IDOT Roadwork To Shut Down Without Budget, Rauner Calls For Special Session

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Summer construction season is in full swing, but it may soon be interrupted. All projects could be paused next month due to lack of funding, as Governor Bruce Rauner Thursday called for a special legislative session to pass a budget plan he supports.

The Illinois Department of Transportation blames the General Assembly, saying it has to shut down roadwork statewide if the General Assembly does not pass a budget by the end of the month. IDOT has already begun notifying contractors that it will no longer be able to pay them starting July 1.

"All work shall cease except for maintenance of existing traffic controls, maintenance of erosion and sediment controls and such efforts that will secure conditions of danger to the highway system," according to a letter sent to those working on state-funded projects.

The nearly two-year budget impasse threatened to halt roadwork last year as well, until a temporary 6-month funding bill passed in the final hours secured roadwork funding.

IDOT is hopeful a budget will pass and is working through the process with the safety of the public as its top priority, communications director Guy Tridgell told the Chicago Sun-Times.

If no budget is passed by next month, analysts say Illinois' bond rating is likely to be downgraded to junk status due to lawmakers' inability to pass a budget and the $14.5 billion in unpaid bills owed by the state, according to the paper.

In a video announcement, Rauner asked state lawmakers to come back to Springfield for a special 10-day session from June 21 to the end of the fiscal year on June 30. He said he hopes a majority of the General Assembly would accept what he described as a "true compromise."

“Republicans in the General Assembly have laid out a compromise budget plan that I can sign,” Rauner said. “It provides a true path to property tax reduction, and it reforms the way our state operates to reduce wasteful spending. It will fund our schools and human services while spurring economic growth and job creation."

House and Senate Republicans announced a plan to end the budget crisis Wednesday. It includes about $1.3 billion less than the proposal that passed through the Senate at the end of the session in May, according to the State Journal-Register. Republicans said they will go along with tax increases to balance the budget if Democrats accept some of their reform ideas, including term limits, pension changes and a four-year property tax freeze.

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), issued a statement calling on the Governor and the House to "finish the job."

“I want to remind everyone that the Illinois Senate approved a balanced budget. Not just any budget, but the budget Governor Rauner introduced," Cullerton said. "We held spending to the exact level he wanted, kept the tax rate that he asked for, cut $3 billion in spending and ultimately eliminated the nearly $5 billion deficit in his proposed budget."

House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) has said the Governor's insistence on linking the passage of a budget to a series of other issues is unacceptable.

“House Democrats will continue our work on the budget from Springfield, but as Governor Rauner has met each of our attempts to date with refusal, it’s clear that the onus is on the governor to show that he is finally serious about working in good faith to end the crisis he has manufactured," Madigan said Thursday.

In addition to IDOT stopping all roadwork projects, the Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games will no longer be offered after July 1 because of the budget crisis, as the nonprofit Multi State Lottery Association threatened to drop Illinois from the group if it fails to pass a budget.