Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Sunday said his vow to end “business as usual” led to legislative approval for his $52 billion spending plan, but critics charged it was built on gimmicks and deception that have been a hallmark of state budgetmaking.
And, though the budget will not require consumers to pay more in sales or income taxes, the prices they pay for goods and services could rise significantly if businesses pass along the costs of higher state fees pushed by the governor.
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Bills signed by the governor
– Phone competition: Gives edge to SBC in local phone market.
– Pension bonds: $10 billion to shore up pensions, reduce deficit.
– Pay equity: Bans disparity based on gender.
– Immigrants: Offers in-state tuition for Illinois high school graduates regardless of immigration status.
– Ephedra: Imposes nation’s first ban on sales of dietary supplement linked to deaths of some athletes.
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Bills awaiting action by the governor
– O’Hare International Airport: Authorizes $6.6 billion expansion
– Death penalty reforms: Requires tapings of interrogations in homicide cases, bans executions of the mentally retarded and broadens the Supreme Court’s authority to overturn death sentences.
– Ethics: Imposes tough new standards of conduct for state officials and lobbyists.
– Prescription drugs: Creates a state-run buying club for seniors to negotiate lower prices.
– Minimum wage: Hikes state minimum wage in stages from $5.15 to $6.50 by 2005.
– Casino taxes: Hikes top rate to 70 percent for most lucrative casinos.
– Asset sales: Allows sale of state assets, including the Thompson Center in the Loop and the Illinois tollway headquarters in Downers Grove.
– Schools: Increases aid to elementary and secondary schools by hundreds of millions of dollars.
– Pork-barrel spending: Authorizes hundreds of millions of dollars for new and previously authorized projects sponsored by lawmakers.
– Drivers: Gives police the power to stop and ticket motorists for not wearing seat belts. Fees for personalized license plates rise from $78 to $125. User fees on new tire purchases rise from $1 to $2.50 per tire.
– Needle purchase: Anti-AIDS initiative allows adults to buy needles without a prescription.
– Rowdy sports fans: Boosts fines, jail time for trespassing on field.
– Contraceptives: Requires insurance companies to cover costs.
– Boats: Increases registration fees.
– Business fees and taxes: Ends tax breaks and increases fees for a variety of services.
– Special fund diversions: Authorizes use of money now earmarked for road construction and other special purposes to pay general state bills.
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Bills defeated or received no final action
– Gun control: Increased curbs on gun purchases.
– Gambling expansion: Authorized a Chicago casino, expanded other casinos, allowed slots at horse racing tracks, legalized video poker, created a new license to replace an unused one in legal limbo.
– ERA: Ratified long-dormant woman’s rights amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
– Gay rights: Banned discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation.
– Low-digit license plates: Seized from current drivers and auctioned off.
