Although Illinois has been operating for nearly half a year with out a budget, yesterday the house passed a measure to release nearly $1.9 billion in money to local governments.
In a nearly unanimous vote appropriations were made to keep 9-1-1 dispatch services open along with providing salt for roadways this winter, all with tax dollars that have already been collected.
State Representative Don Moffitt says he expects that the bill will make it through the Senate.
The bi-partisan Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability of which Moffitt is a member is predicting around $32 billion dollars in revenue.
Moffitt tells WGIL he advocates at least spending the money that they know will be there.
“The $32 billion, let’s get that out to the agencies, the departments, wherever it is supposed to go–which is a significant percentage of the $36 (billion,)” Moffitt says. “If we are going to have 32, I think it’s OK to appropriate that. I wish that’s where we could go–to approve spending for the actual money we are going to have.”
The crux of the budget gridlock, Moffitt says is between House Speaker Michael Madigan wanting to raise revenue and Gov. Bruce Rauner’s refusal to do so without major business reforms.
Illinois has been without a budget since the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1.
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