“Couldn’t Put Illinois Together Again…”
Less than a week ago, the Illinois Comptroller Susana
Mendoza reminded all of us that since its inclusion into the Union the state of
Illinois has never undergone a single year without a budget. Since the inauguration of the Rauner
administration in Springfield, the state has had no fiscal budget for going on
three years now.
Rauner calls this a “dereliction of duty.”
It’s more than that.
“Seniors will
continue to lose meals on wheels and in-home care. People experiencing mental
illness will be denied treatment. Survivors of domestic violence and sexual
abuse will be left without services vital for their safety and well-being. The list of suffering
goes on.
The providers of
these services have exhausted their funding options, including their reserves,
lines of credit and grants from angel donors. Most have received no state
payments since last fall. They simply cannot survive; a rash of new closings
will likely occur; the state’s social service infrastructure will continue to
erode. Meanwhile, a number of school districts across the state are facing the
reality that they might not be able to start school on time in the fall.
Moreover, Illinois
will also continue its tumble deeper into debt, building on its mountain of
unpaid bills, and falling into junk bond status—a crisis that threatens the
long-term health of the entire state.”
The downgrades to Illinois’ bond ratings continue. Now we have approached junk-status.
Under Governor Pat Quinn there were nearly as many
downgrades as for Rauner, but Quinn’s were the result of unfunded liabilities –
NOT self-inflicted wounds as a result of forced impasses. Did Rauner really expect a Democratic
Majority in both houses to buckle under his demands or else?
Or else what?
Creating unimagined suffering for the marginalized and infirm? Razing the universities’ educational systems
and funding? Snowballing a stockpile of
unpaid bills into an Everest of nearly $15 billion, which will drain successive
general revenues for decades? Shaping a
beast of interest payments, which could have been used for easing real
obligations?
The Responsible Budget Coalition continues: “Fiscal experts from
across the political spectrum—from the Civic Federation to the Civic Committee
of the Commercial Club of Chicago to the Center on Budget and Tax Accountability
to the Fiscal Policy Center at Voices for Illinois Children—all agree that
Illinois must adopt a budget that includes substantial new revenue in order to
get out of this mess.
“The Senate Democrats should be commended for voting for
substantial new and permanent revenue. But too many of our elected
officials lack the courage and honesty to support what they all know is
needed.”
And, yet, the Senate Leader Cullerton reminds us all, “He hijacked the grand bargain in the
middle of the process. Told the Republicans to vote no and didn't give the
support and the same thing happened in the House and as a result we don't have
a budget." (http://abc7chicago.com/politics/gov-rauner-responds-to-state-lawmakers-failing-to-pass-state-budget/2060305/)
Even though offerings of property tax freezes and workmen’s
compensation reform were added. Rauner has disdained these offerings. They “don’t move the needle” enough, he now
says.
“It's well past time to stop making preconditions, pointing
fingers, making excuses, and cynically seeking to gain political advantages.” The Coalition continues: “ And, as we’ve said
since the outset of this impasse, the Governor shouldn’t place more importance
on his non-budget Turnaround Agenda items than doing his basic duty of
proposing and approving a balanced budget and working to fund vital services
for the state’s most vulnerable citizens.”
Meanwhile, the Governor continues in his Griffin-sponsored run
for office in 2018, splicing together a fallacious argument on the broken
government he leads in his faux workshop with reams of duct tape.
The current backlog of bills is nearly half of General Revenue
with a tax increase. How many years and
what size tax increase will be necessary once Rauner is gone? What kind of payments will we all make to
amend this disaster?
Feeling marginalized yourself?
Resist, Illinois.
No comments:
Post a Comment