Special Update

Bad Budget Passes
Legislative Session Ends with No Tax Increase

Keep Pressure on
to Prevent Layoffs and Service Cuts

The State Senate did its job—stepping up to the plate to vote to raise the revenues needed to keep state government operating and prevent layoffs and service cuts. Senators voted in support of HB174, legislation similar to SB750 which AFSCME has long supported. It would raise the income tax and limit property taxes, garnering sufficient new revenues to fund education, as well as vital state services.

The House fell down on the job—Speaker Madigan would not call HB174 for a vote in the House. The House did vote on a more modest temporary tax increase, but it was defeated when all Republicans and too many Democrats voted against it. (See reverse side for a list of those who voted wrong on this important measure.)

No new revenues equal bad budget—In the final hours of the legislative session, the General Assembly then went on to adopt SB1197 which, combined with some previously-adopted budget bills, will result in massive cuts to state services and layoffs of many state employees.

Budget bills put on hold—Gov. Quinn has strongly suggested that he would veto the budget as enacted—citing the damage it would do to vital services. The House and Senate leaders are now using a parliamentary maneuver to prevent the budget bills from going to the Governor’s desk, filing motions to have them reconsidered.

Scope and nature of the cuts not clear yet—Rumors abound, but because of the way that the budget was passed (with large lump sums allotted to agencies rather than all funds assigned to specific budget lines), it is still not known exactly where the budget cuts would be made. However, the Governor has told agencies they will need to cut their budgets by 25%. There’s no way to make cuts of that magnitude without large numbers of layoffs.

Still searching for solution—Even now that the legislative session has ended, the legislative leaders and the Governor are still meeting to try to come up with a compromise solution to the state’s budget woes. The task is tougher now because any revenue increase or budget revisions will require a 2/3 vote to pass—which means that Republican votes will be needed. Legislators have until the end of June when the current fiscal year ends. If there’s not a new budget in place then, state government would be faced with a shut down.

Pensions and health care safe for now—AFSCME and our allies in the labor movement won a major victory in beating back efforts to make state employees pay more toward their pensions, to make both active and retired employees pay much more for their health care, and to drastically cut the pension benefits of new hires. However, as negotiations continue among legislative leaders during the coming weeks, it is very possible that some of these cutbacks could resurface and be included in a “compromise” budget plan.

Keep the Pressure On – It is critical that we keep the pressure on. Council 31 and your local union will be reaching out to you to participate in efforts to turn up the heat on those legislators who voted against raising the revenues needed to prevent layoffs and service cuts—and to thank those who voted right. Make sure you make the calls, send the emails or attend the demonstrations that are needed to let your legislators know they need to do the right thing—and do it now!

Wrong Vote on RevenueState Representatives
Suzanne Bassi
Mark Beaubien
Dan Beiser
Patricia Bellock
Bob Biggins
Bill Black
Mike Boland
Mike Bost
John Bradley
Dan Brady
Rich Brauer
James Brosnahan
John Cavaletto
Franco Coladipietro
Sandy Cole
Michael Connelly
Beth Coulson
Fred Crespo
Tom Cross
Shane Cultra
John D’Amico
William Davis
Lisa Dugan
Jim Durkin
Roger Eddy
Keith Farnham
Bob Flider
Mike Fortner
Jack Franks
John Fritchey
Paul Froehlich
Careen Gordon
Jehan Gordon
Kay Hatcher
Jay Hoffman
Tom Holbrook
Kevin Joyce
Renee Kosel
David Leitch
Joseph Lyons
Sid Mathias
Karen May
Emily McAsey
Michael McAuliffe
Kevin McCarthy
Deborah Mell
David Miller
Bill Mitchell
Jerry Mitchell
Don Moffitt
Rosemary Mulligan
Rich Myers
Joann Osmond

Right Vote on Revenue
Brandon Phelps
Sandra Pihos
Raymond Poe
Robert Pritchard
Randy Ramey
Dennis Reboletti
David Reis
Dan Reitz
Chapin Rose
Jim Sacia
Angelo Saviano
Timothy Schmitz
Darlene Senger
Keith Sommer
Ron Stephens
Ed Sullivan
Jil Tracy
Michael Tryon
Ron Wait
Mark Walker
Jim Watson
Dave Winters
Michael Zalewski

State Senators
Pamela Althoff
Tim Bivins
Larry Bomke
Michael Bond
Bill Brady
Brad Burzynski
Dan Cronin
Gary Dahl
Kirk Dillard
Dan Duffy
Susan Garrett
Bill Haine
Randy Hultgren
John Jones
Chris Lauzen
David Luechtefeld
Edward Maloney
Kyle McCarter
John Millner
Matt Murphy
Carole Pankau
Christine Radogno
Dale Righter
Dale Risinger
Dan Rutherford
Jeff Schoenberg
Ira Silverstein
Dave Syverson

State Representatives
Edward Acevedo
Luis Arroyo
Maria Antonia Berrios
Dan Burke
Will Burns
Linda Chapa LaVia
Annazette Collins
Marlow Colvin
Barbara Flynn Currie
Monique Davis
Anthony DeLuca
Ken Dunkin
Sara Feigenholtz
Mary Flowers
LaShawn Ford
Ester Golar
Deborah Graham
Julie Hamos
Betsy Hannig
Greg Harris
Elizabeth Hernandez
Constance Howard
Eddie Jackson
Naomi Jakobsson
Charles Jefferson
Lou Lang
Michael Madigan
Frank Mautino
Jack McGuire
Susana Mendoza
Elaine Nekritz
Harry Osterman
Al Riley
Robert Rita
Kathleen Ryg
Michael Smith
Cynthia Soto
Andre Thapedi
Art Turner
Pat Verschoore
Eddie Washington
Karen Yarbrough



State Senators
James Clayborne
Jacqueline Collins
Maggie Crotty
John Cullerton
James DeLeo
William Delgado
Deanna Demuzio
Gary Forby Michael Frerichs
Don Harmon
Ricky Hendon
Linda Holmes
Mattie Hunter
Toi Hutchinson
Mike Jacobs
Emil Jones, III
David Koehler
Dan Kotowski
Kimberly Lightford
Terry Link
Iris Martinez
James Meeks
Antonio Munoz
Michael Noland
Kwame Raoul
Martin Sandoval
Heather Steans
John Sullivan
Donnie Trotter
Louis Viverito
A.J. Wilhelmi