Senate Week in Review: June 22-26

SPRINGFIELD — With no Fiscal Year 2010 budget in place and the end of the current fiscal year rapidly approaching, the state’s Democrat leaders adjourned a special legislative session June 24 and made plans to return next week.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, Senate Republicans offered an alternative “bridge” budget, which would keep state government functioning and social service programs operational. State Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, said the Caucus decided to offer the temporary proposal because negotiations that should have been going on back in March are only now beginning to take place. As was the case during the Blagojevich Administration, the current Governor and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature have been unable to agree on any plan.

The Republican proposal would roll spending back to the previous year’s levels, which is seen as more equitable and manageable than the budget approved in May. The May proposal, passed by a partisan vote with no Republican support, slashed human service spending by 50 percent, while increasing funding in other areas.

Risinger said the “bridge” budget proposal would still require sacrifice, but it is shared and manageable sacrifice that will give the Governor and legislative leaders an opportunity to identify areas of state government that could be reasonably cut or reduced.

Risinger said that for years Senate Republicans have fought for reforms to the state’s Medicaid and pension systems as a way to save state dollars, while also improving the quality of care and the viability of retirement systems. Republican lawmakers also believe that structural, ethical and campaign-related reforms are essential to resolving the underlying problems facing Illinois — including ending the political gerrymandering of the state for partisan political purposes.

As budget negotiations continue, Senate GOP lawmakers have been frustrated because Gov. Pat Quinn and his Democrat colleagues have sought to increase taxes without any discussion of cost-savings and government reforms.

The severe cuts contained in the partisan budget measure adopted in May were designed to create a backlash, which they did. More than 5,000 state service providers and their beneficiaries rallied in the Capitol June 23, demanding a resolution. But while it prompted fear and anger among social service providers and their clients, the budget did nothing to advance a responsible solution or address the underlying problems facing Illinois government.