Quinn, officials vow to team up

By CHRISTOPHER WILLIS - The Associated Press and AMBER KROSEL - akrosel@nwherald.com

SPRINGFIELD – The state budget is falling apart and painful decisions lie ahead, but Illinois’ new governor and its top lawmakers decided to focus on the positive Wednesday by pledging to bring new levels of cooperation to a Capitol where gridlock has been the status quo.

Gov. Pat Quinn and the legislative leaders wouldn’t say how they planned to fill a budget deficit that will approach $9 billion next year, according to a new report. They ducked questions on whether gasoline taxes would be raised to pay for much-needed road and bridge repairs.

But they insisted that everyone would play a role in figuring out how to solve those problems.

For local legislators, the difference in Springfield was palpable after last week’s repudiation of the former governor.

“The sun’s a little brighter, the air’s a little cleaner, birds are singing,” said state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo. “The Grim Reaper isn’t in front of the governor’s office anymore, politically speaking,
of course. I think there’s an anticipation that working relationships will be better; ... these are very difficult, trying times, and with new leadership on top, we will be able to meet those challenges.”

Franks said he anticipated more ethics legislation becoming reality this spring, including the recall of elected officials and pushing the primary date back seven months.

“I’m excited,” Franks said. “I have a very strong working relationship with Gov. Quinn. I think because we have new Senate leadership, ... it’ll be a lot different.”

State Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-McHenry, said she already had noticed a few changes in the past week.

“What we’re experiencing now is great communication between our leaders,” Althoff said. “With regard to future plans here in the Senate, President [John] Cullerton has scheduled a dinner for all members that are in the Senate and their spouses to be somewhat more collegial and create a different atmosphere.”

Meanwhile, state Rep. Mike Tryon said he was happy to see Quinn address the House Republican caucus Wednesday. He said Blagojevich never had done so.

“It’s kind of a renewed optimism,” said Tryon, R-Crystal Lake. “The difficulty is going to come when we work on our economic outlook and start staring at some big deficits in the face. I think everyone’s hopeful when we get to that point; it will be bipartisan, and decisions will be based on facts and not on politics.”

State Sen. Dan Duffy, a newcomer and Lake Barrington Republican, said he felt “like a lot of tension has been lifted.”

“Quinn has a history of being a reformer and a history of talking about transparency, and I like that,” Duffy said. “I’m encouraged, and I feel good.”

Key legislative leaders said circumstances required cooperation.

“The numbers are so bad that we have to work together. People don’t expect us to play any games any more,” said new Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago.

Quinn rejected the often confrontational attitude of his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, who was removed from office last week amid allegations of corruption and unconstitutional abuse of power. Blagojevich denies any wrongdoing.

“This is a partnership between the executive branch and the legislative branch,” Quinn said.

Quinn would not take a position on the idea of raising the state motor-fuel tax by 8 cents a gallon. That would push the state tax on gasoline to 27 cents and on diesel to 28.5 cents, in addition to the 6.25 percent sales taxes that buyers must pay.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, supports the idea, a spokesman said. Cullerton told the Chicago Tribune that he was open to raising the fuel tax. Neither Madigan nor Cullerton would discuss the issue Wednesday after their brief meeting with Quinn.

Quinn, a Chicago Democrat, would say only “everything’s on the table.”

Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, has introduced legislation to raise the fuel tax to pay for a statewide construction program that would repair crumbling roads, bridges and schools.

He said it would create jobs, and the tax would have the most impact on people who benefit most from using state roads.

Bradley acknowledged the increase would be painful for some people and politically risky for some lawmakers, but he said the state couldn’t get a construction program for free.

“This notion in state government that you can get something for nothing is part of what has gotten us in this $9 billion hole,” he said.

The Senate’s top Republican, Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont, said a cooperative attitude would help as officials tackle such problems.

“We will disagree, there’s no question about that,” she said. “But we need a respectful context to have those disagreements, and I think we are on the road to establishing that today.”

The $9 billion figure comes from a report released Wednesday by Comptroller Dan Hynes.

He said Illinois was on track to carry a deficit of more than $4 billion into the budget year that begins July 1. Then the new budget year will see its own, even larger gap. That means state officials will have to figure out how to deal with an “unprecedented” deficit of about $8.9 billion, Hynes said.

The figures assume officials don’t increase any spending except for Medicaid and pension expenses that are set by law. If spending goes up anywhere else, the deficit would go up, too.

Economic-stimulus money from the federal government could reduce the gap to $6 billion, Hynes said. Part of that deficit could be carried over to the following year in hope that the economy will turn around eventually, but that still leaves officials with a big hole to fill.

Hynes, a Democrat and potential candidate for governor next year, said little about how to solve the problem.

“We owe it to the people to show that our first instinct isn’t going to be to ask them to make sacrifices,” Hynes said after briefing Quinn on the situation. “State government needs to look within and say, ‘Where are the savings, where are the efficiencies, where can we streamline?’”

Quinn agreed.

At his news conference later in the day, he promised to look for savings in all the “nooks and crannies of state government.” But Quinn did not rule out raising taxes.

One key lawmaker said cost-cutting and minor fee and tax increases wouldn’t solve the government’s money problems.

“No matter what we put out there, it’s not going to be enough to get us out of this hole,” said Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat and budget expert. “We may, in fact, have to look at income tax.”