NFIB/Illinois State Director Kim Clarke Maisch briefs members on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s first budget address to the Legislature:
Governor Rauner this week unveiled his highly anticipated budget address and it was a stark wake-up call to lawmakers as he cut billions in order to present a balanced budget.
In general, only a few areas were saved from the budget ax. K-12 will see an increase, as will early childhood spending, and, there will be no cuts to community colleges. Medicaid would be cut by $1.5 billion, higher education would be cut by $387 million and local governments would see $600 million less from the state.
As expected, Democrat lawmakers and groups reliant on state money immediately cried foul and accused the governor of balancing the budget on the backs of the state’s most vulnerable.
Governor Rauner did not call for any tax increases, but it’s highly anticipated there will be discussions to bring in more revenue in order to restore money for certain areas. In fact, after the speech, Speaker Michael Madigan brought up his idea for a 3% surcharge on those who make more than a million dollars.
Governor Rauner also called for a huge shift in how the state handles employee pensions. He wants to move current state employees into a 401(k)-style plan that he indicates would save over $2 billion. However, any plan that significantly changes the pension system will be met with lawsuits from organized labor and could take years to resolve.
It is clear this budget is a starting point for negotiations, but for now, Governor Rauner has shown his willingness to cut state government, even sacred programs like Medicaid, in order to pull the state back from the fiscal cliff. As the governor said this week, “this is our last, best chance to get our house in order.”
PHOTO: Daniel Schwen/Wikipedia
