After a few tense days when it looked like the Illinois Senate might not reconvene, both chambers have now done their part to restore funding to programs and agencies whose budgets were earlier cut by Gov. Blagojevich. If the $221 million economic assistance bill becomes law, state parks would stay open, mass transit agencies would be reimbursed for having to provide free rides to seniors, and most importantly, substance abuse prevention and treatment services would avoid losing $110 million in state and federally-matching funding. Now, all Blagojevich needs to do is sign it.

But as Illinois Issues' Bethany Jaeger writes, that's a "big if":

But there’s no telling how long this could take. The Senate could send the approved measures to the governor’s desk right away, or it could wait for whatever reason. And once the governor does get the measures, he still has 60 days to sign them into law, veto them completely or send them back to the legislature with changes.

Ominously, at the same time the Senate was voting to restore the cuts, the Illinois Department of Revenue issued a press release showing that income and sales tax revenues are coming in lower than originally anticipated. How much lower? About $200 million.

Sensing possible shenanigans, the measure passed by the Senate and House established a new “Budget Relief Fund” requiring that the $221 million only be used to restore the specified budget cuts. Now legislators and the press must keep the pressure on the governor. These cuts, especially those directed at the substance abuse programs, are way too important for legislative games.