Legislators Visit Chamber; Update on Budget Discussions

Sen. Pamela Althoff (R-32) and Rep. Michael Tryon (R-64) waited until 45 Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce members finished a casual luncheon at Park Place Banquet Facility, March 11, to announce Gov. Pat Quinn’s 67 percent income tax increase isn’t enough to pay the state’s bills. 

The legislators and their colleagues are targeting among other things employee pay, benefits and pension plans for the slightest hint of budgetary fat to prevent the $13 billion deficit from spiraling out of control. If drastic cuts aren’t taken now, taxpayers - already suffering from the recession and latest tax increase – will be put upon to pay even more, they say.

“All of the discussion that you heard during the campaign election about how the new tax was going to pay the unpaid bills –not true,” Althoff said. “You’re not going to see any reduction in time to get the money, because we just don’t have it.”

The tsunami of deficit spending includes the unfunded pension liability that has nonetheless paid out big benefits over time. Underfunded and underperforming for decades, its abuses such as early retirement offerings without funding, have been a major factor in the state’s debt, Tryon said. 

The pension debts and bonds combined today place a $30,000 tax burden on every household in the state, Tryon said.

And while Quinn wants to borrow $8.7 billion to pay off debtors, Tryon and Althoff said the plan is flawed. Illinois’ credit rating has decreased, resulting in the state paying nearly two percent more in interest than most others. Without spending cuts, even Quinn’s proposed loan won’t be enough. 

“I think we’ve borrowed just about all the money we can,” Tryon said. “We have to reform.”

Tryon’s proposed House Bill 149 amends the pension code mandating participating employees pay 18 percent of their income to the fund. And there have been discussions and proposed bills about other ways to save money by increasing the age an employee can collect to age 67 and requiring retirees to pay for their own health insurance. 

Althoff said auditors found numerous state jobs that indicated waste – from unnecessary additional telephones to office space. She wants to investigate possible cuts throughout the state before committing to Quinn’s loan proposal. 

“There is fat everywhere,” she said. “We haven’t cut enough yet.”