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Edgar: Both Sides Need to Solve Budget Mess
Illinois lawmakers will be back in Springfield Tuesday to consider ways to reconcile a budget that is out of whack by $9 billion.

A balanced budget will require a tax increase, or spending cuts. Former Gov. Jim Edgar says it'll take both. Edgar inherited a financial disaster when he took office in 1991. He raised taxes and cut spending, both unpopular moves. He says the four legislative leaders and the governor are going to have to take some lumps to get the state on firm financial footing. He says each one will have to accept something he or she doesn’t like.

Edgar, now a public policy professor at the University of Illinois, says the state's financial situation really is a crisis, the worst shape he can remember in 40 years in politics. He says dealing with it cannot wait until after the candidate filing deadline for the next election.

Lawmakers passed a half-year budget last month which the governor has refused to sign. Edgar says a half-year budget is irresponsible. The state's new fiscal year starts July 1.

(Illinois Radio Network)
06 21 09 by Newsroom
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