Ill. State Democrats Release New Budget Proposition

Lee Edwards | As of Wednesday, May 27, 2015

At a press conference on Monday, Ill. House Speaker Michael Madigan announced that the Ill. House of Representatives Democrats have released their own budget that will preserve over $5 billion in proposed cuts made by Ill. Gov. Bruce Rauner in his budget.
At a press conference on Monday, Ill. House Speaker Michael Madigan announced that the Ill. House of Representatives Democrats have released their own budget that will preserve over $5 billion in proposed cuts made by Ill. Gov. Bruce Rauner in his budget.

Ill. House of Representatives Democrats proposed a $36 billion budget for fiscal year 2016 (FY2016) on Monday. The budget would avoid nearly $5 billion in spending cuts present in Ill. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s $32 billion “Illinois Turnaround” budget released in February.

According to Article VIII - Section II of the Illinois Constitution, the governor is required to prepare and submit a state budget to the Ill. General Assembly (IGA) for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget sets forth the estimated balance of funds available for appropriation at the beginning of the fiscal year, the estimated receipts, and a plan for expenditures during the fiscal year. The new fiscal year begins on July 1.

All budget bills require three-fifths of the electorate’s approval before taking effect. That fact may be problematic for the Republican governor’s budget as both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats, who strongly criticized Rauner’s budget.

Ill. House Speaker Michael Madigan said that the Democrat’s proposed budget’s development began on Feb. 18 after Rauner announced his budget’s details.

The budget makes cuts in human services, higher education, and general services, yet, increases funding in education and in the Ill. Department of Corrections. Madigan believes the budget secures the essential services, programs and initiatives that thousands of Illinoisans rely on.

“The Democrats in the legislature, in both the House and the Senate, will offer a spending plan that will be consistent with our view of what the state of Illinois should do for Illinoisans who need the government to be helpful to them,” said Madigan.

However, Madigan revealed that the budget is underfunded by roughly $3 billion and said Democrats are willing to work alongside Rauner to find new revenue streams to fully fund the budget.

Meanwhile, Rauner views the Democrat’s proposed budget announcement as political grand standing. The Office of the Governor’s Director of Communications Lance Trover addressed the proposed budget.

"Speaker Madigan and the politicians he controls are walking away from the negotiating table and refusing to compromise on critical reforms needed to Turnaround Illinois,” said Trover. “Instead, they appear ready to end the regular session with yet another broken budget or massive tax hike -and no structural reforms. The Speaker and his allies in the legislature are sorely mistaken if they believe the people of Illinois will accept doubling down on a broken system that has failed Illinois over the last dozen years."

Madigan said he hopes future conversations concerning the budget are productive.

To learn more about Ill. Gov. Rauner’s budget visit http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/budget/Pages/default.aspx.

To learn more about the Ill. House Democratic budget visit http://www.ilga.gov/.

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