A month’s respite…

Late Thursday evening, Governor Blagojevich and legislative leaders reached a general agreement to a pass one-month of emergency funding, as budget negotiations remain unresolved.  Staff from the Governor’s office, the House and the Senate will work to draft a interim budget to keep the state running in July while they continue to work out a long term budget.

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With only nine days remaining before the beginning of the new fiscal year, only the House of Representatives has passed a state budget (SB 1132). While the House passed their budget back in May, the Senate this week passed a non-binding resolution (SJR 58) condemning the House budget for not providing enough money for education, health care, and other programs. The Senate would prefer a spending increase of nearly $5 billion (18%) while the House passed a budget that increased spending by slightly more than $1 billion. House and Senate Republicans continue to call for a budget with no spending increases, while the Governor Blagojevich still supports new taxes that would raise more than $9 billion for his health care and education programs.

What happens if..

…no budget is passed?  Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes (D-Chicago) warns that the “fiscal meltdown” would begin on July 9^th.  If no budget is passed, Hynes indicated that 4,900 employees wouldn't be paid on July 9. The following week, an additional 8,150 state employees would not be paid.  By July 25th, 28,000 state employees will have missed a paycheck.

Senate Dems want to close “egregious loopholes”

Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) issued an ominous warning to the business community by stating that the legislature needs to "close egregious loopholes" because the state is missing out on tax revenues.

The only budget Senate Democrats have shown support for involves a new $5 billion tax and spending program.

Voters priority isn’t healthcare

According to new poll that sampled 600 Illinois voters, both education (43%) and paying down state debt (30%), ranked higher than expanding health care (26%) among Illinoisans. While health care is a very important issue for manufacturers and the general public, a vast majority of respondents (78%) believe that the Governor's program is simply too big and too expensive.