Posted by John Byrne at 1:35 p.m.
State lawmakers need to stop relying on borrowing money and start choosing their priorities in the state budget, Mayor Richard Daley said today.
With the Senate set to consider a measure to borrow $4 billion to pay public pensions next year, Daley said taxpayers will end up suffering through high interest payments down the road because lawmakers won’t make tough decisions.
"Just like the federal government, they borrow and print money, other states borrow money," Daley said at a news conference about summer tourism at the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. "In the long run, it’s all going to come – find out how it’s going to effect every taxpayer here. It’s going to effect you next year, the following year, the following year."
"You have to bite the bullet. These are difficult decisions you have to make. Some times you have to cut things out, and you have to hold back on spending," he said. "You have to do these things if you want to balance the budget."
The city is looking at borrowing $170 million or so to cover back pay raises for police and firefighters following an arbitrator’s ruling on a contract dispute.
""Eventually we pay it right back. It’s a very small amount of money," Daley said. "That’s nothing compared to the state. We will pay that right back, because we have to do that."
The Chicago Public Schools could face cuts in state aid in the budget, which district officials have said could force thousands of teacher layoffs and bigger class sizes.
Education should be a priority in Springfield, Daley said.
"What are your priorities? That is the key," he said.
Daley also praised a neighbor who called 311 to report he hadn’t seen a pair of elderly neighbors recently around their home in the 1500 block of East 69th Street.
The couple was found by city workers trapped in their apartment by floor-to-ceiling debris.
"(The neighbor) made that call. Whether it’s 311 or 911, please make those necessary calls," Daley said.
There had been no other recent 311 calls to the home of Jesse and Thelma Gaston said.
"In October 2009 there was only one 311 call about garbage at that address, which the Department of Streets and Sanitation responded to," he said.