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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The people of Illinois - who pay for a General
3Assembly to plan for the long-term affairs of the State -
4deserve to have a budget planning document in place that
5considers medium-term and long-term spending pressures in the
6setting of State spending priorities; and
 
7    WHEREAS, No budget has been enacted for fiscal year 2018,
8the fiscal year that will begin on July 1, 2017; as a result,
9soon the State of Illinois will have operated under 5 different
10budgets in the span of 4 years - the fiscal 2015 budget signed
11by former Governor Quinn, the revised fiscal year 2015 budget
12containing necessary "fixes" to the original, flawed FY15
13budget, the fiscal year 2016 non-budgeted State spending cycle
14carried out under a series of State and federal court orders, a
15similar non-budgeted State spending cycle for FY'17, and a
16similar non-budgeted State spending cycle for FY'18; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Under the fiscal year 2018 non-budgeted State
18spending cycle, State spending is continuing without
19legislative participation, putting Illinois on the financial
20brink and setting our State on a path to utter financial ruin
21and economic devastation for our taxpayers; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Political pressures associated with the 2018

 

 

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1election cycle will only increase with time, further tainting
2the budget process with politics and raising the possibility
3that, in the absence of corrective action, a repetition of this
4dismal pattern will occur as the spring 2018 deadline nears to
5craft and enact a budget for fiscal year 2019; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The General Assembly needs to re-establish a
7budget cycle and re-establish the credibility it needs in order
8to shift its attention to pension reform, property tax relief,
9crime and violence, the jobs climate, the outmigration from
10Illinois of younger and highly-educated workers and
11professionals, and other urgent issues; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Many states such as Nebraska, Ohio, and Texas, and
13including the neighboring state of Indiana, practice 2-year
14spending plans or full-scale biennial budgeting; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The Constitution of Illinois directs the Governor
16of Illinois to present an annual budget proposal to the General
17Assembly, but, as we have come to know all too well, nothing
18constrains the General Assembly's actual responses to these
19proposals, and nothing prevents the General Assembly from
20adopting a planning process that faces the fact that we, as a
21State, are on the financial brink, and responds to it in a
22professional manner and in keeping with our identity as
23legislators and our oaths of office; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In these times, moving toward a long-term budget
2planning cycle will enable State agencies performing essential
3services, third-party service providers whose services are no
4less essential, and institutions and entities of higher
5education to obtain the information that their leaders have
6testified is essential to carrying out their duties; therefore,
7be it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
9HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
10declare that it is expedient for the General Assembly to adopt
11a 2-year budget planning document to cover revenues in all of
12fiscal years 2018 and 2019, take account of moneys already
13spent, and control spending in the remainder of fiscal year
142018 and all of fiscal year 2019; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That this planning document should rely upon an
16honest estimate, without false promises or shoddy planning, of
17the actual financial income (especially general funds income)
18that the State will take in during fiscal years 2018 and 2019;
19and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That we urge the Commission on Government
21Forecasting and Accountability and the Governor's Office of
22Management and Budget to work together to develop an

 

 

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1extraordinary consolidated revenue estimate for fiscal years
22018 and 2019, this estimate to be presented to both chambers
3of the General Assembly no later than 30 days after the
4adoption of this resolution; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That we, the sponsors of this resolution, pledge
6to use this consolidated 2-year revenue estimate to work with
7our colleagues to develop a 2-year State budget and financial
8planning document; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That our goal, as we develop this budget planning
10document, will be to end the current political cycle of
11reactive emergency measures and budget court orders; and be it
12further
 
13    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
14presented to Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the House of
15Representatives, John Cullerton, President of the Senate, and
16Bruce Rauner, Governor.