HR0796 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0796 LRB099 14464 MST 38577 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The people of Illinois - who pay for a General Assembly to plan for the long-term affairs of the State - deserve to have a budget planning document in place that considers medium-term and long-term spending pressures in the setting of State spending priorities; and

WHEREAS, No budget has been enacted for fiscal year 2016, the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2015; as a result, soon the State of Illinois will have operated under 4 different budgets in the span of 2 years - the fiscal 2015 budget signed by former Governor Quinn, the revised fiscal year 2015 budget containing necessary "fixes" to the original, flawed FY15 budget, the fiscal year 2016 non-budgeted State spending cycle being carried out right now under a series of State and federal court orders, and an enacted budget that will cover the remainder of FY16; and

WHEREAS, Under the fiscal year 2016 non-budgeted State spending cycle, State spending is continuing without legislative participation, putting Illinois on the financial brink and setting our State on a path to utter financial ruin and economic devastation for our taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, Political pressures associated with the 2016 election cycle will only increase with time, further tainting the budget process with politics and raising the possibility that, in the absence of corrective action, a repetition of this dismal pattern will occur as the spring 2016 deadline nears to craft and enact a budget for fiscal year 2017; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly needs to re-establish a budget cycle and re-establish the credibility it needs in order to shift its attention to pension reform, property tax relief, crime and violence, the jobs climate, the outmigration from Illinois of younger and highly-educated workers and professionals, and other urgent issues; and

WHEREAS, Many states such as Nebraska, Ohio, and Texas, and including the neighboring state of Indiana, practice 2-year spending plans or full-scale biennial budgeting; and

WHEREAS, The Constitution of Illinois directs the Governor of Illinois to present an annual budget proposal to the General Assembly, but, as we have come to know all too well, nothing constrains the General Assembly's actual responses to these proposals, and nothing prevents the General Assembly from adopting a planning process that faces the fact that we, as a State, are on the financial brink, and responds to it in a professional manner and in keeping with our identity as legislators and our oaths of office; and

WHEREAS, In these times, moving toward a long-term budget planning cycle will enable State agencies performing essential services, third-party service providers whose services are no less essential, and institutions and entities of higher education to obtain the information that their leaders have testified is essential to carrying out their duties; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare that it is expedient for the General Assembly to adopt a 2-year budget planning document to cover revenues in all of fiscal years 2016 and 2017, take account of moneys already spent, and control spending in the remainder of fiscal year 2016 and all of fiscal year 2017; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this planning document should rely upon an honest estimate, without false promises or shoddy planning, of the actual financial income (especially general funds income) that the State will take in during fiscal years 2016 and 2017; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability and the Governor's Office of Management and Budget to work together to develop an extraordinary consolidated revenue estimate for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, this estimate to be presented to both chambers of the General Assembly no later than 30 days after the adoption of this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we, the sponsors of this resolution, pledge to use this consolidated 2-year revenue estimate to work with our colleagues to develop a 2-year State budget and financial planning document; and be it further

RESOLVED, That our goal, as we develop this budget planning document, will be to end the current political cycle of reactive emergency measures and budget court orders; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Cullerton, President of the Senate, and Bruce Rauner, Governor.