SE Illinois News

With the general election nearing, editorials on the poor state of Illinois government help bring into better focus what is at stake when voters go to the polls.

Two editorials presented by two very different publications, one this past spring in the Chicago Tribune and the other last month in Forbes, voices similar ideas.

The Chicago Tribune editorial, penned by the newspaper's editorial board, talked about how "the Illinois Way" is failing, while the Forbes editorial, written by contributor Stephen Moore, was about Illinois as a failed state. 

Both start with how things are now, with Moore's editorial taking a nostalgic look at how things were.

"When I grew up in the north suburbs of Chicago in the 1960s and the 1970s, the State of Illinois was a financial and industrial powerhouse," Moore's editorial said. "The Land of Lincoln had a low rate flat income tax, the property taxes were reasonable, the state ran budget surpluses, and Illinois was the home of such iconic mega-employers as Caterpillar CAT, Sears Roebuck and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange."

Moore also recalls some solid truths about the Illinois that was.

"The public schools were pretty good back then, and teachers didn’t receive the fat pensions they can get now when retiring at age 55," Moore's editorial said. "Mayor Richard Daley (“the boss”) ruled Chicago for decades, and it was 'the city that works.'"

The Tribune editorial quickly reminds us of the Illinois that is, and it isn't working. "The Illinois Way -- tax, borrow, spend -- seems to be losing its appeal," that editorial says. "The Democrat-controlled Chicago City Council and Illinois General Assembly are struggling to rally support for their so-called progressive agendas. Even proposals that would tax the rich are flopping, despite the blockbuster success of class-warfare politics practiced by Democratic candidates for president Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders."

That editorial recalls the situation in the state Capitol.

"In Springfield, recent casualties include a graduated state income tax proposal that would have punished upper-income earners," the Tribune editorial said. "The House sponsor, Rep. Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago), didn't call the measure for a vote because he couldn't muster enough support despite his party's supermajority," the editorial said. "House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) has been unable to build enough support for his proposal to add a tax surcharge on millionaires. Remember: He's the speaker."

Moore's piece gets more to the point about the Illinois that is, a place where lottery winners can't expect to receive their winnings.

"Perhaps the state will need a second lottery to raise money to pay off the winners from the first lottery," Moore's editorial said.

"Chicago is so broke that its bonds are junk status, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel had to go hat-in-hand last week to Springfield for bailout money to pay the bills. According to Forrest Claypool, who is the new chief executive for the Chicago school system: 'We are really now at a point where further cuts would reach deep into the classroom.' The fiscal crisis is wreaking havoc, but to ask the state to kick in money is a laughable proposition -- like Puerto Rico asking Greece for a loan. Springfield is plum out of money, too."

That's what it is to be an Illinoisan this Nov. 8. It's a weary electorate in Illinois who will step into voting booths next month. Almost half of registered voters in Illinois want to leave the state, according to a poll released this month by Southern Illinois University’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. It's Illinois' taxes, weather, government, jobs and education, the institute said.

There's not much state legislators can do about the weather, but the state's electorate might be more willing to hang around if something were done about taxes, government, jobs and education.

The electorate could do some of its own tinkering Nov. 8. Sure, they won’t get to vote on the Illinois Independent Maps Amendment. That was struck from the ballot by a 4-3 vote of the Illinois Supreme Court, which said it was as unconstitutional as was "Yes for Independent Maps" in 2014. Illinois voters will get a shot at the Transportation Taxes and Fees Lockbox Amendment, which would block lawmakers from using transportation funds for anything other than their stated purpose. A "yes" vote on that measure should get some attention in Springfield.

Aside from a relative few races, not much change is expected in the General Assembly, where many candidates face no major party opposition at all. Madigan is running unopposed for his seat and is expected to sail into his fourth decade as House speaker and will still need to find a way to work with Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

It looks like few choices for change on the ballot in Illinois, but a look at Moore's editorial reminds the electorate that there's plenty at stake. "The answer is that Chicago is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to the government pension crisis," Moore wrote. "Pensions to retired teachers and state employees are bleeding the state dry. Since 2006, annual pension payments in Cook County alone have grown tenfold, from $60 million to over $650 million. A state budget office spokesman tells me that “nearly one of three state tax dollars now goes to paying pensions for retired municipal and state employees."

And the Tribune piece reminds those same voters that change really is in the air.

"When Democrats can't get their own tax-the-rich proposals through a supermajority House and Senate, after multiple tries, that's a sign of change," the Tribune editorial board wrote. "When Chicago and Illinois officials balk at borrowing money for a museum construction project, that's a sign of change. When citizens get wise to the tax-borrow-spend selfishness of forcing Tomorrow to pay for Yesterday and Today, that's a sign of change. It's about time."