Quinn¿s Budget Cuts Education, More

Chicago - Governor Pat Quinn's proposed budget includes cuts to education, police, and child care.

The governor will release his plan to cut a $13 billion deficit on Wednesday.

It includes a $1.3 million decrease in education spending. The Sun-Times reports that would mean 17,000 teachers could get cut.

Quinn will also propose cutting $32 million from the state police, which means fewer troopers on the roads.

Another $150 million would be trimmed from human services, including child care for the working poor.

The governor also wants to cut off $300 million in funding to local governments.

He'll also propose borrowing money to pay some of the state's bills, which are long overdue.

A spokesman for Quinn says the proposed cuts will still leave Illinois $5 billion in debt.
Quinn is expected to ask for an income tax hike to fill that gap.

Quinn is also reviewing more than 250 government contracts made under former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

He wants to see if they need to be reduced or re-bid.

The plan is to examine all big money contracts that were issued before January of last year, which include everything from health care for state employees to food for prisoners.

Pension Trouble

A new report by the Civic Federation shows the generous pensions paid to police, firefighters, teachers and politicians are threatening to bankrupt the state.

The federation says every single person living in the City of Chicago now owes more than $5,800 to fund the pension system.

The current city pension system is now $18.5 billion in debt.

The federation wants to raise the retirement age for benefits to 67, require workers to pay more into the system and require employees to work longer before becoming eligible for benefits.