* A meme emerged yesterday….
Gov. Pat Quinn, after weeks of warning about severe service cuts if there’s no tax hike, toned down his rhetoric Wednesday.
“I’m not going to be cutting the heart and soul out of Illinois human services. I never support that and never will. So we will not allow that to take place,” said Quinn, a day after he told 5,000 protesters at the Capitol that they could lose their jobs if no tax hike is approved.
And…
Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn waffled on whether he will proceed with severe cuts to human service programs if lawmakers don’t approve an income tax hike before the start of the state’s new budget year July 1. […]
After meeting with the four legislative caucuses over the last two days, Quinn sent a series of mixed messages on his budget plans. He reiterated that he does not support a budget that includes huge spending shortfalls for social service programs, but he would not say whether he would make the spending cuts he’s threatened if lawmakers don’t approve a tax hike.
And…
After spending the past three weeks saying he would cut programs serving Illinois’ neediest citizens on July 1, Gov. Pat Quinn appeared to blink Wednesday.
Etc., etc.
* What’s going on? Well, Quinn is under enormous pressure to put off the doomsday cuts. The push-back from the social service groups has been absolutely fierce, and the media heat has been beyond intense. He’s finding out that even though he didn’t support the budget passed by the General Assembly, he’s the one taking the blame. All governors hate wearing the jacket, but that’s the way it works when you’re on top. And now the fiscal year deadline is approaching and he’s staring off into the abyss wondering what to do.
* And rather than help reach a satisfactory conclusion, the pension note plan appears to be taking the pressure off, particularly in the House…
A solution could come in the form of a House plan anchored by borrowing $2.2 billion to fund the state’s 2010 pension obligations. State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said the plan would fund the budget to almost 93 percent of what Quinn wanted.
The governor’s office vehemently disagrees with that 93 percent number, by the way. But House Democrats see the pension note plan and other maneuvers as a get out of jail free card…
State Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said the plan, expected to generate about $2.2 billion, could help avoid the massive cuts Quinn has threatened.
“I don’t know if we need a tax increase right now,” said Phelps, who was among those voting against an income tax hike May 31.
That cash will take some pressure off the cuts, particularly the social service grants, and that, in turn, will lessen the urgency for a tax hike. They’ll still be billions in the hole - anywhere from $3.7 billion to about $6 billion, depending on whom you believe…
“If we get $2 billion to help close the deficit, that’s a good thing,” Quinn said after finishing a series of meetings with all four legislative caucuses. “We’re making progress, but we still have $7 billion to go.”
It’s less than $7 billion and Quinn knows it (subscribe to find out why). But it’s higher than some want to think.
* Quinn will be forced to make some very tough decisions about what he does next. He may agree to Republican demands for a month-to-month budget, or he could be pushed by the House Dems into backing off doing anything else. Or he could go other directions. I don’t think he really knows yet.
And if he doesn’t follow through and instead moves on to the next doomsday threats, nobody will take him seriously…
Governor Quinn says no matter the budget outcome.. there will be shared sacrifice. He talked about state employee layoffs, and asking government workers to take up to 12 furlough days in the coming year.
His indecisiveness will spawn a whole lot more biting commentary like this…
If Quinn were serious, he should have locked the Legislative leaders in a room and said they weren’t coming out until they had solved the problem.
Maybe the problem was never that serious.
Maybe it was all a political game.
Maybe things really are that bad and our lawmakers just don’t give a damn.
It doesn’t matter.
Every time I think the politicians of Illinois have reached a new low, they find a way to dig a little deeper.
Instead of going to work, they’ve gone home, leaving millions of poor, scared, helpless people behind.
And mocking like this…
Legislators met for two days this week to consider technical issues related to a public works program and to address the budget.
They didn’t complete either chore. The Senate did, however, pass a resolution reaffirming Illinois’ sister-state relationship with Taiwan.
* And, then, of course, there’s the ongoing fight over the capital bill…
Quinn said he will not sign the construction program without an operating budget in place. Democratic Sens. Martin Sandoval of Chicago and John Sullivan of Rushville said the capital plan and the operating budget have nothing to do with one another. In a Statehouse news conference, they joined organized labor groups to say Quinn has fallen through on his promise to immediately put people to work. “People are falling off the edge, losing their homes, having a very difficult time making ends meet, and he’s decided to hold the jobs bill as a political football until he gets his tax hike,” Sandoval said, citing the state’s 10.1 percent unemployment rate.
Testiness.