Highlights of Quinn’s budget proposal
SPENDING: $33.8 billion in general funds, a 0.15 percent increase over the current budget. That includes a $163 million “surplus” that can be used to reduce the backlog of unpaid bills.
EDUCATION: State funding for elementary and secondary education would grow by one-half of 1 percent with $20 million more for early childhood education, but a dip in federal money would drop overall K-12 spending by 6 percent. University funding would increase 3 percent, and there would be $50 million more for need-based Monetary Award Program scholarships.
PUBLIC SAFETY: Spending on prisons would fall by more than $100 million, or 8 percent, largely by closing two prisons, six halfway houses for inmates nearing release and two juvenile detention facilities. State police spending would drop slightly with service consolidations.
TAXES: Quinn did not propose new taxes but suggested combing the tax code for “loopholes” that don’t aid economic growth. Ending loopholes could help pay overdue bills and allow for new tax breaks for families and businesses hiring veterans. He did not mention the idea of eliminating a state tax on natural gas, something he proposed earlier this week.
OVERDUE BILLS: The governor ditched an idea he has floated previously — borrowing money to immediately pay $8 billion in past-due bills to service providers, stimulating the economy and paying it back over several years.
MEDICAID: In an area that has played a big role in those late payments, Quinn left a $2.7 billion shortfall, instead of delaying payments, in the health care system for the poor he called “on the brink of collapse.” He wants a legislative study commission to propose solutions and suggested reviewing rules for coverage eligibility, controlling the frequency of services provided, reducing rates paid to doctors and more.
PENSIONS: Quinn took credit for three consecutive years in which the state has paid what the law says it should toward public pensions after decades of underfunding. But that amount in 2013 will be $5.2 billion, up $1 billion from last year alone. That represents 15 percent of all general revenue spending. The governor called on another panel to offer solutions by April 17 for controlling pension costs, including a suggestion that local school boards pay the employer portion of teacher retirement benefits instead of the state.
FACILITY CLOSURES: Quinn would save $88.9 million through facility closures. The 14-year-old “supermaximum” security prison at Tamms would close because Quinn says it’s underutilized and costly. A women’s prison at Dwight would be shuttered, along with juvenile detention centers at Joliet and Murphysboro and six work-release centers. Mental health centers in Tinley Park and Rockford would cease operations along with developmental disability facilities in Jacksonville and Centralia. A state police forensics lab would merge with a new one under construction in Belleville and police telecommunication centers would consolidate, as would two dozen Human Services offices.
STATE EMPLOYEES: Closures and consolidation would eliminate the need for nearly 1,200 state employees. Once nearing 70,000, the state worker head count that was 54,500 when Quinn became governor in January 2009 would fall to 51,500 in this budget, among the lowest per state resident in the country.
Source: Associated Press