Gov. Pat Quinn set a chain of political finger-pointing in motion Thursday when he announced the closing of seven state facilities and the layoffs of 1,900 employees because of insufficient revenue.
Quinn said the General Assembly was to blame for the cuts, while lawmakers blamed Quinn, Republicans blamed Democrats and Democrats blamed the economy.
The next several months will determine whose message sticks—and whether the closures actually happen—but reams of competing press releases do not change the fact that Illinois is broke. After a 67 percent personal income tax increase in January, Illinois still has a stack of 138,000 unpaid bills totaling $3.8 billion, according to the state comptroller’s office.
“You give Governor Quinn and his allies in Springfield more money, they will find a way to spend it,” said state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), who ran for lieutenant governor last year. “It’s never enough for them.”
Quinn’s decision to close Tinley Park Mental Health Center, H. Douglas Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford, Chester Rehabilitation Services, Jacksonville Area Center for Independent Living, Jack Mabley Developmental Center in Dixon, Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln and Illinois Youth Center Murphysboro followed years of state overspending.
Quinn faulted the legislature for not authorizing more money in the budget they sent him in May, but lawmakers in the House and Senate said they worked with realistic revenue projections and gave Quinn the power to spend only what the state is bringing in this year. Any extra money was supposed to go toward unpaid bills.
“This is just recognition by the governor that the national economic picture is still a very difficult one,” said Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago). “The legislature recognized that several months ago. The governor recognized it today.”
Quinn presented a budget plan in February that gave him an extra $2 billion to spend during the current fiscal year, which began July 1. But lawmakers said the money Quinn wanted to spend simply wouldn’t be there. They sent him a smaller budget of $33.2 billion, an amount developed by the House revenue committee based on projected sales and income tax data.
Quinn said the tighter budget led to the layoffs and closures and he pinned the blame squarely on the lawmakers who passed it.
“Members of the General Assembly cannot run away from what they did,” he said Thursday. “If they voted for something in the spring, don’t run away from it in the fall.”
Quinn already vetoed about $375 million from the budget lawmakers sent him, most of it in Medicaid spending. He reminded lawmakers they could use those savings to keep some of the facilities from closing, but that decision would require a supermajority vote during the fall veto session that begins in late October.
It’s unclear whether House and Senate leaders, also Democrats like Quinn, will fight the closures. The closure process often takes years to complete. Several governors who threatened to shutter state facilities later backed off those decisions, including Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who said he would close Pontiac Correctional Center, and Gov. George Ryan, who tried to close Vienna Correctional Center. Both remain open.
Kristen McQueary covers state government as part of a partnership between CNC and WBEZ