Reporters, legislators and a whole lot of others are pretty upset today because the governor will not hold any budget briefings tonight. Historically, off-the-record briefings are held the evening before a budget address, which allows reporters to get their stories ready (or simply break the embargo altogether) and allow appropriations staffs to prepare analyses for their respective caucuses.
So, no briefing means no analyses tomorrow, and no analyses means seriously grouchy legislators. I’ve talked to several today (in the House and the Senate in both parties) who all had about the same response: “This is not a good way to start off the session.”
Indeed.
…Adding… Aaron Chambers notes…
By the time state officials settled on a new state budget last fall, it little resembled the one Blagojevich introduced last spring. The governor’s ambitious plan for universal health care did not pass. Neither did his plan for a gross receipts tax on Illinois businesses (it would have been the largest tax hike in state history). Lawmakers took the budget in another direction. Blagojevich retaliated by cutting more than $400 million of their earmarks and other spending.
When Blagojevich announces his next budget plan on Wednesday, the question will be: How much does his budget plan even matter?