Ill. Gov. Quinn to veto partial budget today; showdown looms
UPDATE, 2:12 pm - Quinn vetoed the bill as expected, then spoke to reporters about the urgency of getting a full balanced budget passed when lawmakers return to Springfield in two weeks. As has been the case lately , he wouldn’t directly address the question of what happens to state services if such an agreement can’t be reached. Madigan is holding a counter-news conference in a few minutes. -KM
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will hold an unusual news conference in about 30 minutes, to publicly veto the partial state budget that the General Assembly sent to him yesterday. (Here’s our story)
Making a big media production out of signing bills is pretty common, but to do that for a veto is something that no one I’ve talked to around here remembers happening before. It’s another indication of just what kind of odd territory we’re into with this budget crisis.
The state faces a deficit this year as high as $9 billion. Quinn’s administration says the Legislature’s refusal to approve his proposed income tax hike before today’s start of the new fiscal year means state government and all its services could potentially start shutting down at any time.
The partial budget was passed by state lawmakers who don’t want a government shutdown but don’t want a tax increase, either; it essentially would keep government running for now, on its current resources, for awhile, until they figure out what to do next. Quinn’s planned veto of that budget is a way of shutting off that option and holding the lawmakers’ feet to the fire.
He may yet get burned, though. Just a little while ago, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton jointly announced that they’re calling their members back to Springfield on July 14 to deal with budget issues — meaning, potentially, to overturn the governor’s veto and institute the partial budget in spite of him.
And the circus continues. I’m actually a little happy about the protestors from yesterday’s story with the “Do Your Job. Raise Taxes Now.” sign. Maybe this will shake people up into realizing that these people now feel entitled to other people’s money and have no incentive to be productive. IL is a textbook example of a Socialist microcosm that is crashing due to it’s being a fundamentally flawed concept in the first place.
Snootch
California is another fine example.
We need to quit acting like it is our money. It is really the governments and they are kind enough to let us borrow a bit. The quicker we understand the less painful it will be. They know what is good for us. They know how to spend responsibly. They will save the environment at the expense of Illinois industry. They will save the healthcare system at the expense of our health. They will save social services at the expense of our mental heatlh. They will save the banks at the expense of our savings accounts. They will save social security at the expense of our retirement. But the bottomline is that we hired them. When did we stop being the bosses?
the entire country is a fine example…why illinois, and california are bankrupt is the same reason the US will be…..uncontrolled spending, borrowing, and taxation….you all work (if you work) until may 28th (not including the burgeoning deficit) to pay all the taxes you owe per year……..add to that Obama’s cap/trade tax, the ballooning deficit, obama’s letting our tax cuts expire, national healthcare, the bailouts, and i think you can see its a national problem….i find it fascinating that the press gives him a free pass here……..and i have to wonder when it takes obama 8 days to comment on iran, but when one of his socialist dictator friends in cental america gets ousted, obama, clinton, chavez, ortega, and castro have one voice and he responds in about 8 seconds to defend a drug running dictator who tried to circumvent his own constitution……what can i say ? it seems the whole country is asleep at the switch as to what is happening here…..
i will say it because no one else will….Obama is an unapologetic Marxist who seems intent on leaving us so debt burdened that there will be only two classes….Obama’s elite, and the poor who are placated with trinkets thrown from Air Force One……..
I wonder how much money they want to budget for ACORN? Why dont they tax lap dances?
Think I am wrong ? Go to rolling stone magazine and read this months article on goldman sachs….the next grand theft is the phony global warming issue and the one trillion dollar per year cap and trade thievery …..read the article and protect yourselves and your families
Ken
I am so disappointed in my state government. They have let me down yet again. They can’t write a decent budget, but the governor wants more money so they can misspend even more of it. Wow. That takes guts.