Rauner Vetoes state Budget, Cites $4 Billion Deficit
From the Springfield State Journal-Register
Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the remainder of the state's operations budget Thursday, saying it was out of balance and unconstitutional.
Rauner took the action a day after approving a bill that provides funding for elementary and secondary education and will allow the state's public schools to open on schedule this fall.
The Republican governor previously threatened to veto the spending plan the legislature's Democrats sent to him because it is up to $4 billion out of balance.
In an op-ed piece published Thursday by the Chicago Tribune, Rauner wrote that he was sent to Springfield by voters to "end the era of unbalanced budgets and runaway debt."
"The road back to fiscal sanity starts today with my veto of a budget that is nearly $4 billion out of balance and includes no reform," Rauner wrote. "Rather than repeating the mistakes of the past — just kicking the can and raising taxes without real reform — now is our chance to transform Illinois to make it more competitive and compassionate."
Rauner also repeated his demands for workers' compensation changes, tort reform, pension reform and other changes as necessary components of fixing the state's fiscal problems.
Rauner's action comes just days before the start of the state's new fiscal year. Without a budget in place by Wednesday, the state won't have the authority to spend money on new expenses. However, the state will still be able to make payments on its backlog of bills incurred before then.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Springfield State Journal-Register
Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the remainder of the state's operations budget Thursday, saying it was out of balance and unconstitutional.
Rauner took the action a day after approving a bill that provides funding for elementary and secondary education and will allow the state's public schools to open on schedule this fall.
The Republican governor previously threatened to veto the spending plan the legislature's Democrats sent to him because it is up to $4 billion out of balance.
In an op-ed piece published Thursday by the Chicago Tribune, Rauner wrote that he was sent to Springfield by voters to "end the era of unbalanced budgets and runaway debt."
"The road back to fiscal sanity starts today with my veto of a budget that is nearly $4 billion out of balance and includes no reform," Rauner wrote. "Rather than repeating the mistakes of the past — just kicking the can and raising taxes without real reform — now is our chance to transform Illinois to make it more competitive and compassionate."
Rauner also repeated his demands for workers' compensation changes, tort reform, pension reform and other changes as necessary components of fixing the state's fiscal problems.
Rauner's action comes just days before the start of the state's new fiscal year. Without a budget in place by Wednesday, the state won't have the authority to spend money on new expenses. However, the state will still be able to make payments on its backlog of bills incurred before then.
Read more in our daily News Update...