Monday, June 28, 2010

Quinn to release budget plans Wednesday

By Jamey Dunn

Gov. Pat Quinn says he plans to release his plans for the budget, including where he will make cuts, on Wednesday, the last day of the current fiscal year.

Quinn says his top priorities are education and health care, which typically account for more than half of all general revenue spending. He said he also wants to protect public safety from deep cuts. If this holds true, it could mean human services, which make up more than 20 percent of spending from general revenues, could be facing cuts come Wednesday.

Quinn called out legislators for not giving specifics in the budget they approved last month.

“The General Assembly basically did not want to make any decisions on the budget they passed, a lump sum budget, and gave all those decisions to me, the governor," he said

Quinn is attempting to pressure the Senate to return to Springfield and pass about S4 billion in borrowing to make the state's required employee pension payment for fiscal year 2011. So far, there has been no indication that will happen. Quinn will not say if he intends to call legislators back in a special session attempt to get the borrowing passed.

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