SPRINGFIELD, IL- Illinois has become a dead beat state, with billions in debt and unpaid bills. Wednesday, Governor Quinn told legislators during his budget address that it is time to deal with the state's problems.
The state's budget woes have gone on for years and now Governor Quinn wants state lawmakers to deal with them once and for all. "We must achieve fundamental and lasting budget reform," Governor Quinn said. "And we must do it now."
Quinn is calling for millions of dollars in cuts, including shutting down the Jacksonville Developmental Center and cutting 750 state jobs through layoffs and attrition.
A total of 14 major state facilities are on the chopping block, including two prisons. The governor would close a maximum security prison in Dwight and the supermax prison in Tamms.
Quinn is also targeting four mental institutions and two juvenile prisons, as well as the Decatur Adult Transition Center, which employs 22 people. The center has been open since 1979 and provides reintegration services for men completing the last three to 24-months of their prison sentences.
Quinn says the need to lower spending leaves no other choice but to close these facilities.
Along with cuts, the governor believes millions of dollars can be saved by closing tax loopholes and providing some tax relief.
Some of the poorest people in Illinois could feel the pinch, as Governor Quinn wants to cut about $2.7 billion in Medicaid. The governor says the state needs to "reconsider the groups who are eligible for Medicaid" as a way to bring down costs.
Quinn also says he wants a huge overhaul of the state's pension system.
