2008 Woodie Awards
Illini Media
WPGU
buzz
Illio
TechnographAnalysis: Lawmakers avoid tough decisions on new budget
By Christopher Wills, The Associated Press
Posted: 6/2/08 Section: News
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois legislators faced two options on the state budget. They could make politically dangerous decisions to raise revenues and cut spending, or they could endure months of politically embarrassing gridlock.
So they found a third option: Slap something together, call it a budget and skip town.
They didn't even bother to pretend the budget they approved Saturday is balanced. The only question is just how big the deficit really is - $400 million? One billion? Two billion?
It's an indication that last year's fiasco of gridlock and finger-pointing shattered the old rules for drafting a budget and state leaders haven't settled on new ones.
Legislative leaders largely operated independently of one another, with the Senate passing a series of revenue measures that were doomed in the House. Gov. Rod Blagojevich delivered his annual budget address and then vanished, his spending proposals disappearing with him.
House Speaker Michael Madigan argued lawmakers don't need to worry about producing a budget where expenses match revenue. In his view, the Legislature approves everything it wants and then the governor determines what the state can really afford.
"That's a decision for the governor to make," the Chicago Democrat said. "The Legislature is not involved in spending decisions."
It was an extraordinary argument from a man who regularly complains that Blagojevich can't be trusted and doesn't respect the Legislature's authority.
It makes more sense, however, if seen as a bit of payback.
Last year, Blagojevich used his veto powers to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in spending sponsored by his political enemies, as Madigan reminded reporters. So now Blagojevich is stuck with a $59 billion budget he can slash all he wants - and irritate the interest groups that want to protect their particular piece of the pie.
Among the budget's problems:
- It assumes tax revenues will grow by $1 billion despite the weakening economy. That's twice the growth that Blagojevich's office estimated in his budget proposal.
So they found a third option: Slap something together, call it a budget and skip town.
They didn't even bother to pretend the budget they approved Saturday is balanced. The only question is just how big the deficit really is - $400 million? One billion? Two billion?
It's an indication that last year's fiasco of gridlock and finger-pointing shattered the old rules for drafting a budget and state leaders haven't settled on new ones.
Legislative leaders largely operated independently of one another, with the Senate passing a series of revenue measures that were doomed in the House. Gov. Rod Blagojevich delivered his annual budget address and then vanished, his spending proposals disappearing with him.
House Speaker Michael Madigan argued lawmakers don't need to worry about producing a budget where expenses match revenue. In his view, the Legislature approves everything it wants and then the governor determines what the state can really afford.
"That's a decision for the governor to make," the Chicago Democrat said. "The Legislature is not involved in spending decisions."
It was an extraordinary argument from a man who regularly complains that Blagojevich can't be trusted and doesn't respect the Legislature's authority.
It makes more sense, however, if seen as a bit of payback.
Last year, Blagojevich used his veto powers to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in spending sponsored by his political enemies, as Madigan reminded reporters. So now Blagojevich is stuck with a $59 billion budget he can slash all he wants - and irritate the interest groups that want to protect their particular piece of the pie.
Among the budget's problems:
- It assumes tax revenues will grow by $1 billion despite the weakening economy. That's twice the growth that Blagojevich's office estimated in his budget proposal.
The Daily Illini encourages on-topic discussion through article commenting on its articles and blogs. It is our policy not to delete any comments based upon political or ideological point of view. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive, off-topic or use excessive foul language.
The posting of copyrighted material, including any and all content for which you are not the author, is illegal under Federal intellectual property laws. Such activity will not be tolerated. Comments containing copyrighted material will be removed, and continued violation of copyright law is grounds for being banned completely from commenting on DailyIllini.com.
If you feel any post meets these conditions or merits review, please e-mail our editors at meonline@dailyillini.com.
Be the first to comment on this story