Illinois’ budget breakdown is entering its fourth month with no end in sight to the stalemate between Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers.
“If you want me to raise taxes, I’ll do it,” Gov. Rauner told lawmakers on September 10. “But I’m going to do it with reforms. If you don’t want any reforms with it, you do the tax hike. You’ve got a supermajority. You’ve proven that you can do things without my support. You’ve overridden my veto on a number of items. Please go ahead. But you’ve got to choose.”
Legislators are expected to return to Springfield in early October.
“Checks are being written today with no consideration as to how much money we have in our state’s bank accounts. This is a recipe for disaster,” said Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger at a recent meeting in Moline. “For the sake of our families, our businesses and our organizations, it is time for the general assembly to sit down with the governor, to work together to find common ground and to pass a balanced budget.”
Munger said the state must keep its promises and live within its means.
If a budget isn’t passed, NFIB/IL State Director Kim Maisch says the consensus among experts is that the state could run out of money early in 2016.
“The income tax hike passed in 2011 by Democrats under former Governor Pat Quinn expired in January of this year leaving the state with about $4 billion less to spend in Fiscal Year 2016 which started July 1,” Maisch says. “No budget means the state is overspending and driving the state’s backlog of unpaid bills to a whopping $8.5 billion by the end of the year.”
NFIB/IL will continue to monitor the situation. Check NFIB.com/IL for updates.
