* From the Illinois Policy Institute’s radio network…
A $700 million bipartisan stopgap measure that would fund a variety of human services has been on the governor’s desk for nearly a month now.
While the state finishes the current fiscal year without a full budget, Senate Bill 2038 would spend nearly $700 million from special funds for various human services that have gone all year without funding.
State Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, said SB 2038 is an imperfect bill that highlights the state’s broken financial situation. “We haven’t budgeted as a whole. We’ve budgeted by emergency. We’ve budgeted because of court orders and consent decrees. This whole process is dysfunctional.”
McCarter said Gov. Bruce Rauner should sign the measure or at least line-item veto what the governor thinks isn’t a priority.
Rauner criticized the measure for not funding executive agency operations but stopped short of saying he’d veto the bill.
When you’ve lost Kyle McCarter on a stopgap spending fight, you’ve lost the fight.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 9:49 am:
Good on McCarter.
The Emperor has no clothes on this one, even among the true believers.
- Handle Bar Mustache - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 9:55 am:
==at least line-item veto what the governor thinks isn’t a priority==
yep
- Cassandra - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 9:56 am:
Yes, spend the money. It’s there, and it’s not your money. We didn’t pay taxes for the money to sit around.
Having said that, I sort of understand the idea that this action relieves the pressure for a more fundamental solution. How much can we afford in this state for social services, who should be eligible, and how much are we willing to pay for that level of service and eligibility. And who should pay? All important questions that are not adequately addressed by either our political masters or the media.
But whatever I think about the tax rate, I really hate the idea of paying my taxes as required and then having our political masters of both parties sit on the cash while engaging in an assortment of political machinations. Spend the money, it’s not yours.
- Pawn - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 10:08 am:
Good to hear McCarter speak up.
- Norseman - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 10:08 am:
=== When you’ve lost Kyle McCarter on a stopgap spending fight, you’ve lost the fight. ===
Yes. Get some social service $ flowing and move on to negotiating a budget for all.
- Give Me A Break - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 10:49 am:
Good on Kyle.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:22 am:
Wow. McCarter would be wise to bookmark this page! lol.
For the record, I do hope the Governor signs this.
- Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:27 am:
No veto is necessary. These service providers need funding, as do those basic operations.
Rauner should sign the service provider funding immdiately upon receiving a clean, balanced trailer bill funding DOC and those remaining necessities. Sign them together, with Cullerton, Radogno, Madigan and Durkin present. Get those service providers and basic operations funded, everyone smiles for the media together, and the public can have some confidence in Springfield once again.
- Anon221 - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:29 am:
Good for McCarter. If there is a veto override needed, hopefully he will stay green!
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:36 am:
–Rauner should sign the service provider funding immdiately upon receiving a clean, balanced trailer bill funding DOC and those remaining necessities. –
Why is it legitimate to have pre-conditions to honor — just partially — contracts that you’ve signed for goods and services already delivered?
Is that how you do business?
I don’t recall any such pre-conditions for the K-12 approp.
- GA Watcher - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:39 am:
Rumor has it that a number of Republican legislators have told the Governor’s office they will vote to override a veto of this bill.
- Juvenal - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:44 am:
=== When you’ve lost Kyle McCarter on a stopgap spending fight, you’ve lost the fight. ===
McCarter and his wife run a nonprofit I believe, although not one that does state work.
Like the governor’s wife, he has a good idea what the calamity will be if the Governor vetoes the bill.
- SouthernILGirl - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:45 am:
If the goal is total anhilation of the human service what Governor Rauner is doing right now is a great way to accomplish that. I wonder if that isn’t his goal in not signing — a smaller human service sector, lower payments, less government.
- illini97 - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:50 am:
==When you’ve lost Kyle McCarter on a stopgap spending fight, you’ve lost the fight.==
I think there’s also some of that Emily Miller research percolating here. The State isn’t honoring contracts. they have to. That’s not a partisan issue. Pay the bill.
- illini - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 11:59 am:
Fourth attempt -
For once I will not be critical, but rather commend my Senator for urging our Governor to do the right thing. Never thought I would see him taking this approach.
Still reserving judgement to see how he continues to address the fiscal issues we face.
- Dome Gnome - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 12:07 pm:
I think it’s important to remember that SB2038 was part of a grand bargain for stopgap funding to higher education. The governor was sent these bills in tandem, with a bipartisan and bicameral mandate. I’m just a regular citizen and an ordinary mom, but it did not escape me that the governor quickly signed the higher ed bill, while allowing backers of the human services bill to sweat it out. This has a Jonathon Edwards feel to it. We are but spiders in the hands of an angry God.
- illini - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 12:19 pm:
Earlier comments did not post. Trying again.
—When you’ve lost Kyle McCarter on a stopgap spending fight, you’ve lost the fight.—
As critical as I have been of my Senator I do applaud his position on this issue,
Now, if he only felt as strongly about saving all of Higher Education!
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 12:27 pm:
–I think it’s important to remember that SB2038 was part of a grand bargain for stopgap funding to higher education. The governor was sent these bills in tandem, with a bipartisan and bicameral mandate.–
There were no new conditions after the fact set by the governor for the higher ed stopgap. Or the eventual release of non-GRF funds for local governments. Or the K-12 approp. last year.
Why does this emergency approp. to partially fund state contracts rate double-secret-probation hostage status?
I recall some here being outraged when the House Dems delayed passage of the higher ed stopgap by about 16 hours.
Yet the governor has sat on this bipartisan emergency stopgap — passed without a single dissenting vote — for more than a month. And some defend his new conditions before honoring contracts, unilaterally decreed after the fact.
The delay is putting people out of work and out of business. We read it here every day. They did their bit in good faith. The governor needs to demonstrate some good faith.
- cassandra - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 12:37 pm:
I wouldn’t put any preconditions on releasing the money. This is money we have already paid in taxes, and it can’t be spent on anything else, as I understand it. I’m quite happy to have a discussion about who should get social services and how much we should pay for them and who gets what percentage of the bill. This is a discussion that is long overdue. But this money has been collected and is effectively appropriated. Push the button.
- burbanite - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 1:21 pm:
The vote on this was as bipartisan as you are ever going to get. Rauner needs to sign it, but…he ain’t ready to release the hostages just yet…ugh.
- Pawn - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 2:22 pm:
Cassandra, not only has the money been collected for these purposes, but it has also been “spent” under legal and binding contracts. You can debate about what to spend future year’s money on, but what HAS BEEN SPENT already is not up for debate. At this point it is just a matter of paying bills for services rendered.
- Anon - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 2:34 pm:
McCarter. The one guy at the statehouse that might have fewer friends than Ken Dunkin.
- Huh? - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 2:55 pm:
My first reaction was “Who said McCarter could get out of the yard and run loose?”
- Albany Park Patriot - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 3:11 pm:
The Rauner News Network went off script for a second. They let them do that to appear “unbiased” and slink in.
- DuPage Bard - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 3:48 pm:
If I recall the primary election wasn’t Kyle McCarter just a pawn of the Chicago Machine? With the Governor pushing for Kyle’s opponent? You know the guy who said he was for term limits and is now running for his 10th term in Congress? I guess 20 years is about right for term limits LOL.
- illini - Wednesday, Jun 15, 16 @ 4:11 pm:
@ DuPage - Great point, but I did not vote in that party primary. We were going to have Kyle as our Senator regardless of the results of that election.
- Mama - Thursday, Jun 16, 16 @ 12:06 am:
I have a sick feeling he wants to use the money for something else.
- RNUG - Thursday, Jun 16, 16 @ 8:20 am:
== I have a sick feeling he wants to use the money for something else. ==
I think the GA suspects the same thing and that is why “operations” money was not included in the bill. Direct payments / grants are hard to divert; operations money would be fungible and easily diverted.