Observations and comments about state government by State Representative Robert W. Pritchard.
As the Spring Legislative session ended, the Governor was given a FY2012 budget that authorizes $400 million less spending than last fiscal year. An attempt to increase the budget by $430 million in the Senate was rejected by the House. The Governor must now decide if he will veto the bill and call the General Assembly back into special session to approve government funding past July 1.
The Governor has to make a decision which runs counter to his genetic composition. He doesn’t know how to balance a budget, make the type of choices everyone else has to make and delay or cut certain expenditures. In addition, over the past few years the General Assembly has abdicated its responsibilities by passing lump sum budgets which let Governors Blagojevich and Quinn decide which programs to fund and by how much.
This year was different from the very beginning. For the first time since 1991, House members were allowed to craft the budget. We reviewed programs line-by-line, set priorities and lived within available revenue. The Senate meanwhile continued its partisan procedures, excluded Republicans from discussions and appropriated more money than was available without really evaluating program effectiveness.
Austere budgeting isn’t going to be a one year process. If we hope to pull back from the brink of bankruptcy and get out of our fiscal hole, we need to change the expectation that government can solve all of our problems. Individuals once again must assume more responsibly to support non-essential programs and help their neighbors.
I spoke about this change of attitude with Department of Human Services Director Saddler recently. Her staff is faced with telling people and local agencies that state funding won’t be available to provide all the programs to as many people as have been served. She agreed that everyone needs to be involved in helping those in need.
The Governor could lead a campaign to re-engage our neighborhoods: urge organizations to help their members, foster neighbor to neighbor interaction and channel ways for individuals to respond to our American values of helping the less fortunate.
As we wait for the Governor’s decision about the budget, I hope he will surprise us with an uncharacteristic response– a call for personal responsibility, personal interaction and personal sharing.
District Office 815-748-3494 or E-Mail to bob@pritchardstaterep.com
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