Syverson Responds to Budget Plan

February 20th, 2008 at 05:05pm Aaron Chambers

Syverson’s press release:

SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) said Illinois families and taxpayers deserve better than the budget unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich – a budget that would continue Illinois down the path of rising debt and unemployment.

“This is more of the same ‘government by gimmick’ that we’ve seen from this Governor during the past five years,” said Syverson, the Republican Spokesperson on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Once again, he’s seeking to impose costly new programs at a time we can’t even afford the services we already provide. And once again, he wants to pay for it by pushing the burden onto our children and grandchildren through greater borrowing and fiscal quick-fixes.”

Syverson noted that the budget hinges on several controversial proposals that lawmakers have voiced skepticism about in the past, including a leasing of the state Lottery to generate cash, raids of dedicated state funds, and billions of dollars in new borrowing that would add $1,300 in pension debt for every man, woman and child in Illinois.

Also included in the budget – more than $2 billion in new programs and spending at a time Illinois faces, by the Governor’s own numbers, a $750 million deficit.

“There should be no new programs – period – until our current programs are paid for,” Syverson said. “There is wide consensus on both sides of the political aisle that Illinois doesn’t have a revenue problem right now – we have a spending problem. The Governor is pushing ahead with costly new programs we simply cannot afford. Illinois already has $1.7 billion in unpaid bills owed to service providers across the state. The explosion of spending contained in this budget will compound that problem, and make it even more difficult for service providers here in Winnebago County to get the money that’s owed to them.”

Syverson also expressed skepticism at the more than $650 million in tax hikes on the Illinois economy contained in the Governor’s proposal.

“Under Gov. Blagojevich, Illinois has fallen to 45th in the nation in job growth since 2003,” Syverson said. “We trail every one of our neighboring states in job growth, and have lost more than 60,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs since the Governor took office. The job-killing tax hikes contained in this budget are precisely the reason we’ve lost so many jobs, and why Illinois small businesses are struggling to compete.”

Another troubling part of the Governor’s budget for Syverson is a 30 percent diversion from the state’s Road Fund, which will mean Rockford-area projects already waiting for funding will be put off even further.

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