Progress Illinois

Gov. Pat Quinn followed through on his promise to reject an unbalanced spending plan today, formally vetoing a portion of the state budget (SB1197) dealing with social services. He decided not to take action on the rest of the budget, however. Clout Street has Quinn's statement:

"The practical and only reality we have to face is that our state is in a massive deficit," Quinn said following his address. "We have to correct it. And that means getting revenue. That means asking the taxpayers to pay a higher income tax based on the ability to pay. That's not easy. That's a hard thing to do. But I think taxpayers understand that it's better to be honest about a deficit than to pretend it doesn't exist and sweep it under the rug."

SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana President  Keith Kelleher praised the governor's decision:

Governor Quinn did the right thing today by rejecting a budget that would force deep cuts to vital services millions of Illinois families depend on. Now it’s time for the General Assembly to come back to Springfield and finally do their job by passing a fair income tax increase that provides enough revenue to stop these devastating cuts to home care, child care and vital human services.”

Meanwhile, accoding to a press release posted by the Capitol Fax this afternoon, the two Democratic legislative leaders are calling for a joint legislative session on Tuesday, July 14th to deal with the budget:

The purposes of the Special Session shall be (i) to take action on any vetoes, amendatory vetoes, or reduction vetoes by the Governor of legislation related to the budget for Fiscal Year 2010 and (ii) to consider any legislation, pending or otherwise, related in any way to the budget for Fiscal Year 2010, including but not limited to appropriation, budget implementation, or additional revenue resources.

The proceedings will start at 2 p.m. As commenter Al Pujols notes, that's also the same day as the Major League Baseball All-Star game, which is being held in St. Louis. Downstaters won't be happy with the news. 

Stay tuned ...

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