On July 1, Gov. Pat Quinn announced what he says will amount to approximately $1.4 billion in budget cuts. Or, did he?

As State Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine) said, the cuts were "a lot more fiction, I think, than fact."

While the Governor said he intends to reduce state spending by $1.4 billion, his veto message really only cut $155 million from the budget sent to him – less than one half of one percent. Everything else relies on mostly unspecified promises the Governor made.

Though supportive of any plan to scale back state expenditures in the face of a $13 billion budget deficit, Senate Republicans remain skeptical that Quinn has the resolve to make his proposed cuts.

Last year, the Governor similarly promised to cut $1 billion from the state budget, and even produced a list of cuts that he planned to make. Yet most of those budget reductions were never implemented, and in fact Quinn managed to overspend by $2 billion—and increase Illinois’ backlog of bills from $4 billion to $6 billion.

During his mid-morning press conference, Quinn advocated for both a tax increase and additional borrowing as a way to dig Illinois out of its budget quagmire. Quinn also said that he introduced an Executive Order directing state agencies to make substantial spending cuts in areas including travel, transportation, leasing, etc.

Ironically, the same day Quinn announced his budget cuts—while touting his commitment to spending reform and reductions—union employees, who represent almost 90 percent of all state employees under the Governor’s control, received the first of four raises that they are to receive over the next year.

Just days before the February 2010 primary election, Governor Quinn finalized a union agreement granting workers an 8 percent pay increase between July 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011.

Additionally, though the agreement advanced optional employee furloughs, under the contract negotiated by Quinn, if employees take two furlough days, they then receive a third paid day off.

Senate Republican lawmakers say that there is a marked difference between cuts made by a governor who wants a tax increase, and a governor who is trying to live within the state’s means. Quinn has built two budgets around his belief that taxes must be increased, and consequently has failed to develop clear strategies or policies to reduce the cost and size of state government.

Republicans, business and community organizations, and public policy think tanks have cautioned for years that state government must be restructured. They’ve offered common sense solutions to address the monetary bleeding and improve Illinois’ fiscal health, but the Governor has failed to pursue these budget reductions or cost savings in any notable way.

As the state moves forward, Senate Republicans are anxious to see whether Quinn is taking action to manage spending—or building support for his tax increase.