Representative Wait Calls for Emergency Funding Solution
June 21, 2007
Springfield, IL…State Representative Ron Wait (R-Belvidere) joined his House Republican colleagues in proposing an emergency 30-day budget. The proposal, announced by House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego), would provide Illinois an avenue to remain financially afloat if the Democrat-led logjam is not broken before the end of the fiscal year.
“It’s truly embarrassing that the Democrats in the House, Senate, and Governor’s Office have allowed the situation to come down to the wire,” Wait said. “They’re betting against the future of Illinois taxpayers in order to keep their own egos fully-inflated. While I will continue working to advance a sensible budget that will cover Illinois for the entire fiscal year, it would be irresponsible to neglect a temporary funding initiative that would let the state avoid a shutdown.”
With just one week remaining for Illinois officials to approve a state budget, the negotiation meetings among the legislative caucuses and governor have been filled with talk about TIF districts, the Regional Transit Authority, and further discussions about the governor’s massive unfunded healthcare proposal. If no funding plan is passed before the end of the fiscal year, state law requires Illinois’ government to shutdown.
Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes has said that a “fiscal meltdown would begin on July 9 and a full-blown crisis would ensue by the middle of July” if no state budget is passed. State services would be suspended, state offices would close, road projects would be stalled, employees would forgo paychecks, and healthcare providers would not receive state payments.
“The House Republicans proposed the only real budget alternative throughout this process six weeks ago. An emergency month-to-month spending plan is not the ideal way to run a state and it’s not the path we wanted to take,” Wait said.
The House Republican “No Tax Increase Budget” was proposed six weeks ago and utilizes natural revenue growth to avoid any tax increases while still providing more money for education, meeting the state’s pension obligations, fully-staffing Illinois prisons, honoring the state’s labor contracts, and making $1.2 billion in past-due assessments to hospitals. Democrats in the House have blocked the proposal from formal consideration.
“Taxpayers expect us to judiciously allocate their hard-earned dollars within the more than reasonable 5-month legislative session. I am pleased that, after today’s budget meeting, a hint of progress emerged when all players joined the House Republicans and indicated their support for an emergency budget,” Wait said. “A government shutdown will have real consequences to real people and its our responsibility to take every possible step to avoid causing hardship for residents.”