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 False hope, can-kicking and a pay
cut for working people was more than enough for 2017 to take the title: the
worst year ever for Illinois taxpayers.
With the Illinois General Assembly not set to return to Springfield until
January 2018, this year has secured its place. It’s been a cruel reminder of how
the game is still played in Springfield.
Let’s start from the beginning, the first day of legislative session, back in
January.
That’s when Illinois House Democrats voted to crown Mike Madigan House speaker
for the 17th time. This ensured he would become the longest-serving state House
speaker in modern U.S. history. Soon after, the chamber passed the House rules,
which make Madigan the most powerful state legislative leader in the nation.
So for the vast majority of Illinoisans who disapprove of the speaker’s
leadership, the year began with a gut punch.
 The year also began without a state budget. That came with a pain all its own.
Social service providers especially struggled to give adequate help to
Illinoisans in need, with little certainty as to how long they could keep their
doors open. Their funding took a back seat to pensions and government worker
compensation – including lawmaker pay.
That said, claims that the budget impasse did irreparable harm to the state’s
economy are overblown. Illinois’ growth has been dismal since the Great
Recession, budget or not. The state remains a laggard.
Madigan continued to declare the lack of a budget Illinois’ biggest problem. Not
people leaving in droves. Not social service spending being crowded out by
overpromising to government workers and the debt that continues to accumulate
over that fact. And not an embarrassingly weak economy leaving families in the
lurch as other states flourish.
Madigan’s solution: the largest permanent income tax increase in state history,
without any substantial reforms.
Meanwhile, in negotiations with the speaker, Gov. Bruce Rauner began to slowly
walk back his Turnaround Agenda, abandoning items such as term limits, real
property tax relief and collective bargaining reform. This helped open the door
for the Madigan plan.
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In addition to Senate
President John Cullerton and Democratic House members, Madigan found
more than a dozen House Republicans to go along with his budget and
tax increases. Ultimately, Madigan successfully overrode Rauner’s
veto of the state budget, including a $5 billion tax hike. Thus
ended the budget fight. It was July 6.
So while 2017 began with
no budget, the year ended with a budget.
That sounds like
progress, except for the fact that despite the massive tax hike
raiding the pockets of Illinois workers and businesses, Madigan’s
budget is already in tatters. The 2018 budget is on track to spend
at least $1.3 billion more than it takes in.
Illinoisans were hoodwinked. And there’s little reason to think
things won’t get worse.
Take the new education funding formula, for example. Heralded as a
bipartisan victory in August, it constituted a bailout of the
fiscally irresponsible Chicago Public Schools while promising
billions of new education dollars the state simply doesn’t have.
Meanwhile, the state’s largest government worker union has
successfully blocked commonsense changes to its state contract for
more than two years, most recently winning a legal battle over
automatic raises. Illinois state workers are the nation’s
highest-paid after adjusting for cost of living.
This isn’t to say Illinoisans didn’t see a couple of bright spots in
2017. A new tax credit scholarship program will provide
opportunities for low-income children to attend good schools. And
smart-on-crime efforts in the criminal justice system will give
Illinoisans who have paid their debt to society a shot at more
productive lives.
But the state’s pain points remain.
Madigan dealt with Illinois’ crushing pension debt and confiscatory
property taxes as he always has, with plenty of meaningless votes
throughout the year – all meant to give lawmakers phony talking
points for their re-election campaigns next November, without
changing anything.
The lesson?
Don’t be duped.
The biggest obstacle Illinoisans face in Springfield remains the
same: an all-powerful House speaker, and members of both parties who
are all too eager to kowtow.
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