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Quinn Slashes Budget, Invites Lawmakers To Negotiate

UPDATED 07/01/11 7:09 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Gov. Pat Quinn signed off on the state budget late Thursday night, mere hours before the fiscal year ended, but not before making a few changes affecting, among other things, education.

As WBBM Newsradio 780's Alex Degman reports, lawmakers tried to restore some money to K-12 transportation, but the governor said no and eliminated $89 million from that fund. That means schools will get the same amount as they did in Fiscal Year 2011.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Alex Degman reports

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Quinn's budget director, David Vaught, says school districts should pay more for their own transportation.

"The local superintendents can do a much better job of getting the kids to school than somebody who wrote a regulation in Springfield that said, oh we're going to send the money up somewhere because they have no sidewalks in Barrington," Vaught said. "That's just not the right way to distribute the money."

The governor also zeroed out funding for regional superintendents' offices, which is something else Vaught says should be funded locally, but it's not immediately clear how already cash-strapped school districts will be able to foot the bill. A little more than $9 million will be saved there.

Quinn said the cuts could be part of further negotations.

"Implementing a budget is not a one-day event but rather a year-round process filled with robust debate and difficult decisions," Quinn said in a statement.

Money for Medicaid, a health program for the poor, is being cut by an additional $276 million. That brings the Department of Healthcare and Family Services budget to $14.3 billion, or about 4.5 percent below current levels.

Illinois will still have to pay for medical services, however, so less money means bills are simply paid more slowly. Unless something changes, about $1.5 billion in Medicaid bills will be left unpaid at the end of the year, adding to backlog that already amounts to $6 billion or more.

"The point is to get the interested parties to the table to negotiate in good faith" on controlling Medicaid costs, Vaught said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Lawmakers rejected both of Quinn's education cuts. They have the option of restoring the $376 million that Quinn cut Thursday. Unless they take action, however, Quinn's version of the budget is the one Illinois will follow for the next year.

His office said Quinn's cuts bring the key measure of state spending to $32.9 billion, about $2 billion below the previous budget. That's a reduction of roughly 6 percent.

Vaught said he didn't know the total size of the budget, including federal funds, fees and other special categories. For the previous year, it was $52.7 billion.

Quinn did not make any public appearance to discuss signing the budget. He does not have any appearances scheduled for Friday, the first day of fiscal 2012.

The additional budget cuts are likely to frustrate groups that feel the version approved by lawmakers was already deeply flawed. It slashed money to institutions for the mentally handicapped, promised long delays in paying Medicaid bills, reduced education spending and cut money for state employees.

"This is a fundamentally broken budget, an unworkable plan that falls far short of the revenue needed to adequately support basic services," said Anders Lindall, spokesman for the Illinois division of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Lindall urged Quinn to spend at the levels needed to maintain services and then work with lawmakers to come up with more money later in the year.

But Vaught said Quinn must assume no more money will be available. "You implement right away and you do the cuts," he said.

A key question is what cuts Quinn can make. He reached a bargain with AFSCME last year in which the union agreed to make concessions and Quinn agreed not to cut jobs or close state facilities.

Vaught said Quinn will disclose more of his plans soon.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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