SPRINGFIELD (WSIL) -- During his daily news briefing Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker announced plans to reduce spending by $700 Million in fiscal year 2021.
According to a press release by the governor's office, the cut in spending is the result of a months-long and ongoing review of agency spending under the Executive branch.
The plan includes a hiring freeze, grant reductions and operational savings.
The loss of state tax revenue from COVID-19 will cost Illinois in excess of $4 billion over two fiscal years, according to Gov. Pritzker.
As part of the administration’s ongoing attempt to identify budget efficiencies, Gov. Pritzker also announced the following measures:Ìý
- Negotiations with AFSCME and other employee unions to identify $75 million in personnel cost adjustments, which could include furlough days.Ìý
- Creation of a Department of Corrections facilities closure work group to identify additional savings due to the lower offender population.
“From the beginning of my term in office, I’ve worked hard to bring honest solutions to the table, doing the hard things that must be done to put our fiscal house in order - including bringing efficiencies to lower the cost of operating state government, working to reduce the budget pressure of pension liabilities, investing in the expansion of revenue producing industries, and attracting our most promising economic assets â€� our college bound seniors â€� to stay in Illinois rather than go to college elsewhere,â€Ì�said Governor JB Pritzker.Ìý“I promised to be a governor who balances theÌýbudgetÌýand begins paying down the bills that my predecessor left behind. I promised to invest in education, job training and job creation. Before COVID hit us, we did that. And despite all the current challenges, I am confident we will continue our ascent to economic strength and fiscal stability.ÌýÌý
The Governor previously announced the sale of $2 billion in three-year notes to the Municipal Liquidity Facility to help Illinois bridge the gap due to revenue losses as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The transaction will be finalized by the end of the calendar year.
Illinois Senate Republican Leader-Designate Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods)Ìýreleased a statement today, calling the budget shortfalls the Governor's fault.
“The Governor can blame others all he wants for the state’s financial mess, but the fact of the matter is this is a bed of his own making. Voters fundamentally rejected his graduated tax proposal because of their lack of trust in state government, which stems from years of Springfield increasing taxes and ignoring the reforms that Republicans have put on the table time and time again. In fact, during the current budget cycle, instead of taking up spending reforms in anticipation of hard times to follow from COVID-19, Democrats and the Governor increased spending, relying on magic money from the federal government that never materialized. This is the kind of recklessness that voters know all too well and is the real reason they rejected Springfield digging deeper into people’s pockets.�
AFSCME Council 31 also issued a statement disagreeing with the Governor's plans to overcome the budget shortfall in the coming year.
Undoubtedly our state faces a severe fiscal crisis and action is urgently needed. However, it is grossly unjust to suggest that frontline state employees who have already sacrificed so much in our current public health crisis should bear an outsized share of the burden of fixing the state’s fiscal crisis as well. Moreover, it is counterproductive in the extreme to target these employees at a time when the need for state services and the demands on state government are greater than ever.Ìý
We have long called for closing corporate tax loopholes in our own state and have recommendations for how to move forward on that front. And our members are prepared, as always, to help in identifying greater efficiencies in state government operations. Ultimately, however, legislative action is needed. It is urgent that the Illinois General Assembly come into session immediately after the holidays to address the state’s fiscal crisis in a fair and equitable manner.ÌýÌý
The Illinois AFL-CIO issued the following statement in response to Gov. Pritzker’s proposed $700 million in state budget cuts.
“We join AFSCME in opposingÌýstate budget cuts that place theÌýburden on the backs of public employeesÌýwho are on the frontlines of our collective fight against COVID-19.
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We were strong supporters of the Fair Tax initiative as a way to provide needed revenue to support the vital state services and programs we all depend on, and that have proven even more important during the pandemic. Our state has suffered for too long with revenue shortfalls, and these now are producing very real and painful choices that will devastate the very hard-working, middle-income families we all depend on.
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We stand ready to work with our union partners and our leaders in Springfield on solutions that spare this pain for working families and address the state’s revenue shortfallÌýresponsibly and fairly.â€�
Senator Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo) says the budget deficit is the Governor's fault and he needs to take responsibility for it.
“Instead of accepting the broad, decisive, and bipartisan defeat of his graduated tax scheme, Governor Pritzker decided to throw another tantrum blaming everyone but himself for the budget crisis facing the state. The real problem is his grossly irresponsible Fiscal Year 2020 budget in which he increased spending across the board while relying on graduated tax revenue and federal help that were never coming. Times of crisis are when real leaders step forward. Instead, we’re stuck with a Governor who can’t get past his own failures and move forward for the betterment of the people of this state.�
