The mess we’re in
Monday, May 10, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Writing a weekly syndicated column with a Friday afternoon deadline is tough during end-of-session week (or, as it turned out to be “pause-of-session” week). But I had a pretty good idea where things were heading for a few days: Right onto the rocks. So, here it is…
One of the things that became crystal clear last week during the Illinois Senate’s debate over a new state budget was that Democratic legislative leaders have completely broken the budget-making process.
It’s no big secret that more and more power has been concentrated into the hands of the leaders, the House speaker and the Senate president. And now they have it all.
Long gone are the days when the appropriations committees had any input. Also vanished is the “budgeteers” system, when appropriations chairmen and experts from each caucus would sit down to hash out the budget’s details. Instead, all of the work now is being done by staff at the leaders’ absolute direction.
As a consequence, senators barely had any idea about what they were voting for last week when they approved a budget along party lines. The committee hearing before the vote provided precious few details and instead revolved around partisan bickering over a Democratic maneuver solely designed to embarrass the Republicans. Republicans repeatedly denounced the budget process as far too rushed and wholly untransparent, and they were right.
This was without a doubt the most top-down, opaque budget ever produced under the Statehouse dome. The Democrats and Republicans couldn’t even agree on whether spending increased or dropped next fiscal year because there was so little time to analyze the data, and the legislation itself is so obtuse that analysis was made extremely difficult, if not impossible.
The granting of the governor huge new budget powers in a different bill was at the root of that analysis problem. He’s supposed to make most of the cuts, and nobody really knows how much he actually will slash.
The legislation included a 5 percent reduction in personnel and operations lines, but Gov. Pat Quinn would be given the power to hold back even more spending and make major changes to state-mandated programs with the stroke of a pen. Nobody knows how far he will go, so it’s impossible to say just what the final spending level will be.
And then the stinking disaster moved to the House, where liberal independents were upset at the way things were going. Many wanted to see a vote on a tax hike; some wanted cuts. Almost nobody wanted to vote for anything.
The liberal independents were grumbling about “sending a message” by withholding their support, but even they would have to admit that nothing much will improve no matter how much more time they’d take and that things will only get worse for their cherished programs if the session went into overtime and the Republicans got a seat at the table.
There’s no way that a tax hike will pass this month. Even the lib indies had to comprehend that cold, hard fact. The House Democratic recalcitrants have proposed almost no cuts themselves and probably wouldn’t support many if they actually were on the table.
Stomping their feet and demanding they be delivered from this nightmare without coming up with a realistic, doable, passable alternative looked more like the actions of spoiled children who’ve been shielded from unpleasant realities all their lives more than like legislators. They let their big daddy (House Speaker Michael Madigan) run things all year without uttering a single word, and now he set the table with one of the most unpalatable spreads ever and they wanted to hold their breath until they turned blue. Nice timing.
Of course, the Republicans are no better. Several whined last week that recommendations from groups like the Illinois Policy Institute weren’t included in the Democratic budget plan. But not one person from that side of the aisle bothered to turn those budget ideas into an actual piece of legislation. The reason is obvious. Not even the Republicans were willing to go on record supporting such radical cuts.
Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) rightly pointed out last week that Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, had introduced an appropriations bill at the beginning of the year. Instead of turning that bill into an alternative GOP budget, Brady gave up his sponsorship. The House Republican caucus proposed a little more than $5 billion in budget cutting “suggestions” earlier this year, but almost all of it was based on a ridiculous and fiscally impossible scheme to use nonexistent dollars from the capital construction plan to fund the budget. And when the House Republican higher-ups realized what they’d done, they backed away from it entirely.
What a mess this state is in.
* And your big budget bust-up roundup…
* Illinois’ lawmakers paralysis on budget driven by dysfunction, election: “It was another gimmicky bill that was hastily put together and designed to get us out of Springfield and give the governor unprecedented powers to spend (money) as he saw fit with little input from Democratic legislators,” complained Rep. Marlow Colvin, D- Chicago, former chairman of the House Black Caucus, echoing the unhappiness of other minority members. Another bloc of Democratic lawmakers, progressives, also complained that Quinn’s emphasis on maintaining adequate funding for education masked the need to improve human services funding, even though ensuring proper dollars for schools arguably plays better to independent and moderate suburban voters.
* State legislators leave Capitol at a standstill: State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat, said it would have been “premature” to rush a budget through this week when significantly more time remains for action. “We can always develop a better budget if we work a little bit more and get a little more input,” she said.
* Quinn: Ill. lawmakers ‘pretty close’ on budget: Gov. Pat Quinn said Saturday that lawmakers are “pretty close” to passing a new state budget but offered no explanation for his optimism or even why he now backs a budget that rejects his top legislative priority: a tax increase… “We’re pretty close,” Quinn said. “I think it’s healthy to have a robust debate and discussion this month on the budget, and ultimately they’ll be a vote, certainly before the end of the month.”
* Illinois Democrats Predict State Budget by June
* House fails to act on budget: The GOP’s choice for governor, state Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), said debt-heavy budget plans put before lawmakers Friday were the handiwork of “incompetence on the second floor,” referring to Quinn’s Statehouse office. “I will proudly take credit for stopping the Democrats from digging a deeper hole of debt, placing a burden on our children and grandchildren,” Brady said. “Someone’s got to stand up and be responsible.” Quinn shot back at Brady, accusing him of putting gubernatorial grandstanding ahead of the state’s neediest residents. “He wants to spend money, but he doesn’t want to vote for the funding. He was over here trying to cause chaos,” Quinn said, “and he’s not going to get away with it.”
* The blame game: “A year ago, we said to you, ‘Yes, we will participate in a borrowing plan,’” Cross said. “The problem of today versus a year ago is we said to the governor, ‘Governor, we’re going to give you a chance, we have a new governor, a fresh start, we have some problems.’” But Quinn didn’t live up to House Republicans’ expectations, Cross said. “Our governor needs to lead. Leaders lead. He needs to cut; he needs to control spending; he needs to pay his bills; he needs to provide for job growth and Medicaid reform.”
* Spineless in Springfield: They can’t do right thing
* Profiles in failure
* Our View: Lawmakers fail to set priorities, deal with problems
* Horse track slots plan hits snag
* Bill is still alive to bring slot machines to Fairmount, other Illinois tracks
- TaxMeMore - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 9:56 am:
You say we have “liberal independents” in the GA. I take issue with that phrase. No independent candidate has been able to get on the ballot for the GA since 1980. 30 years. We do not have any type of independent in the GA whatsoever. I get what you mean, I just think you should choose a different term so as not to suggest independents are actually allowed to participate in democratic elections in Illinois.
Try progressive Democrats instead. Or Not in Madigan’s pocket Democrats. Or Cullerton House Democrats. Just don’t use independents, because they are absolutely NOT independents.
Fine column other than that nit pick.
- One of the 35 - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 9:56 am:
George Will often discusses how our system of government is a “representative republic”. That system no longer exists in Illinois. Elected officials cannot make informed decisions on behalf of their constituents regarding the budget because it is presented to them at the 11th hour with no real opportunity for input or review. The budget is the single most important policy decision to be made by our elected officials. The logical conclusion to draw from this broken system is that it no longer matters who we elect.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 9:56 am:
No doubt that 1) The Democrats need to open the budgeting process back up, and if they don’t, 2) the Republicans need to have a shadow budgeting process that allows them to model the process they would like as well as they budget they would like.
A pox on both houses.
- Lakefront Liberal - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 9:57 am:
Rich, my understanding of this is neophyte level at best, but wouldn’t we be in a much, much better place right now if the house had passed HB174 last year (the “tax swap bill” if I am remembering the number/name correctly) after it passed in the Senate? Maybe I am too fixated on this but that just seemed like such a rare opportunity to actually, substantivly fix some of this stuff that I just can’t get over that it came and went and nothing happened.
- QC - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 9:58 am:
Save your neck or save your brother
Looks like it’s one or the other
Oh, you don’t know the shape I’m in
-the Band_
- Lakefront Liberal - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:01 am:
Speaking of names — though I understand the point about there being a difference between someone who is actually independent of political party and someone who is alighned with that party but acts independently of the party leadership, I still really appreciate your indetifying these different “strains” of democrat, i.e. the “independent libs” and the “House Democratic recalcitrants”. For those of us who live in places where no republican/green/independent will ever get elected we need to have some way to distinguish between those dems who are part of the problem and those who could be part of a solution.
- jonbtuba - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:03 am:
Both parties need to stop posturing and start working together. That aside, you’d think the GOP would have learned by now that being the party of “no” doesn’t get them anywhere (federal health care, anyone?)
- Anonymous - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:06 am:
I agree with TaxMeMore. In the days before Pat Quinn’s cutback amendments, there were giants in the House, who were true liberal amendments. Nobody in the General Assembly today measures up to Abner Mikva, Tony Scariano, Paul Simon, Woody Bowman, etc.
There’s not one genuine liberal independent left in the General Assembly.
- cassandra - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:07 am:
Well, as a member of the middle class described in
the first morning shorts topic, I guess I can just be grateful that the legislature didn’t raise my income taxes for a few more months. I need all the money I can save for an uncertain economic future, the same uncertain future faced by millions of Illinoisians.
This is especially the case since Quinn seems very confused about whether we need one. For months, an income tax increase was the only way to save the state from fiscal collapse. Now, some of us were skeptical. Quinn kept hiring high-salaried political appointees by the dozen, couldn’t bring himself to fire any but a tiny few Blago appointees, and signed an agreement with the state employees union not to lay off anbody–except a couple hundred already in progress—-until June 2011. How bad could things be. But he said that they were bad, doomsday was around the corner.
And now they aren’t They are “close to a budget” he says cheerily. There is no income tax increase. It’s all ok.
So, which Quinn should we believe? If I voted for him, which Quinn would I be voting for. Which David Vaught?
- Captain Flume - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:12 am:
It would have been a big surprise if the legislature had approved a budget, including both spending and revenue streams, by the May 7 “deadline.” The shortened calendar did accomplish getting other legislation acted upon in, I believe, a more efficient manner.
This all feels orchestrated, though, with lots of behind-the-scenes deliberations taking place and no real forum for the press to gather while the negotiations are taking place. I note that the House is now set to return at noon on May 16, a Sunday. Lou Lang stated in his post-adjournment interview on last Friday that the legislators were not “on vacation” when they are not in Springfield. Many of them, while not on vacation, are probably not doing much but waiting for the the call to let them know what they are going to be expected to vote on when next they meet.
I can’t imagine that the budget will look much different than that presented in the bills that lost in the House on Friday. Most certainly there will be sweeteners to help bring the flock together, but those sweeteners will be offset by the longer-term need to go after a tax increase, even a temporary one, in November. We can be assured that whatever comes up for a vote this month will be tempered with the prime directive of keeping a Democratic majority in the House. Work from that premise to the budget.
- Brennan - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:12 am:
=The logical conclusion to draw from this broken system is that it no longer matters who we elect.=
Ergo, King Madigan. It doesn’t matter who you elect. They all bow and kiss the ring. It doesn’t matter which party they run under.
- Ghost - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:12 am:
We truly live in interesting times
/sigh
- Loop Lady - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:13 am:
Madigan is the problem…if he is re-elected as Chair of IDP,
the Dems are spineless and stupid…
- Aldyth - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:34 am:
We have one state representative who is running Illinois and 117 others who are apparently window dressing. Why are we bothering with elections in those 117 districts when only the results from district 22 means anything?
- Scooby - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:42 am:
Here’s a list of the things the House isn’t for:
- raising taxes
- borrowing $4 billion to make the pension payment
- cutting $4 billion so they can still make the pension payment
- giving the Governor a lump sum and all the power necessary to make the unpopular choices
- being in Springfield
The issue isn’t that they’re not “working together”, it’s that none of them want to vote for anything. Cuts - nope. Revenue - nope. Borrow - nope. Punt it to the Governor - nope.
Go home - yep. You really earned your paycheck on this one boys and girls.
- PalosParkBob - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:43 am:
Lakefront Liberal, raising income taxes would exacerbate the problem, not solve it.
When you follow politcs as long as Rich has, you’ll know that there’s one basic rule in Springfield that will never be broken; the GA will always spemd and entitle a bit more than they take in.
This isn’t just an Illinois failing, it’s a curse of every “bright blue” state.
Look at California for example.They have extraordinarily high and progressive income taxes just like those our legislature would love to enact.
How’s that working out for ‘em?
Despite having what amounted to an unlimited budget, they STILL overspent it and created a spending and entitlement problem that’s the worst in the nation.
Anyone thinking our “sterling” state legislature woudl do any different is just whistling in the dark.
I think the only fair way for this to play out is for the GA to make MASSIVE reforms in entitlements in public pensions, Medicaid, All Kids, public K-12 education, bloated and wasteful state university spending and tuition, Prevailing Wage featherbedding and public employee labor law in Illinois.
Without truly “reinventing” Illinois government, any additonal tax revenues will just be swallowed up by the bureaucracy and we’ll be right back where we are now in very short order.
Fairness demands that we reform this overpriced mess Springfield leadership of both parties have created,then make the public bite the bullet and raise taxes ONLY to pay off bonds for the outstanding overdue bills to contractors and vendors. The income tax would end once the bonds were paid off.
The problem now is that there are many Dems and RINOs that would rather the ship sink than fix the hole that’s drowning the state.
- VanillaMan - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:45 am:
The current office holders have repeatedly revealed to us their inability to do the jobs they were elected to do. Springfield is full of General Assembly failures. They have no more credibility after either paying servitude to either Ryan, Blagojevich, Madigan or Jones for years.
Our current office holders have made deals with devils with the hopes that making those deals would be good for Illinoisans or for their own political careers. They have been proven wrong. They sat on their hands while their leaders corrupted our state. They were silent.
They all have to go this November.
A new General Assembly and a new slate of statewide officials will have more credibility with voters than the current group. As a result, there will be no decisions made by the current group that will be acceptable by a majority of voters. To get this government moving again, we have to throw out these people. Until they are gone, we will have no hope in the Land of Lincoln.
- Confused - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 10:56 am:
Agrees with VanillaMan. I already know I will not be voting for a single incumbant in November. Maybe they can change the ballot for this next election to make this easier. In addition to a straight-party vote, a voter could select “non-incumbants” on the first page and be done.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 11:31 am:
The current gridlock in Springfield is a fair representation of the gridlock in the hearts and minds of the electorate.
Voters don’t want:
- Deep cuts
- Borrowing
- Tax hikes
- Expanded gambling
- Leasing/sale of state assets
Moreover, there’s not any combination of those choices that really sits well with the voters.
If there were a politically feasible solution, Madigan would have passed it already. But $13 billion is a DEEP hole.
I did hear one reasonable solution alluded to by Senator Schoenberg, which is something I’ve been suggesting for two years.
Illinois should restructure its pension payment system to reflect the political and budget reality that during a recession, state government will and must provide first for the care and protection of its residents, and pension payments will necessarily decline.
Instead of ramping up pension payments, we should make them cyclically, overpaying into the system during times of economic growth and reducing payments during times of economic stagnation.
In that way, we basically create a rainy day fund within the pension system.
Speaking of which, whatever happened to the Rainy Day fund?
- PalosParkBob - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 11:42 am:
YDD- They spent on sunny days!
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 11:48 am:
YDD-
Your proposal to have a floating pension payment, dependent on the economy, is a well-reasoned one. Problem is, it depends on having a well-disciplined legislature to enforce it. Based on our past history of underfunding the system whenever convenient, in good times as well as bad, under a 50-year solvency plan that supposedly mandated the payments…
I have no confidence it would work.
IMHO, nothing would work, short of setting up an independent agency that skims the state budget for pension funding, outside of the normal legislative process. And who among our state legislators would vote for that?
- Retired Non-Union Guy - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 12:20 pm:
If I remember correctly, there is already a law on the books saying the first thing that has to be paid out of the GRF is the pension payment, and they don’t do it … to meet the letter of the law, they borrow it when they can. More laws mandating pension payments aren’t going to fix the problem of ignoring the current law …
- He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 1:22 pm:
YDD–
You are right but add to the list:
Con Con 2010
Term Limits
Voting out their Elected Officials.
- steve schnorf - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 1:52 pm:
Rich, I think a big piece of the problem is, it doesn’t matter which political party or philosophy our elected officials are associated with, there are no painless answers to our problem and they are all desperately searching for one. Oh, and we let them get away with it by not bothering to vote intelligently, or in the case of about 70% of us, at all.
- Bubs - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 2:42 pm:
Who can feel sorry for Springfield, Madigan, Cullerton or any Democrats?
They created the Fiscal Dependency Monster. The Monster has quitely munched away for years on all the cash offered to it, getting bigger and bigger all the time.
Now the government is out of cash for feed, the Monster is hungry, and the Monster is getting very angry. The Democrats are between the angry Monster and a fiscal cliff. Which is better, Mr. Speaker, Devourment by Monster this November or the Long Last Ride?
The GOP is doing its best to avoid getting anywhere near this. But ask not, Leader Cross, for whom the Monster roars, it roars for thee.
- Justice - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 4:33 pm:
Career politicians, which is redundant, will always look out for number one first. It has been proven to be the case time and time again. They were raised that way by their lobbyists parents.
Do what is in their best interest first, do what is in their lobbyists friend’s best interest second, and adjourn.
I’m squarely with you VMan…..throw them all out and start over.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 5:11 pm:
@Retired non-union guy -
There is a continuing appropriation for the pension, but it only kicks in if nothing is appropriated for pensions.
@Six degrees -
I agree with you, but a plan that jives more with the political and budgetary realities is more likely to be followed than one that is divorced from reality.
What we have now is like a diet plan for a couch potato that calls for 1 hour of vigorous exercise every day and never eating pizza or ice cream again.
I’m suggesting 30 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week an limiting pizza and ice cream to Fridays and Sundays.
- Capitol View - Monday, May 10, 10 @ 9:29 pm:
I just got back from a week in Paris, and a delightful 3 1/2 days in Venice. It appears that most of the General Assembly should have also left Springfield in early May, for all the responsible budget action taken..
We need to modernize our revenue system, not just raise the current flat rate income tax. And then be able to justify what we spend our tax revenues on. It’s not rocket science, and we shouldn’t have to wait until redistricting elections are over to get to it.
“Vote for me - I’ll make the tough choices on taxes and spending.” I’d vote for this candidate.