Disability News Service, Resources, Diversity, Americans with Disabilities Act; Local and National.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Illinois Gov Quinn's Budget Hole Twice as Big as Reported: May 9 2011: The Civic Federation

Monday, May 09, 2011 8:00

Posted by Greg Hinz : Crain Chicago : 5/9/2011

The hole in Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed fiscal 2012 budget is really $2.4 billion — roughly twice what has been commonly reported, according to a Chicago tax watchdog.

In a report being released this morning, the Civic Federation said Mr. Quinn not only wants to spend roughly $1.4 billion more in the year beginning in July than the state expects to take in, but "overestimates revenues" by $976 million — mostly by delaying payment of refunds owed to corporations on their Illinois income taxes.

All of that comes even though the state is beginning to reap billions of dollars in new income from the two-thirds hike in the individual income tax that went into effect on Jan. 1, the federation says.

Illinois is spending "beyond what is realistic," Federation President Laurence Msall said in a statement. "While the Civic Federation is encouraged that Gov. Quinn and the General Assembly have taken some steps to resolve the state budget crisis, we cannot support an unbalanced budget that increases appropriations despite a multibillion-dollar backlog of unpaid bills."

The report is likely to increase pressure on a Democratic-majority state House and Senate, which have been considering cuts but have not yet approved anything.

Mr. Quinn wants to borrow to pay old bills, but the Civic Federation says he would be better advised to freeze spending instead of increasing it a net $1.1 billion. Any excess revenue from the income-tax increase should be used to pay off old bills, rather than borrowing money to do so, it says.

The federation urged lawmakers to limit any borrowing to three years, when part of the income-tax hike is due to expire; cut worker pensions; require all state retirees to pay for their health care; prioritize capital spending, and reopen negotiations with worker unions to curtail salary hikes.

No comments: