At Politico Natasha Korecki outlines the political malfeasance that has resulted in Illinois failing to enact a budget for the state in three years and Illinois’s having the worst credit rating of any state and a declining population:
What does the crisis all boil down to? It began with an ego-laden brawl between two powerful men: Rauner and Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan. Rauner was elected in 2014 as the first Republican governor in Illinois in more than a decade, vowing to “shake up Springfield†in a campaign that demonized Madigan — the longest serving House speaker in state history — and targeted “corrupt union bosses.â€
Upon taking office, Rauner, a multi-millionaire businessman, laid out a list of policy demands that initially included right to work elements, as a condition of signing a budget into law. Rauner wanted changes to laws affecting workers compensation, collective bargaining and state property taxes, among others. Democrats considered the agenda an attack on unions, which the governor had vilified, saying they had too much power in Illinois politics. Rauner called the measures pro-business, and necessary to address decades of financial mismanagement.
But Madigan, who has served as speaker under governors from both political parties, was loathe to condition the passage of a budget on the governor’s political agenda. Each side dug in, with unions rushing behind Madigan and Republicans, tired of being shut out for years by Madigan and thrilled to have a generous donor to their campaigns in the governor’s office, lined up behind Rauner.
Today, Madigan’s Democratic-majority House and the Republican governor remain entrenched in the war to end all political wars. The exception is the Democratic-controlled Senate, which ultimately voted on a tax increase before May 31 adjournment.
Both Rauner and Madigan counted on the other to cave. Neither has. Meantime, the state is drowning in debt, deficit spending and multiple bond rating downgrades.
Until November the Democrats controlled both houses of the Illinois legislature with veto-proof majorities. To blame the impasse equally on Rauner and Madigan or on Republicans and Democrats is sophistry, pure and simple. The Democrats have offered no solution to Illinois’s problems other than continued borrowing and higher taxes, the strategy that put us in our present situation in the first place.
What should happen is that Speaker Madigan should offer Gov. Rauner some face-saving concession, they should join arms, and start working to solve Illinois’s problems. Expecting Gov. Rauner to abandon any reform of Illinois’s system is simply unreasonable.
But that’s their strategy and their sticking to it.
