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Gov. Rauner hugely exaggerated state deficit, bill backlog today
Thursday, Apr 12, 2018 - Posted by Rich Miller * Gov. Rauner today at an event…
$3 billion? * Gov. Rauner today during a press conference in his Statehouse office…
* OK, the Governor’s Office of Management and budget recently told the credit ratings agencies that the state will run a general funds deficit of $590 million this fiscal year. However, because we’re now paying down the Medicaid bill backlog with bonding, one-time federal reimbursements are netting the state an additional $1.2 billion. Factor in one-time borrowing proceeds to pay off other parts of the bill backlog and subtract carry-over costs from last fiscal year’s unappropriated spending and it works out to be a $2.025 billion “surplus,” according to GOMB’s own figures. Yeah, that’s not truly a surplus, but it’s also not a $3 billion operating deficit. Not even close. * Speaking of the backlog…
Yep. He did indeed say that. * From that same GOMB report to the ratings agencies…
That’s $200 million lower than it is today. …Adding… From retiring GOP Rep. Steve Andersson, who voted for the tax hike and budget last year…
* The governor also said today that he was not insisting on his pension cost-shift proposal to schools and higher ed. As long as the final budget agreement is balanced, he said, he’ll sign it. That idea was just a placeholder anyway. He knew he couldn’t pass it, so it was basically designed to kick the can to the General Assembly. And House Republican Leader Jim Durkin even admitted yesterday that his own caucus is “lukewarm” on the issue… So, they’re gonna have to find a way to patch that $630 million hole.
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- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:31 pm:
===We’re still $3 billion dollars in a deficit. This is nuts. Totally nuts.===
How do you say that in German?
In Polish?
- former southerner - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:37 pm:
Governor of IL should top the list of future jobs most likely to be automated. This one appears to be more feature packed than the human currently holding the position: https://randomwordgenerator.com/
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:38 pm:
2 questions regarding Illinois Working Together’s chart:
Why did they make the baseline $4 billion and not $0? They certainly wouldn’t want to mislead people to make it appear as if the backlog skyrocketed from close to zero during the impasse.
Also genuinely curious why the deficit went up in the first 2 years of Quinn’s tax hike? Aren’t more taxes always the solution?
- driveby - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:39 pm:
The real deficit is more like $10 billion. Look at the CAFRs not phony budget numbers. This is silly on all sides.
- The - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:39 pm:
Kinda like the 111 billion pension propaganda they keep spreading that’s il. Politics at its best
- Really - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:39 pm:
Maybe he knows of more agencies, he manages, that have not submitted bills to the comptroller.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:40 pm:
–Rauner says that the bill backlog is “still climbing” after legislators overrode his veto and passed a bipartisan budget.–
That’s a spectacularly pungent stew of contempt for the intelligence of the audience, bald-face lying and having no clue whatsoever as to what you’re talking about.
Clueless, in thinking that the obvious lie could be believable.
I guess he can’t help himself. I’m sure the headshrinkers have a name for it.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:40 pm:
===So, they’re gonna have to find a way to patch that $630 million hole.===
Two words: pension reform.
Then, instead of giving us a $1 billion tax cut, we’ll just have to settle for a $370 million tax cut instead.
If we lived in Rauner World. Unfortunately, we don’t live in Rauner World.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:41 pm:
===The governor also said today that he was not insisting on his pension cost-shift proposal to schools and higher ed. As long as the final budget agreement is balanced, he said, he’ll sign it. That idea was just a placeholder anyway. He knew he couldn’t pass it, so it was basically designed to kick the can to the General Assembly.
And House Republican Leader Jim Durkin even admitted yesterday that his own caucus is “lukewarm” on the issue…
So, a $630 million hole has just been officially blown in next fiscal year’s budget.===
For perspective, let’s revisit HR27… “the opinion of the Illinois House of Representatives that the proposed educational pension cost shift from the State of Illinois to local school districts, community colleges, and institutions of higher education is financially wrong.” It now has 60 sponsors and co-sponsors…
You put 60 on the stairs… or sponsor a resolution… you know where things stand.
Right? Exactly right.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:41 pm:
driveby, there is no CAFR for the current fiscal year.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:43 pm:
===Illinois Working Together’s chart===
That’s the comptroller’s chart.
- Dee Lay - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:45 pm:
Anonymous - Pick a name and a lane.
It’s the comptroller’s chart, not the IWT.
The chart doesn’t include all the pension payments Quinn was making. Care to explain why the backlog, in essence, tripled during Rauner’s term? #BlameMadigan
Better luck next time.
- Anon221 - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:49 pm:
Two words Pritzker’s Crew needs to use again and again and again until November-
Rauner. Lies.
Rauner wants to use Taxes.Madigan - Fine.
But Rauner.Lies. and all the additional damage that has done to the People of Illinois should be Pritzker’s continual counter.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:52 pm:
===Why did they make the baseline $4 billion and not $0? ===
Because $4 billion is approximately the standard 30-day bill payment cycle.
- Henry Francis - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 1:57 pm:
Cut the poor guy some slack. He is obviously working out some new material for his European tour.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:04 pm:
Backlog Voucher Report? Is that what BVR stands for?
- City Zen - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:13 pm:
==REALITY: The bill backlog is now HALF of what it was at its peak last year - in spite of Rauner’s veto…==
Cool, we magically eliminated $8 billion in debt. Why not use the same magic spell on the remaining backlog and pension debt and we’ll be in the black? 100% debt relief is one David Copperfield trick away.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:16 pm:
===we magically eliminated $8 billion in debt===
Nothing magic about it.
- Anon0091 - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:18 pm:
Please don’t blame Rauner for this one. His grandfather explained all this in Swedish and he simply misunderstood. I promise that it has nothing to do with his difficulty with separating truth from fiction.
- City Zen - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:23 pm:
==Nothing magic about it.==
Agreed, and it was the smart thing to do. But simply moving debt from one account to another doesn’t paint an honest picture about our overall debt.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:25 pm:
===moving debt from one account to another===
It’s not that simple. Providers loaned the state money and they are now getting paid. We shouldn’t borrow from our providers.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:26 pm:
Rep. Andersson,
Thanks for your service.
You are going to be terribly missed.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:27 pm:
- City Zen -
If the backlog is shrinking, that means monies held hostage to those who did services are getting paid.
- Annonin' - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:30 pm:
Remember GovJUnk talked about the pension shift at his mumbo jumbo press conference Monday at the “For Sale” James R. Thompson Center. Between then and now it went from top priority to “placeholder” So total jive on Monday.
- Cheryl44 - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:35 pm:
Pulling numbers out of…a hat? How very Trumpian.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 2:54 pm:
Governors that care about budget issues don’t do or say things like this.
Rauner repeatedly exposes himself as someone who should have never been a leader.
- Morty - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 3:26 pm:
So Rauner’s saying the tax increase was too small?
/s
- Political Animal - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 4:32 pm:
Rich,
The Comptroller puts out an appropriations report every year after the budget is finalized. According to that report total appropriations are $34.390 bil.
Expected spending per the link you cited it $37.373.
That’s a deficit of $2.983 billion. Very close to the $3 billion the governor cited.
Cash based budgeting is phony math. $590 million understated the problem.
- Juice - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 4:43 pm:
Political Animal, appropriations are amounts that can be spent. There are also amounts that are spent that are not appropriated, but instead are transferred out of the General Funds (the bulk of it being for debt service).
The 34.4 billion approp number plus the amount of transfers anticipate equals the total spending of $37.4 bil. That’s not the deficit.
- Political Animal - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 4:56 pm:
I know what appropriations are.
No matter how you slice it, the GA didn’t appropriate enough money to cover expected state expenditure. That’s why IDOC is $420 million short and the Governor is asking for $1.1 billion in supplementals.
The cash based accounting hides the size of the deficit. The 2017 CAFR showed a $14.6 billion deficit. On an actual basis, Rauner’s $3 billion is actually too low.
- Political Animal - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 4:57 pm:
Accrual basis*, not actual.
- Pundent - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 5:02 pm:
So things got really bad under Rauner’s watch. Now they’re starting to get better. And the Governor is saying “no they’re not?”
- James - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 6:03 pm:
=Backlog Voucher Report? Is that what BVR stands for?=
Either that or “Block Veterans’ Relocation”
- Norseman - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 6:47 pm:
Rep. Andersson,
Let me add my thank you for your service and commitment to real solutions.
Hat tip to OW.
- Rabid - Thursday, Apr 12, 18 @ 7:52 pm:
Rauners budget address was a pants on fire lie