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Senate Week in Review: July 7-11, 2008 |
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 Legislators returned to Springfield this week of July 7-11 for a series of “special sessions” called by Governor Rod Blagojevich to deal with state budget matters, which ended with the Governor vetoing $1.4 billion in spending.
Senator Risinger says most of the reductions – nearly 70 percent – were applied to growth areas in this fiscal year’s budget.
While the vetoes hit funding for areas such as Medicaid, school construction and the Regional Transportation Authority’s reduced fare program, other projects such as staffing for the expansion of the LaSalle Veterans Home remained intact with full funding. |
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Senator Risinger, Representative Leitch to host senior citizens event July 16 |
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 Fraud and identity theft protection tips, and access to local and state government agencies are the highlights of a free senior citizens event being sponsored by Senator Risinger and Representative David Leitch of Peoria.
The “Don’t Be A Victim” Seminar is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to noon July 16 at Lutheran Hillside Village Community Center, 6901 N. Galena Road in Peoria. |
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Senate Week in Review: June 30 – July 3, 2008 |
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 Governor Rod Blagojevich is calling the Illinois General Assembly into special session to address the state’s budget on July 9, but Senator Risinger says legislators hold out little hope that next week’s session will resolve the ongoing conflict.
The Governor has said he would not sign the budget passed at the end of May because of a $2 billion gap between state revenues and spending. Rather than use his veto power to reduce spending, the Governor set the special session for July 9 to focus on revenue proposals, which include his plans to raid about $500 million from special purpose funds and borrow money.
If these revenue proposals aren’t passed, then the Governor said he will call another special session July 10 to address other budget-balancing possibilities, including cutting spending on state programs and services.
Senator Risinger said the real problem with the budget negotiations is the continuing lack of leadership by the Governor and infighting among Democrat leaders. |
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Senate Week in Review: June 23-27, 2008 |
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 Governor Rod Blagojevich announced June 24 he will cut nearly $1.5 billion from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 state budget passed May 31 by lawmakers, unless the House of Representatives approves several revenue sources to offset a nearly $2 billion gap between projected revenues and spending, according to Senator Dale Risinger.
The House must act by July 9, which is the date after which the state will not have the revenue to pay certain bills. State Comptroller Dan Hynes reaffirmed the time crunch, sending a letter June 26 to state officials cautioning that failure to approve a budget by July 10 could result in missed paychecks for state employees.
Senator Risinger said the Governor’s plan to reduce spending by nearly $1.5 billion is a step in the right direction. Even with the cuts, the FY 2009 budget would still have more than $1.2 billion in new spending, an increase of 4.5 percent over the FY 2008 budget. |
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