“This budget contains truths that may not be what you want to hear,” the governor, a Democrat. told the Democratic-controlled legislature in Springfield. “But these are truths that you do need to know.” The proposal would eliminate two prisons and close 60 state offices and facilities, resulting in more than 1,100 layoffs and saving Illinois about $88.9 million, according to budget documents. Mr. Quinn also said he would cut his own office’s budget by 9 percent next year and asked other state offices to do the same. “Today, our rendezvous with reality has arrived,” he said. It has, it seems, been coming for a while, as the state’s unpaid bills have mounted and reports of its underfinanced state pension and Medicaid systems have grown ever more alarming. But while the governor spoke about the need for cuts in the Medicaid and pension systems, some critics said his proposals did not go far enough or provide specific steps to reduce the state’s unfinanced liabilities. Even with cuts in discretionary spending, Mr. Quinn’s $33.8 billion proposed budget is still larger than the budget passed the last fiscal year, and would require pension and Medicaid changes to ease the state’s financial woes, which grew again this year to total about $8 billion in unpaid bills. “It’s a little disconcerting that we would spend more money than we spent the year before,” said Matt Murphy, a Republican state senator. For years, Illinois has watched its debt climb, largely as a result of increasing pension costs, which Mr. Quinn pegged at about $5.2 billion this year — triple what they cost in 2008. In his speech, he announced that a working group would study the issue and deliver recommendations this spring.
