Reaction To Governor’s Budget Speech

“Smoke and mirrors”.  That’s what Senator Gary Dahl describes the budget details laid out Wednesday afternoon by Governor Pat Quinn.

Quinn’s main point was to push a one percent income tax surcharge to fund a 1.3 billion dollar cut in state aid for schools.   Dahl says the increase which he doesn’t want in the first place would generate around three billion dollars, so he wonders where the rest of the money would go.

Quinn is proposing “strategic borrowing” to help fill the 13 billion dollar budget deficit.  Dahl thinks borrowing is just digging the state a deeper financial hole that he says is worse than when Rod Blagojevich was ousted.

Dahl thinks a good step would be Quinn and other lawmakers taking a 25 percent pay cut since small businesses and workers have to do it during tough economic times.