Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn initiated layoffs for more than 1,900 employees today in an apparent attempt to pressure state lawmakers to approve more state spending in next year's budget.
The proposed budget cuts set the stage for a major battle between Quinn and the state legislature, which has already passed next year's $33.2 budget. The spending bill was $2.2 billion less than Quinn had wanted.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Quinn is now asking legislators to approve an additional $376 million to "mitigate" the layoffs. He has also proposed closing seven state facilities, including three mental hospitals and a state prison.
If the funds aren't freed up, Quinn said, the cuts will be needed to avoid a partial state government shutdown.
Quinn's proposal has already come under fire from Illinois' largest public employee union, which claims the governor is violating his election-year pledge to not layoff any state workers until June 2012. The union is already taking legal action against Quinn's administration for its July decision to cancel contractually-promised raises for 30,000 state workers.
State governments have shed thousands of jobs since the beginning of the recession as they struggle to deal with declining revenues and mounting deficits. In 2012 alone, states faced a combined $86 billion in budget deficits, according to newly released data from the Pew Center.
But Illinois is in particularly dire financial straits, despite huge increases in the state's personal and corporate income taxes this year. The state owes $4 billion to state contractors and vendors, and was forced to borrow $3.7 billion to make its annual pension payment.
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