SPRINGFIELD – One year ago, history was made in Illinois when an Illinois Senate Tribunal voted to make Governor Rod Blagojevich the first Illinois governor to be impeached and removed from office.
State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon)said that although many hoped the former governor’s removal would make way for positive change in Illinois, unfortunately the state continues to suffer due to the ongoing impact of Blagojevich’s poor choices, coupled with continued lack of leadership and fiscal mismanagement.
In fact, the state’s situation is as bad or worse as it was when Blagojevich left office. Illinois still boasts massive state debt and a budget crisis that has placed state services in jeopardy. Additionally, Governor Pat Quinn has come under fire for continuing to employ many of the Blagojevich administration’s top employees and for retaining, and in some cases expanding, most of the former governor’s programs, some of which played a role in his removal from office.
However, a year after Blagojevich’s removal from office following evidence of his engagement in pervasive and widespread corruption and blatant abuse of his power as governor, Republicans are still pushing for true campaign finance reform.
On Jan. 26, Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) advocated for legislation that Senator Righter said is necessary to close significant loopholes in the ethics law that was approved last fall.
While the campaign-contribution measure that was passed by lawmakers in October imposed Illinois’ first-ever limits on contributions, Republicans said then that the measure didn’t go far enough, as it exempted legislative leaders and political parties from the contribution law during the general election. House Bill 5008 would extend the contribution limits established by Senate Bill 1466 (PA 96-0832) to the general election.
Although Senator Righter expressed support for the contribution limits included in the initial bill, as well as more stringent transparency and disclosure measures, the measure will have limited impact without capping contributions limits for legislative leaders and political parties during the general election. A majority of contribution money is spent during the general elections—not the primary—thus reducing the overall effectiveness of the legislation.
Late last week, Illinois’ respected Civic Federation released a report compiled by the organization’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability that highlighted the state’s current fiscal crisis, and provided detailed information on how Illinois reached thispoint.
The Federation confirmed what other respected groups and individuals have advanced: lower than anticipated revenues, coupled with the loss of one-time revenue sources and an increase in state spending have only exacerbated Illinois’ financial problems.
According to the report, years of fiscal mismanagement led to a “longstanding structural deficit,” as government growth continued to outpace available revenue. As a result, Illinois is in serious financial trouble, with a budget deficit exceeding $10 billion and a multi-billion dollar backlog in obligations to state vendors, service providers and health care providers, which continues to grow.
Illinois’ budget mess has been scrutinized by a number of respected organizations over the last few months. The PewCenter for the States ranked Illinois’ budget among the nation’s ten worst, highlighting the substantial difference between the amount Illinois takes in and the large amount the state spends.
Additionally, all three major credit agencies have now officially cautioned Illinois to get its financial house in order. Fitch Ratings confirmed in late December that Illinois is on negative watch relating to its general obligation bonds. Now the state is on negative outlook—and ripe for rating downgrades—with all three national credit rating agencies: Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
