Lawmakers have still not announced when they'll return to the Capitol to sort out a state budget, but a political science expert doesn't expect a decent resolution to the state's budget crisis.
Lawmakers are taking a break after failing to pass a budget by their May 7 adjournment date.
University of Illinois at Springfield professor emeritus Kent Redfield says that "deadline" was artificial, and should never have been set. He says the fact that lawmakers put it on the calendar, then didn't make it, makes them look like "the gang that couldn't shoot straight." Redfield expects lawmakers to cobble together a budget that'll get them through November, then try to pass an income tax hike after vulnerable lawmakers get through the election.
Redfield says there's no way to get out of the budget mess without a tax hike, massive cuts, borrowing, and at least four years of allowing the economy to heal.
Redfield's comments were featured in a Illinois Radio Network report on May 18, 2010.
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