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STATE CAPITOL: Blagojevich planning budget meetings

Posted June 03, 2007 11:00 pm

Dana Heupel

By DANA HEUPEL

STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich and all four legislative leaders are poised to begin a series of meetings today (Tuesday) that are expected to continue until they agree on a new state budget.

Blagojevich wants to assemble with the leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, at the beginning of every week in June and as often as needed in between, Deputy Gov. Sheila Nix said Monday during a Statehouse news conference. He also will encourage lawmakers to pass individual elements of a budget as soon as possible, she said.

Blagojevich himself did not attend the news conference.

The General Assembly blew its scheduled May 31 adjournment deadline without approving a budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

"We don't want to end up in the same situation at the end of June, although this time facing a government shutdown," Nix said.

During the final flurry of budget negotiations before Thursday's deadline, Blagojevich said he wanted Democrats to pass a budget by themselves so Republicans would not have a voice. Top-level meetings included only Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, and House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, and their staff.

But under the Illinois Constitution, a budget requires approval from three-fifths of each legislative chamber after May 31, so Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson of Greenville and House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego will now join the strategy sessions.

"We certainly believe the involvement of both chambers and both political parties will help this process …," said Patty Schuh, Watson's spokeswoman. "We look forward to working on a responsible budget for the coming fiscal year."

Cross' spokesman, David Dring, said the House GOP leader also is eager to participate in the budget talks.

"We're going to stay principled in our desire for a budget with no tax increase. We will take that and communicate with the governor and the other leaders, hopefully sooner than later," Dring said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers will continue to conduct business. The Senate has not posted an official schedule but will resume its overtime session today (Tuesday). The House has scheduled legislative sessions for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for the next three weeks and Tuesday through Saturday in the last week of June.

Nix said that may not be enough.

"The General Assembly needs to take action, not just engage in a three-day work week without progress," she said. "We want to help that progress along. We are a little concerned that the House schedule is back loaded - it doesn't look like we do five-day work weeks until the very last week in June."

At Monday's news conference, several top administration officials accompanied Nix, and she said they would be available in coming weeks to answer lawmakers' questions. Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich, later said administration officials chose Nix to conduct the news conference because the governor was in Chicago on Monday.

"He's working. He's got a lot of things he's got to do," Rausch said.

The House passed a budget last week relying on $800 million in new revenue from natural growth and closing corporate tax loopholes but did not send it to the Senate because of a parliamentary maneuver.

The Senate never brought its own budget plan to a vote, although it did pass a major gambling expansion to provide more than $1 billion for education and the governor's universal health insurance proposal. But the House did not vote on that proposal, leaving budget negotiations mired in political quicksand as lawmakers adjourned Friday.

"The budget and spending and tax increase plans passed by the House were based on a consensus, and if someone can improve on that consensus, we're happy to work with them," said Steve Brown, a spokesman for Madigan. The speaker intends to meet today (Tuesday) with the governor and other legislative leaders, Brown said.

Jones had no comment, a spokeswoman said.

Blagojevich still intends to push for his plan to offer health insurance for all Illinoisans, Nix said, even though it did not pass the Senate, and the House unanimously rejected his proposal to fund much of it through a tax on gross business receipts.

"The governor, as he's going through this process, has expressed a willingness to compromise and be flexible, so he's interested in sitting down with the leaders and seeing what their ideas are on health care," Nix said.

Many lawmakers already have contributed their thoughts to the proposal, which the governor's office calls Illinois Covered, she said.

"We're interesting in continuing that dialogue. If they have other ideas on how we can reach the same goal, we're happy to hear them."

Because the spring session extended beyond the May 31 deadline, lawmakers will not collect their usual $125 a day for expenses for travel to Springfield unless Blagojevich declares a special session of the General Assembly.

Dana Heupel can be reached at (217) 788-1518 or dana.heupel@sj-r.com.

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