Republicans set to offer billions in budget cuts

SPRINGFIELD — Suburban Republicans said they will release details next week of their plan to cut up to $6 billion out of Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed budget.

Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno said Thursday if the state continues down the path Quinn laid out in his most recent budget proposal, Illinois could face an even bigger deficit than it does now in the next five years.

The Lemont lawmaker said while cuts would be painful for some, it is important for the public to understand the importance of making short-term sacrifices for long-term prosperity.

“Right now the discussion about the state budget is about how quickly and how much we can borrow,” Radogno said. “The challenge here is to change the paradigm from how do we get more revenue and how do we borrow money to attacking the root problem that is out there, which is spending.”

Senate Republicans estimate that if Quinn spends as much as the law-based limits allow, the annual deficit could still grow each year.

However, Quinn’s office responded to the proposal saying Republicans were offered more than enough time to bring ideas to the table.

“While Senate Republicans spend their time creating graphics for bombastic press releases, the governor is continuing to work on a comprehensive strategy to fix our budget,” a statement from Quinn’s office said.

Sen. Pamela Althoff, a McHenry Republican, argued that additional revenue from the recent income tax increase will not be used to pay off outstanding bills.

“This is the Hindenburg crashing into the Titanic, we are on a very bad path,” Althoff said. “We can fix this problem but we need to act now.”

And while cutting now could hurt state agencies, Sen. Matt Murphy said the long-term benefits would be worth it.

The Palatine Republican said if $4 billion to $6 billion is cut from the proposed budget, the state could use that money to pay off bills.

While it may not be the popular thing to do, he said the Democrats successfully passed an income tax that some called “courageous.”

“Isn’t having to say no and make necessary spending cuts courageous too?” Murphy said. “The easy thing for us to do would have been to sit here point fingers and play the game. We weren’t sent here to do that and that’s not what we’re going to do.”

The Republicans did not give any details as to where the cuts would come from, but said details and options would be released next week.