Deerfield Residents Gain Insight into State Budget Woes

In the midst of the state’s $30 to $35 billion budget battle, Deerfield residents received an inside view of the situation from State Senator Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) Saturday at the .

Garrett said state law requires that a balanced budget be approved by May 31 by both the House and the Senate. Governor Pat Quinn may then sign it or cast a veto. “But it will take a bi-partisan effort from both Democrats and Republicans to get this budget approved,” she said.

When asked if that was possible, Garrett said, “I can’t guarantee it.” Garrett admitted that the Senate was divided on the issue.

“We have identified $1.5 billion in budget cuts from an $8 billion deficit. This is a carry-over vendor deficit that has accrued over time,” she said.

Garrett said the Senate has suggested four separate deficit-reduction bills to get at the problem. “Proposed Senate cuts range from 3 to 5 percent depending upon some, but not all, programs being considered,” she said. However, Garrett stressed each bill will be scrutinized individually.

When asked by a persistent member in the audience as to whether Illinois citizens can expect even more debt from state government during the next fiscal year (which begins July 1), Garrett replied: “My feeling is that we will have less debt, but it won’t be a clean slate.”

She said she believes the Senate is proceeding in the right direction. However, everything is still in a state of flux. It will take bipartisan support to achieve a balanced fiscal budget,” which she says is possible.

She said both House Speaker Michael Madigan, and Senate President John Cullerton are agreeing to reasonable budget-cutting to bring expenses in line, but at this stage it’s a question of how much and where with members of the General Assembly. Apparently the Governor seems less receptive at this point, she said.

Much of Garrett’s time on Saturday was spent responding to questions, which she enjoys and says is helpful in assessing the needs of her Senate District 29 constituents.

Governmental and teacher pensions received mention from several retired and currently employed educators in the audience. Garrett said she didn’t expect many changes in this area during the current session, since the state legislature last year thoroughly reviewed and revised pension criteria to keep the pension plans on a sound financial footing by improving reforms in investment management.

One question was “Why doesn’t the state have a long range fiscal plan like most businesses have?” Garrett said several constituents have suggested this to her, and she agrees this would be a good approach for state government to practice.

“And with the new income tax now in effect and due to expire in four years, this would be a good time to implement one,” she said.

Another wanted to know,  “Why can’t state government be more vigilant in preventing fraud and fiscal abuse?” Garrett admitted this was a big problem. She made mention of some of the several agencies and watchdog programs designed to enforce this problem.

“However, we do need to do a better job in policing state fraud. We can’t capture all the fraud and abuse going on in our various programs, but we can certainly do a better job by improving our performance and being more aggressive in vigorously prosecuting violators,” she said. She promised to look into this problem further when returning to Springfield.