Gov. Pat Quinn said he plans to cut the state's Medicaid spending by $2 billion as a painful but necessary way to attack the state's budget crisis.

He also echoed state House Speaker Michael Madigan's call for suburban and Downstate school districts to start contributing to their teachers' pensions instead of letting the state pick up the whole tab.

Will those school boards have to raise property taxes?

"No - not necessarily," Quinn said following a speech to the City Club of Chicago. "We can phase things in over a period of time."

Last year Quinn proposed cutting the state's Medicaid budget by $600 million. The state Senate cut that to $300 million and in the House of Representatives, "Democrats and Republicans banded together and announced they would take ‘zero percent'," Quinn said. He plans to triple down and try for a bigger cut.

What exactly will he cut?

Quinn said he would spell that out in his budget address in two weeks. But it involves changing the state's Medicaid program into a "wellness system" instead of a "provider payment system," he said. The problem he faces is that cuts to Medicaid can mean cuts to federal matching funds.