SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers returned to the Capitol Tuesday to a fast approaching deadline for getting the next fiscal year’s budget passed. The House is expected to start voting on individual budget proposals by the end of next week.
State Rep.
Roger Eddy, R-Hutsonville, who has been working on the House budget for elementary and high school education, anticipated deep cuts.
House committees have been holding hearings since January to determine which agencies and programs will be getting cut for the state to fit under the $23.8 billion spending budget. Total House numbers tallies in at $33.2 billion, which also includes funding for pension and debt payments.
State Rep.
Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, who’s heads the committee that is divvying up funds for human services, calls the task of budgeting with shrinking numbers daunting.
Unlike in previous years, the House has delegated power to individual committees to determine budgets for elementary and high school education ($6.8 billion), general services ($1.2 billion), higher education ($2 billion), human services ($12 billion) and public safety ($1.6 billion).
State Rep.
Fred Crespo, D-Streamwood anticipated these numbers to be broken down even further into individual measures for specific agencies, instead of grouped together into one, all-encompassing budget package.
As of yet, lawmakers agreed that not many of the numbers have been written in stone.
Portions of the public safety budget have already been passed out of the House, but none yet that require general revenue funds, said Rep.
David Reis, R-Onley, who expects much to still be on the chopping block.
State Rep.
Will Davis, D-East Hazel Crest, who chairs the committee for elementary and high school education, said he can’t predict where the cuts will come from.
Whatever numbers the House might pass, the Senate and Governor’s office will have to sign off by May 31.
After the deadline, any legislation that takes immediate effect will require a three-fifths vote, which means Democrats will also have to rally Republican support on the budget, said Charlie Wheeler, director of public affairs reporting at the University of Illinois in Springfield.
“It may be 11:45 the evening of May 31, but I would be absolutely flabbergasted if the Democrats don’t produce a budget in time,” Wheeler said.
Democrats control the both chambers of the Legislature and the Governor’s office.
Crespo predicted all three parties will have to sit down and reconcile differing budget projections before any progress is really made.
“Their numbers – in terms of appropriations – is higher than what we have, (and) lower than what the Governor’s introduced, Crespo said. “We’re still going to have to work through this process after all these bills are passed.”
The Governor’s office will be working closely with lawmakers, said Kelly Kraft, budget spokeswoman for Gov. Pat Quinn.
“There have been different estimates that have come out, but it’s a work in progress,” said Kraft. “We continue to work with legislators to come up with the best possible number.”
The Senate is working with a total budget of $33.4 billion budget, while the Governor has proposed $35.4 billion.
