From the Associated Press:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is proposing an unusually small $140 million increase in education spending for the next budget year that depends on a tricky plan to siphon money from special state funds.
The Democratic governor also wants to borrow $500 million to help pay for school construction, a proposal similar to one lawmakers shot down last summer.
If the Legislature approves his proposed $140 million increase for pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade schools, it would be 69 percent less than what Blagojevich has gotten, on average, for schools the past two years and the lowest since Gov. George Ryan’s last budget in the fiscal year that ended in mid-2003, when school spending actually decreased. […]
[Budget Director John Filan] refused to identify any of the funds that could be targeted for the sweeps, but he said five accounts would be exempt from subsidizing education: debt-service accounts, payments to local governments, federal funds, road funds and the “rainy day” fund.
And then there’s this summary:
BOTTOM LINE: $43.56 billion in operating expenses, plus $9.43 billion in construction and maintenance costs.
WHERE IT GOES: 28.3 percent to public aid; 26.4 percent education; 24 percent human services; 7.6 percent economic development; 6 percent government services; 5.9 percent public safety; 1.8 percent business and environmental regulation.
NEW MONEY: $800 million natural revenue growth, $155 million from higher tobacco taxes, $65 million from software tax on businesses, $43 million from change in fees on some fuel.[…]
CIGARETTE TAX: Increase the tax 75 cents a pack, to a total of $1.73, to fund construction programs.
ENVIRONMENT: Fund conservation and rehire 50 park employees by eliminating tax credit for landfill-generated electricity; support vehicle emissions testing and storage tank inspections by charging fee on fuel stored in Illinois and later moved out of state.
SAVINGS: $800 million by restructuring pension obligations, $150 million in changes to healthcare for the poor, $35 million in changes to the state insurance program.
And this:
FY2004: $52.4 billion budget proposed, $5 billion deficit.
FY2005: $53.6 billion budget proposed, $2.3 billion deficit.
FY2006: $53 billion budget proposed, $1.1 billion deficit.