Jul 27, 2007 5:42 pm US/Central
Budget Tactics Shifting As State Deadline Nears
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) ―
Illinois officials are trying to decide whether to give themselves more time to come up with a state budget or face the looming deadline of July 31.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants another one-month budget extension, which would provide more time to build support for his plan to guarantee health insurance for everyone in the state. He issued a proclamation Friday ordering lawmakers into special session Saturday to consider the temporary budget.
Legislative leaders are divided over the idea.
Blagojevich's closest ally, Senate President Emil Jones, rejected a budget extension. House Speaker Michael Madigan said a temporary budget might be acceptable if it were the only way to avoid a government shutdown.
Madigan, Jones, Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, and House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego did seem to agree on one point, however: They can make more progress without the governor than with him.
Madigan and Jones, both Chicago Democrats, met Thursday and Friday with their Republican counterparts. The Democratic governor was not included.
Jones was quick to say that the governor's views were represented in the meetings because he and Blagojevich share many of the same budget priorities. But he also sounded as if the four leaders were a team that didn't include the governor.
"The other leaders and I believe that we must get something done. It's up to us to make that decision as to what we think we should do" Jones said in an interview with Chicago's WLS radio. "The governor has let his views be known as relate to the budget, but we are the four legislative leaders."
Officials were supposed to come up with a budget by May 31, but have been deadlocked for months. The General Assembly is in the midst of a record-breaking 57-day overtime session, and state government is operating only because a budget extension was passed for the month of July.
Blagojevich and Jones have been pushing for billions of dollars in new spending on health care and education, with the money coming from business taxes and gambling expansion. Madigan and the Republican leaders have favored a far smaller budget based on a modest gambling expansion to provide new school money.
Lawmakers said Friday that they believe the four leaders are working toward a compromise budget.
It could depend on a middle-ground gambling expansion, higher cigarette taxes, ending various tax breaks for business and natural revenue growth. The governor's health plan, and the business tax to pay for it, could be handled separately to rise or fall on its own.
"I do feel there's movement in the air," said Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete.
But the Democratic governor has repeatedly vowed to block any budget that doesn't improve health care access, which he calls "a moral imperative." If lawmakers come up with a budget and reject his health plan, Blagojevich could block everything.
A temporary budget for August would remove the urgency for lawmakers to pass a budget within the next few days and let Blagojevich fight for his health plan.
Seeking the budget extension is a turnaround for the governor.
Last month, he rejected the idea of going beyond the first one-month budget for July, saying a series of extensions would be the equivalent of passing a Republican, no-growth budget. Then, earlier this month, he said he hadn't thought about whether he would agree to another extension.
Now he's the one pushing for a temporary budget.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
