SPRINGFIELD - The new president of the Illinois Senate isn't closing the door on a possible tax hike to help cure the state's financial woes.

Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat who took the reins from retiring Senate President Emil Jones, said Wednesday that some kind of tax hike might be considered in the coming year.

"We have to have everything on the table and I'm not ruling out any tax increases," Cullerton said.

Cullerton's comments came on the first day of the new General Assembly. Already, there are rumblings among rank-and-file lawmakers about other ways to raise revenues, including a cigarette tax hike and an increase in the state's gasoline tax.

The state faces a major decrease in revenue and a massive backlog of unpaid bills. In his acceptance speech to the Senate, Cullerton said the state can't cut its way out of its fiscal situation.

"We must pay our bills and we must pay them on time," Cullerton said.

Before any tax hike will be considered, Cullerton said the state first needs to assess whether the federal government will be helping cash-strapped states because that could affect the state budget.

The new leader of the Senate Republicans said the GOP believes a major tax hike isn't needed.

"I will tell you the Republicans will not support a general tax increase, like an income tax," said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont. "I don't know that we're going to go down that road."

She didn't, however, rule out support of some other, smaller targeted tax increase.

"We've got plenty of time to figure out the nuances of how we're going to solve this budget crisis," Radogno said.