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Enough!

<p class="s4">Editor's note: The below editorial is being published today in conjunction with numerous other newspapers throughout the state. It is done so with coordination by the Springfield State Journal-Register.

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">llinois'</span><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s3">budget standoff must be resolved, and must be resolved now. </span><span class="s3">Whether or not our leaders manage to pass a stopgap funding measure this week, Illinois still needs the stability of a full budget to restore the health of our state and its economy.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">For a year, our state's elected leaders have engaged in what can only be called political malpractice.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Illinois is the only state in the country that doesn't have a budget. For </span><span class="s3">a</span><span class="s3"> year, because of that failure, it has stiffed small businesses, social service agencies and its higher education system, leaving them trying to operate without money they're owed. State operations have been cobbled together through a patchwork of court orders, and the </span><span class="s3">state</span><span class="s3"> gets deeper</span><span class="s3"> in debt</span><span class="s3"> by the minute.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Gov. Bruce </span><span class="s3">Rauner</span><span class="s3"> said </span><span class="s3">on Monday </span><span class="s3">the state was on the verge of crisis, and that it would be an "outrageous, tragic failure" if schools don't open on time this fall.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">With all due respect, Governor, the state is already in crisis and the budget standoff has already been an "outrageous, tragic failure."</span><span class="s3"> A stopgap may </span><span class="s3">delay</span><span class="s3"> imminent emergency and we desperately need that. But it's still not enough.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">As legislators return to Springfield today -- for the first time this month -- Illinois' </span><span class="s3">historic, serious problems have been made even worse by the failure to compromise on a balanced, long-term spending plan.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">The political war between </span><span class="s3">Rauner</span><span class="s3"> and House Speaker Michael Madigan has been confounding and unconscionable. </span><span class="s3">Rauner</span><span class="s3"> has insisted on passage of the so-called Turnaround Agenda, a series of pro-business measures, as a </span><span class="s3">condition</span><span class="s3"> of the </span><span class="s3">budget</span><span class="s3">. Madigan and Senate President John </span><span class="s3">Cullerton</span><span class="s3"> have seemed focused </span><span class="s3">primarily </span><span class="s3">on thwarting the </span><span class="s3">governor</span><span class="s3">.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Neither the governor nor the legislature has put forth a balanced budget. Decades of delaying action and willfully ignoring issues like the state's epically balloon</span><span class="s3">ing pension obligations have devast</span><span class="s3">ated its financial stability. The state must make cuts, and yes, more revenue will be needed to stanch the economic bleeding.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">The consequences </span><span class="s3">of having no budget </span><span class="s3">have been harsh and far-reaching.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">The state's colleges and universities, which ought to be linchpins for growth and economic development, instead have been starved. Hundreds have been laid off, programs have been shuttered. High school graduates look at this mess, fear for their future, and enroll in out-of-state colleges. Our best and brightest may not come back after they complete their education elsewhere.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Meanwhile, more than 130,000 low-income students have had financial aid snatched away. Do these students who wish to better themselves and their future job prospects through education have other resources to continue? In most cases, no.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">One million of Illinois' most vulnerable people -- the poor, the at-risk kids, the elderly, the mentally ill, the homeless, the victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault -- have been directly harmed by the state's dereliction of duty, as social service agencies cut services.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Hospitals and medical providers are </span><span class="s3">owed hundreds</span><span class="s3"> of millions in unpaid state employee medical bills and </span><span class="s3">delayed </span><span class="s3">Medicaid payments.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Countless business owners</span><span class="s3">, large and small,</span><span class="s3"> have struggled to survive because they haven't been paid.</span><span class="s3"> Cities and small towns have been left holding the bag for unpaid state bills.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">And yet, it could get even worse.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">More than $2 billion in active road construction projects might be shut down, leading to as many as 25,000 workers losing their jobs.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">The state's corrections system says it's on the verge of not being able to feed inmates and operate prisons.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Social services agencies will continue to turn away the ill, the homeless, the elderly.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">The state's schools were spared last year by a separate appropriation. But this year, many districts face the very real possibility of not opening or not being able to stay open.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">But what have citizens seen from the Capitol? We have seen political posturing. We have seen a governor who campaigned as a practical business leader dedicated to finding fixes instead act as an ideological purist. We have seen elected representatives apparentl</span><span class="s3">y unable to stand up to Madigan, </span><span class="s3">Cullerton</span><span class="s3"> and </span><span class="s3">Rauner</span><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s3">to demand a resolution to the crisis. We have not seen compromise.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Perhaps the most damaging long-term effect is the toxic cynicism and frustration this crisis has created among its residents, who have to wonder at this point if </span><span class="s3">Rauner</span><span class="s3">, Madigan and </span><span class="s3">Cullerton</span><span class="s3">simply view the toll on Illinois' people as mere collateral damage. At a recent Better Government Association panel on the impasse's impact, multiple social servi</span><span class="s3">ce providers said flatly</span><span class="s3"> they </span><span class="s3">don't believe</span><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s3">leaders care</span><span class="s3"> about their plight.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Many long-term changes are needed to restore Illinois to solid ground. Redistricting reform is a critical piece of restoring true political competitiveness that will lead to legislators facing more accountability to the voters they represent. </span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">But the day has come. Illinois' people cannot be held hostage for</span><span class="s3"> a second year without a budget.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Voters must revolt and demand better.</span>

<p class="s4"><span class="s3">Enough. </span>

<p class="s2"><span> </span>