State House Minority Leader Jim Durkin addresses a group of business leaders from Western Springs and La Grange.

State will stay within its means. State House Minority Leader Jim Durkin is optimistic about reaching a budget deal later this spring, but he is also realistic.

Durkin said that he has extended the lease on his Springfield apartment through the summer,

“I can’t even say the term will end by summer,” Durkin told a group of business leaders from Western Springs and La Grange at a luncheon Thursday.

Typically, lawmakers hurry to pass a state budget for the next fiscal year in May and then adjourn for the summer. Durkin is not so sure that same scenario will play out this year under new Gov. Bruce Rauner. Durkin said while some lawmakers have called for some type of tax hike to bring more money into the state coffers, Rauner and other Republican leaders are looking at making the budget work with the revenue projected.

“We are looking at around $32 billion in revenue. That is the number we are working off of,” Durkin said. “I believe before increasing that revenue level, we will stay in session … The decisions will be hard over the next two months.”

He said the state has averaged about $32 billion in revenue for the past four years and doesn’t see a need for that revenue to increase just to meet expenditures. He said the state needs to get its fiscal house in order.

Durkin said he does not believe Rauner will rush to craft a budget just so lawmakers can head home by June.

“It could be a long summer,” the Western Springs lawmaker said. “I am really not sure how everything is going to play out. We are responsible for some big decisions.”

According to Durkin, Rauner and other Republican leaders will not sign off on a new budget before there are significant business reforms in place.

Social service agencies that rely on state funding could be in dire straits, Durkin said, noting that difficult financial decisions need to be made by state leaders. He said just because an agency has gotten state funding in the past does not mean it will get funding now.

“The world has changed in Springfield,” Durkin said.

Worried social service leaders have been parading to Durkin’s Burr Ridge office to make their case. He said he averages three or four meetings with social service agency representatives every other day.

“I will continue to meet with them, but I tell them all that difficult decisions are coming,” Durkin said. “I tell them that they need to have a plan B and a plan C. Everything is on the table right now … If we don’t cut now, the costs on the back end are going to be much greater. The way we get out of all this is by concentrating on our finances.”
He said before lawmakers turn to another revenue stream, such as a service tax, leaders of both parties are going to have to be shown that the budget cannot work without additional revenue.

“As a last resort, we may look at something like a service tax,” Durkin said. “I personally believe we are going to have a budget with about $32 billion or $33 billion in revenue for the state.”

Durkin said Rauner has already proven his leadership. When Rauner came into office, he inherited a $1.6 billion deficit, Durkin noted, and filled that gap without taking on any additional new debt.

“You’ve seen the commercials. He is very direct,” Durkin said of Rauner. “He is a tough leader. He is a strong leader.”

Durkin said Rauner is willing to make the decisions to get the state back on the right track financially.

“He has said he is fine being a one-term governor if that means doing what it takes to get the state turned around,” Durkin said.

The House Minority leader said he has never seen a governor – Republican or Democrat – as willing to listen to individuals about issues.

“This governor spends every day with Republican and Democratic Senate and House members,” Durkin said. “He has breakfast with them. Often, dinner with them too.”

The lawmaker thanked the business leaders present for keeping their companies in Illinois.

“A lot have left,” Durkin said. “Be persistent. Be involved with your chambers. They do an excellent job, being resourceful and with state lobbying.”