Ill. House OKs borrowing, emergency budget plan
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The Illinois House approved a new state budget Tuesday that would borrow billions of dollars, give the governor broad new control over spending and leave a mountain of unpaid bills at the end of the year.
Republicans, and one or two Democrats, condemned the proposed budget as an irresponsible mish-mash of gimmicks and shady maneuvers.
House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, called it "a budget that has a lot of duct tape around it. ... It doesn't really add up, but that's what we've grown accustomed to in the state of Illinois."
Democratic leaders, however, defended it as the only realistic option when the state faces a $13 billion deficit but legislators reject both raising taxes and slashing spending.
"The dollars aren't there," said Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley. "We're left with very limited options and difficult choices."
Gov. Pat Quinn's office said spending would total $56.7 billion in the fiscal year starting July 1. Much of that is federal money and special funds over which the state has limited control.
The amount where the state has complete discretion would total about $25.9 billion - down roughly $1.3 billion, or 4.8 percent, from the current budget.
The Illinois Senate still has to approve the budget. If it does, the spending plan that reaches the governor's desk will be a retread of the current budget: borrowing, undefined spending cuts, unpaid bills and one-time maneuvers.
For the second straight year, Quinn will have failed to win approval for the income tax increase he argues is vital to putting Illinois on the road to a balanced budget.
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