 "The state of
Illinois needs to do three things" Andrzejewski said.
"That is cut spending, cut spending and cut spending."
Andrzejewski, a former GOP candidate for governor, now leads his own
group, For the Good of Illinois, a 501(c)4 nonprofit that calls for
"limited, accountable and transparent government" and conducts
research on the state's government. For the Good of Illinois also
has a political action committee, For the Good of Illinois PAC. For
the Good of Illinois says on its website that its "aggressive
approach to grassroots advocacy, paid advertising, social media, and
web applies constant pressure to policymakers to act."
Andrzejewski said lawmakers need to start cutting state spending
by focusing on payroll, pensions and perks.
"The entire 67 percent (personal) income tax hike went to fund
the pensions and payroll here in Illinois," said Andrzejewski.
"There are 3,062 public employees that out-earned Gov. Quinn.
They're at all levels of Illinois government. Collectively those
3,000 employees soak up $1 billion in total compensation."
Andrzejewski's numbers include local, county and state workers.
The compensation figures are based on salary, benefits and pension
benefits.
Andrzejewski said most people who look at the state's finances
see that Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
Lawrence Msall, president of the Chicago-based Civic Federation,
which bills itself as a nonpartisan research group that focuses on
improvements in government efficiency and tax policy, agreed with
Andrzejewski.
"It's a bad financial situation in Illinois. And the tax increase
was not enough to solve the problem," Msall said. "There needs to be
significant reductions in the (state's) operating costs. That can
only be achieved by the state getting its arms around the pension
liability problem."
Msall said the report his group released Monday is not designed
to tell Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers how to solve the state's
financial problems, though he was quick to say Illinois will be
crushed by its pension debt unless lawmakers change the costs of
benefits for current employees.
"Seventeen percent of (Illinois' $33.2 billion) budget is going
for pensions and pension-related payments," Msall said.
While lawmakers in 2010 changed the cost of pension benefits for
new state employees, Msall said changes for retirees are likely
off-limits. There was a proposal in May to change pension costs for
state employees on the payroll, but that plan stalled in the General
Assembly.
Both House Speaker Mike Madiagn, D-Chicago, and House Minority
Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, pushed legislation to have state workers
on the payroll either pay more to keep the defined-benefit pension
benefits they have now or switch to a less expensive
defined-contribution package, similar to a 401(k).
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State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, said he agrees there is a
need for pension reform, but he worries that reforms could lead to
more budget trickery.
"The problem with pension reform, the real savings would not be
for a number of years, Syverson said. "The fear is that Democrat
leaders would take those savings and try and take those savings out
of this year's payments. That is what got us into this situation."
State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, said it is going to take
years to get Illinois out of the hole.
"We were able to make our pension payment for the first time in
many years. So you have to take the good with the bad," Jacobs said.
"I think that we're starting to turn the tide, but I think it will
take us three years to get out of a jam that many Republicans and
Democrats alike created."
Kelly Kraft, a spokeswoman for Quinn's budget office, said the
tax increases that passed in January were not designed to solve all
of the state's budget woes.
"Approximately $3 billion was generated from the income tax
increase for FY11," Kraft said, "an increase that has helped the
state begin to address the decades of fiscal mismanagement that have
taken place. But, due to large underfunding of the pension and group
insurance systems, more reforms are needed to return our state to
sound financial footing."
Msall said the governor should get some credit for what he has
done, but he added there are no more easy choices.
"There is no magic or politically attractive scenario," Msall
said. "The state is going to have to reduce its expenditures, not
just its appropriations."
Illinois' $33.2 billion budget is built largely on smaller
appropriations. Lawmakers balanced the budget by stretching out
payments to Medicaid providers from 30 days to 160 days in many
cases. The General Assembly also decided to push more than $1
billion in past-due bills from 2011 into 2012.
Andrzejewski said that shows the heart of the problem.
"I've been saying it for three years: Illinois needs to stop
spending," he said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
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