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* I told subscribers to expect this on Tuesday, then told them about the memo yesterday and then again this morning. Here’s Capitol News Illinois…
[One of Gov. JB Pritzker’s] lead lieutenants this week sent a letter to the head of the state’s agencies instructing them to identify $800 million in collective budget cuts if lawmakers don’t deliver on Pritzker’s tax requests.
“As we continue to work with our General Assembly partners to pass our sixth consecutive balanced budget, it has become clear that opposition to proposed revenue is significant enough to direct agencies to prepare for the possibility of reductions to proposed spending,” Deputy Gov. Andy Manar wrote in the letter to agency directors dated May 7.
Another memo excerpt…
And finally, as your agency prepares for the impact of $800 million in potential spending reductions, please focus on grant programs and other discretionary spending that has increased in recent years.
* Back to CNI, which quoted Assistant House Majority Leader Jay Hoffman during his appearance on Jak Tichenor’s revived Illinois Lawmakers program about the memo…
“Now – I don’t know that I agree with the deputy governor on having to have all these revenue enhancements in order to have a balanced budget. But we if we have to make some reductions, we’ll make them.”
Should be fun to watch.
The governor proposed about $1 billion in tax and revenue enhancements during his budget address. As noted in the story, a recent report from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget shows next fiscal year’s revenue is expected to increase by $295 million over an earlier projection.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:11 pm
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The sports gaming tax increase is a no brainer. Objections from the industry are nonsensical.
Comment by low level Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:20 pm
===The sports gaming tax increase is a no brainer===
And yet…
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:22 pm
Whole bunch of legislators about to find out that being a member of the General Assembly isnt all TikTok videos and instagram selfies. Rude awakening incoming.
Comment by Red Ranger Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:26 pm
Pritzker could probably get a sports gaming tax increase if it was a smaller increase.
Comment by Dupage Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:33 pm
I don’t know if going from 15% to 35% on sports gambling is a no brainer, but I think a hike of some magnitude is in order. As a deterrent if nothing else.
Comment by Perrid Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:34 pm
-Whole bunch of legislators about to find out that being a member of the General Assembly isnt all TikTok videos and instagram selfies-
As someone who has never used either social media program, is this common in the ILGA? I expect it out of Congress, but have higher expectations here in Springfield.
Comment by Matty Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:34 pm
How about a slim down of paper shuffles rather than cutting grants?
Comment by Annonin' Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:45 pm
Should these cuts come to the Higher Education budget, what once were 11 state universities might become seven or eight. There simply is no where to cut, and the proposed investments are still not enough. We need help.
Has any legislature stepped forward to say which of the proposed $800 M they do not think are important enough to fund? Which revenue streams are they thinking are a bridge to far?
Comment by H-W Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 1:56 pm
In my state career, it would have been unusual to not have that memo about looking for potential cuts; that had just about become a default status, and it always cast a depressing pall over the agency staff’s initiative . Some years, it didn’t happen, but it was planned for pretty much all the time.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 2:10 pm
=There simply is no where to cut=
when cash is short - you need to make tough choices and look at both sides of the ledger. IL Cost of In-State Tuition & Fees are 4th Highest- so it seems like there’s room for cuts
https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college-by-state#1
Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 2:12 pm
@HW,
Northwestern has 52 DEI administrators with total position costs of $200k each.
Illinois has 72 DEI administrators.
Comment by Not Amused Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 2:19 pm
==How about a slim down of paper shuffles==
Way to insult the entire state workforce. I don’t know how much more some of you dolts think the state workforce can be cut.
Comment by Demoralized Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 2:29 pm
==Has any legislature stepped forward to say which of the proposed $800 M they do not think are important enough to fund?==
This cut warning is coming from the Governor not the General Assembly. There will be a list shortly I imagine of potential cuts that will be shared with the General Assembly and then you can ask that question.
Comment by Demoralized Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 2:32 pm
Not amused. What is the source of your data? And what does Northwestern have to do with state budget?
Comment by very old soil Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 2:55 pm
= What is the source of your data?=
Not Amused, can answer later - but the Google machine found this in about 2 seconds
“According to the FOIA response, U of I employs a total of 79 “DEI” employees with compensation totaling $7.6 million”
https://wirepoints.org/dei-continues-to-flourish-at-the-university-of-illinois-even-as-universities-across-the-country-scale-back-programs-wirepoints/
Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:02 pm
If the legislature is having heartburn with this, just imagine how hard it’ll be to find a revenue stream of $1.5 billion to plug the transit hole.
Comment by Numbers.... Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:03 pm
Most likely we’ll just some (non-critical) state positions not backfilled due to retirements or departures. Quickest way to make budget cuts and if the national trends holds true for IL state government, plenty of retirements on the horizon.
Comment by LastModDemStanding Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:19 pm
Even 25 - 30 years ago, it was an annual exercise in the Spring to identify budget cuts in 5% to 10% range … partly to identify some optional stuff but mostly to identify talking points to take to the legislature.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:21 pm
Not Amused,
Do you have a source on that? I think someone may be lying to you about those numbers.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:28 pm
$7.6 million out of a $7.8 billion budget for the entire U of I system. https://www.uillinois.edu/about/budget
Comment by very old soil Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:50 pm
Well thqnk God that Wirepoints is getting to the bottom of this DEI scandal. Imagine, universities hiring people to work with, teach and support students? The horror.
More manufactured outrage from the right.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:53 pm
@ Donnie
The reason Illinois has one of the highest tuition and fees rates in the nation, is largely the result of Illinois not funding higher education sufficiently, nor comparably.
As to the DEI argument, I’ll be your Huckleberry.
First, what are the job titles for each of those 70 or so jobs you are suggesting should be targeted? What do those positions do? Why are you suggesting DEI jobs should be eliminated? Why these, and why did you jump to the idea of eliminated DEI jobs?
Comment by H-W Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 3:58 pm
@H-W
the DEI staffing is not my point - rather it was brought up by another; I just found the citation.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 4:16 pm
I am addressing Not Amused. If people want to assume that the first place to cut in a state budget is DEI, let’s have at it. People ought to be able to say, here are a set of actual jobs that need to be eliminated, and explain why these jobs before others.
Waiting the hear the justifications.
Comment by H-W Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 4:29 pm
“Illinois has 72 DEI administrators.” So you’re saying exclusion, discrimination and inequity are no longer a problem?
Comment by Skeptic Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 4:47 pm
At least for the foreseeable future any extra big federal govt. payment such as the COVID are not to be forthcoming.
I do not see Illinois revenue increasing anything beyond a general inflation level. And that means belt tightening and a lot of program expansions that have occurred will have to reconsidered .The next few years will test whomever is Governor as wels as the GA. It may not be pretty.
Comment by Mason County Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 5:39 pm
- So you’re saying exclusion, discrimination and inequity are no longer a problem? -
This is the same guy that compared me to nazis for hoping Elon Musk finally has to answer for fraud. He’s an aggrieved white Joe Rogan loving troll, nothing more.
Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 6:43 pm
DEI is unproductive bloatware for bureaucracies.
Comment by Not Amused Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 9:05 pm
===DEI is unproductive bloatware for bureaucracies.===
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j95kNwZw8YY
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 9, 24 @ 9:40 pm
==DEI is unproductive bloatware for bureaucracies.==
Yeah, if only those positions were staffed by white men, they wouldn’t cost as much.
/eyeroll emoji
Comment by zer0number Friday, May 10, 24 @ 11:23 am