Will County Gazette

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) admits that he doesn’t have a state budget plan – which is exactly what Illinois needs, he says.

Putting an end to the budget crisis that has paralyzed the state for some 18 months, leaving it billions in debt, is fairly simple, Batinick argues.

“Any new budget idea should start with the money that we have coming in and do a baseline budget based on that,” he told the Will County Gazette.

Batinick stressed that his plan isn’t a budget proposal but more of a common-sense method that works in any type of negotiation.

“It would give everybody a reality of where we are,” he said, adding that the adjustments made to the so-called Grand Bargain budget offered recently doesn’t make it much better.

Some estimates say Illinois will bring in something in the neighborhood of $44 billion in fiscal year 2017, but early projections also have the state on the hook for much more in spending.

That explains why the Grand Bargain proposal brokered by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) comes with income and corporate tax hikes and additional borrowing.

The plan also calls for a temporary property tax freeze and changes to employee pension plans that require workers to contribute more into their accounts.

Those ideas keep Batinick from agreeing with the plan.

“So many of us (in Springfield) are worried about keeping our job or getting our next job that nobody’s doing their job,” he said.

He said that once the state has a base spending plan that operates and pays off the massive debt already incurred, the rest could be negotiated.

Batinick insists the feedback he has gotten from his Springfield colleagues has been mostly positive, but he fears many of them are afraid of campaign ads showing them wanting cut services.

Batinick insists his budget proposal would be balanced. Not surprisingly, he takes issue with a plan recently put forth by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) that relies heavily on increasing taxes, including slapping a new one on millionaires and closing business tax exemptions.