad guys. All I’m trying to do is follow what the Gover… erm… the law tells me to do. That’s it. I’m a reasonable poli… umm.. guy and I just want what’s best for the people in my district.”
- Triple fat - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:00 am:
So since it’s temporary - I propose a 7 percent tax increase for 3 months and then it can reduce to 5.5 thereafter. We can leave the Medicaid reductions of the Democratic budget. There you have it. A temporary tax increase followed by a permanent tax decrease. Perfect!
- Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:01 am:
Good one you, Mike Unes. Kudos.
Pols in more difficult situations have compromised before. If they can not agree on a one-month, nonpartisan budget extension to keep basic services running and pay their employees, then Springfield has become an adult pre-K.
- Tournaround Agenda - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:01 am:
Introduce it, Unes. Otherwise, you’re just grandstanding.
- better days - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:03 am:
The welfare State teeters.. a deal will be made within 10 days .. all the action happens after one side blinks
Democrats miscalculated that Rauner would have already folded and caved
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:04 am:
All righty then, now we’ve got an idea. That sounds like something that could be fleshed out. I pray both warring parties won’t flay the poor man for the attempt at compromise.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:07 am:
Unes grow a backbone! You are scared of everyone and it shows.
- RNUG - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:07 am:
Has Rauner already forgotten he can AV whatever gets passed downward to his desired spending level?
- logger - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:07 am:
Unes and most observers (outside of this blog) ignore that Rauner’s budget proposal was 3+ billion out of balance! No amount of spin can overcome that. The phony outrage over “unbalanced AND unconstitutional” budgets gets more absurd by the day. Seems if it’s repeated enough no one will notice…
“Dangerous Cuts” is powerful. Last line stings.
- SAP - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:08 am:
I think Mr. Unes is onto something. If the GA passed a series of one-month budgets, State agencies would be unable to spend 12 months of appropriations in 9 months. (Snark, I think)
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:10 am:
===Has Rauner already forgotten he can AV whatever gets passed downward to his desired spending level?===
Has he forgotten, or does Rauner not want to own AV choices?
You’re On It - RNUG -
- walker - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:10 am:
Sounds good. What’s that number then Rep Unes?
It could well be higher spending than Madigan’s bill asked for.
- Anon - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:11 am:
Anyone who demands a balanced budget without offering the list of programs that they intend to cut is effectively offering a Barnum statement. Barnum statements work great for campaigns, like “I’m going to cut the wasteful spending.”
Well, now is the time to identify exactly what you’re going to cut. It’s time to tell your constituents what you think wasteful spending is, and it’s time to start talking about the fact that they have to pay for the services they want.
If they want to be the kind of society that assists the disabled, that helps folks take care of their kids, and has a decent education, well — then maybe they should be voting for candidates who offer leadership instead of Barnum statements.
It’s silly to continue to pretend that the Body Politic of Illinois is innocent in this matter.
- logger - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:14 am:
RNUG and many others here have it exactly right. Senator Harmon had it right yesterday. The Governor could have line item reduced any of the 19 budget bills that he chose to veto outright. A full debate on those reductions could have been had. The budget could have been reduced to “balance”. But instead we have a crisis. Unes will never acknowledge that.
- Anon - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:15 am:
===So since it’s temporary - I propose a 7 percent tax increase for 3 months and then it can reduce to 5.5 thereafter.===
A talented politician can find $3 billion dollars just by eliminating the tax expenditures without increasing the tax rate(s).
- Southwest - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:18 am:
I know I am too “glass half full” to be reading Capitol Fax but I can’t stop myself! Most of the commenters are insisting that Rauner/republicans use the AV to slash spending and I agree that he should. But, by the same token, shouldn’t the GA/democrats pass a veto proof tax increase? Then each side will get what it wants , looks like a win, and their supporters will be happy!
- Juice - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:20 am:
Ok, so start with 32 billion, back out $4.6 billion for debt service and statutory transfers out and $6.7 billion for pensions, that leaves us with $20.7 billion. Oh, but that we have to back out that pesky education bill that increased state spending that the Representative voted against but the Governor insisted on signing, so that’s another $6.6 billion gone leaving us with $14 billion. That leaves us with $1.2 billion from GRF. More than what was in the bill that the Republicans opposed yesterday for being “unconstitutional”. So…umm…new argument?
- Norseman - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:24 am:
Unes, are you causing f#%}*~^ problems?
That’s nice, he has his publicity over something that will not be supported by his boss or his coworkers.
Rauner only wants actions that make him look good while maintaining the pressure to accept his poison pills. Mitchell suggested continuing approp as well. But this doesn’t match Rauner goals.
- Rufus - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:26 am:
@Southwest - there are at least one democrat who has stated he will not vote for a tax increase, thus they cannot muster enough votes for a veto override.
- walker - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:37 am:
Juice: Thanks. Not so hard to know whether you’re making sense, Rep. Une, if you can estimate the numbers.
It appears that your proposed idea would spend more money monthly than the bill Rauner asked you to reject because it spends too much.
As Word and others keep pointing out, this budget impasse is not about the numbers. If it were, Rauner would ask you to support Madigan’s bill or offer one just like it. It is a political weapon being used in the battle for the Turnaround Agenda items which would not impact this budget to any significant extent.
- Austin Blvd - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:38 am:
Rep, you should’ve made your argument on the House floor yesterday to your GOP colleagues. You BLEW it.
The good news is that you will have another shot at that next week. Convince your colleagues to give your Gov the spending authority he needs.
And convince your Gov to use his scalpel to ensure that expenses to not exceed revenues.
Together, the GA and the Gov can work to have a constitutional temporary budget.
Simple, see? NOW DONT BLOW IT NEXT WEEK!
- Worth It - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:40 am:
And in the contest to see who will blink first, the answer was Unes.
- the Other Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:42 am:
It sounds like he’s essentially proposing an across the board cut.
A couple two-three problems with that:
1) It presumes that state agency spending is uniform from month to month. Not true.
2) Cutting indiscriminately (across the board) is bad policy.
3) Picking up on what Juice wrote, you can’t reduce certain payments. If you take out everything above the line and education spending already approved, then we’re really talking about an across the board cut of >20%. I’m not sure that’s what the Republicans really want to see.
But I agree with those who say, introduce the bill Rep. Unes. Talk is cheap, so put it on the record. The thing is, I think you will have a really hard time finding legislators who will support the bill once it’s on paper.
- Arizona Bob - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:43 am:
=In the ad, Courtney McLure, a mother from Riverton who works as a teacher’s assistant, says, “If I can’t take my kids to day care, then I can’t work.”=
Nothing like the resourcefulness of Illinois government workers. I guess having family, spouse, significant other, or friends watch the kids is too much to ask. I guess putting the kid(s) in self pay daycare on a temporary basis is beyond her skill set.
This may come as a shock to the “Entitlement Class” but up until recently, families and friends bonded together into networks to take care of each other for things like watching the kids. Didn’t Hillary once say, “it takes a village to raise a child?” I guess the Illinois version of that is, “It takes a government subsidy and a government paycheck to raise a child”
..and we wonder why Illinois has the slowest job growth rate since the Obama Depression…
- Juvenal - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:44 am:
Wake me when Schrimpf says he’s for a temporary budget, it is pretty clear what rank-and-file Republicans think is irrelevant.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:48 am:
Hey Bruce - I thought you said you were there to take the arrows?
So why are you so insistent on hiding in your Vegas fort?
- Wordslinger - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 10:58 am:
The boss wants the anti-union stuff before his tax increase.
Until that changes, everyone except K-12 suffers.
- Perplexed - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:01 am:
Since when did it become our responsibility to pay for other people’s child care? “If I can’t take my kids to day care, then I can’t work.” As if that’s the only option.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:07 am:
===Since when did it become our responsibility to pay for other people’s child care?===
Since they eliminated welfare payments and forced people to take jobs.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:08 am:
Since when did it become our responsibility to pay for other people’s child care? “If I can’t take my kids to day care, then I can’t work.” As if that’s the only option.
You are not keeping up.
If we don’t assist with child care, then we have to pay support the family, lose any taxable income she may have earned and deal with any child-rearing issues a couple years later in school.
Paying for child care is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger costs of not doing so.
- the Other Anonymous - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:08 am:
– Since when did it become our responsibility to pay for other people’s child care? “If I can’t take my kids to day care, then I can’t work.” As if that’s the only option. –
What other options? Take your child to work with you? Dump the child on a family member — if you have one nearby — who, in turn, can’t go to work?
There aren’t many options, and in too many cases there are no options, especially for women who work at low income jobs.
- Mad Brown - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:12 am:
AZ Bob and Perplexed, for some it is the only option. You sit upon your thrones of bitterness and judgement toward public employees. It’s tiresome, everyone on the planet wants and deserves the same thing, an opportunity to pursue meaning and happiness and provide a life for their families. Isn’t that what you want? Or is your life’s mission every morning who can I judge as incompetent and entitled? And this somehow brings you happiness?
- Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:12 am:
==The Governor could have line item reduced any of the 19 budget bills that he chose to veto outright==
==SECTION 2. STATE FINANCE (b) The General Assembly by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.==
The GA failed just as hard. Blaming only one or the other when they are both guilty of the same crime is nuts.
- Nickname #2 - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:13 am:
Perplexed, apply that same argument to corporations and the idea that they won’t build in Illinois unless taxpayers fund a portion of their construction or give them giant tax breaks. Yes, there are other options, but perhaps there is value to encouraging businesses in Illinois just like there might be value in making work something that is possible.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:19 am:
- FKA -,
With respect,
Governors can sign, veto, and AV budgets.
Article VII, (a) requires the Governor, all governors to submit a budget. Ok, since February, has Rauner pushed his budget? Honestly? Has Rauner made his budget the order of the day?
In the beginning and end of the budgeting process, and the end results, the signing, it’s a Governor’s budget. Proposed, getting passed, and then signed.
Rauner couldn’t get 60/30, and up to now 71/36, and Rauner will have to accept the budget, put GOP votes on it, and sign it.
Same as it ever was, and will ever be.
- Emily Miller - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:19 am:
Perplexed is absolutely right. Low and middle-income families have tons of options when it comes to child care. For example, they could just stop going to work. They could let the child care for themselves, or let them care for each other. Kids are super resilient, and even a 6 year old can reach the microwave.
The parent could leave the child in a super safe public park while they go to work (there are water fountains in most of them, and some of them are even child sized, so the kid has fresh water in case it gets hot.)
These suggestions will also work for parents wondering what to do when their child’s summer program shuts down on or around July 15.
See? Lots of really great choices for people.
- Neveranonymous - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:31 am:
Arizona Bob, you an’t be serious. She told you quite plainly that day are was her only option. Day care was essential for my family, when I was her age. I was just fortunate enough to have a good paying job that covered it. Most families do not have any responsible adult with no other obligations just waiting to provide free day care. Spouses often work similar hours, and the nearest family may be two states away. Friends and neighbors sometimes offer help but can’t be relied upon on a full-time basis. Personally, I am happy to help families pay for child care so they can work. Perhaps you would prefer that they had to rely on welfare.
- PolPal56 - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:37 am:
Emily, may I add “raised by wolves”? My personal favorite.
- Precinct Captain - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:41 am:
==- PolPal56 - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:37 am:==
At Arizona Bob’s your child could be the next Romulus or Remus!
- nona - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:43 am:
The same folks who resent the childcare subsidy also oppose raising the minimum wage. BTW, is the childcare tax credit enjoyed by more affluent Americans also a problem, or is it just the subsidy for the working poor that has to go?
- nona - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 11:50 am:
=== “It’s a cruel game to string along the most vulnerable when you know the money won’t be there at the end of the year. Unfortunately, the math simply doesn’t add up here on Madigan’s budget extension. ===
It sounds as if Rep. Unes doesn’t plan to vote for revenue enhancements. I guess that memo hasn’t come out yet.
- Anonin' - Thursday, Jul 2, 15 @ 12:09 pm:
News Flash for Rep. Unes
Check the chapter of State Rep For Idiots on 2nd Reading. Draft a file your “balanced, short term budget” (whatever that gibberish means) and file it to the Senate bill that passed on 7-1-15.
BTW wake up Adam Brown and Morrison they both have called for the same thing
And to folo up on Capt Fax explanation on child care …all of the spending done by the state is because someone passed a bill and someone signed a bill — whammo a law was born.