July 1, 2009
To
the Honorable Members
of the Illinois Senate,
96th General Assembly
Today, I am vetoing SB 1197.
Since I took the oath of office as Governor on
January 29, I have stated consistently that solving Illinois’ fiscal crisis and
balancing the budget would require making tough choices.
This bill does not effectively address Illinois’
growing budgetary and economic calamity. This is a budget that funds a full
year of services at a 50 percent level. The result is a halfway measure that
fails to address the dire consequences of the state’s declining revenues,
widening deficit, increased demand for critical human services, and the weak
U.S. economy.
Most troubling, this bill fails to fund the
basic needs of the people of Illinois.
Apart from my policy objections, this bill runs
afoul of our State’s Constitution.
Article IV, Section 8(d) of the Illinois
Constitution provides that appropriations bills must be limited to the subject
of appropriations.
This legislation seeks to amend existing statute
to ban the expenditure of funds on “professional and artistic services”
contracts.
Without the services of skilled public servants
employed pursuant to a professional or artistic services contract, state
government would not function.
The effect of this provision would be to
eliminate essential state workers, including nurses and doctors at state-run
health care facilities serving veterans and the elderly; professionals who
assist the Department of Corrections in monitoring prisoners; psychologists and
psychiatrists serving children in the state’s care; and even hiring
professionals to fingerprint and perform background checks on potential foster
parents.
Also, the State Finance Act gives the executive
branch managerial flexibility by authorizing transfers of dollars among line
items. Yet, this legislation purports to effectively repeal that part of the
law for agencies receiving funds under SB 1197.
Moreover, Illinois law requires state agencies
to carry out duties mandated by law but this bill does not provide funding
required to these pay for these obligations. Since the General Assembly did not
remove those mandates, passage of this bill would expose the State of Illinois
to scores of lawsuits from social agencies and providers.
Therefore, in accordance with Article IV,
Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution, I return SB 1197 to the Senate,
where it originated, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.
I am still hopeful that a balanced budget will
be passed by the General Assembly and vow to work toward achieving that
important goal for the people of Illinois.
Sincerely,
____________________
Pat
Quinn
GOVERNOR