Quinn to lawmakers: Live with your budget choices

CHICAGO (AP) – Gov. Pat Quinn says the layoffs and closures he’s announcing are a direct result of lawmakers’ choices on the Illinois budget.

He said Thursday that members of the General Assembly can’t vote to slash the budget and then complain if that requires closing state facilities and cutting jobs.

The Democratic governor says lawmakers need “a rendezvous with reality.”

Quinn announced that he wants to close seven prisons and mental facilities around the state. He’s also laying off more than 1,900 people.

That would violate an agreement Quinn struck with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The union is almost certain to sue.