Central Illinois Lawmakers Show Their Differences Over State Budget

A couple of central Illinois lawmakers staked out sides on the state budget debate, during an appearance in Champaign on Saturday.

Democrat Mike Frerichs and Republican Dale Righter agree that Illinois needs to rein in spending to address an 11-point-6 billion dollar deficit. But the two state senators disagree on the income tax hike proposed by Governor Pat Quinn. Frerichs, of Champaign, says that to balance the budget, some sort of tax increase is unavoidable. "Now there's been opposition to the extent the governor proposed raising the income tax and the increase in personal exemptions, and so I think there's going to be some sort of compromise there," said Frerichs. "But at the end of the day, I think we're going to have to find new revenue for the state of Illinois".

But Righter, of Mattoon, says the deficit doesn't have to be eliminated all at once. He says that in the 1990s, lawmakers and then-Governor Jim Edgar spread deficit reduction over several years, and the same approach could work now. "The Senate Deficit Reduction Committee put proposals out there that were annual savings of over three-billion dollars a year," Righter says. "Now you couple that with a multi-year program, and you have at least the basic blueprint for achieving (a balanced budget)."

Frerichs and Righter took part in a panel on the state budget at the Illinois News Broadcasters Association convention in Champaign.