Quinn budget projections plan on borrowing, cigarette tax hike

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn will continue to hope for nearly $9 billion in borrowed money and an increase in cigarette taxes to try to deal with Illinois' budget mess, a top aide said Tuesday.

Quinn is scheduled to release his budget plans formally next week in a speech to lawmakers.

On Tuesday, the chief of staff of Quinn's budget office gave senators budget projections that included plans to borrow almost $9 billion to pay for the state's many overdue bills.

“They don't want to enter into contracts with the state,” Malcolm Weems said of prospective state contractors.

The presentation kicked off budget talks a little earlier than usual this year, and the discussions were contentious. Lawmakers grilled Williams, asking why Quinn's budget director, David Vaught, didn't come to the meeting.

“We have a budget disaster on our hands,” said Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican.

“And Dave Vaught didn't have time to come here,” he added.

Quinn is scheduled to release his budget plans Feb. 16. Lawmakers, though, could choose to mostly ignore those plans and make their own.

Economist: Illinois recovery dictates region success

The job-poaching threats from governors of Illinois' neighboring states only robs the Midwest region of its full potential for economic recovery, a report from the head of University of Illinois' economic department concluded Tuesday.

Jeffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, presented his report on the state's decade-long job employment recession to a House committee Wednesday.

The report showed the state lost out on potentially $6 billion in income and sales tax revenue because of the unemployment and an additional $1.5 billion because of people leaving the state. In all, the state would need to add 600,000 jobs to reach the pre-employment recession levels of Nov. 2000.

But the state – and region – will struggle to rebound without cooperation, Hewings said.

Hewings' report showed 40 percent of Illinois' exports go to Midwest states, so when Illinois operates efficiently, job creation occurs around the Midwest. Conversely, he said Illinois should take no joy in businesses shutting down in Wisconsin or Indiana as it means less opportunity here.

He urged the committee to think of job creation as a regional goal, not a state goal.

“The recovery of Illinois and the recovery of the Midwest are going to go hand-in-hand,” he said.

Suburban blood drive volunteers honored

Three suburban blood drive coordinators Tuesday were given Illinois Coalition of Community Blood Centers awards.

Marsha Zierk, an English teacher at Burlington Central High School, won Best High School Blood Drive Coordinator as she was able to convince one third of the school to participate in one of the many blood drives she held.

Wanda Marzahl of Harvard was named Most Dedicated Blood Drive Coordinator. She has organized more than 90 drives in the past 25 years and has collected more than 5,000 pints of blood.

Jeff Moxley, an Antioch High School teacher, received an honorable mention as he set a new Lifesource high school blood drive record by receiving more than 440 donations. Margaret Vaughn, ICCBC government affairs director, told reporters in Springfield that coordinators often are overlooked. But last week's blizzard proved they're important. The snow caused 60 blood drives to be canceled, meaning volunteers couldn't get potentially 5,000 pints that would have otherwise been collected.

“The need for blood never goes away,” she said.