Governor gets more time to come up with budget fix

SPRINGFIELD - Gov. Pat Quinn will have an extra month to come up with a plan to solve Illinois' budget woes.

The state Senate on Wednesday approved delaying the governor's budget address until March 18. The speech was originally scheduled for next Wednesday. The House voted 117-0 to approve the delay last week.

"Under the circumstances, the governor needs more time to put his budget together," said Senate President John J. Cullerton, a Democrat from Chicago.

Quinn must find a way to cut programs or raise taxes to fill a $9 billion deficit in the roughly $30 billion budget that covers daily operations.

In the best of times state revenue barely covers the cost of state programs. The slumping economy has deeply cut income and sales tax revenue, making it much harder to balance the budget.

Quinn, also a Democrat from Chicago, became governor two weeks ago following the impeachment and removal of Gov. Rod Blagojevich for abuse of power.