IEMA Wants to Spend Federal Dollars

The budget dispute isn’t really about the budget, per say.

House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) is at least one person who sees the issue differently. But what if the two sides, which already don’t have much of a track record of working together and are finding their biggest sticking points around ideological matters, can take shelter in the “new normal” for months and don’t ever feel a big enough push to get it together? He said the governor is going against his promise as a candidate to bring more transparency to state government.

“You can slice and dice the state payroll in multiple ways, but the two bottom lines are: all payroll is publicly reported, and the Rauner administration is spending less on total agency-wide payroll than the previous administration”, Trover said in a statement responding to the AP’s analysis.

Illinois lawmakers are expected to consider a plan to spend about $5 billion in federal funds during the state budget stalemate.

Most of the spending is “pass-through” money that doesn’t require state matching dollars.

Lawmakers took testimony Monday in Chicago on the initiative to funnel $4.8 billion for programs such as nutrition for women and their children and energy-bill assistance for low-income residents.

Sen. Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, carried the bill with Democratic Sen. For example, they argue, if the Corrections Department has to pay a high salary for a gubernatorial aide, that’s money that can’t be used to pay one or more prison guards. Wheeler said. “The salaries are just a portion of operations…”

Without the calamity of a shutdown to force either side’s hand, Democrats and Rauner-led Republicans appear poised to test how long the state can live without a deal.