Projects facing the ax in state budget

SPRINGFIELD -- Millions of dollars for everything from a Sicilian delegation's suburban visit to new police cars were stricken from the state budget Thursday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who wants to make spending room for bigger government health care programs.

"A budget should reflect the priorities of the people who elected us to make their lives better," Blagojevich said in a news release announcing the cuts. "That's why I'm removing almost $500 million in special pet projects and other spending that we simply can't afford."

However, Blagojevich left alone provisions that, when combined with other recent efforts, will increase his own pay to $171,000 a nearly 12 percent raise. Lawmakers and various other state officials get a similar boost. The base pay for lawmakers goes to $65,353 from $57,619. They make thousands more serving in leadership roles and running committees.

This comes even as Blagojevich and the General Assembly presided over the longest budget stalemate in state history, one that cost taxpayers $1 million in expenses, threatened workers' paychecks and delayed hundreds of millions of dollars in education funding.

A $59 billion budget deal finally was struck among lawmakers earlier this month thanks in part to millions of dollars for projects members requested. But Blagojevich was not part of that deal and he vowed last week to wipe out $500 million in "pork" spending and switch the money to finance his own priorities, even though lawmakers repeatedly rejected the health care proposals.

All told, the governor cut $463 million using his veto powers. He cut $15.8 million from the budgets of other state officials, slashed spending on lawmakers' projects by $141.3 million and reduced spending elsewhere in the budget by $306 million.

Blagojevich said much of the spending he cut had "little to do with the core mission of state government" and singled out the Elk Grove Village Sister Cities as an example. The group was to get $20,000 to host a delegation from Sicily. The governor eliminated the money.

On a larger scale, what was cut and what wasn't prompted cries of hypocrisy from critics.

Blagojevich left intact hundreds of projects worth millions of dollars that were sponsored by House Republicans, a move observers believe is intended to try to thwart an override vote in the Illinois House. If Blagojevich could defeat such an effort, it would be a huge political victory over his rival House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat.

Even before the cuts were announced, Madigan indicated he'd likely bring House members back to try to overrule the governor. But to do that, he'd need Republican votes.

Ironically, dozens of projects requested by House Republicans ranging from solar-powered speed limit signs to a high school soccer field were spared in Thursday's budget cutting even as the governor eliminated funding for classroom construction for a Schaumburg-area preschool program for at-risk children.

In some cases, money requested by Senate Republicans was cut while House Republican funding was approved, even though it was for the same project.

For instance, Blagojevich cut $200,000 destined for the Wayne Township Road District to help pay for replacing a bridge on St. Charles Road. But at the same time he OK'd an identical $200,000 grant for the same project.

The grants were not duplicates. Rather it was an effort on behalf of two area lawmakers to try to get the $400,000 needed for the project. The exact same situation occurred with funding for work on a Schick Road bridge. One $200,000 grant was approved, the other vetoed.

"This doesn't make sense," said state Sen. John Millner, a Carol Stream Republican, whose portion of the funding was vetoed while state Rep. Randy Ramey, also a Carol Stream Republican, had his share approved. "It's a curious deletion."

A Blagojevich spokeswoman defended the selection process.

"Some of the projects lawmakers included in the budget had little, if anything, to do with the mission of state government. Others may serve a purpose for a particular community or organization, but we can't afford to spend taxpayer dollars on them right now," said Rebecca Rausch. "We ended up with a budget we can better afford and that meets the most important needs like health care facing the people of our state."