Moylan: Review of Senate Budget Shows Further Negotiations Necessary

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – As state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, continues to urge the governor to return to the table and negotiate a balanced budget, he is warning that local taxpayers cannot afford a Senate budget proposal built on phantom savings and irresponsible budget games.

“Illinois needs a budget and it needs it now, but the Senate’s package is not a good deal for taxpayers,” said Moylan. “Just like Governor Rauner’s fantasy budgets, it’s built on a shaky foundation of budget games, trickery and unbalanced accounting. I won’t support a budget that isn’t honest with taxpayers.”

Moylan and House appropriations committees reviewing the budget proposal passed by the Senate have found a number phantom savings and other budgetary gimmicks that will cost taxpayers in the long run. The Senate proposal would authorize billions of dollars in new borrowing, but does not budget the payments needed to repay this debt. The proposal also includes savings from a pension bill that is not yet law and would only achieve short term savings while increasing costs down the road. It also assumes savings from a proposed increase to state employee insurance premiums which has not been agreed to by employees themselves.

While Moylan has fought to restore funding for breast cancer screenings, services for the developmentally disabled and victims of domestic violence, the Senate’s budget plan cuts millions of dollars from these programs.

Moylan also expressed concern that the Senate’s plan does not appropriate adequate early childhood education funds to meet federal guidelines, failing to properly fund critical services necessary to helping children achieve their full potential. Additionally, the Senate’s proposal contains only a portion of the funding needed to sustain MAP grants, which help 130,000 Illinois students attend college.

“This broken bargain is just another example of how Bruce Rauner’s refusal to negotiate an honest budget is creating a crisis,” Moylan said. “The governor has a responsibility to come to the table and negotiate on a budget that protects vital services and programs that working families throughout Illinois rely upon. His unwillingness to compromise with us, despite our continuous efforts to pass real reforms for taxpayers and local business owners, is a clear demonstration that he is more concerned about playing political games than governing. I stand ready to negotiate a fair deal, but this can only happen with the governor at the table and ready to work in good faith.”