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Quinn vetoes budget measure, proposes substantial cuts

July 8, 2009

On July 7, Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed $3.85 billion in general revenue funding that was sent to him by lawmakers in late May. Quinn had spoken out publicly against the legislation, so the veto was expected; however, the state is now operating without a budget in place for Fiscal Year 2010.

In his veto message, Quinn criticized House Bill 2145, which contained billions of dollars in revenue to finance state operations and employee salaries. He said the legislation did not make significant cuts in spending. However, rather than use his reduction and line-item veto powers to make those cuts, the Governor simply outlined $1 billion in cuts through press statements and then vetoed the entire budget measure.

Critics pointed out that the spending levels in HB 2145 were those that the Governor himself had requested in his budget proposal. The Governor was also criticized for the blanket veto of the entire measure, rather than using his authority to target spending reductions. By vetoing the entire measure, Quinn gave lawmakers the difficult choice of either overriding his proposed cuts in their entirety or completely rewriting the budget two weeks into the new fiscal year.

If the cuts outlined by the Governor are approved, they would lead to approximately 2,600 state employee layoffs, including more than 1,000 layoffs of Department of Corrections personnel. Quinn is also proposing 12 furlough days for state employees and downsizing of some correctional facilities—with possible early release for some state inmates.

The cuts advanced by Quinn would reduce state funding to programs and services under many state agencies. However, with no budget in place, many social service programs that rely on state funding have already been forced to close their doors, lay off employees and reduce services.

Lawmakers are scheduled to return on July 14 to consider the governor’s veto of House Bill 2145 and SB 1197 – a funding measure for social service programs that was also vetoed. It is unknown whether legislators will choose to override the governor’s veto in order to keep state government operating and prevent the deep cuts proposed by Quinn.

On July 8, the governor did sign one budget measure. HB 2194 contains $4.7 billion in general revenue dollars for state Medicaid obligations. Although the provisions do not fund all state Medicaid obligations, they target those obligations which the federal government has required be paid with 30 days in order to earn the enhanced rate for federal matching funds associated with the federal economic stimulus package. The stimulus provisions require a 30-day payment cycle for hospitals, nursing homes, and practitioner services.
 
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