Sente Backs Conservative State Budget

State Rep. Carol Sente (D-Vernon Hills) last week helped pass a limit on how much the state can spend in the next fiscal year.

“With $8 billion in outstanding bills, lawmakers who intend to maintain the status quo will have to step aside, as the General Assembly has a duty to the people of Illinois to utilize great restraint and discipline in strengthening the fiscal health of this state,” Sente said. “Given substantial pension costs and a looming Medicaid crisis, we must fully address the severity of the budget crisis and establish a responsible spending limit.”

House Joint Resolution 68 sets the official revenue estimate at $33.7 billion for the budget year beginning on July 1, an amount $200 million less than that suggested by Gov. Pat Quinn. Sente supports this resolution, as it confronts the critical economic reality Illinois currently faces and rejects past practices of basing budgets on bloated revenue projections and careless spending. Following the establishment of this revenue cap, Sente will help craft legislation detailing exactly how much the General Assembly plans to spend.

“This is the beginning of a long process we will undergo this year that will require sacrifice, compromise and negotiation from the House, the Senate and the Governor’s office to devise a budget that sustains the needs of Illinois and begins to pay off past due bills,” Sente said. “Last year, we worked together to shave $2 billion off of the Governor’s budget estimates and we had a balanced budget.  By continuing the process of strategically analyzing spending line-by-line, we can scale back spending even further this year.”

— Submitted by the office of Carol Sente