SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Unable to resolve the state’s deficit, Illinois lawmakers approved a state budget that offers taxpayers a surplus in at least one area: uncertainty.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Unable to resolve the state’s deficit, Illinois lawmakers approved a state budget that offers taxpayers a surplus in at least one area: uncertainty. From the fundamental question of whether spending will rise or fall to the details of which programs get money, legislators offered few answers. They left it for Gov. Pat Quinn to make many of the decisions about where to cut spending and how much. They also gave him the power to divert money set aside in special-purpose funds. And legislators halted efforts to borrow nearly $4 billion for government pensions, suddenly adding a new drain on the pool of state money that already fails to cover government costs. Groups that depend on state aid, including schools and charities, complain that they can’t make decisions about personnel or services without knowing how much money they’ll get and when. "Every area of the education budget is a question mark this year," Ben Schwarm, associate executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards, said Friday. Schools around the state have sent layoff notices to roughly 20,000 teachers and staff. They’re not likely to reverse those cuts if they can’t count on state money, he said. "I’m afraid a lot of those layoffs will stick," Schwarm said. John Tillman, CEO of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute, said budget uncertainty also hampers the state economy. Businesses don’t want to invest in a state where government can’t meet its obligations, bills don’t get paid on time and a major tax increase may lie ahead. "What this says is we don’t know what our destination is and we don’t even know how we’re going to navigate our rudderless ship," Tillman said. Even the legislators responsible for the budget plan pretend that it’s balanced. Instead, they maintain it’s the best they could do when the General Assembly wouldn’t raise taxes and wouldn’t slash spending. "We want to tough it out until we can get to an improvement in the economy," said House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said the budget leaves so many decisions to Quinn because he’ll need maximum flexibility to manage the chaos. "It’s almost like an emergency every day," Cullerton said. The governor and legislators faced a stunning shortfall for the fiscal year starting July 1. The gap between likely income and expenses was roughly $7 billion and the unpaid bills from the current budget were estimated at $6 billion, for a total deficit of $13 billion. Quinn wanted to cover part of the gap by raising taxes, but lawmakers refused to go along. Calls for dramatic spending cuts were also ignored. A proposal to borrow money fell a few votes short in the state Senate. The governor has said nothing to suggest he’ll veto the budget that legislators sent him, although he still hopes to win support for the pension-borrowing plan. Several factors combine to make this budget remarkably vague. One is the Emergency Budget Act that would set aside lump sums and then let Quinn decide where the money goes. Quinn will have to cut somewhere because the money won’t cover all the spending promised in the budget. Quinn’s budget director told legislators that Quinn could halt roughly $2 billion in spending. But it’s impossible to say which programs will suffer the most until Quinn actually makes the decisions. Another factor is the uncertainty over how to make the state’s annual contribution to government pension systems. Quinn and Democratic leaders had hoped to borrow the money, but they couldn’t pass the borrowing plan. They’ve talked about trying again later in the summer, but for now the pension payment simply goes on the stack of bills that Illinois is already slow to pay. That additional cost — somewhere between $3.7 billion and $4 billion — could force Quinn to cut even more deeply elsewhere in the budget or he could leave a bigger pile of unpaid bills at the end of the year. Unpaid bills means businesses and charities that provide service on behalf of the state aren’t reimbursed on time for their work. They have to find money for employees and expenses without being paid, and many say they can’t keep their doors open much longer. The budget is so vague that Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, said he can’t say whether spending will go up or down. "The answer is, there’s no answer," Martire said. "Even the most nearsighted, Enron-trained accountant couldn’t call this a balanced budget." Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
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