State Rep. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville, today said she was very disappointed in Governor Quinn’s budget priorities, noting that the Governor wants to increase overall spending while inflicting severe cuts to funding for suburban and downstate schools.
Hatcher said the governor’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2014 spends $1.9 billion more than the current year’s budget framework.
“As we did last year, the House has begun our budget process by setting a revenue total we expect to bring in. For 2014 we’re expecting about one billion dollars in new, additional revenue. We need to live within that framework, remembering that we also will have one billion dollars in additional pension obligations in the coming year,” Hatcher explained. “Today, the governor proposed nearly two billion dollars in additional spending- that’s almost double the amount of new revenue that will be available.”
Hatcher also noted that while the governor has proposed “flat” funding for most areas of the budget, he today singled out schools and universities for deep cuts.
“The governor has once again targeted school transportation funding, which is a cut aimed squarely at suburban and downstate schools that need to pay for busses to get most of their students to and from school every day. Once again, the governor is throwing our communities and our families ‘under the bus’.”
Hatcher said she was also very disappointed with what she didn’t hear from the governor in his address today.
“The governor talks about the need for revenue. The best way to bring in new revenue is to get people back to work. Where is his comprehensive plan to grow and expand jobs?” Representative Hatcher asked. “When he signed into law the largest income tax increase in Illinois history, the Governor promised it would be temporary. I don't know a soul who actually believes that tax is temporary.”
