Ill. lawmakers head back to Springfield to make another go at passing new budget

Ill. lawmakers to work on state budget _ again

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A group of Democratic legislators spoke up Monday in favor of further cost-cutting as lawmakers resumed their efforts to piece together a new spending plan from the wreckage of Illinois’ budget.

The group called for about $1.3 billion in cuts, including $300 million from education and $300 million from administrative costs.

The Democrats, most of them from the Chicago area, also suggested canceling or renegotiating contracts with vendors to save about $500 million and making retired government employees pay more for their health care.

“As much as we love our retirees, this is a tough-love exercise,” said Rep. Karen May, D-Highland Park. “They have to feel the pain.”

Illinois faces a $13 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year, and officials are far from agreeing on how to deal with that gap.

Gov. Pat Quinn’s call for a tax increase fell flat. Lawmakers rejected major budget cuts. A proposal to borrow $3.7 billion failed.

Stymied, Democratic legislative leaders sent lawmakers home two weeks ago. They’ve called them back to Springfield this week with the goal of passing a budget by May 31.

After that, new voting requirements take effect and the Democratic majority would need some Republican support to pass a budget.

The legislators calling Monday for more cuts portrayed their plan as an attempt by the rank-and-file to influence a process usually dominated by the governor, House speaker and Senate president.

“It shouldn’t always be decisions made behind closed doors,” said Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora.

Even before the group presented its ideas, other legislators were pushing in different directions.

Rep. Esther Golar, head of the House Black Caucus, called the proposed cuts “egregious” and predicted they would be rejected by lawmakers. Black lawmakers have been meeting with Quinn to argue for protecting key programs from cuts.