After a year of insisting Illinois should raise taxes, Gov. Pat Quinn is set to propose a new budget that would leave tax rates untouched. Instead, he’ll address the state’s massive deficit mostly by borrowing money and letting bills go unpaid.
But top aides hint that he will also present higher taxes as an alternative to the deep cuts in social services that would be likely if state government continues letting bills pile up.
‘‘He’s not included a tax increase in this budget, and that’s a conversation that has to happen,’’ his chief of staff, Jerome Stermer, said Tuesday.
Letting more bills simply pile up could be disastrous for those who need help with child care, job training, services to the elderly, drug counseling and more.
The local organizations the state hires to provide those services, which are already struggling to survive, could go under if they don’t get paid.
‘‘It’s a question of whether the creditors that we owe money to can actually stay in business or whether they’ll collapse,’’ said Quinn budget director David Vaught.
For more on this story, pick up a print copy of the Wednesday edition of the Daily American.
