Management Needed, Not Scare Tactics

We’re hearing a lot of numbers these days, a lot of stories of doomsday coming for state government.   There are some tough choices ahead, but the real truth is that Governor Quinn and the Democrats fumbled the budget process this year. What the Democrats passed gives the Governor an admittedly imperfect budget, one which I voted against.  The budget passed by the General Assembly did nothing to fix systemic problems with our budget process.  It did not cut funding for expensive new programs initiated by Blagojevich fiat.  It rejected shared sacrifice and unfairly targeted human service providers and some of our most vulnerable citizens.  It did not include any of the suggestions from the Republican side of the aisle for reforming areas of state spending that are spiraling out of control.

In spite of its shortcomings and the state’s budget crisis, it is a budget that can work — if the Governor stops his scare-tactic crusade for a tax increase, acts like a leader and manages the state’s finances within the resources we have.

Quinn promised this spring to “cut, cut, cut” state spending.  Instead he now has become the governor wanting to tax, tax, tax.
The governor and his agencies need to justify every dollar they take from the taxpayer.  They need to prioritize, just as every family and every business in Illinois is doing today.

The fiscal 2009 deficit, which stood at $4.2 billion, will be reduced to $2.3 billion in the new fiscal year through revenues from the federal stimulus package, $300 million from dedicated funds and $600 million from a less than perfect bond refinancing scheme.

I believe we can manage that budget, if the administration holds the line on spending, while we undertake a serious and overdue review of the entire revenue and spending priorities of government today.

Those agencies that were fully funded at last year’s levels should hold back 10 percent of their budgets in reserve.  Those services that were funded at 50 percent should limit their spending over the next six months to 90 percent of their appropriation last year.

There will be some sacrifice but that managed spending will allow government to continue to function and serve our most vulnerable populations with fewer layoffs, fewer closings and fewer people left without assistance than what the Governor has been threatening.

Governor Quinn should come back to the General Assembly in the fall with a supplemental budget that recognizes the savings realized through efficiencies, management and prioritization and that uses those savings to fund needed services in other areas of government.

We also need to reform our spending.  Let’s start by reining in spending with a comprehensive look at how and where Illinois spends your tax dollars.  Let’s look at reforming our Medicaid program, where Illinois has lagged behind other states by not instituting a managed care system that reduces costs and increases access to quality health care.  Let’s refinance our debt with a bonding system that spreads the lower cost over time without taking a two-year payment-free holiday that pushes another $600 million on to our children and grandchildren.

Illinois is at a crossroads, our task difficult, and our choices not easy.   But a tax increase that takes billions of dollars out of our economy and hands it to a deep-rooted bureaucracy resistant to change is not the answer.

We can do better, and we must do better for the future of Illinois.

Short-Term Solutions Won’t Fix State’s Budget Crisis

Neither tax and fee increases nor budget cuts alone will solve Illinois’ economic crisis.  Over the last several months we have heard Illinois politicians talk about how to solve Illinois’ budget deficit.  The Governor wrongly takes the short-term approach by proposing to increase taxes by over $2 billion on Illinois families and another $2 billion dollars on Illinois employers. Some argue that we can cut our way out of this.

The systemic solution to our economic crisis should include revenue increases through natural growth and spending reduction.  The biggest failure to date is to realize that Illinois must refocus on job creation, with the higher quality of life and the additional state revenues those jobs will mean for Illinois and our families.

Over the last six years, Illinois has become an out-migration state meaning we have suffered the net effect of more people moving out of Illinois than moving in.  Any business knows that in order to improve you must focus on growth.  Illinois, in spite of our great natural and man-made resources, our geographical center, and our people, has failed to make the case for business investment, costing our citizens over 700,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in revenue to the state each year.

Why?

Because we are a risky high cost-of-doing business state that has let our assets deteriorate.  Risky because of the plaguing corruption that businesses fear will extort them.  We must end play to play and provide our citizens with absolute transparency.

High cost because we tax, fee, and regulate business at levels that carry a higher cost than our surrounding states.  Our taxes and fees speak for themselves.  But the cost of workers compensation, shifting health care, and bureaucratic delays are counterproductive and additional disincentives for Illinois employers in Illinois.

Deteriorating, yes.  Our roads, bridges, and water right-of-ways are a great resource, but our failure to maintain them makes it expensive to transport goods and services.  Unfortunately the newly passed capital plan again focused on tax and fee increases that make our state even more expensive and less appealing to business and individuals.

To solve our economic climate we must resolve ourselves to making Illinois a low cost- of-doing-business state, reducing taxes, fees, and bureaucratic delays so employers can create more good jobs for Illinois workers and a higher quality of life for their families.  Our budget must be balanced but not with the policies of pushing more jobs to neighboring states.  Our short-term solutions include temporary reduction in spending, backed with long-term reforms that eliminate our expensive taxes, fees and bureaucratic delays.

We must build a new Illinois and we would be better off starting today.