Leaders: Cuts, layoffs inevitable: Push for income tax increase likely to surface again

With a pile of borrowed money built into a budget ready to burst, Sauk Valley legislators said Thursday that state program cuts and job losses are inevitable.

That’s because the General Assembly agreed Wednesday night to a budget expected to disburse $29.5 billion, which is still about $300 million short of the projected expenses Gov. Pat Quinn requested.

“Through some scheming, basically, I think the governor may be able to do this without draconian cuts, [but] there are going to be cuts at some agencies,” said state Rep. Jerry Mitchell, R-Sterling, who voted against the budget.

Those cuts include job losses at the state’s Department of Human Services, which supervises various programs for families and low-income residents, and for Illinois Department of Corrections workers.

In fact, more than 500 layoffs already are scheduled at prisons in East Moline, Decatur, Lincoln, Logan, Vandalia and Vienna by Sept. 20. That will be followed by another 500 layoffs at IDOC at an undetermined date, according to agency spokeswoman Januari Smith.

To further curtail department expenses, Quinn and IDOC Director Michael Randle are discussing a possible early parole program for some inmates. Details are being worked out, Smith said.

Another maneuver the state planned is “stretching out” the repayment cycle on bills it owes to venders, Mitchell said.

“So I think between those two things, [Quinn is] going to try to get by until we go back in October in veto session, and he has stated that he’s going to push then, again, for a tax increase.”

Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, voted for the bill, but agrees there’s a chance of an income tax increase soon.

“Oh, it’ll definitely be brought up again, because we’re in a situation where we’ve just got to come up with more revenue, and the economy is just barely beginning to turn around,” Boland said, noting that state revenue is down 25 percent.

“People aren’t working [and] aren’t paying income or sales taxes,” he said.

Boland said he would have liked the state to compensate by an expansion of  legalized gambling  – a measure already taken through the $31 billion capital construction bills passed Monday. That would be a better alternative than more tax increases or layoffs, he said.