Gov. Rauner vetoes Illinois budget, cites $4 billion deficit

Throughout his gubernatorial campaign, Rauner insisted he didn’t have a social agenda and was focused exclusively on Illinois deepening financial crisis.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the bulk of the Illinois budget Thursday that the Democratic-controlled Legislature sent him, increasing the likelihood that some state services could be disrupted when the fiscal year begins next week.

A day after signing into law public-school funding for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the new GOP governor on Thursday nixed the rest of the plan, which Democrats acknowledge is short on revenue by as much as $4 billion.

“For too long, the state of Illinois has made spending promises that exceed available revenues, relied on accounting gimmicks to make budgets appear balanced, used borrowing and cost deferral strategies to push costs into the future, and delayed payments to vendors”, Rauner said in his veto message.

Still, Rauner said in a statement, “Education is the most important thing we do as a community”.

Rauner won’t talk about the Democrats’ budget plan until he gets approval for these and other business-climate changes. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Dan Mihalopoulos called on Madigan to make his case more credible by discussing his finances with Illinois voters. Any of the bills could spark the controversy the first-term Republican hoped to bypass.

The lack of state funding levels for the upcoming school year put districts in a bind. Rauner’s office said those spending levels are not as high as what the governor had proposed. But the governor also offered to compromise on big ticket items that Mayor Rahm Emanuel, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and Senate President John Cullerton have been calling for.

Lawmakers are scheduled to return to the Capitol Tuesday, though there’s no indication that an agreement on the full state budget is near.

“I refuse to allow (House) Speaker (Michael) Madigan and the legislators he controls to hold our schools hostage as part of their plan to protect the political class and force a tax hike on the middle class without real reform”, the governor said in a statement.