Springfield lawmakers not hurrying to pass budget
SPRINGFIELD - There appeared to be little urgency at the Capitol to strike a budget deal as Illinois began August with no plan or authority to pay employees, schools or the thousands of other people and entities that do business with the state.
Instead, Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared the situation to sports, saying fans only care if the team wins, not how long the game lasts.
"At the end of the day, do people really care whether the Cubs win in 14 innings or 9 innings? It's whether they win or lose. Do we care if the Bears win in overtime or regulation? Well, what we care about is whether they win or lose," Blagojevich told reporters Wednesday.
He said Illinoisans would be winners if his plans were approved for a new health care program designed to offer coverage to those without insurance or having trouble affording it. But with a more than $1 billion price tag accompanying even a scaled back version, it has yet to gain a political foothold with lawmakers.
That's among the reasons why lawmakers and the governor have been unable to cut a deal thus far. A state budget was due May 31 and the state's budget year expired at the end of June. A one-month deal was approved to cover July, but it expired and the state began Aug. 1 with no budget. Lawmakers are, in effect, now in triple overtime.
Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat, also sent a letter to legislative leaders Wedneday warning them he won't tolerate a budget that skimps on education or health care spending or a last-minute plan designed to look balanced by hiding deficits.
"A last-minute budget sent to my desk that fails on these criteria will be dead on arrival," he said in the letter, in which he also renewed his request for another temporary budget.
Blagojevich's demand for a balanced budget brought cries of hypocrisy from state Comptroller Dan Hynes, a Chicago Democrat.
"It is astonishing that after signing four budgets, billions of dollars out of balance, the governor is now finding a moral objection to a potentially out of balance budget while threatening to shut down state government in the process. The governor's hypocrisy knows no bounds," Hynes said in a statement delivered to reporters.
State employees and various vendors were asked to keep working today on the promise they'll get paid for their time and efforts once a deal is approved. State payroll and payments to public schools are due for processing on Aug. 8, at which point the lack of a budget becomes a far more serious issue.
House leaders said they hope a budget plan could be pieced together by the weekend and began positioning legislation for future votes. House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego said the budget being envisioned would not have any of the big new programs the governor wanted, nor would it have tax increases. More casinos also look doubtful.
"It appears that's probably floating away to never-neverland," Cross said of a proposed Chicago casino.
The state's leading labor unions on Wednesday endorsed raising income taxes in each of the next four years to come up with $800 million more for spending, a stance that puts them at odds with Blagojevich, who's previously relied on loyal union backing.
But tension remains within and across party lines at the Capitol. Senate Democrats accused their Republican counterparts of refusing to cooperate in negotiations, but then expecting great things for their districts in the final deal.
"They want to eat at the trough," said state Sen. Rickey Hendon, a Chicago Democrat, "but they don't want to feed the pigs."