We’re Spent: Reform Now, for the Good of Illinois

Our leaders in Springfield just don’t get it. They’ve piled billions and billions of dollars in new spending and added tens of billions of dollars in new debt over the past decade. The answer isn’t more revenue for more spending – we’ve done that year after year, and it just doesn’t work. Illinois need to enact real spending reforms that strike at the heart of our budget problem – out of control spending.

There is a better way: “We’re Spent: Reform Now, For the Good of Illinois.” My statewide grassroots organization is committed to a two-tier platform of changing how we approach spending in state government and finally getting serious about living within our means. The following plan should be embraced as the blueprint for a better, more responsible Illinois.

Changing Springfield – Inside and Out

·  PAYGO Budgeting (House Bill 111): This concept is very simple yet very effective: Don’t spend more money than you bring in. PAYGO restores sensibility to budgeting. If you want to spend more, you need to cut that exact amount to offset that spending increase. Families and businesses do it all the time, so should government.

·  Spending Caps – Spending is out of control, even when money is tight. This measure (SB 36) would force discipline by putting in place spending caps limiting increases to no more than 1.5 percent a year.

·  Workers’ Comp Review – Media reports have detailed egregious examples of waste and possible fraud, such as prison guards en masse filing for carpal tunnel injuries from operating prison door locks. The House approved House Resolution 131 111-0 last month to closely examine these abuses and weed out any fraud involving millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

·  Audits – You can’t reform spending unless you know how the money is spent. One measure (HR 31) would take a closer look at just how bad our pension problem is through an audit. Another would put into place years worth of significant changes in spending and operations recommended by Auditor General Bill Holland that have not been enacted by the General Assembly. Both would provide new accountability to how we do our business.

·  Local Spending – State government is far from alone in waste. Local governments for too long have been able to double-dip on taxpayers by giving employees big salary increases that then mean bigger pensions. Two measures would force local governments to pay the extra costs for large salary increases (HB 3076) and no longer count perks such as vacation and sick time toward workers’ pensions (HB 3426).

·  End DCEO – The state’s track record of creating jobs and promoting the economy is dismal – 48th in job creation and 44th in economic outlook nationally. The state Department of Commerce of Economic Opportunity isn’t getting the results, and it’s nearly impossible to track what it’s doing to get those results. The private sector can do the job better and save taxpayers millions each year, so this agency should be eliminated.