After two years of holding the Illinois budget hostage for political gain, Gov. Bruce Rauner now is faced with cutting an astounding $5 billion worth of state programs and services to balance the budget he presented to taxpayers last month.

“We live in the real world where we have to be realistic. We need to think about contingency plans and moving forward,” said Senator Napoleon Harris III, a Harvey Democrat and chairman of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee. “From day one I have said we must work together to fix these issues. It’s going to take tough decisions by all to get this done.”

Gov. Rauner has proposed a budget that is unbalanced by nearly $5 billion – a figure that was reinforced this week when the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accounting released an analysis that suggests the state’s revenues are $329 million lower than the governor’s February budget estimate, pushing his budget proposal further into the red.

Yet during a series of Senate committee hearing this week, agency directors under the Rauner administration were unable or unwilling to identify cuts to personnel or programs that could enable the governor to bridge the gap. That includes representatives of the Illinois Department of Natural of Resources and the Illinois Department of Agriculture, both of whom appeared before the Senate Agriculture Committee.

“We posed a simple question to these agencies: Where in your agency’s budget can you cut to help fill this $5 billion hole in the governor’s proposed statewide budget?” Harris said. “They were stonewalling, or they’ve never given it a thought. Either way, it’s a problem for the people of Illinois who deserve answers.”

SPRINGFIELD - State Senator Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey) expressed his frustration with shortcomings in approving a budget this week. After interference from the governor the Senate was unable to vote on proposals that combined reforms with a spending plan for the rest of FY 17. Harris released the following statement:

“I’m disappointed in the lack of support from my republican colleagues for votes that could have been taken this week. Families are hurting, people are losing their jobs, our bond ratings are dropping and our debt is rising by $11 million a day.

There comes a time in everyone’s legislative career where you must stand for what’s right. I would hope that my colleagues would come together to do what’s right for the people of Illinois.

If not this budget, then what budget? If not now, then when? Our constituents need legislators who want to govern.”