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 While the holidays are around the
corner, Illinois’ spending habits serve as a reminder not to get too far ahead
of Black Friday just yet. The difference, however, is that Springfield’s
indulgences won’t come at a marked-down price.
A spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state has announced the state will
commit funds to Christmas decorations for the Capitol, according to the State
Journal-Register,
This is the second year Springfield has ramped up its tab with City Water, Light
and Power, or CWLP, on Christmas lights since the short-lived elimination of the
tradition in 2015. With the announcement of the yearly expenditure’s
discontinuation in 2015, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White pledged it
would save the state $7,300 on electricity bills.
 The Journal-Register quoted White spokesman Henry Haupt at the time, explaining,
“While the lights add color to the Capitol landscape and are a nice tradition,
the fact of the matter is the lights are nonessential and the Secretary of
State’s office is cutting back wherever possible to save money.”
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While a price tag that
reads shorter than six digits might seem trivial to the spend-weary
Illinoisan’s eye, the state’s pile of past-due bills owed to CWLP
has reached $5.5 million.
Moreover, despite the
state’s discontinuation of funding, Springfield residents did not go
without their annual Illinois Capitol Christmas light spectacle in
2015.
The Basic Crafts Council of Mid-Central Illinois, a union
organization, donated Christmas lights that year.
To meet demand, supply was voluntarily fulfilled. But this didn’t
stop the state from once again insisting on intercepting the cost.
One should hope that the state soon becomes alert to the reality
facing Illinois’ finances, and warm to commonsense solutions, before
it isn’t just Christmas lights that the Illinois Capitol can’t
afford to keep on.
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