May 10, 2010

Last Friday, Illinois legislative members left Springfield without passing a state budget.

They will return to Springfield for a vote sometime in the next three weeks, while party leadership from both the House and Senate will stay and attempt to craft a budget compromise.

The decision by legislators to postpone a vote reflects both their recognition of the State's financial crisis as well as their deep disagreements about how to respond. This budget must begin to resolve a number of problems, including the $13 billion deficit, late payments to human service providers, and the threat of deeper cuts to education and public programs. In response, legislators have proposed continued borrowing, deep spending cuts, a cigarette tax hike, delay on pension payments, and an income tax increase. So far, none of these proposals have been advanced as an effective way to fix a terribly unbalanced budget.

The Illinois constitution requires that a budget be passed by May 31, after which time, any budget proposal requires a three-fifths majority to pass. The current budget expires June 30.

As a founding member of the Responsible Budget Coalition, Heartland Alliance has worked with individuals and organization across the state to apply significant pressure on their elected officials this session, including the largest rally ever held at the Capitol on April 21, when 15,000 descended on Springfield to push for new revenue that will protect the critical services needed for the most vulnerable in Illinois.

So far, our support for a responsible budget has kept the General Assembly from passing a budget with irresponsible cuts, but our work is not done. The next few weeks are a critical time to keep up the pressure on the leaders in the legislature and the rest of the elected officials as they return to their districts. Please continue to contact your representatives, and tell them to put politics aside and pass a responsible budget for Illinois.

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