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Health & Fitness

Kotowski, Senate moves forward with a balanced budget plan

A balanced budget plan passes the Illinois Senate with the assistance of Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge).

“Our balanced budget plan makes real cuts, pays our unpaid bills, and funds key priorities – like education and job creation. The most important thing we can do for businesses right now is to pass a balanced budget. They want certainty, and that’s exactly what this budget plan gives them.” State Senator Dan Kotowski

SPRINGFIELD, IL – A balanced budget proposal that cuts state spending and sets aside over a billion dollars to pay down Illinois’ backlog of bills advanced the Senate this evening.

Illinois State Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) said the Senate’s budget proposal is the result of tough, practical decisions that allows the state to live within its means.

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“Our balanced budget plan makes real cuts, pays our unpaid bills, and funds key priorities – like education and job creation,” Senator Kotowksi said, who serves as chairman of a key Senate budget committee. “The most important thing we can do for businesses right now is to pass a balanced budget. They want certainty, and that’s exactly what this budget plan gives them.”

The Senate’s budget plan spends about $16.9 billion for state operations, like education, human services, public safety and general services. This amount is $255 million less compared to last year’s final spending total and about $186 million below what the governor wants to spend this year.

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Earlier this year, both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate agreed to a conservative revenue estimate to establish the amount of money that could be spent on state operations for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2013. The Senate Democrats’ plan balances within that firm $33.719 billion revenue estimate.

The Senate’s budget proposal that will now be sent to the Illinois House is Senate Bills 2404, 2455, and 2461.

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