Released: 8/2/2007
|
AFTER setting a record for the longest overtime session since passage of the 1970 state Constitution, the Illinois General Assembly continued its struggle to pass a FY2008 state budget into the month of August. The one-month temporary budget that was passed at the end of June expired on July 31 and fears were expressed that a new budget would not be passed in time to avoid shutdown of at least some government operations.
State Comptroller Dan Hynes warned that a budget needed to be approved by August 8 in order for his office to make critical funding payments to school systems around the state as well as issue payroll checks to many state employees.
After several weeks of fruitless budget discussions involving the Governor and four legislative leaders, the leaders began to meet without the Governor in mid-July. The President of the Senate, Speaker of the House and Minority Leaders in both chambers tried to develop their own budget that could be passed and sent to the Governor for review.
One of the major sticking points has been Governor Blagojevich’s insistence that any final budget include a major increase in health care coverage and spending. The idea has generated little support among rank-and-file legislators or their leaders. A more popular cause is increased funding for education. However, there is no agreement yet regarding how to pay for such increases.
Various revenue enhancements have been proposed throughout the spring session, ranging from the Governor’s support of a Gross Receipts Tax to recent calls for expansion of gaming in Illinois by creating valuable new casino licenses. To date, none of the proposals has achieved the super-majority support needed to be approved by either chamber.
|
