Posted by Michelle Manchir and Monique Garcia at 6:05 p.m.
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn convinced the Democratic-led Senate today to go along with a proposal to push back his budget address until March 10, but Republicans charged the three-week delay puts off serious debate about the state’s financial crisis.
In a letter to legislators, Quinn said he wants to promote "interaction
and transparency" by asking lawmakers and interested citizens to give
written recommendations about how the state should spend taxpayer
money. He wants to post information about the state’s financial status
on a state Web site near the end of this month, seeking the input for the
budget year that begins July 1.
"The whole point here is that the public will be able to submit
comments, he’s looking to get feedback from the public at large,
interest groups, lawmakers," said Quinn spokesman Robert Reed. "We
think that having more open dialogue is going to produce a better
budget.”
The legislation passed the Senate 31-21 on a partisan roll call and now
goes to the Democrat-controlled House, where it is expected to come up
for a vote Thursday.
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said the measure would let Quinn take a historic step toward making the closely held budget process more transparent and provide a sharp contrast from the prior years under now-indicted Democratic ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
During Senate debate, Cullerton maintained the public would be able to review the various budget proposals "in writing" rather than "secret phone calls," referring to longtime practices.
But Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said the move is "nothing more than window dressing to justify putting off the budget address."
Radogno said the delay would "further compress the budget cycle" that is already under pressure because Cullerton has called for lawmakers to adjourn the spring session in early May rather than closer to the May 31 legislative deadline. It’s an election year and lawmakers want to get back home to campaign.
Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-McHenry, said the legislation could give citizens a false sense of participation in government.
"As much as it may feel good to people to be able to comment, I think they do it in somewhat of a void because they don’t understand what the process is or how the budget is actually divided up," Althoff said.