This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 29, 2009 - Despite the dire straits of Illinois finances, Gov. Patrick Quinn was in a holiday mood as he called for a 10-day break from sales taxes this summer while parents prepare their kids for school.
But he did not go far enough. We need another kind of respite - from the perpetual pandering, chronic partisanship, fiscal flim-flam, overpromising and underperforming that have brought a great state to its knees.
As Quinn and lawmakers deal with a budget crisis of inconceivable magnitude during the next few months, they should:
- Give the next generation priority over the next election.
- Level with Illinoisans about the hemorrhaging state coffers and forthrightly articulate the options on spending reductions and revenue increases.
- Neither initiate nor expand programs until the state reclaims solid footing.
- Scour every sector - including traditionally sacrosanct education, health care, public safety and pensions - for efficiencies.
- Set priorities that serve the truly needy, especially children, but draw sharp distinctions between essential programs and those that are worthy yet dispensable.
- Reform and fully fund the public pension systems.
- Resist using one-time revenues for ongoing expenditures.
- Develop a combination of tax and fee hikes to fully, fairly and intelligently address the need for billions in new revenues even if it means riling potent voting blocs, interest groups and campaign contributors.
- Make Illinois more business friendly by enacting reforms, including in the workers' compensation program, while asking employers to share in the revenue injection required to stanch a tide of red ink.
- Tackle the daunting challenges in bipartisan fashion.
All of this is much easier to enumerate than to enact. But we have reached a moment where anything less than extraordinary leadership is unacceptable.
Our new governor gave us glimpses of such leadership as he unveiled his budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. He called for a significant income tax increase. He proposed dramatic reforms to bridle runaway pension programs. He advocated using billions in revenues from the federal stimulus package to pay long overdue bills from Medicaid providers - an excellent use of one-time revenues for one-time expenditures if he and lawmakers also impose cost-containment measures, principally managed care, to avoid future backlogs.
But Quinn showed no real inclination to brave pushback from powerful health-care interests, and he exempted education from any real spending scrutiny. He also advocated using projected long-term savings from pension reforms to diminish current payments into the system - a Rod Blagojevich ploy that should have joined the evicted governor on the scrapheap.
Moreover, Quinn flashed his strong populist streak by attacking so-called tax "loopholes" for businesses when he was largely referring to policies approved by previous chief executives and lawmakers to make Illinois more competitive in enticing and keeping companies here - a still worthy objective given that the state has been among five in the nation to lose jobs over the last decade, according to federal reports.
To be sure, Republican lawmakers could seize this opportunity to advance proposals they have championed to improve the business climate and control government spending. But they must be willing to join the Democratic legislative majorities in supporting potentially unpopular revenue increases and spending reductions instead of sitting on the sidelines, blaming Democrats for the mess and hoping voters in 2010 will view them as the solution even though they neglected the problem. At the same time, Democrats must be open to partnering with Republicans instead of using their muscle to pulverize them.
The cynics will say it cannot happen. But the worst of times might just bring out the best in our leaders.
Mike Lawrence retired Nov. 1, 2008, as director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. He is returning to his journalism roots as a twice-monthly columnist.