By Adam Studzinski
SPRINGFIELD – After signing a bill on Wednesday to fund public education, Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed the remaining budget bills sent to him by the General Assembly.
In a news release, Rauner said he made the move to protect taxpayers from an unbalanced and unconstitutional budget. The bills would have left Illinois with a $4 billion deficit.
Rauner said the state has for too long passed budgets with expenses that exceed revenues. He added because of this, “Illinois is experiencing the worst fiscal crisis in America.”
“The State of Illinois will be forced to pay more than $6 billion in debt payments in Fiscal Year 2016 due to years of fiscal neglect and overspending. A balanced budget is the only way to responsibly protect taxpayers and put the state on a path to once again using its resources for important public services rather than interest and debt service,” he said.
Rauner also issued an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune and offered compromise in several areas, including term limits and a property tax freeze.
Rauner said he’s willing to shorten the property tax freeze to two years. On term limits, Rauner is willing to ask legislative leaders to publicly commit to giving term limits a vote in the next 10 months, allowing enough time to get the measure on the 2016 ballot.
The state has a deadline of July 1 to approve a budget.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
