Illinois treasurer predicts no budget until November

Don't expect to see a state budget, including any new taxes, until after the November elections.

The state's chief investment officer told an audience of St. Charles area business leaders this week that fiscal gridlock continues in Springfield because political campaigning is the only order of the day among lawmakers.

"There is a real lack in Springfield governance right now," Treasurer Michael Frerichs said. "The longer the general assembly waits, the longer the governor waits to sit down and negotiate (the budget), the more difficult it becomes."

There is a need to either find $5 billion in budget cuts or $5 billion in new revenue to get the state back on track, Frerichs said. But lawmakers have "no real appetite" for that magnitude of cuts or tax increases, he said.

Frerichs predicted any budget solution that doesn't involve "significant inflow of new revenue" will require "very, very significant cuts to higher education."

That's not what educators across the state want to hear, he said, and it's certainly not what students need to hear. Frerichs said there are about 130,000 students in Illinois whose college futures are tied to the ability of state lawmakers to reach a budget agreement.

That's roughly the number of students who qualify for a Monetary Assistance Program, or MAP, grant through the state. The $400 million program provides up to $5,000 a year in financial aid to low-income college students. Qualified students have received letters awarding the grant. However, there has been no state appropriation to fund the program.

"Basically, we have lied to 130,000 families in the state," Frerichs said. "It is a travesty."

Frerichs has spoken about the need to fund the MAP grants at various college campuses across the state. He believes lawmakers will respond only if there is enough public pressure to act.

"I would hope the people and members of the Illinois General Assembly are as outraged as we are," he said. "I hope that pressure builds. The problem is that when the pressure goes away, then they say, 'Now we don't have to do anything else for a while.' You have to get a whole budget in place. Otherwise it's just the wrong way of governing."

On his end, Frerichs said he supports the merging of his office and the state comptroller's office to cut costs. He said he believes if the merger occurs it should involve some continued oversight of the merged office from another state agency, such as the auditor general or secretary of state, to keep checks and balances in place.