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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Illinois Radio Network) — Some state lawmakers are hoping for a federal bailout to help balance the state’s budget while others want to reopen the economy to limit losses.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said Friday she expects significant revenue shortfalls based on initial projections.

“People aren’t shopping, people aren’t working, those sources of state revenue are drying up,” she said.

Cassidy said some projections put the budget deficit at more than $7 billion. She said budgeteers will look at two scenarios: One with a graduated income tax up for voters to decide this november and a spending plan without a graduated income tax.

The state’s comptroller recently reported Illinois’ unfunded liabilities reached $197 billion for the fiscal year that ended last summer. With the cash crunch from the pandemic, state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said the outlook is bleak.

“And we just came out of the [former Gov. Bruce] Rauner years where we had budget impasses and huge problems,” Steans said. “This well surpasses the challenges we had during that period.”

It’s unclear if Congress will provide states with additional funding unrelated to COVID-19 costs. Illinois Senate Democrats requested more than $40 billion to help cover things such as state and local pensions.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he supports seeking more federal funds to plug state and local government budget shortfalls.

“And it looks like there is real support on the Republican side [of Congress] and near unanimous support on the Democratic side for support for the states, and I would say near unanimous support by governors for support for states,” Pritzker said.

State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, said he can’t imagine taxpayers in other states would want to “bail out the crooks and the criminals and the misspending.”

“First of all it’s an insult to the people that have already fled Illinois to make them think that they have to come back here with their tax money and pay for the problems that they fled from,” he said.

Caulkins said the answer is to reopen and grow the state’s economy.

State Rep. Blain Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said there is an easy solution to the state’s revenue problems: Open the state’s economy back up.

“We weren’t in a good situation before, we’re in a terrible situation now and the governor needs to realize that,” Wilhour said.

Pritzker has said he wants to open the economy up, but says he’s relying on scientific advice from health experts to open up safely.

By GREG BISHOP for THE ILLINOIS RADIO NETWORK