Legislative Update for August 9th, 2007
I am unhappy to report that we thought we had a breakthrough today in Springfield as the House debated and passed a 12-month budget plan for FY08 by a vote of 99 to 9 and then the legislation fell apart in the Senate
It was expected that the Senate would vote upon our proposal tonight and that it would be sent to the Governor, but instead the Senate claimed they had to make technical changes. The Governor was seen meeting with Senate President Emil Jones and the tenor of the agreement made with the House came to a halt. It is rumored that the cigarette tax, gambling expansion and a massive capital plan may come our way. Mayor Daley has now publicly stated that he doesn’t want a casino in Chicago, probably because the bulk of the money will not go to the city.
The budget we voted on today was the best negotiated plan Republicans were able to agree on with all four legislative leaders at the table after months of no progress to end the state’s costly overtime session.
Let me be clear that this is not a perfect budget. There are some things I do not agree with but as a staunch supporter of education, I was pleased to see close to $600 million going to fund education. Here are just some of the education highlights of this proposal.
* Mandated categoricals are increasing by $136.8 million to fund the state’s obligation for special education and transportation reimbursements at 100 percent levels.
* Special education reimbursement is increased by $48.7 million to boost reimbursement from $8,000 to $9,000 for certified staff and from $2,800 to $3,500 for non-certified staff.
* Gifted Education will be allocated $5 million.
* Early Childhood Block Grant is increased by $25 million.
* Arts & Foreign Language is increased by $1.5 million
* General State Aid is increased by approximately $308.9 million over FY07 to provide a $400 increase in the foundation level from $5,334 to $5,734, and to maintain the 100 percent hold harmless on the Poverty Grant.
* Adds $7 million to the Community College Base Operating Grants and reimburses colleges for the 50 percent shortfall in the Illinois Veterans Grant.
In addition to providing increased funds for education, this budget plan also fully funds labor contracts, increases Medicaid payments by $400 million, and uses $550 million to fully fund pensions. This budget does not require a tax increase of any kind on the residents of Illinois.
The decision to end the state’s looming shutdown status put added pressure on Democratic leaders to finally agree on a plan in order to avert missed state payments to employees, agencies, programs and school districts. A temporary budget was approved in June but expired at the end of July, forcing the state into a crisis mode to resolve the situation without causing further disruption to state services.
Again, this budget is not perfect but after a record-setting costly overtime with state payments and services at risk for disruption, it is clear we needed to pass a responsible spending plan that would allow us to live within our means. .
In the meantime, we will convene at 10 a.m. Friday. I hope to report a final consensus at some point tomorrow.