Gov. Bruce Rauner is poised to deliver his first budget address on Wednesday, a blueprint for deep spending cuts across state government that fellow Republicans say will signal “the party’s over” for Democrats’ “voracious spending habits.”
But with no tax increase proposals expected, Rauner could be setting the stage for a fight with Democrats who say “tough medicine” alone won’t cure the state’s financial cancer.
“I said 10 days ago that I don’t think you can cut your way out of the problem,” House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters after meeting with Rauner on Tuesday afternoon. “I think you need some additional revenue. And that’ll be my position [Wednesday].”
The expected cuts may well be deep given what’s on the table.
While some of Rauner’s budget recommendations will preserve funding to child-related services, even the troubled Department of Children and Family Services will be targeted for reductions, according to a source with knowledge of the governor’s budget. The agency played an unusually high-profile role in Rauner’s campaign against Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn.
Rauner wants to cut off services for former foster care children who have passed the age of 18, the source said.
News of that recommendation already drew the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has longstanding legal battles with the state and its child welfare agency.
“For us to essentially throw them out on the street at age 18, if that’s what the governor is going to propose, is just plain cruel,” said Benjamin Wolf, associate legal director of the ACLU of Illinois. “If you want to increase homelessness and suffering, abandoning them at age 18 is a good place to start.”
Child-related funding that was spared the budget ax includes early childhood education. The governor wants to increase state support by $25.3 million. He also wants to continue funding for the All Kids health care program, including for undocumented children, and leave intact health and human services programs for children of immigrants.
That means continued medical coverage, access to child care and access to education, according to the source.
But the few available details of Rauner’s carefully protected budget address once again left people around the Capitol scratching their heads — wondering how the math would add up. Rauner met Tuesday afternoon with Madigan and other legislative leaders.
Afterward, Madigan said he doesn’t expect Rauner to propose any tax increases.
“The governor simply said that he’s got some tough medicine to deliver tomorrow,” Madigan said. “He understands that some people will not be happy, but he’s committed to reforming the finances of the state.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, also said Rauner’s budget does not seek a tax increase nor any new debt.
“For all practical purposes, the party’s over,” Durkin said. “We’re going to reverse the voracious spending habits of the past. There’s going to be cuts in all areas of government. . . . We will for the first time have a truly balanced budget.”
After the meeting with the governor and other leaders, Durkin said it became clear the governor will seek emergency legislative authority to move money from within designated state government funds to cover at least part of the budget hole for this year.
“He spent a great deal of time talking about resolving the imbalance of this year’s budget, 2015. That needs to be resolved quickly,” Durkin said.
But Democrats insisted cuts alone won’t do it for the new budget.
“People think we hadn’t made any cuts, and we have. Are there some things that we shouldn’t be spending money on? Absolutely. But it’s not that huge that it would make that big of a difference,” said state Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, chairman of the Appropriations Committee for General Services.
“I don’t see how Rauner can pass anything without some revenue,” he said.
Rauner’s budget address comes two weeks after the newly elected governor unveiled an incredibly ambitious agenda in his State of the State speech. And Democrats wondered aloud then how he would pay for proposals such as new investments in education and the hiring of more correctional officers.
Those proposals came from the same person who has used words such as “stunningly bad,” “horrible” and “death spiral” to describe the state’s finances.
That’s the challenge Rauner has faced as he continues to shift from campaigning to governing. He blasted the state’s political establishment for causing Illinois’ current fiscal mess during the bruising race for his office.
But now he’s the governor of a state in economic shambles — and it’s time for tough decisions.
For example, Rauner criticized Quinn during the campaign over the state of DCFS. That criticism was based on a series of Sun-Times/WBEZ reports analyzing DCFS deaths dating back to 2003.
“Gov. Rauner is committed to ensuring the most vulnerable children of Illinois are cared for and receive the help that they need,” spokeswoman Catherine Kelly has said. “He looks forward to proposing a responsible budget to turn around the agency.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also weighed in. The Democrat sent a letter pleading with his longtime friend, the governor, to keep alive a subsidized day care program that’s $300 million short of the cash it needs to operate through mid-year. Emanuel warned that 32,000 Chicago families and 56,000 children would be affected if it shuts down.
Rauner will propose his budget after taking office with the state facing a budget hole in the $5 billion to $6 billion range, a $100 billion pension shortfall and a pension reform law in legal limbo.
His speech also comes against the backdrop of an escalating conflict between the governor and organized labor.
After his Jan. 12 swearing-in, Rauner painted a dismal picture of Illinois and called for shared sacrifice to create a more prosperous future.
“We must accept the challenge and the sacrifice, knowing it will lead us to something greater,” he said then.
Rauner's budget: No new taxes, deep cuts — clashes likely | Chicago
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