Governor signs debt-heavy Illinois budget

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a new Illinois budget that will borrow heavily and let bills go unpaid in order to keep state government running.

The budget leaves out the tax increase Quinn wanted. It also avoids the spending cuts that were considered last month.

Instead, the state will borrow about $3.5 billion to spend on routine government services. Government also will simply not pay about $3.2 billion it owes to businesses.

The budget reduces spending by about $2 billion with more cuts possible later in the year.

Critics say the budget just digs the state deeper into its financial hole.

But Quinn and other supporters argue that it ends a deadlock that threatened to shut down state government.

The vote on the key budget bill was 90-22 in the House and 45-10 in the Senate totals that reflected support from both Democrats and Republicans.

The state's new budget year began July 1 without a budget in place, endangering paychecks for state employees and raising questions for the many contractors and community groups that receive state money.