Week of June 9th, 2009

     Last week, although there was no session in Springfield, the four caucus leaders continued to meet with governor Quinn in an attempt to iron out an agreement  to finalize a FY10 budget for the state.  The only budget that passed both the House and Senate is now in limbo due to a motion made by Senate President John Cullerton to reconsider the Senate vote on that budget bill. 

     Reports from the leaders meeting seem to support the fact that we might be a long way from an agreement on what to do to provide Illinois citizens with the best possible spending plan for FY10.  Many reported that the talks went well and there is agreement that Illinois is facing a very difficult budget.  The problem is that there seems to be a philosophical difference in what the best approach is to solve the problem.  Minority Leaders tom Cross and Chris Radogno want to see some reforms to state spending before moving forward that are meeting with some resistance thus far.

     Governor Quinn has proposed a fifty percent increase in the personal income tax along with a slight increase in the corporate income tax.  He also is proposing that the state underpay the calculated payment to the state pension systems by about $2 billion.  There are no major cuts in spending proposed as part of his budget and there has not been an agreement on what types of pensions modernizations that would take place to begin to justify a reduced pension payment.  In addition, there have been no proposals agreed on to reform the state’s growing Medicaid spending.
     It is obvious to me that the Speaker also does not agree with Quinn’s budget approach.  If Speaker Madigan wanted Governor Quinn’s proposal to pass, it would have had the 60 votes needed prior to May 31st.  After all, his Democratic majority has 70 votes, more than enough to pass the increase.  In my seven years in the General Assembly, Speaker Madigan has never failed to put enough votes on any legislation that he really wants to pass. 

     I believe the Speaker also agrees that there must be reforms to the pension system and Medicaid before we commit more state resources to the budget.  In fact, he supported one version of a pension reform bill proposed by the governor.  That measure was deeply flawed though and the Speaker knew that as well. After more work is done in that area, the Speaker will likely support reforms.

     I truly believe the correct approach would be to allow the pension task force to work and make recommendations regarding the correct way to make changes to the state’s pension system benefit structure so that real saving could result in a lower obligation.  Then, it is imperative that we make reforms to Medicaid or the cost of that system will make all other parts of government inoperable in years to come.  Once we get those two monsters under control, we need to make some serious cuts to some areas of state spending.

     When considering cuts, some areas should be off limits.  We must not and should not make cuts to programs for the developmentally disabled, senior citizens or public safety.  We should also make sure that education receives fair funding.  All other programs and costs would be open for deep cuts to ensure that we can fund our priorities. 

     Once those common sense measures take place, you might be surprised how little additional revenue is needed.  There is no questions though that we must fight the urge to simply tax and spend our way out of this fiscal mess, that just does not work.

     Finally, and most importantly, we need to put Illinois back to work.  The governor needs to sign the Capital spending bill.  That legislation provides revenue to pay for the spending programs and will put thousands back to work in Illinois.  We then need to follow the lead of job producing states and make Illinois attractive to business and industry.  We have spent the past six years making Illinois a difficult place for business and industry to move into.  Our worker’s compensation system is more costly by far than state’s surrounding us as are our unemployment costs.  We need to look at reforms to those systems in order to stay competitive in a global job market.  The real way out of this dismal fiscal situation is to see jobs created though and that should be a top priority for Illinois.  Funny thing is it was not mentioned much at all this spring.

     There were many other important pieces of legislation passed this spring that I will cover in the coming weeks.  I will also keep you updated as the budget process unfolds. 
Please keep in contact with me as well.   You can e-mail me at reddyunit1@aol.com or phone 618-563-4128, 217-558-1040 or write to me at 125 South Main Street, Hutsonville, IL  62433 or 222-N Stratton Building, Springfield, IL  62706.  I look forward to hearing from you.