Illinois will face $19 billion in overdue bills by next summer if nothing is done to balance the state’s budget, according to a nonpartisan tax policy and research group.
The Civic Federation said Tuesday that, to close an estimated $4.6 billion deficit, Illinois needs spending restraints coupled with higher income tax rates — raising from the current 3.75 percent up to 5.25 percent.
“Having a $19.7 billion backlog in unpaid bills at the end of this year would mean that more than half of next year’s revenue would have to be spent … just to pay off our unpaid bills from the previous year,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.
It also says lawmakers should only settle for a comprehensive budget agreement, avoiding the selective spending plans that have kept schools open and state government functioning during the 22-month budget impasse.
The group is urging Illinois lawmakers to pass a full budget by the deadline of May 31 instead of "piecemeal" solutions as they gather for the final weeks of the legislative session. A stopgap funding measure expired in January.
The end of May is a budget deadline. However, there has been a two-year stalemate.
Msall calls the impasse between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic-controlled Legislature a "spectacular failure" that "continues to do unprecedented harm" to Illinois residents.
The Civic Federation rejects Rauner's proposed budget, saying his plan would let the unpaid bills backlog grow from $12 billion to $19.7 billion and relies on uncertain savings, one-time revenues and a tenuous Senate compromise.
Rauner's spokeswoman blames “decades of fiscal mismanagement'' for the crisis and calls for “structural reforms.''
- Illinois Public Radio's Brian Mackey and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
