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| Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, surrounded by legislators. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) |
Posted: Thursday, 16 July 2009 6:26AM
State gets a new budget: no tax hike but plenty of debt
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN/AP) - It only took one day of missed state government worker paychecks to push state lawmakers and the governor in to action. Both the House and Senate passed a new state budget late yesterday, and Governor Pat Quinn signed the measures as soon as they were on his desk.
The most immediate effect is that the nearly 6,000 paychecks that were held up Wednesday will be handed out today.
The budget leaves out the sharp tax increase that Quinn wanted. It also avoids the drastic spending cuts that were considered last month.
The budget relies on $3.5 billion in borrowed money in order to keep state government running. That was a concern to many lawmakers, but the measures all passed with a wide margin.
Government also will simply not pay about $3.2 billion it owes to businesses.
Quinn and state officials will not take a fresh look at the 2,500 layoff notices sent out last week, and compare the savings with the new budget details.
Quinn says he then will meet with the unions on how to handle the $1 billion in cuts he’s already promised, and the additional $1.1 billion cuts that the budget deal allows him to make.
Lawmakers are a little worried about that provision, saying it could lead Quinn to make nasty program cuts that will again rile up citizens, like the proposed human services cuts did in recent weeks.
Critics say the budget just digs the state deeper into its financial hole.
But Quinn and other supporters argue that it ends a deadlock that threatened to shut down state government.
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Copyright 2009 Illinois Radio Network. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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