Blagojevich says restoring cuts could be gamble
Governor Blagojevich is nolding back on restoring the cuts he made from the current budget until better revenue projections come in.
The Democratic governor is sitting on legislation to spare closing two dozen state attractions, laying off 323 workers and cutting drug-abuse treatment by tens of millions of dollars.
But what if the administration restores the cuts only to suffer a revenue slowdown? Illinois is better off than states of similar size but the governor remains concerned, spokesman Lucio Guerrero said.
“We are reviewing our revenue forecast to ensure that we will not have to make further cuts,” Guerrero said. “It would be a shame to propose restorations and then have to rescind them if the economic climate worsens.”
The reductions are part of $1.4 billion Blagojevich sliced from an out-of-balance budget the General Assembly sent him in July.
Controlling spending is commendable. Unfortunately the cuts in spending were aimed at political rivals and to punish the legislator for not boeing to his every whim.