Issue Position: Continuing budget stalemate threatens road and bridge maintenance

Issue Position

Illinois' lack of a general funds budget has led to problems in other areas where money is available, particularly capital spending for roads and bridges. In these capital-spending areas, money from taxes other than income and sales taxes are set aside for specific uses defined by law. The largest of these set-asides is money from the per-gallon tax on motor fuel, which is put into the Road Fund and used to rebuild state-maintained roads and bridges.

Governor Rauner and House Republican leaders are calling for the immediate enactment of a "stopgap" road construction bill to maintain the state's transportation program. Contracting crews go out to many locations every summer to perform needed road maintenance. This work continued even after the budget process came to a halt last year. However, the state's legal counsel and accounting staff have now advised that this cannot continue on into FY17. The director of the Illinois Department of Transportation, Randy Blankenhorn, warned at a news conference that his department will be forced to suspend the IDOT construction program at month's end unless money is released before then by law for transfer to contractors.

While Illinois borrowed $550 million on June 16 to meet immediate portions of the capital-infrastructure needs covered by this warning, none of this money can legally be spent without an authorization from the General Assembly.

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