Senate restores some of budget cut by governor

SPRINGFIELD -- State lawmakers restored a sliver of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's state budget cuts Thursday amid renewed insults and finger-pointing.

Republicans accused Senate President Emil Jones of blocking action on hundreds of millions of dollars for petty political reasons. The Chicago Democrat responded that his actions were justified because he had been "backstabbed."

It was just the latest in a long series of clashes that have kept officials from finishing the state budget months after the new fiscal year began. State leaders, especially Democrats who control the General Assembly and the governor's office, have bickered, called one another names and even filed lawsuits.

"There is more consensus and there is more working together in the Middle East than there is beneath the dome of the General Assembly," said Sen. Martin Sandoval, a Chicago Democrat.

Blagojevich used his veto powers to cut more than $460 million out of the state budget, and Jones has promised to block efforts to override any of those cuts.

But Jones relented a little Thursday, letting the Senate restore about $8 million for legislative agencies, the auditor general and Illinois' court system, along with a few other items. The 31-20 vote officially put that money back into the budget.

The House has voted to restore far more -- more than $420 million of the governor's cuts.

Senate Republicans complained that Jones wasn't allowing a vote on restoring the larger amount.

"This isn't right," said Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, a Greenville Republican. "This is just petty political gamesmanship."

Jones angrily defended the move, saying he felt no obligation to restore the budget lawmakers originally sent to the governor because other legislative leaders worked against him behind the scenes on that and other issues.

"It was not Emil Jones that broke the agreement," said Jones. "It's a two-way street, not a one-way street."

The Senate president has been under heavy pressure to allow a vote on restoring the cuts because they hit politically sensitive areas such as developmentally disabled care workers, veterans and schools.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said the $8 million in restored cuts were done in conjunction with the governor's office to fix budget errors, but the governor's cuts to benefit health care needs are still largely in place.

Jones may allow votes on restoring a few other cuts worth a combined $17 million. His allies said lawmakers also want money put back in for additional union workers at prisons and other state facilities.

Sen. Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat, said lawmakers also might tinker with the budget to account for new, more downbeat projections of state revenue this year.

"We have gotten almost a second chance," Trotter said.