http://www.pjstar.com/free/x1353884176/Quinn-plan-would-shut-14-Illinois-facilities
SPRINGFIELD —
Gov. Pat Quinn prepared Tuesday to deliver an Illinois budget proposal stuffed with grim news including closing two prisons and 12 other state facilities, slashing Medicaid by $2.7 billion and cutting spending at most state agencies.
The facilities Quinn wants to close include the supermax prison at Tamms, a maximum security prison for women at Dwight and six halfway houses for inmates nearing release, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the budget publicly.
Of the other facilities Quinn will propose for closing, four are run by the Department of Human Services and two by Juvenile Justice.
Quinn was set to present his budget Wednesday in a speech to a joint session of the General Assembly.
In recent weeks, Quinn warned that Illinois must reduce the fast-growing price of health care for the poor and slow the annual growth in government pension contributions. He says most state agencies will see cuts of 9 percent, and he's challenging other statewide officials to make similar cuts to their own budgets.
He said universities and schools downstate and in the Chicago suburbs might be asked to share the cost of retirement benefits for their employees. Government workers might be required to work longer before retiring with full benefits or contribute more money to their pensions, he said.
All this comes after years of belt-tightening and a 67 percent increase in state income taxes.
Republicans spoke out Tuesday to criticize Quinn's past actions and some of the ideas he's likely to propose Wednesday.
Several legislators condemned the idea of making more schools share in retirement costs, which is already done in Chicago. They said schools can't absorb those costs without hurting education or taxpayers.
"You're either going to lose teachers or have a massive property tax increase," said Rep. Ed Sullivan, R-Mundelein.
Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, joined by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, accused Quinn of showing no leadership on pensions and warned him not to build the budget on projections of Medicaid savings that may never materialize. They called for "a government we can afford" but declined to say how deeply Quinn should cut Medicaid or to comment on the merits of closing state facilities.
A governor's budget proposal can be significantly changed by lawmakers, which happened last year when legislators felt he wanted to spend too much. Some of Quinn's ideas this year, such as making schools contribute to pension costs, could prove particularly controversial.
The facilities Quinn wants to close include the supermax prison at Tamms, a maximum security prison for women at Dwight and six halfway houses for inmates nearing release, said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the budget publicly.
Of the other facilities Quinn will propose for closing, four are run by the Department of Human Services and two by Juvenile Justice.
Quinn was set to present his budget Wednesday in a speech to a joint session of the General Assembly.
In recent weeks, Quinn warned that Illinois must reduce the fast-growing price of health care for the poor and slow the annual growth in government pension contributions. He says most state agencies will see cuts of 9 percent, and he's challenging other statewide officials to make similar cuts to their own budgets.
He said universities and schools downstate and in the Chicago suburbs might be asked to share the cost of retirement benefits for their employees. Government workers might be required to work longer before retiring with full benefits or contribute more money to their pensions, he said.
All this comes after years of belt-tightening and a 67 percent increase in state income taxes.
Republicans spoke out Tuesday to criticize Quinn's past actions and some of the ideas he's likely to propose Wednesday.
Several legislators condemned the idea of making more schools share in retirement costs, which is already done in Chicago. They said schools can't absorb those costs without hurting education or taxpayers.
"You're either going to lose teachers or have a massive property tax increase," said Rep. Ed Sullivan, R-Mundelein.
Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, joined by U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock, accused Quinn of showing no leadership on pensions and warned him not to build the budget on projections of Medicaid savings that may never materialize. They called for "a government we can afford" but declined to say how deeply Quinn should cut Medicaid or to comment on the merits of closing state facilities.
A governor's budget proposal can be significantly changed by lawmakers, which happened last year when legislators felt he wanted to spend too much. Some of Quinn's ideas this year, such as making schools contribute to pension costs, could prove particularly controversial.
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