Metro East Sun

When a recent news conference revealed that Illinois’ deficit could tally $10 billion by year’s end, Katherine Ruocco, Republican candidate for House District 113, posed a rhetorical question to her constituents.

“Pink slips for the career politicians in Springfield anyone?” Ruocco posted on her Facebook page following State Comptroller Leslie Munger’s announcement that the state’s expenditures will outweigh revenue by approximately $8 billion in 2016.

“The ‘duck and cover’ stopgap budget does little to assist Illinois' financial crisis,” Ruocco said. “It is more of a self-fulfilling prophecy for a historic tax hike if career politicians are given another term to throw us farther off the financial cliff.”

A report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability revealed that the Prairie State will net $31.8 billion but outlay $39.6 billion this year, including $3 billion worth of items not listed in the current six-month interim budget.

While Illinois has operated with deficits previously, the total has never been this high before. Munger said recently in Chicago that the highest priorities for fulfilling obligations will be social service providers, institutions of higher education and those contractors who elected to continue providing services to the state during the crisis despite delayed payment.

“Illinois' comptroller announced that despite extra money from the stopgap budget, the state's pile of overdue bills will grow from $7.8 billion now to $10 billion by December,” Ruocco said. “How convenient ... pass the historic tax hike immediately following the general election. Shameful.”

Munger called the plan a short-term step and said, "the severe cash shortages mean that my office will continue to perform triage every day."