Quinn’s final budget cuts difficult, but needed

We weren’t happy in February when Gov. Pat Quinn recommended the state spend $1.7 billion more in the fiscal year that started Friday than last year. Included in that plan was an $8.7 billion borrowing plan to pay off old bills.

We said at the time that spending cuts were needed long before more borrowing should take place. And we offered these ideas among many: Rescind the no-layoff pledge Quinn made to the state unions, cut salaries more and freeze spending.

And we were somewhat happy late last month after the legislature sent Quinn a budget of nearly $33 billion that doesn’t spend more than it brings in and does not include the multibillion-dollar borrowing plan that Quinn proposed. At the same time, Illinois’ unpaid bills still went unpaid and pension reform was pushed off the table once again.

The latest piece of this year’s budget puzzle came late last week. Quinn’s last-minute budget cutting may not win him any friends in the legislature or state unions.

But we’ve been saying all along that the state, faced with a projected $8 billion shortfall despite a major income tax increase, needs to find more places to cut. Quinn has upped the ante for the legislature to keep looking, especially if they don’t like what he cut.

What did he find? He cut $75 million by canceling 2-percent raises that were set to go into effect on Friday for 30,000 state employees. He also is canceling further raises that were to go into effect in January and February.

As we said back in February, some of the solutions to this fiscal crisis will be painful. So it’s not surprising to hear union officials call the cuts “illegal and irresponsible.” While we’re sure the courts will decide if it’s illegal, we don’t believe asking for more cuts is irresponsible given the mess the state is in. In fact, we still think a no-layoff pledge Quinn made to the unions last year is wrong.

Meanwhile, Quinn cut another $376 million from the budget. He kept funding for school transportation at the same level as last year, trimming an $89 million increase. We think that sounds reasonable.

Also left to local concerns are the fates of the regional offices of education. Quinn cut all state spending for those offices — $11.3 million. If they are to continue, Quinn believes local taxpayers should foot the bill. We advocated back in March that eliminating this bureaucracy deserved serious consideration. Now that it’s done, it’s incumbent on the regional superintendents to figure out a new way of operating or to shut down completely.

All of these cuts and the $276 million slashed from Medicaid, a health program from the poor, could be overturned by the legislature. But that would be a step backward.

When Quinn says implementing the budget is a “year-round process filled with robust debate and difficult decisions,” that should be an invitation to the General Assembly to find more cuts and deeper answers to the state’s fiscal dilemma.