* Gov. Quinn said yesterday that he would probably announce his budget cuts Wednesday. He refused to offer details…
The only area Quinn specifically said would be cut is “bureaucracy,” but he provided no details.
“There are serious cuts in the bureaucracy of state government,” Quinn said. “We’re going to have to tighten the belt as tight as it can be.”
Quinn signed an agreement with AFSCME this past January not to close any more state facilities. The agreement also forbade any state employee layoffs until June of 2011 beyond those already announced at the time. We’ll just have to wait and see how he gets around this one if he’s focusing on the “bureaucracy.”
But Quinn did say he’d protect education and human services as much as he could…
Exactly what he will allocate to each area is another question. As he has before, Quinn said he will do what he can to protect education spending, although the State Board of Education last week announced $300 million in cuts to education programs.
“Last year, we had an effort by the General Assembly to cut human services in half. It was heartless,” Quinn added. “I hope we can prevent any kind of severe cuts in human services or any other important services to people.”
* Today, Quinn said he probably won’t announce his budget decisions until Thursday…
Quinn says he’ll sign a budget by midnight Wednesday but may not announce his budget cuts until Thursday morning.
* State Sen. Larry Bomke will be a major target of these cuts. The Springfield Republican has refused to publicly support the pension borrowing plan and he’s already dismissing Quinn’s latest gambit…
Bomke said he believes the budget details to be released this week are just more of the same game that’s been played at the statehouse for two years. A game he says won’t end until after this fall’s election.
“It’s all politics,” Bomke said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
But Bomke also says he wants cuts…
Bomke said cuts would be more prudent, and are likely what voters expect.
“The general population is having a tough time. People who are not public employees are finding themselves out of a job,” Bomke said. “And I think the general population is saying live within your means.”
That quote won’t go over too well in Bomke’s district. Expect tons of heat on him to switch to a “Yes” vote on pension borrowing.
* Brady: Quinn didn’t fire ‘hacks’ Blagojevich hired: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady said Monday that Gov. Pat Quinn, who took over the job after the ouster of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, did not remove “political hacks” Blagojevich named to state jobs. He also told the Illinois Society of Association Executives, meeting in Springfield, “I like the director of transportation, but I think that more of an engineering sort ought to be involved” in that post.
