Community Corner
No New Tax Hike in the State Budget, but It'll Still Cost Us a Whole Lot More
Lawmakers are borrowing from special funds, diverting millions that was supposed to pay off old bills and delaying other payments
The Illinois Senate approve a 2015 Illinois state budget last week that will literally move money around and end up driving up the debt taxpayers fund. The $35.7 billion budget is less than the original $38 billion budget proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn and does not include a tax hike. Still, lawmakers conceded they are taking $650 million that was to be used to pay down old bills for the new operating budget. They are also borrowing another $650 million from other “special” funds and they’re planning to get another $380 million from postponing payments for state worker health insurance. All that borrowing and delaying adds up to increased costs for us taxpayers.
We offer you a by-the-numbers budget breakdown. You and your wallet will ache. It's not pretty.
Plus, the sooner lawmakers can get out of Springfield for the summer, the sooner they can check out these 25 trips to do in Illinois this summer. And they're not the only ones in Illinois who should check them out. Every Illinoisan should make it a mission to explore our state this summer and check some of these trips off the list.
This article appears on all Patch Chicago sites. The views expressed in this post are those of Reboot Illinois and do not reflect those of Patch or its editors.
Learn more and Sound Off here