SPRINGFIELD - The Rauner Administration today released the below statement following the Senate Executive Committee voting down legislation to give Governor Rauner the authority to cut spending and balance the budget:
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“Governor Rauner has said from the beginning that if the legislature is unwilling to fulfill its constitutional obligation to pass a balanced budget, he is prepared to balance the budget on his own. We are deeply disappointed that the Senate majority voted down a bill to give the governor the ability to make spending cuts and balance the budget. If Senate Democrats are unwilling to let the governor balance the budget on his own, they have no alternative but to work with him to achieve a bipartisan balanced budget that makes structural changes to our broken system.”
The Unbalanced Budget Response Act, introduced as part of the governor’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget, would provide the executive branch authority to reduce government spending in all areas except K-12 General State Aid, early childhood education and debt service. If the General Assembly enacted the governor’s introduced appropriations bills with the Unbalanced Budget Response Act, he would be able to balance the budget on his own. The governor’s preferred path remains working together with the General Assembly on a comprehensive approach to getting Illinois back on track.
