Governor Pat Quinn announced his 2011 budget plan today signing a series of budget bills that cuts K-12 education by $241 million and higher education by $100 million in an overall $24.9 billion state budget.

 

Quinn budget plans are found in a series of amendatory vetoes, reductions, additions of discretionary money to some agencies, and savings ordered under his emergency budget authority. The Governor’s decisions were made in the budget appropriation bill passed by the Illinois General Assembly on May 27. The original budget passed by the General Assembly is found in House Bill 859, Amendments # 3 and 6. 

 

Neither the Quinn budget plan nor HB 859 as passed by the House and Senate resolves the massive carryover debt and deficit from the state’s fiscal crisis.  Overall the budget totals $24.9 billion, a $1.4 billion drop from last year.

 

The deficit includes $$2.2 billion unpaid to preK-20 education, $6 billion owed to health and human service providers and no authority for borrowing $3.7 billion to meet the state’s new pension payment in FY 2011. The IFT continues to lobby the Senate to approve a pension obligation bond borrowing plan already adopted by the House to ease the budget shortfall.

 

To help meet its carryover debt from 2009-10, the state extended its legal time limit for paying old bills from Aug. 31 to Dec. 31. Schools may be forced to wait a full six months before receiving all funds for mandated categorical programs like special education and transportation and a host of other grant programs from last school year. Only general state aid payments have been made on time each month under a policy of Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes. Hynes is making GSA a top funding priority with the state’s limited cash flow.   

 

Looking ahead to Fiscal Year 2011 (2010-11 school year), all levels of education will see a net loss of over $341 million compared to FY 2010. Most of the cuts in K-12 education matched spending reductions adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education last week. However, some programs like early childhood and bilingual education that faced heavy cuts were restored by the Governor. The restorations came from the Governor using $3 billion in “discretionary” funding authority.

 

The Governor also reserved money in agencies and called for state employees to pay more for the cost of programs like health insurance. His decisions were made under the emergency budget act from authority granted to him in Senate Bill 3660.

 

Illinois State Board of Education - Cut $241 million in various program budget lines

Illinois State Board of Education - Restored $200 million for early childhood education

Public Universities - Cut $86 million in operations at eight universities

Community Colleges - Cut $14 million from student success grants

 

The Governor announced amendatory vetoes of several dozen budget lines, some of which affected IFT membership. Among the funding vetoes and cuts made in education spending are:

ISBE

            ($15.5) million cut from Hold Harmless, 100% full veto

            ($2.1) million cut from ISBE agency operations, 8% partial veto

            ($36) million cut from a lump sum for administration of programs, 60% partial veto

            ($84) million cut from Regular/Vocational Transportation, 100% reduction

            ($27) million cut from Private Tuition, 13% reduction

            ($68.5) million cut from Reading Improvement Block grants, 100% reduction

            ($3) million cut from Agriculture Education, 100% reduction

            ($15) million cut from Educator Quality & Support, 70.2% reduction

              (Mentoring, ‘grow Your Own Teachers’, national board cert., performance evaluation)

            ($40.4) million cut from Student Health & Safety Initiatives, 69% reduction

               (ADA block grants, alternative learning, reenrolling, truant alternative).

 

Higher Education

            ($46) million cut, Univ. of Illinois, operations, 6.3% partial veto

       &am;nbp;    ($14) million cut, SIU, operations, 6.4% partial veto

            ($6.6) million cut, NIU, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($5.3) million cut, ISU, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($3.7) million cut, WIU, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($3.1) million cut, EIU, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($2.7) million cut, Northeastern, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($2.6) million cut, Chicago State, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($1.7) million cut, Governor’s State, operations, 6.3% partial veto

            ($500,000) cut, Illinois Community College Board, operations, 19% partial veto

 

 

The state’s budgetary authority and detailed plan to spend in money in FY 2011 is found in the following legislation.*

 

House Bill 859, Amendments 3 & 6 – Appropriations, reduction vetoed

Senate Bill 1215 – Technical appropriation changes, signed into law

Senate bill 3660 – Emergency Budget Act, signed into law

Senate Bill 3662 – Budget Implementation Act (BIMP), signed into law 

  

*(Budget bills can be reviewed at the Illinois General Assembly web site, www.isbe.gov.

Go to the ilga bill finder, type in the bill number, i.e. HB 859, click on “full text,” click on the appropriate amendment and click on “pdf” so that larger files can appear on screen.)