It’s the end of July and the state is still looking for a path forward on a balanced budget. Today Senate President John Cullerton called on the Governor to introduce a new budget.

He says the original spending plan submitted by the administration was nearly $6 billion out of balance when you removed savings that were only perceived and could not be counted on.

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Cullerton says the original spending plan submitted by the administration was nearly $6 billion out of balance and cuts to working class families and programs to the poor were going nowhere.

[audio:7231584406-CULLERTON2.mp3] [/audio]

The Governor’s office responded with an emailed statement saying in part Cullerton’s view of a balanced budget is a budget that makes no spending reforms, no pension reform and only raises taxes.