* For the first time in a very long time, legislators are getting a real taste of budgetary responsibility. This will obviously take some getting used to, and some Democrats clearly aren’t yet prepared to bite the bullet…

Senate appropriations committees considered more than two dozen bills that Democrats said would cut Gov. Pat Quinn’s spending plan by $1.2 billion. The committees took no votes on the bills after Republicans complained they were not given enough time to analyze them.

But several rank-and-file Democrats on the committees made it clear they didn’t like what they saw and where budget negotiators chose to make cuts.

“There are too many uncertainties and too many vast cuts,” said Sen. Mattie Hunter, D-Chicago. “I haven’t been satisfied at all.”

“You can be cut on the pinkie or be cut on the jugular,” said Sen. Willie Delgado, D-Chicago. “You’ll bleed either way, but one is more serious.”

* The governor’s proposed spending for next fiscal year on personal services and operations would be cut by 5 percent, and contractural services would be cut by 7 percent in the Senate proposal. But there are other cuts that aren’t going over too well…

One such cut was a 25 percent, or close to $1 million, reduction to the Hope Institute for Children and Families $4.4 million state appropriation Quinn was asking for. The institute focuses on autism-related services.

Jacobs asked Georgia Winson, the executive director for the Hope Institute for Children and Families, what the cut would mean to their average client.

“It means for many children they would not receive an early diagnosis and one of the things our society is hampered with now is many kids who are late to diagnoses and treatment are served by very costly residential placements,” Winson said.

With the full $4.4 million in funding from the state, Winson said she could leverage that into $20.83 million non-state money, which could be used for early diagnosis and therefore keep kids with their families and out of group homes.

Jacobs asked her, if she was in his chair, where she would make the tough cuts.

“I have to say, I am relieved I am not sitting in your chair,” Winson said.

* Meanwhile, over in the House…

Illinois school districts may soon get the answer to their multi-million-dollar question: Exactly how much money are they getting from the state?

As the Illinois Legislature rushes to beat the budget deadline, lawmakers in the Illinois House are eyeing cuts to the majority of grants for local schools. General state aid also may be trimmed to make the House’ $6.9 billion school spending goal.

State Rep Will Davis, D-East Hazel Crest, said the state has to cut from schools, but lawmakers are limited in what can be cut. Although a good portion of the budget has been decided, Davis is staying mum on exact numbers.

“We’re kind of faced with a lot of, ‘Well, I don’t want to touch that. No we can’t touch that, no we can’t do that,’ and unfortunately if you add up all of the grant lines it won’t get you close to $230 million,” Davis said.

At the moment, the House’s primary and secondary education budget still is more than $230 million higher than its allotted budget, said Davis, who noted that he can’t cut mandated categories without risking federal matching money.Mandated categories cover everything from school buses and special education to free and reduced price breakfast and lunch programs.

That leaves the grants.

State grants subsidize a variety of programs, including state testing, vocational programs and bilingual education.

The Illinois State Board of Education receives about $548 million in grants annually, said Matt Vanover, spokesman for ISBE, who noted the elimination of many grants in recent years.

They’re learning. But time is short.

* Related…

* VIDEO: Rep. Will Davis on K12 cuts

* VIDEO: Rep Brauer on Illinois’s unpaid bills

* VIDEO: Frank Mautino budget process

* VIDEO: Larry Bomke on budget

* Vendors: Illinois needs to borrow to pay bills

* Quinn backs Springfield chamber plan for state short-term borrowing

* SEIU Healthcare Illinois Releases Ad Fighting For Disability Services

* Dave Bakke: Statehouse rallies for ralliers, not legislators