* Tribune…

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday signed into law a $38.5 billion spending plan for state government, approving a full budget on time for the first time since he took office in 2015.

Flanked by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Rauner touted the legislation as the product of “a great team effort, a great bipartisan effort.” […]

Rauner also noted that lawmakers had found $1.5 billion in spending cuts as well.

“It’s not easy to make cuts, but the reductions in spending were made and I’d like to thank everyone for the discipline to achieve that,” Rauner said.

* From the governor’s press release…

· Blocked New Spending. Rauner and the Republican leaders staved off $1 billion in spending increases by aggressively managing agency budgets and tabling $500 million in spending increase proposals. That’s a billion and a half dollars in much-needed spending restraint.

Managing agency budgets is the governor’s top job. Good for him. But rejecting $500 million in spending increase requests is not a cut.

* Back to the governor’s release…

Education Funding. The budget fully funds the new evidence-based formula the administration introduced in 2015 and signed into law last summer. There’s $350 million in new K-12 dollars, which is up $1.4 billion since 2015, and $50 million for Early Childhood Education, which is up $200 million since 2015. AIM HIGH scholarships get $50 million to encourage Illinois high grads to attend Illinois universities. The MAP grant program is funded for four years. Colleges get $25 million of new money and the tuition tax credit program stays intact.

Guaranteeing MAP grants for four years, instead of just one, is perhaps the greatest single accomplishment of this budget. Bar none.

* Back to the release…

Pension Reform. The legislature addressed pension costs by making some modest reforms that will reduce long-term liabilities and save $445 million this year.

They’re spending long-term savings in just one year, which is not a good idea.

* Again, to the release…

· Adoption Tax Credit. Rauner said he was “particularly proud” of the work on his measure to create tax credits to encourage more adoptions by Illinois parents. Parents who can provide stable, loving homes for needy children can qualify for tax credits up to $5000 per child.

· Illinois Innovation Network. The budget gives the University of Illinois System $500 million to fund the Governor’s signature economic development program. The initial step is to get the Discovery Partners Institute up and running. DPI envisions a research and business public-private partnership that involves the entire Illinois university system and business innovators. U of I System estimates that the effort could spark $4 billion in annual invested capital for Illinois and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Quincy Veterans’ Home. There is $53 million in FY19 budget to get underway with the administration’s plan to construct a new veteran’s home in Quincy.

The Discovery Partners Institute could easily wind up being Rauner’s greatest positive legacy if he only serves one term.

* From Senate President John Cullerton’s press release last week…

A more than $1 billion budget hole wiped out through savings, reforms and utilizing other available revenues.

The state is authorized to tap into up to $800 million sitting available in various state accounts. This allows the state to utilize that money now to fund programs and services and pay it back over the next two years.

So, that’ll create a $400+ million hole in each of the next two fiscal years.

* There are some other holes that have been overlooked…

Illinois state workers represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, currently do not have a contract with the state. The last contract expired on June 30, 2015. Gov. Bruce Rauner and AFSCME have not been able to agree on a number of costly requests the union is making.

Despite being without a contract, courts have ordered the Rauner administration to pay the raises union workers would have received under the last contract. According to Wirepoints, this could cost as much as $400 million.

The state did not account for these costs in its recent spending plan. That means the state has as much as a $400 million liability, that it should be fully aware it needs to pay, not accounted for in the budget.

…Adding… Anders Lindall at AFSCME Council 31 disputes some of the Illinois Policy Institute’s story…

In the first sentence, it’s wrong that there’s no contract. The previous contract remains in effect.

In the third sentence, it’s wrong that the parties “have not been able to agree on a number of costly requests the union is making”. We proposed zero wage increase and higher employee health costs. Rauner walked away and refused to negotiate. A case is now in the courts.

In the fourth sentence, again, there is a contract. And it’s not that Rauner was ordered to pay raises under the previous contract. It’s that he was ordered to continue the progression of recent hires through the pay plan (which exists in statute, not the contract).