Illinois leaders have another month to settle on a new budget plan. But, given their failure to reach a deal by Sunday's initial deadline, Gov. Bruce Rauner says he must take immediate steps to manage state spending.
Illinois will begin closing down a prison work camp in downstate Hardin County and lay off its 60 employees. A pair of youth prisons also mayclose. The Illiana Expressway won't go forward.
Rauner also is suspending state funding of a program that helps low-income people keep their air conditioner on in hot summer months and their heat on when temperatures drop. He'll make it tougher for elderly people to get support for home care. The state museum in Springfield, as well as the Dickson Mounds site, will be closed to visitors.
It's not that there is no budget; the Democratic-controlled legislature passed one. But Rauner, a Republican, has threatened to veto it.
"I cannot sign a fake budget, a phony budget, an out-of-balance budget," Rauner said Sunday.
While Rauner says it's time for Democratic leaders to come to the table to work out a resolution, their offices say Rauner has not scheduled any meetings.
A spokeswoman for the Senate President says Rauner's actions show he'd rather slash services than work on a bipartisan solution.
The latest news release from the Governor's office includes the following steps:
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- Suspend all future incentive offers to companies for business attraction and retention. This includes EDGE Tax Credits, Large Business Attraction Grants, Employer Training Investment Program Incentive Grants and Prime Sites Grants.
- Defer approvals for film tax credits and High Impact Business designations.
- Honor commitments previously made in any of these programs.
- Prepare and provide notice for the July 1 suspension of the state Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The federal portion of the program, funded at about $170 million, will continue.
Department of Transportation
- Remove the Illiana Expressway from the current IDOT multi-year plan. The Department will begin suspending all existing project contracts and procurements.
- “Ground” all state plane passenger service beginning July 1. IDOT will maintain the planes for emergency use.
Department of Juvenile Justice
- Identify one or two juvenile correctional facilities for closure due to surplus capacity of approximately 1,200 beds, with fewer than 700 occupied.
Department of Corrections
- Close the Hardin County Work Camp, moving approximately 180 inmates. Approximately 60 staff will be affected
Department of Healthcare and Family Services
- Audit nursing home reimbursements to ensure payments comply with recently implemented rate structure.
- Recover overpayments to nursing homes and implement financial penalties for improper billings.
Illinois State Police
- Immediately freeze all vehicle purchases.
Department on Aging
- Enact means testing to Aging’s Community Care Program, where no income limit currently exists.
- Increase the Determination of Need (DON) Score required to obtain services through Aging’s Community Care Program
Department of Human Services
- Pursue cost-control strategies for the Childcare Program through emergency rules
- Increase copays for parents using the program
- Freeze intake and create waiting lists.
- Run background checks on relatives providing child care like those currently required for licensed child-care centers, group homes and non-relatives who provide care.
Department of Natural Resources
- Eliminate Open Space Land Acquisition Development Grants in FY16.
- Begin the process to suspend operations and close the five state museums to visitors. The state will continue to maintain and secure the museums to protect the artifacts and exhibits.
