State GOP Leader: Quinn Acting Like Blagojevich Over Budget
CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois Republican leader Christine Radogno called it "morally unacceptable" for Gov. Pat Quinn to instill panic over threatened budget cuts in human services, accusing him Friday of acting like his predecessor, ousted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Quinn has been trying to persuade lawmakers to pass an income tax increase by talking to social service agencies about deep cuts he says are necessary under the budget legislators already passed.
"He is trying to instill panic. I think that is cynical, I think it is morally unacceptable and it is very Rod Blagojevich like. It is wrong, wrong, wrong and it doesn't need to be happening," Radogno said during a taping of WBBM-AM's "At Issue" news program.
Blagojevich, who was bounced out of office in January after being arrested on federal corruption charges, often tried unsuccessfully to shame lawmakers into going along with his proposals.
The budget passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature doesn't have enough money to pay for state government and some say it will force $7 billion in cuts, including as much as 50 percent reductions for agencies that provide services such as child care and food assistance.
Radogno, a Lemont lawmaker and the top Republican in the state Senate, blamed Quinn and the Democrats for heaping the threatened cuts on human services, instead of spreading them across state government, to force a tax increase.
Quinn spokesman Bob Reed did not comment directly on Radogno's statements but said the governor continued to work with lawmakers to come up with a "fair and balanced" budget.
"The Legislature's 50% Budget is woefully inadequate and will cause great harm to Illinois' most vulnerable people, including children, the elderly, the disabled and many already disenfranchised citizens," Reed said in a statement.
Quinn should veto the budget so lawmakers have to come up with a new one, Radogno said. Any new budget now would have to pass with a super majority, giving Republicans more say.
Radogno and the state's three other legislative leaders have had a series of meetings with Quinn since lawmakers passed a budget and adjourned their spring session June 1. They are set to meet again June 17. Quinn is pushing lawmakers to come up with an alternative budget by July 1, when the new fiscal year starts.
There's still a lot left to do. The entire budget needs to be examined for cost savings, work needs to be done on pension and Medicaid reform and the state must commit to not starting any new programs in the midst of this budget mess, Radogno said.
All that needs to be done before lawmakers can consider asking residents for higher income taxes.
"And if we do, perhaps it's not as much as what the Democrats are saying right now," Radogno said.
Quinn wants a two-year temporary increase in the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 4.5 percent. The Illinois Senate passed raising the rate to 5 percent permanently, but an income tax increase failed in the House.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
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First Posted: 06-12-09 07:30 PM | Updated: 06-12-09 07:40 PM