Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner painted a bleak picture Monday morning of what could happen if a state budget is not passed before Friday.
But he gave some hope that a solution could be reached when the Illinois General Assembly returns to Springfield on Wednesday for the first time since the spring legislative session ended in May.
“We are on the verge of a crisis with no budget whatsoever,” the governor told a Capitol news conference. “There’s the possibility that, starting July first, essential services could be shut, key services could cease to be provided, road construction could stop, corrections and public safety could be shut down, essential services for our most vulnerable, our most at-need, and our most at-risk families could cease to be supported.”
He said he has requested a four-leader meeting on Tuesday to prepare for the session.
Two major items are on the table for the legislature. One is a stopgap budget measure to keep state services going through the end of 2016. The other is a bill that would add $240 million to the current level of funding for kindergarten-through-high school education.
Rauner said the budget is pretty much a done deal, but the amount of spending is still a bone of contention with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton.
“We do not want to put spending that causes more unpaid bills and that is unaffordable and would force a big tax hike on the people of Illinois next winter, but I think we can work out a compromise and we’re pretty well there. The differences are very, very minor.”
Rauner said money for the stopgap measure would be appropriated from key funds in various accounts to provide essential services on a continuing basis for public safety, construction, human services and other needs throughout the year.
Rauner, a Republican, blames the two Democratic legislative leaders for holding up the education funding.
“What they’ve said is, ‘No deals, no budget, unless the funding formula changes and we get a lot more money for Chicago Public Schools.’ And they’ve basically threatened to hold up the entire funding process and the budget process for a bailout of CPS.”
The governor said Chicago schools are corrupt and have been mismanaged for decades, and they refuse to pay their own pension costs. He said bailing out CPS would be unfair to the rest of the state.
The home legislative districts for both Madigan and Cullerton are in Chicago.
Rauner was joined at his morning news conference by several municipal chief executives – including Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey -- who supported his call for a stopgap budget being pushed by Republicans in the General Assembly.
“The stopgap budget will allow operations to continue,” Morrissey said. “It allows critical road projects, other public infrastructure projects, economic development projects, city revenues as well as critical opening of our schools to happen.”
Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico acknowledged that the stopgap measure was not the ultimate answer to the problem.
“The stopgap budget isn’t a solution: It’s a bridge,” he said. “It’s a bridge that we need to take and approve now so that we can get our children off the bargaining table, so we can complete some of these projects that have been started, and so that we can keep our government running and keep our basic services running smoothly.”
Morrisey’s comments reflected the expectation that there will be no full-year budget before voters go to the polls this fall.
“My hope would be that, after the November elections, the legislature could come back together and, with the support of the individual members as well as their leaders, work with the governor to arrive at a compromise on a long-term solution that could involve appropriate reforms,” he said, “as well as appropriate discussion about revenues that might be necessary to pass a balanced and financially responsible budget.”
Chirico – along with the Naperville City Council -- officially has no party affiliation. He expressed the desire that the state impasse could be resolved quickly.
“I’m not here to point fingers or blame,” he said. “I’m just here to say, ‘Look, we need solutions.’ This stopgap budget is a good solution right now so that we can get to where we need to be in the future with a financial plan that will be sustainable.”
Illinois has been without a budget for the entire current fiscal year. As of today, nothing has been passed for the budget year that starts Friday.
