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* One of the things that the Republican legislative leaders have argued for is treating the “50 percent budget” as if it is only a six-month budget. But former Gov. Jim Edgar told reporters yesterday that’s not a good idea…
[Edgar] cautioned them against passing a temporary budget fix.
EDGAR: I don’t see any way Governor Quinn could approve a budget that he knows isn’t going to last for the full year. You just can’t manage. And we’ve had enough mismanagement in Springfield over the past few years. We need to do things right.
* And Republican Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica warns the two Republican leaders not to cut a deal on tax hikes in exchange for redistricting reform…
Afraid of being the party of “no” -– some Republicans are anxious to cut a deal with Pat Quinn and the Democrats that supports some “reform” concessions in exchange for a tax increase.
This is wrong. It will enable the Democrats’ continued mismanagement of state government. It will hurt each and every Illinois taxpayer.
* GOP Rep. Bill Black apparently doesn’t see the irony in this…
“I thought we had gotten rid of the (former Gov. Rod) Blagojevich threats and bluff and bluster, but evidently we haven’t,” Black said. “How silly can it be to close Lincoln’s Challenge when there’s $38 million to literally build a new campus in the capital budget?
“I don’t think Lincoln’s Challenge is going to close. It’s just more threats for if he doesn’t get his income tax increase. I would have thought he learned a lesson in all his years as lieutenant governor, watching Blagojevich threaten and bluff and bluster. But evidently he didn’t learn a thing.”
Black voted for the tax and fee hikes (and gaming expansion) to pay for that Lincoln’s Challenge capital project, but he voted against the tax hike to fund its operations.
* Charlie Wheeler tosses in his two cents…
“The thing that really I see as more likely is that they won’t get it done, there will be these draconian cuts, real live human people will suffer dramatically, and then they’ll come back and do what they should have done.”
How long will that take?
“I have no idea,” he said. “One would hope not very long.”
* The Daily Herald editorial board shows its cluelessness once again…
An excellent analysis by Daily Herald Staff Writer Dan Carden showed that Illinois has far fewer state workers per capita than many other states, including those similar in size. We understand that laying off thousands of state workers would cause horrible problems that would quickly compound in the private sector. But we also noted with interest that most other states are much farther along toward cutting state worker pay and requiring furloughs.
I agree. The story was an excellent analysis. It was headlined: “Unpaid days off not an option in Illinois.”
They don’t read their own paper.
Is there corruption in Illinois? You betcha! But demanding that it end before we adequately fund the government is asking too much.
* Yikes…
Gus van den Brink, executive director of Sertoma Centre Inc. in Alsip, said he would be forced to shut down employment and recreational services to 250 of its clients if $2.2 billion in current cuts from the Illinois Department of Human Services cannot be restored with Quinn’s proposed 50 percent income tax hike. […]
He said the state is already ranked 47th in the nation in terms of the tax dollars allocated for the developmentally disabled and that the proposed cuts would virtually decimate the programs that exist.
More of the same in Peoria…
[Clete Winkelmann, president of Children’s Home] estimates $6.7 million in cuts to his total $20 million budget that translates to 119 jobs. Catholic Charities Diocese of Peoria is facing $3.15 million in cuts out of a $12 million budget and as many as 100 positions eliminated. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois estimates $1 million in local cuts in the total $5.3 million budget that could affect up to 12 staff members. The $3.5 million budget for Counseling and Family Services will be slashed nearly in half, resulting in the loss of roughly 35 jobs, officials said Thursday.
An estimated 10,000 children between the four agencies would be affected in the Tri-County Area.
Mike Brown, vice president of operations for Charleston Transitional Facility, said the proposed budget cuts would result in the elimination of CTF’s autism and children’s services programs.
Cuvo addressed the crowd about the importance of the autism center and the role it plays in Southern Illinois. Through state funding, the center has assessed more than 460 children from the region, provided therapy to more than 120 of them, helped many autistic children transition into regular classrooms and affected the lives of families from about 115 communities across more than 30 counties, he said.
“They will have to go out of the region, including out of the state, to get diagnosed,” Cuvo said of the effect the closure of the center, which would happen under the state’s worst-case scenario budget. “It will be a very sad day for children with autism and their families throughout Illinois.”
The state spending plan approved by lawmakers calls for state spending to be cut in half in some areas. That includes a hit to the fund used to pay for Monetary Award Program grants, which are need-based assistance for about 130,000 Illinois college students.
* Good point by CBS2…
“I’ve saved the state over $300,000 by keeping my children at home where they belong,” Cathy said. “I don’t think our kids are pork. Why are they cutting that out of the budget? Cut the other pork. My kid isn’t pork.”
So do you think cash should go to livestock awards, the Illinois wine and grape industry or high-end Port-A-Potties? It’s in the budget. But if you cut it, it doesn’t come close to saving other programs.
* Related…
* Quinn calls special session to deal with state budget
* Lawmakers head back to work Tuesday
* Governor stumps in Champaign for tax increase
* Quinn stumps for tax increase at DSC training site
* GOP lawmakers cautious on tax increase at McLean Co. chamber event
* Open Letter to Illinois Republicans
* Chicagoans Split on Income Tax Increase
* Chicago North Shore Tea Party Sat. June 20
* Taxpayer-funded protestors demand taxpayers pay more
* Thousands Protest Impact Of State Budget Cuts
* Belleville crowd cheers Gov. Quinn’s call for a tax increase for human services
* HR providers decry potential loss of funds
* Hundreds Protest State Budget Cuts
* Protests focus on child care cuts
* Quinn: Autism center must be saved
* Kids and State Budget Cuts
* Foster care children at risk
* ‘Nowhere to go and no one to help them’
* Threat of cuts pushes domestic violence program into risky position
* Illinois budget woes threaten programs for people with developmental disabilities
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 10:30 am
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hey u r missing the burris innocent vstort twitter
Comment by Boxing Cross Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 10:34 am
Translation: According to the SJ-R, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Schmidt has found insufficient evidence to charge Roland Burris with perjury.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 10:42 am
Neil Steinberg’s column is quite interesting. Since, many wealth people in northern Illinois voted for Obama and the Democrats : there’s no law that says they can’t send the state of Illinois 5% of their income or even 10%. Why worry about those who don’t want to pay higher taxes? There’s plenty of rich people who live in Chicago that vote Democratic each and every election, it’s time to step up to the plate and show the values of Barack Obama and the rest of the Cook County Democratic organization.
Comment by Steve Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 10:43 am
Here’s a question for today’s state GOP. Whose judgement and experience do you trust more: Jim Edgar’s or Tony Peraica’s?
I think the answer might be very depressing.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 10:49 am
Remarkable!
The justification for not reforming our government, pensions, or ethics, not prioritizing where money is spent, not passing recall or legislative redistricting is because we have a budget crisis?
It is our broken government that has compounded the problem here. Raising taxes will not fix anything. It will kick all those cans down the road until they once again undermine our budget.
The Party in Power seems to only understand that if they pass tax increases they will become Election Day carrion. They don’t seem to get that they will have a better chance of being re-elected if they ensure to support and pass the reforms and Capital Bill, along with any needed temporary tax increase.
Throw us a bone! You can’t just keep parading your voter base and threaten their existance if you don’t get a tax increase. Few are expecting the Democrats to actually cut off their friends from the public trough, so these threats look hollow. It is a waste of time.
The Special Session has to be productive. It has to produce real reforms and a sound Capital Bill. The Democrats have to then hope that voters don’t simply remember the tax increases. The longer they drag out passing reforms, the harder it will be to expect voters to swallow the tax increases.
This government has been broken for years. It had years to pass the reforms everyone knew was needed when Governor Ryan was exposed. It had years to address our funding crisis during the Bush Boom years. The guy they elected twice to be our governor and their leader didn’t deliver, and not one of them balked about it until they were forced to impeach and convict him. We’ve had paralyzed government since 2005. So Illinois was not prepared when the economic cycle did what it always does. The Party in Power is a failure. We are in a bad way today. We now really need these losers to deliver on Tuesday.
They ought to be frightened. Their mismanagement has left tens of thousands hanging for dear life during the worse economic period since 1980.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 10:57 am
I fear Charlie Wheeler has it exactly right.
“The thing that really I see as more likely is that they won’t get it done, there will be these draconian cuts, real live human people will suffer dramatically, and then they’ll come back and do what they should have done.”
Real people are about to suffer as they play their games. It’s disgraceful.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 11:07 am
The Governor needs to stop preaching to the choir and convince people who aren’t directly benefiting from social service money that they need to pay more in taxes. There is a huge, silent majority out there that isn’t convinced it’s a good idea. He could start by emphasizing the temporary nature of the tax hike and the need to pour over the budget and make cuts and funding changes-but I’ve thought that for months and he still isn’t doing it.
It’s pretty easy to get the folks who will lose their pay to support a tax increase but the trick is to get the poor shlubs who have to cough up the money to by into it
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 11:15 am
Charlie Wheeler is spot-on. Massive service cuts and layoffs, and the resulting blowback, appear to be the only impetuses to responsibly fund the budget.
Comment by The Doc Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 11:28 am
Budget cuts are coming. It’s the Illinois state government’s budget or your personal budget.
Comment by Steve Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 11:34 am
Governor, take the Charlie Wheeler approach. The sooner you give ‘em doomsday, the sooner you’ll get your tax increase. It’s the only way.
Comment by The Unlicensed Hand Surgeon Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 1:48 pm
I have no doubt that real people will suffer if no tax increase is approved. However, as has been pointed out many times, we could cut all the social programs, reduce legislative salaries to zero, etc. , etc. and we would still have a substantial budget deficit. Just passing an income tax increase means that we will have the legislature and governor come back to us again in 2011, or 2013 (never in an election year), and tell us that the State is facing a huge deficit and social programs will be cut to the bone if we don’t pay more in taxes.
VanillaMan is correct - until the State does something to address the real cause of the deficit (it’s the increase in spending, not the increases the state’s seen in revenue), more tax money just delays the inevitable. Why should I pay more money in the near term, just so I can be told in 2-3 years that I didn’t pay enough, and that I should feel ashamed because I’ll be responsible for the impact on real people?
I’ve been hit with the same hammer by Quinn and the legislature for years now - I’ve figured out now that it hurts, and that I’m an idiot if I let them keep hitting me with that same damn hammer.
If I was to see substantive reform in the State’s cost structure, I’d be more inclined to support an income tax increase, but I’d probably want it to be a temporary increase because I simply don’t trust the legislature to do the right thing once the immediate crisis is addressed.
Comment by Treeboy Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 2:04 pm
===I’ve been hit with the same hammer by Quinn and the legislature for years now===
The last time the income tax was increased was 1989. That’s 20 years ago. An entire generation.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 2:18 pm
–If I was to see substantive reform in the State’s cost structure, I’d be more inclined to support an income tax increase,–
No need to treat it as an academic exercise. All the numbers are there for everyone to see.
What are you suggesting, based on real hard numbers?
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 2:28 pm
I couldn’t agree with treeboy and vanillaman more.
and, i agree with peraica.
when the gov spoke of “shared sacrifice” on march 18, 2009, what exactly did he mean?
Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jun 19, 09 @ 2:35 pm
The governor is bluffing. He cut where he knew he would get the biggest protests and kept the fluff. The “numbers” don’t mean anything. You have to look at the detail which you probably won’t get without FOIA requests. This isn’t a real doomsday budget because a real doomsday budget would look drastically different. You would shut down DNR, Ag and any other agency that doesn’t strictly deal with public safety.
Comment by Anon Saturday, Jun 20, 09 @ 12:25 am
isn’t our tax system one of the most regressive in the country?
Comment by ding Monday, Jun 22, 09 @ 8:42 am