The bulk of a new state budget passed out of the Illinois House this week, and now heads to the Senate. It's far less harsh than lawmakers had been predicting at the start of the legislative session.
When he presented his budget back in March, Governor Pat Quinn referred to it as his most difficult.
He warned that pension costs were eating up money for other causes.
But higher-than-expected revenues came into state coffers last month ... freeing up enough money to the point that Democratic Rep. Greg Harris says while many human service programs will be cut, it's only by one-percent. Others won't be at all.
"We kept level funding for child care, we increased money for AIDS and breast and cervical cancer, meals on wheels for seniors. So I think we did a good job in protecting the most frail and vulnerable, but at the same time paying down old bills and bringing in more federal money." -Rep. Greg Harris
Even though they agreed with some of the spending proposals, Republicans voted "no." Rep. Dennis Reboletti of Elmhurst says they were shut out of budget-making decisions.
"I learned that the Senate Democrats and the House Democrats struck a deal on the budget, not from our members that usually participate. I learned it on public radio. Isn't that a travesty when we deal with this budgetary process?" -Rep. Dennis Reboletti
The GOP also fears Democrats are spending the extra money, when it should go toward paying overdue bills.
Higher Education Funding
Funding for Illinois’ public universities would stay about the same under a budget proposal released by House Democrats. That contrasts with Governor Pat Quinn’s budget, which proposes cutting university funding by five-percent.
Representative Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, says the reduction can be avoided because Illinois collected an extra $1.5 billion in revenue last month.
“This is a one-time situation for right now. If we get another April surprise where we receive $1.5 billion of extra, new money because people are paying their taxes, et cetera, and we reap the benefits as a state… wow. That’s like we hit the lottery a little bit.” Rep. Ken Dunkin
Legislators had considered giving universities even more money. Higher education was set to receive an additional $35 million from the April’s extra tax revenue. Instead, Democrats are shifting those funds to school districts.
Republicans oppose this. They say universities need the money to make up for years of budget cuts.
Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky and Chris Slaby contributed to this report.