State Rep. Dan Brady believed the governor offered a "very difficult budget" Thursday afternoon. (WJBC file photo)

By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMINGTON – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has laid out his budget plan.

Higher education, pensions for new employees, and money for municipalities all take a hit.

State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) offered his reaction.

"I believe he's brought forth a very difficult budget from the standpoint of trying to balance a budget," said Brady. "This may be the reality of a proposed balanced budget that we've seen in quite some time. That's not going to come without sacrifice, not going to come without cuts and reductions."

Rauner proposed a 3 percent cut to funding for local governments. State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) said that's just a fraction of the "total amount of surplus resources that they each have."

"I think his rational is, they'll do better if we do better," said Bill. "For us to do better we need to right our financial position and this is an area where we can maybe work together to make that work."

Bill said the proposals made by the governor are difficult.

"I look forward to working with my local communities to see what this impact will be," Bill said.

Podcast: Listen to Bill Brady's full conversation with WJBC.

Dan Montgomery with the Illinois Teacher’s Federation said he was astonished by Rauner's budget.

"That he would layout such dramatic and hurtful cuts to just about every form of the public here in Illinois without asking for one dime from the wealthiest Illinoisans or from corporations is, to me, unthinkable and unconscionable," said Montgomery. "Some of what he laid out is even illegal."

Illinois State University President Larry Dietz said the budget proposed by Rauner will cut the school's state appropriations by 31 percent.

"There's a lot that makes up our overall budget, but the state part of that has only been 18 percent here-to-for," said Dietz. "So to cut that by a third when it's already not a big figure would be pretty devastating for us."

Dietz said he fears if the cut is made tuition rates will go up much more than what anyone had anticipated.

"Our other fear is that would add to the percentage of students who might try to pursue their college education outside of the state," Dietz said.

Dietz added Illinois already ranks second in the country in the percentage of students that leave the state for college.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].
Terry James contributed to this story and can be reached at [email protected].