Governor Pat Quinn delivered his State Budget Address Wednesday, announcing “today, our rendezvous with reality has arrived.”
Some lawmakers called the speech “blunt” and praised the governor for being willing to tackle the toughest issues. Others criticized the speech as “short on specifics.”
The 33.8 billion dollar general revenue budget proposed by the governor is up 1.5%. Education funding remains at nearly the same levels as last year. Quinn also confirmed his plan to closer 14 major state facilities, including the Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford. Prisons in Dwight and Tamms are also targeted for closure.
Quinn took on two of the state’s biggest financial problems: Medicaid and state worker pensions. He has put together working groups on both issues. The pension task force has an April 17th deadline to come up with solutions.
Here’s a link to the full proposed 2013 budget: http://www.state.il.us/budget/FY2013/FY13OperatingBudget.pdf
And here’s a quick summary from the Governor’s office: http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=2&RecNum=10036