This is expected to be the final week of the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly. The Democratic majority wants to avoid an extended session because, if no balanced budget is passed by midnight on May 31, a 3/5 vote (instead of a simple majority) is needed to pass a state budget. That would require members of both political parties to work together, something we haven’t seen for a while.
So, what’s going to happen?
The state is broke. IEA continues to advocate for HB 174, the comprehensive tax reform proposal that would allow Illinois to get back on the road to fiscal health by reducing some of the deficit and providing the revenue needed to fund education and essential services.
Will HB 174 pass?
There are no indications that a House majority is ready to support an income tax increase six months before the election. Unless the courage and vision needed to pass new revenue is unexpectedly discovered, it is likely that the next budget will contain significant budget cuts.
What happens to education funding?
Without revenue, some sort of cut seems likely, though less than $1.3 billion that was proposed months ago and, we hope, less than the $560 million recommended again Sunday by the Chicago Tribune editorial board in its weekly attack on public employee unions.
What about pension funding?
Governor Quinn on Friday reiterated his support for borrowing to make the $3.6 billion pension payment. The State Journal-Register editorializes that making the pension payment should be the state’s top priority.
Delaying the payment will cost the state $37 billion in lost compounding interest over the next 35 years. Borrowing the money would cost the principal amount — $3.6 billion — plus hundreds of millions in interest. While more borrowing is less than ideal, it’s clear that it’s more fiscally responsible than delaying or skipping the payment to a pension system that already is the nation’s worst funded.
But House Republicans and 11 House Democrats refused earlier this month to vote for any borrowing. House Republicans want the full pension payment made without borrowing any money. At least one House Republican vote is needed to authorize borrowing because the Democrats only have 70 votes in the chamber and 71 are necessary.
Republicans are cynically playing politics with this issue, attempting to add another arrow to the quiver full of issues they hope to shoot at the Democrats in an election year.
What can/should IEA members do?
It’s likely that, between now and May 31st, and perhaps more than once, IEA members will be asked to drop everything they’re doing, contact their legislators, and urge those officials to either pass or oppose key legislation.
It is crucial that, when the “Call to Action” is announced, as many as possible of IEA’s 133,000 members statewide receive and answer it. So, here are some suggestions to help members stay connected:
- Visit the IEA website. It will be updated regularly.
- Sign up for the IEA insider (email [email protected]) and the IEA Capitol Report (email [email protected]). Make sure the newsletters get sent to the email address you are most likely to check daily.
- Become a fan of the IEA facebook page to see news updates, event announcements and chances to win prizes.
- Follow IEA on Twitter. In addition to delivering news updates, you can closely follow breaking news when we “Tweet” legislative debate or important meetings.
It wasn’t always like this
Those not of a certain age might be surprised to learn that, once upon a time, Illinois state government worked (mostly) for the people.
In his Sunday column, Mike Lawrence, longtime journalist and top aide to Jim Edgar, our last unindicted governor, reminds us that Phil Rock, the longest-serving (1979-1993) president of the state senate, presided in an era when lawmakers weren’t fixated on remaining in office.
Rock braved criticism from his own ranks in 1983 when he became the first General Assembly leader to back Gov. James Thompson’s call for an income tax increase to replenish a recession-ravaged treasury. Let Thompson and his fellow Republicans broil for a few months before we come to the table, many Democrats argued. But Rock and the General Assembly’s other top Democrat, House Speaker Michael Madigan, sat down with Thompson and the GOP legislative chieftains, Sen. James “Pate” Philip and Rep. Lee Daniels, to fashion a package that preserved vital services and stabilized state finances.
Eight years later, the same four legislative leaders helped another Republican chief executive, Jim Edgar, extend an income tax surcharge and simultaneously make budget cuts needed to close a substantial deficit while sparing at-risk children.
“I think it’s fair to say that I was not overly concerned about my tenure and people who know me will tell you that’s probably a fact,” Rock says. “I did not worry about re-election. I did not worry about hanging on to a job.”
Things aren’t like they used to be. That’s why pressure from IEA members is so important.
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