Barbara Flynn Currie.

22 July 2009

News from Springfield..................by State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25)

On July 15 the legislature finally passed and the Governor signed a budget for the current fiscal year. Is it a solid budget, built on strong fiscal principles? Does it, recognizing that these are tough financial times, cut spending as all of us do when resources are in short supply? Will it adequately cover the core costs of state government?

The answer to the first question is no. This budget relies heavily on borrowing and on one-time revenues. Approximately $3.5 billion, for example, is only available courtesy of short-term notes against pension obligations.

But this year’s fiscal problems are a lot worse than usual. We are in the middle of a global economic recession and almost all the states face a disjunction between revenues and spending. In Illinois, state revenues have fallen short by 25 percent.

So did we tighten our belt? You bet we did. The Governor started the budget discussions with a proposed $1 billion in cuts compared to last year’s spending. And, by the time the budget discussions were over, he was ready to pare almost $1 billion more. The $26 billion state funds budget is $3.6 billion less than general fund spending in the last fiscal year. Layoffs and furlough days are definitely in our future. Lawmakers voted to cancel our expected cost-of-living increase and we voted to take 12 furlough days ourselves.

And how did we do in terms of meeting the needs of the vulnerable, the particularly fragile populations that are our state responsibility? Not well.

Overall funding for grant programs—from early childhood education to mental health services, from truant alternatives to college financial aid—is only 86 percent of last year’s levels. And that 86 percent assumes that discretionary money allocated to the Governor with no strings attached will all be spent on direct grants and not on state operations. As well, the 86 percent is unlikely to apply across the board—some cuts will not be as severe, while others will be steeper.

On Tuesday the Illinois State Board of Education voted to slash funding for early childhood, foreign language, arts education and other critical programs.

So why did the legislature and the Governor approve a budget that will leave so many people in the lurch?

Because we didn’t have any choice. It was the only budget that could get enough votes to pass given the refusal of all Republicans and some conservative Democrats to support a temporary tax increase.

I sponsored the Governor’s proposed income tax increase in May. The measure garnered 42 votes. But it needed 60 votes to pass and would need even more now.

The votes were not there in May. They’re not there today. It’s possible they will be there in the fall, when the magnitude of the suffering the cuts have caused becomes apparent to recalcitrant lawmakers. It’s a sad comment on our society and on the state’s political culture that not enough people are ready to do the only moral thing: raise taxes.

July 15 brought us to the 15th day of the state’s new fiscal year. Lacking a budget, the state could not cut checks for state workers, for community agencies or for other suppliers of state services. We were out of time and we were out of options.

The Governor, to his credit, has vowed to keep up the pressure for new revenues between now and the time the legislature returns to work in October. I intend to support his efforts. I hope between now and then that we can change a few minds, a few hearts—and more than a few votes.

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