* Mark Brown…
Sen. Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat, offered an appropriately sober assessment of the six-month stopgap state budget deal the Legislature approved Thursday.
Trotter, who helped craft the long overdue spending plan, advised his fellow lawmakers not to get carried away patting themselves on the back.
“This is just us doing our job. We’re making like it’s a special thing,” Trotter said.
Indeed, after 18 months without any sort of a budget while social service agencies and state universities withered on the vine, it was easy to get overly-excited about the compromise struck by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats to keep the schools open another year and the government barely operating until January.
To that, I plead guilty as charged. In the cold light of day, the road ahead remains daunting for a state stuck in reverse. […]
The governor and the Legislature did their job Thursday, not as well as we might have liked but better than we’ve come to expect. No need to be grateful.
Agreed.
I’m very relieved that this nightmare will end for a few months, but it’s gonna start all over again in November.
* I, too, was impressed with Sen. Trotter’s remarks. Here’s more…
“This isn’t really a stopgap. It’s more like a pressure release valve. We’re allowing people just to breathe a little bit more. But we certainly are not undoing the damage that we’ve done to this state by not working together, by not doing our jobs.
“This is a beginning. We have a long way to go. And we know we have to do it for human services, for K-12, we have to do it for higher education, we have to do it for ourselves. We have a lot of work to do.”
* I asked the SDems yesterday for the raw audio…
- kfc - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:37 am:
I felt all the self-congratulations and sucking up was beyond the pale. Yeah, they made a deal rather than getting tarred, feathered and driven out of town. But what about all the collateral damage along the way? I work in a mental health facility. Some of our clients may never recover from all the narcissism and rigidity displayed by our “leaders.” They cost us big time.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:39 am:
–Indeed, after 18 months without any sort of a budget while social service agencies and state universities withered on the vine, it was easy to get overly-excited about the compromise struck by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats to keep the schools open another year and the government barely operating until January.
The bar has been set at a new low.
Since nothing more is going to happen in the GA until after the election, I’d suggest it would be a good idea to watch how the executive branch spends the money.
Despite what we’ve heard over the last 18 months, the governor’s office is the most powerful in the state, and deciding who gets paid how much and when is one of its many very powerful tools.
Those decisions can still make or break a lot of people.
- Honeybear - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:39 am:
A bit of direct pressure on a gushing wound. It will keep us alive for longer than before.
- kfc - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:41 am:
I felt all the self-congratulations and sucking up was beyond the pale. Yes, they came to a deal but only under threat of being tarred, feathered and driven out of town. No one mentioned all the collateral damage along the way. I work in a mental health facility and some of our clients and many of our programs will never be the same due to the narcissism and rigidity of our “leaders.”
- Delimma - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:44 am:
Everyone keeps talking about compromise, but this really boils down to one side being willing to pass a partial stop-gap budget without demands. We could have had a budget of some sort ages ago, but the conditions placed on a budget were untenable. Now that the conditions are finally removed, we have something.
A lot more can be done, but it shouldn’t require this much pressure to do something constitutionally required. Right?
- Saluki - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:46 am:
It’s not wrong to applaud the light when all has been dark for so long.
- cdog - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 9:53 am:
“I’m very relieved that this nightmare will end for a few months, but it’s gonna start all over again in November.” well said.
Of course there are ideological battles still to play out, with collateral damage that should never be, but, something good did happen this week.
Not perfect, not ideal, not without pain, but I lament there has not been more appreciation for what has just occurred…
Rauner was so backed into a dark alley, he had no choice but to deal. It took awhile, but it happened.
enjoy that fact. at least for a few minutes.
- Norseman - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 10:03 am:
Rauner’s brags that we’ve hit bottom as Moody’s slams most of our universities with a downgrade. No Bruce, so long as you insist on your union-killing poison pills we’ve not hit bottom.
- Honeybear - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 10:11 am:
Well said word. I am super leery that the influx of cash could be used to prosecute a limited labor war to get the blood before the election. The problem with that is that we’re, even with the stopgap, chalk white and in shock. Even a short strike would destroy the labor force.
I have no evidence that Rauner would do this. I just simply don’t trust him and I can’t penetrate the 800 pages of yesterday to tell. He would be the ultimate fool to do it. He might think that fighting the union would be good for Nov. But motivating the 30,000 remaining state workers to canvas for Democrats more than they already are would be lunacy. Also even a limited labor war would lower the remaining workers to an unviable level. Functions of state simply cannot happen if no one is there or critical people leave, retire, or quit. Quit? You have to remember, those long time state workers making a lot of money, especially in Springfield, haven’t the slightest idea how hard it is to get a job out there. I know it sounds like I’m showing our vulnerability but still labor unrest would collapse us. I’d love to hear how many have retired in the last 18 months.
I’m glad we finally got some direct pressure on the wound. But we are still bleeding out in multiple areas. The state workforce is one area that doesn’t even have direct pressure. We’ve got too many Chiefs and not enough sailors.
- Formerly Known As... - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 10:19 am:
Well said by Sen Trotter, @Saluki and others.
There is a lot to dislike in this compromise, but it is what was =doable= now. With any luck, this agreement was just the beginning.
- Anon221 - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 10:23 am:
Honeybear- This was kind of buried the last few days. As a reminder- Rauner field an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiffs in this case.
https://edsource.org/2016/supreme-court-denies-rehearing-of-friedrichs-v-cta-lawsuit-on-union-dues/566268
- Fairness and Fairness Only - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 10:37 am:
Well said. There is still much work to be done. Take a minute, enjoy the moment, but don’t brag that the work is done when it’s not.
- Honeybear - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 11:05 am:
Thanks Anon221, I had seen this. My facebook friend list is pretty extensive with the labor social media activism I’ve been doing and I got notice the second it happened. I’m sure Rauner was upset about it.
- RNUG - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 11:17 am:
I would liken this temporary budget to plugging the life support back in for a critical patient … but with the caveat that Rauner still expects to perform some additional amputation (pension “reform”, union decimation) before he will agree to provide the needed medicine (additional revenue) to actually start the healing process.
- Huh? - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 11:20 am:
“No Bruce, so long as you insist on your union-killing poison pills we’ve not hit bottom.”
Unfortunately, I do not see the GOP members of the GA growing a spine and telling 1.4% his agenda is a non starter and that won’t support it.
I fear that the stop gap budget is just a cease fire to the war for Illinois.
Much remains the same, no AFSCME contract, social services and higher education are on life support. 1.4% insists his agenda is what is needed.
- Anon221 - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 11:23 am:
RNUG- The debate will continue to be who was the first one in the room to trip over the cord and pull the plug in the first place. The “Power of Attorney” over the patient fight is going to get rough.
- Go Huskies - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 11:29 am:
They passed a spending bill, without revenue to pay for it. While the state is better off than it was a week ago, spending more is only an accomplishment if you set the bar quite low.
- No Sense - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 11:56 am:
This stopgap budget for 6 months is just to get past the November elections that the people go out and vote. Same boat come the new year.
- Boone's is Back - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 1:05 pm:
Trotter hits the nail on the head
- Anon - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 3:04 pm:
From yesterday:
==Human Services
Covers 65% of full funding for the 18 month period==
So for parity that looks like a 35% pay cut for legislators.
- Oswego Willy - Friday, Jul 1, 16 @ 3:39 pm:
Leader Trotter,
Your remarks are the siren your colleagues should hear, and your credibility allows that siren to be loud and true.
Thank you for giving these votes and these measures the proper framing in the big picture list on those concentrating on the myopic.
I respect, very much, how you went about your business here. Respect, but not suprised. Well done.
Oswego Willy