Quinn’s $52.7B budget cuts spending $1B

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Quinn will propose a $52.7 billion budget for next year that does not increase any additional taxes or fees, relies on massive borrowing and imposes spending cuts of about $1 billion, according to legislative sources briefed on the plan Tuesday.

“I’d say it’s a lean budget that focuses the burden upon all areas of state government,” Quinn spokeswoman Mica Matsoff told reporters.

The linchpin of Quinn’s plan, which he’ll present at noon today in a speech to the General Assembly, is an $8.75 billion borrowing proposal that largely would be directed toward paying down a mountain of unpaid state bills.

But that component, which failed to pass during the previous legislative session that ended in mid-January, appears to be on budgetary life support already.

Senate Republicans, whose votes are now necessary for borrowing, came out against the plan, saying Quinn needs to focus more on belt-tightening and using proceeds from the newly passed income-tax increase to pay down $6.6 billion in unpaid bills rather than embarking on a gargantuan borrowing package.

“We are pretty strong in our belief that we are not for a proposed $8.75 billion borrowing plan, which the governor calls ‘debt restructuring,’ ” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), who was surrounded by more than 20 of her caucus members at a Tuesday morning news conference.

“It’s our hope he doesn’t build the budget based on that. To do so, in my view, says he’s really not serious about working together to come up with a plan,” she said.

Jack Lavin, Quinn’s chief of staff, shot back at Republicans, saying their refusal to go along with borrowing could imperil state payments to mass-transit agencies such as Metra, resulting in potential fare increases for their suburban GOP constituents.

“This is an organization getting people to work. And when they get to work, they earn money. When they earn money, they pay taxes. I think the Republicans need to understand that,” Lavin said. “We’ve asked them to stop playing rope-a-dope and give us a counter-proposal. I think that’s what we’ve got to do. They can’t continue to say ‘no.’ The state can’t afford to have that happen.”

Quinn’s budget plan does not include a $1.01-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax sought in January, nor does the governor intend to ask for any other additional fee or tax increases, sources said. Among the cuts Quinn is expected to lay out is the elimination of Illinois Cares Rx, a Medicare prescription-drug supplement impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich launched in 2006 to much fanfare, legislative sources said. The move will save more than $100 million.

Quinn also intends to ask for about half a billion dollars in cuts from health-care providers who service the state’s Medicaid population and an additional $95 million in cuts in reimbursements the state provides public school districts for transportation costs, legislative sources said.

Stephen DiBenedetto contributing