Legislative Session

The new legislative session is off with a bang as we discussed several weeks ago. There has been a great deal of talk about school funding from many areas. Mayor Daley has been quoted in the newspapers advocating for increased school funding. He has been allied with Senator James Meeks from the Southside of Chicago who previously was an advocate for HB750 that was discussed two years ago. The Metropolitan Mayors and Managers Group that represents over 270 municipalities has also advocated for an increase in school funding. Speaker Madigan also notes the need for increased funding and referred to the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago report several times during his opening address last week. This report titled “Facing Facts” notes that Illinois is currently $106 billion in debt or roughly $8,800 per person for the twelve million residents of Illinois. This report is available at their website. Senate President Emil Jones also sees a need to increase educational funding. Governor Blagojevich also talks of increasing educational funding as well as access to healthcare. This could be the sequel to “The Perfect Storm.”

While everyone agrees that the state is in financial crisis there is no consensus as how to solve this problem. It is evident that the issue extends far beyond school funding and will impact all areas from pensions to Medicaid payments. While the other players might support a tax increase Governor Blagojevich is adamant that there be no tax increase. It is obvious that the solution to this crisis will involve innovative and creative solutions as well as new revenues. How do we get the three leaders on the same page to solve this problem? Given the political makeup of the legislative with its democratic majority, it is likely that a solution to this crisis will come later rather than sooner. The future of the state and our children are at stake.