Senate week in review

Oct. 5-9

[October 10, 2009]  SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois' fiscal concerns continue to mount as the state's deficit reaches record levels and revenues fall short of prior projections. Also this week, state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, said that the fourth hearing of the Senate Redistricting Committee has been confirmed for Tuesday in Carbondale.

Lawmakers continue to meet and consider proposals for changing Illinois' redistricting process. Members of the Senate Redistricting Committee will travel to Carbondale to consider more redistricting reform ideas, including recommendations from the Paul Simon Institute.

The Paul Simon Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale considers some of the most important -- and controversial -- issues that face Illinois, including gerrymandering. Representatives from the institute have been longtime supporters of redistricting reform, previously supporting reform legislation that failed to be approved by the General Assembly.

The Paul Simon Institute plan is one of several alternatives offered by a third party to restructure the redistricting process. Bomke said that whatever proposal is advanced, it is critical that reforms are adopted and that the process of redistricting is taken out of the backrooms.

Earlier this week, Comptroller Dan Hynes said that Illinois' unpaid bills are nearing a crisis point. Hynes said that the state's total unpaid bills reached $2.9 billion at the end of September, approximately $1 billion more than last year.

Illinois has never had this large a deficit in the first quarter of a fiscal year, and businesses and nonprofit groups that provide services to the state are the ones suffering the consequences of the state's failure to meet its obligations. The state's health care and service providers currently wait an average of three months to be reimbursed by the state, which is another questionable record for this early in the fiscal year.

Hynes blamed the massive deficit on a decline in state revenues, which is a usual occurrence during a recession. However, he noted that the decrease in revenues is aggravated by the state's lapse-period spending -- which means Illinois is still paying last year's bills.

Years of fiscal irresponsibility and spending beyond our means have led Illinois to this point, Senate Republicans say. They have cautioned for years that Illinois needs to cut spending and place a moratorium on program expansions as a way to eliminate the state's deficit and condense Illinois' overwhelming financial obligations.

The comptroller's report comes on the heels of a recent report showing that the state's first-quarter revenues are down $340 million. The bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability issued a report on Oct. 2 showing that in September alone, revenue receipts dropped $144 million.

The bipartisan commission's experts anticipated the revenues to be off in the first few months, but not by this much. The report noted that revenues are expected to improve later in the year, but it is not certain that they will be at the level anticipated when the fiscal 2010 budget was approved in July.

Bomke said that on a positive note, the report also indicated that experts believe the recession is over and that the economy is in recovery. However, the commission was quick to say that this does not mean Illinois' financial situation will rapidly improve. During previous recessions it took months for the state to see evidence of economic recovery.

[Text from file sent on behalf of Sen. Larry Bomke by Illinois Senate Republican staff]