The good concepts in the speech may sound good, but they are overshadowed by the bad and ugly ideas that are unfair.
The good concepts certainly include early childhood education support, increased funding for schools, expanding our infrastructure, maintaining support for child care, and keeping our courts operating, as well as the potential for some voluntary changes in public employee pensions.
The bad includes cutting health care benefits for public employees who rely on benefits to be able to have affordable health care; tampering with unemployment benefits that can hurt are most vulnerable; suggesting a property tax freeze since it sounds good but not suggesting alternatives to pay for services and at the same time cutting long established revenue; and excluding police and fire from pension reform when it is local government and local taxpayers who have to pay the benefits decided in Springfield.
The ugly includes trying to balance the state budget on the backs of local government by cutting long established share of income taxes which can only lead to either cuts in local services or the need for local governments to increase property taxes. And cutting funds for transit can only lead to increased fares or reduced service. And suggesting that all future work of public employees be done under a tier-two pension plan which they all were not hired under which would be a clear unconstitutional diminishment compared to the reforms that are awaiting decision by the Supreme Court.
Our legislators need to reject the bad and the ugly concepts and come up with alternatives for implementation of the good concepts.
Details after the address illustrate draconian cuts that hit many of our most vulnerable citizens. We clearly need cuts to address our budget hole but we cannot dig ourselves out and still fairly address needs without additional revenue. Hopefully in the weeks ahead there can be meaningful bipartisan discussions to strike a balance without merely shifting the state’s economic woes onto the backs of others. This needs to be considered since that approach can only cut needed local services or drive up fees and taxes on our citizens at other levels of government.
Elliott Hartstein
Buffalo Grove