By Carie Kuehn
NORMAL – Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger spoke in Normal on Tuesday to warn the community about the consequences of entering a new fiscal year without a budget.
The new fiscal year begins on July 1, and without any new legislation $23 billion in current spending on education, 911 centers and other federal services would be stopped.
“There’s a lot of discussion that if we don’t get a budget it’s because our election is coming up in the fall,” said Munger. “And people are worried. Honestly, that is a terrible reason; putting politics before the people of the state, the people who fund the very existence of our government.”
In the $23 billion, $600 million for colleges and universities would be lost.
“There is no substitute, honestly, for a balanced budget,” said Munger. “If we pass a stop-gap it just takes us through the election. Organizations cannot really budget. You know what you’re going to get for the next couple of months but your don’t understand or have confidence in what you’re funding will be for the year so you can actually plan programs.”
The state has been without a budget for a year. There are small bipartisan working groups that have been working in Springfield to try to compromise on something the legislatures can live with. Nothing has been acted on.
“My understanding is there is a lot of progress made in a lot of those groups, but there has to be a will to get that into some kind of budget or legislation and get that passed before the new fiscal year starts. There’s great urgency now.”
Carie Kuehn can be reached at carie.kuehn@cumulus.com.
