Illinois is a mess

Chicago TribuneEditorial BoardEditorials reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, as determined by the members of the board, the editorial page editor and the publisher.

As lawmakers in Springfield careen toward a May 31 adjournment deadline, let’s get a few things straight. They haven’t agreed yet on a balanced budget for the fiscal year that starts in six weeks. They haven’t passed legislation to deal with the state’s alarming pension debt. They haven’t negotiated changes to programs that would make Illinois more business and tax friendly.

The willful negligence of floating past the most serious challenges facing Illinois is repeating itself. No one should be surprised. The Illinois legislature is an avoidance expert. Fed-up residents respond by fleeing the state in alarming droves. State universities struggle to attract and keep students. Property taxes remain among the highest in the country.

Yet there is no sense of urgency from Springfield. Instead, lawmakers from both parties are busy passing legislation on their pet projects. Some of those initiatives have merit. Bills flying through the House and Senate address government transparency, predatory lending, gun safety. Part of the role of lawmaker is addressing district-centric issues, even if that includes a pat on the back to the local Girl Scouts. Fine.

But can’t lawmakers do both? Can’t they address pension debt and unpaid bills and an unfriendly business environment — by passing sweeping changes the state desperately needs — along with a resolution recognizing “Girl Scouts Week”?

Unfortunately, Illinois voters always get one but not the other. A ban on bump stocks might be a swell idea. Same for increased penalties for sex trafficking and township government consolidation and caps on overly generous severance packages. We’ve

supported many such narrow measures. But the elephant is not just in the room. It is the room. Illinois has the worst credit rating in the country, which raises the cost of all the lawmakers’ borrowing. National headlines describe Illinois as the worst-governed state, the most dysfunctional and the most debt-ridden.

The net population loss last year of 33,703 residents was the biggest of any state in the country. That’s roughly the size of Northbrook, Elk Grove Village or St. Charles. While Gov. Bruce Rauner deals with a bill backlog creeping toward $9 billion and some $130 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is handing out expanded tax credits due to a larger-than-expected budget surplus.

But back to the Girl Scouts and window dressing. The House on Wednesday met in session for one hour. It spent that time passing a resolution honoring U.S. Sen. John McCain and introducing friends and visitors observing from the House gallery. That was it.

Yes, it’s an election year. Lawmakers and, frankly, voters are accustomed to the derelict tradition of doing nothing in an election year — nothing transformative or controversial that could pinch them at the ballot box, that is. News flash: Illinois lawmakers don’t do much transformative or controversial in a non-election year either. They tinker. That’s all you can expect.

This year, they’ve hardly met at all. The House and Senate calendars for January, February and March were mostly blank this year. Legislators weren’t even required to report to Springfield except for a handful of days.

So while we’d like to applaud the work-in-silos that has advanced this year, lawmakers collectively have failed to take seriously the dramatic financial problems the state and its residents face. Their only job is to run the place. How are they doing?

Remember that when you pass your legislators in the cereal aisle back home. Remember it when you start receiving campaign materials in the mail. Remember that when they tout the Girl Scouts bill.

Did they make an attempt to fix the engine of state government? Serious reform? Or did they spray some Armor All on the tires and head home?