GOV. BRUCE RAUNER wants to put up the appearance of state
officials working eagerly to try to reach a budget agreement for state
government.
Meaning
he said Thursday he’s calling them into a special session of the Legislature. To begin June 21,
it would continue every day until the legislators approve a budget plan that
can be sent to Rauner for his consideration -- or June 30, the end of the fiscal year (whichever comes first).
News reports about the move go out of their way to include a mention of the per diem payment –
which these days totals $111 per day, plus a $0.39 per mile rate for gas
mileage reimbursement.
It
comes to roughly $40,000 per day, and the tone usually comes across as if THIS
is the expense that is going to bust Illinois financially.
NOW
BEFORE I go further, I have to confess – I have written the same stories; some
two decades ago back when I was a Statehouse reporter-type person. It's not a new theme and it’s easy to
calculate. The numbers are small so a reporter-doing-math can’t screw it up,
and it gives an overtone of outrage!
Money
being wasted as the legislators sit around doing nothing while the governor and
legislative leaders continue to quarrel – as most of them have settled into
stances by which they need to have the financial stalemate linger on
indefinitely.
This
really is a situation that will not be resolved until after the November 2018
election cycle where there might be a shift in the political dynamic of
Illinois with its Democratic-run Legislature and Republican-run executive
branch at loggerheads.
And
if there ISN’T a shift, the stalemate has the potential to linger on for years
to come. Pretty scary stuff, when you think about it! Although I suspect it will take an action such as the Mega Millions and Powerball lottery games saying they will no longer let Illinois participate in those prizes to catch the attention of the public.
THE
REALITY IS that $40,000 is petty change. And the reason the legislators being
present doesn’t really mean a lot is because this is a problem caused by the
leadership being unable, or unwilling, to budge.
So
Rauner can go ahead and call the General Assembly back to duty in Springfield
and have them sit around. Unless he is willing to budge on his budgetary
stance, nothing will change and it really will be $40,000 or so a day flushed
down the toilet bowl of government.
So
what is it state officials could contemplate if, and when, they return to
Springfield?
There
is that budget the Illinois Senate approved, but that the Illinois House of
Representatives won’t even consider because they know in their hearts and minds
that Rauner will play partisan politics in rejecting.
EARLIER
THIS WEEK, Republicans from the Senate AND House offered up their own “seven
point plan” that they say is a budget proposal they would be ready to approve
and Rauner would sign into law IF ONLY those Democrats would get with the
program.
Which
has me wondering if a special session is meant to put pressure on Dem
legislators to go along so as to put an end to the nearly two years this state
has gone without a balanced budget in place. In the end, it’s really about pols
trying to make sure the other guy gets the blame for the two years of
inactivity we’ve had in Illinois.
This
is a big deal because state law doesn’t really allow state government to
operate without a budget. It’s only because of the federal courts that some
agencies and programs continue to operate, and are spending up a
disproportionate share of the funds while others are withering away.
We
need to have that written budget dictating how money is spent. Would you really
trust your government to have access to taxpayer monies without it? They’d
be like the kid who blew their allowance money on candy, then complains they’re
broke. Just like some of us will obsess about the per diem while the rest of
Illinois burns.
-30-
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