Quinn’s “Cuts”
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson On Thursday, Gov. Quinn signed the budget for fiscal year 2012, which begins today. As governor, he has the power to make line item vetoes and reductions to the budget passed by the General Assembly. In his budget announcement, Gov. Quinn claims to have made $376.4 million in budget cuts, but looking deeper...
On Thursday, Gov. Quinn signed the budget for fiscal year 2012, which begins today. As governor, he has the power to make line item vetoes and reductions to the budget passed by the General Assembly. In his budget announcement, Gov. Quinn claims to have made $376.4 million in budget cuts, but looking deeper into his changes reveals another scenario.
Gov. Quinn’s line item vetoes and reductions from general funds include:
- $276 million reduction to Medicaid hospital reimbursements
- $89 million reduction to school transportation
- $11.3 million elimination of Regional Superintendents Services & Compensation
- $113,700 elimination of duplicate appropriation
$376.4 million total
Budget FAIL, the Illinois Policy Institute’s analysis of the fiscal year 2012 budget passed by the House and Senate, found that the reported $33.2 billion general fund budget had more than $1 billion in hidden spending, bringing the actual budget to $34.2 billion. Through an accounting gimmick, the General Assembly simply appropriated less funding for Medicaid without making rate reimbursement or policy changes. The state will still incur those charges, but will pay for them over a longer period of time. Delaying payments to vendors does not constitute a budget reduction.
The governor’s spending cuts follow a similar pattern. Although he asserts that the $276 million Medicaid hospital reimbursement “cut” will be achieved through “a rate cut for hospitals to reduce Medicaid liability,” he does not have the power to change rates through vetoes. He has changed the amount allocated, but he has not lowered the state’s liability. Quinn’s other line item vetoes and reductions to general funds amount to less than $8 per Illinois resident.
The budget has been widely – and wrongly – portrayed as making severe cuts compared to fiscal year 2011. In reality, this budget represents a spending increase over last year’s $33.5 billion budget. The fiscal year 2012 budget is still flush with areas to trim. Last session, legislators offered many proposals to reduce spending from Medicaid reform to state retiree healthcare changes that would have saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Illinois cannot afford to continue missing opportunities to turn this state around. A recent poll found that 76 percent of likely voters think the state is on the wrong track, while 57 percent believe young people will need to move to another state to find jobs. Lawmakers serious about ensuring the January tax hike is temporary, as promised, need to reduce spending to sustainable levels. It is possible to balance the state budget without burdening hardworking Illinois families and businesses.