Proposed Illinois budget loaded with legislative projects

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Police stations, city halls, and fire trucks. Salsa programs, concession stands and graffiti removal.

Call them essential or call them pork. Either way, Illinois lawmakers would be able to hand out millions of dollars in projects under the state budget they're considering.

The $59 billion spending plan the House approved 99-9 Thursday sets aside money for hundreds of projects. Schools, hospitals, roads, churches and parks all would benefit.

Lawmakers said the budget provides more than $2.5 million in what legislators call "member initiatives" to each of the 59 Senate districts. That would be about $150 million, but the total wasn't clear. Each senator would control half the money for a district, and the two representatives would split the rest.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Chicago's WLS-TV the budget has "so much pork that I suspect if you were to grab that budget document, you probably couldn't hold on to it because it's so greasy."

The practice is nothing new.

It's used to give lawmakers an incentive to vote for an overall spending plan that may have other flaws. They can go home and tout the new ambulance, school renovation or freshly paved roads in their next bid for re-election.

Some past budgets have simply included lump sums for each legislative caucus, giving no indication of how the money ultimately would be spent. This year, however, three of the four caucuses spells out each project. Only Senate Democrats are using the lump-sum approach.

Legislators argue the initiatives ensure their districts' needs are getting at least a sliver of the huge state spending pie.

"What many call pork, we call essential projects," said Sen. Willie Delgado, D-Chicago.

The projects include $25,000 to expand the city hall in Johnston City in southern Illinois, $100,000 for security cameras in a Chicago ward and $200,000 for a new police station in Aurora.

There's also $20,000 for graffiti removal in Cicero, $40,000 for community programs through the Chicago International Salsa Congress, $60,000 for volleyball courts at Stars and Stripes Park in Chicago and $100,000 for a park concession stand in Brookfield.

The measure also provides money for some road and school construction projects, a sore spot for lawmakers who have been unable to agree on billions of dollars in borrowing to address major needs in those areas.

An effort to pass the new budget has bogged down amid differences between the Illinois House and Senate.

House Speaker Michael Madigan told lawmakers to go home Thursday evening because the budget could not be finalized. He said they would try again tomorrow.

Earlier Thursday, the House approved a budget despite objections from Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Senate was supposed to act later in the day.

But Madigan says the Senate has made changes in the budget.

The Senate is also preparing to consider legislation for a Chicago casino and a major construction program - something that doesn't have Madigan's support.