Illinois Editorial Roundup:

Here are editorials from newspapers around Illinois.

May 26, 2020

Chicago Tribune

Is this news anymore? Illinois lawmakers approve out-of-balance, gimmicky budget

It should not surprise you that the Illinois legislature passed another state budget that doesn’t add up. It should not surprise you that spending will outpace revenue by billions of dollars, and lawmakers bragged about it anyway.

It should not surprise you that the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 relies on borrowing from the federal government and a fingers-crossed rescue from Congress.

It should not surprise you that the budget, despite the coronavirus pandemic, includes no cuts or trims or furloughs or even an “ask” of the state’s public employee unions to, at least, delay pay raises. Those raises will kick in this summer despite state unemployment at a record high, above 16%, with layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts throughout the private sector.

It should not surprise you that Gov. J.B. Pritzker, unlike other Democratic governors across the country, didn’t dare suggest that government workers share in the sacrifice, as he and other politicians so often request of private sector workers who heavily subsidize public employee pensions. Democratic governors in Wisconsin, California and New York either cut public sector pay, instituted across-the-board spending cuts throughout state government, froze hiring or other spending - and did so weeks ago when revenues began to plummet.

Not here. Illinois lawmakers kissed the ring of organized labor repeatedly during their special session, arguing that state workers - at this time of great need - should not be touched, as if every employee in every agency is a front-line worker dealing with a health crisis, which is preposterous.

“None of us will be immune from tightening our belts and helping to support the cause and helping those most in need,” California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in pulling his state’s union leaders to the table to negotiate pay cuts.

Any such movement here by Pritzker or the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, Speaker Michael Madigan and Don Harmon, to demand shared sacrifice?

The answer will not surprise you.

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May 24, 2020

The (Champaign) News-Gazette

Infected session

With the state of Illinois in economic shambles, it would be folly to expect much positive from the General Assembly’s return last week to Springfield.

Consider the circumstances, the state has gone from a record-low unemployment rate to what has to be close to a record-high level of 16.4 percent. It’s impossible to say with certainty because the modern system of tracking joblessness began in 1976. With that caveat, the rate of 16.4 percent is the highest on record.

That horrific standard, the result of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s economic lockdown aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirius, represents a disaster on many fronts, mostly for those who have been put out of work, but also for the government entities that depend on revenues they anticipated but now won’t be coming in.

So what are our dear legislators to do in the midst of budget crunch time with not nearly enough tax revenue as they insist on spending?

Chicago state Rep. Greg Harris, a member of Speaker Michael Madigan’s leadership team, indicated that “the budget will call for borrowing from Washington to help cover expenses.”

That’s a lot of borrowing, because Pritzker’s $42 billion proposed budget, which takes effect July 1, is going to fall way short in the revenue department. The legislature’s commission on revenue forecasting recently reported that anticipated revenues are off by $2.7 billion for the current fiscal year that ends June 30.

If the state maintains its lockdown - or some form of it - for long, revenue problems will only compound on themselves. It’s kind of like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting larger and picking up more speed as it goes. Reversing that reality will be one of the biggest economic challenges this state - and nation - will ever face.

But that’s a long-term problem. Legislators are focused on what’s right in front of them - the budget. So it is no surprise they did the same thing when times are bad as they did when times were good and their financial reach exceeded their grasp - spend money the state doesn’t have.

Legislators are hoping to take advantage of what they perceive as the federal money tree. The biggest dreamer among those in search of a bailout is new Senate President Don Harmon, who asked the federal government to give Illinois $40 billion. They won’t get that much, but they’ll get enough to paper over budget holes and pacify various interest groups so they can focus on their re-election campaigns.

The session was not without its moments of comedy and farce.

One legislator, state Rep. Darren Bailey, refused to wear his coronavirus face mask, a pointless exercise of protest. He was ejected from the House by an overwhelming vote. When Bailey returned the next day, he had his face mask on. So what was the point, except to generate a very simple and relatively unimportant news story that drew attention from more important things?

Another disappointment was what looks to be the legislature’s decision to give government workers another paid holiday - Election Day in November.

Why? Isn’t 12 holidays enough for them? Those in the private sector are expected to work on Election Day. What’s so special about government employees that super-majority Democrats felt compelled to provide an unnecessary day off?

The good news is that the legislation applies only to this election year. But once benefits are granted, they’re hard to take away, so the idea will be back.

One of the attributes of legislative action in Illinois is that House and Senate leaders like to wait until the last minute and then pass everything at once.

It makes oversight, debate and achieving a good understanding of what is in pending legislation very difficult. That, of course, is the idea.

So it was again with the whirlwind of legislative sausage-making last week, except that the pandemic session made conducting business as usual even more difficult.

In that respect, it’s going to take a while to sort out what legislators did in the name of the people of Illinois. Everyone, however, can be confident there’s more bad news on the way.

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May 24, 2020

The Rock Island Argus and The (Moline) Dispatch

White House, Congress must deliver for Americans

Have you checked the mail?

Practically every day, Americans ask this question.

If there’s anything that’s a near daily occurrence in this country, it’s to check for mail.

Americans rely on the U.S. mail.

We depend on it for letters and bills. We endure its solicitations. We get our magazines and birthday cards through the mail. And a full 20% of Americans over 40 get their prescription drugs exclusively through the mail, according to one survey.

Increasingly, we are voting by mail.

In many parts of America, particularly rural areas, the post office is a community hub.

So it is distressing to hear the U.S. Postal Service say that without help it may run out of money by the end of September.

The financial challenges facing the postal service have been around for years, as competition has increased and mail volume has fallen. But the COVID-19 pandemic has hit especially hard. The service, which operates without the benefit of tax dollars, anticipates a $13 billion loss this fiscal year due to the pandemic, and $54 billion in losses over the next 10 years.

In response, the U.S. Postal Service has asked Congress for $25 billion in emergency cash, a $25 billion grant for capital improvements and $25 billion in borrowing authority.

Previous coronavirus legislation set aside a $10 billion loan for the service, but President Trump has threatened to block it until the post office enacts big rate increases on shippers like Amazon. Meanwhile, the Democrat-controlled House has included $25 billion in its latest stimulus bill, but the legislation clearly isn’t going anywhere.

Our view is the post office is an essential service, especially in rural America. Like other businesses in this country, it needs and deserves bipartisan help. It’s a view backed up by our readers; lately, we have seen a large amount of people write us urging that the postal service be saved.

As for its daily operations, we’d rather see that determined by the postal service and its board of governors, not politicians. They know their business best.

This issue aside, it is clear that the post office has fiscal challenges that need to be dealt with. They existed even before the pandemic, and they are problems the postal service has acknowledged.

In that respect, the president and Congress can play a definite role.

One problem is the requirement that the postal service pre-fund retiree health benefits, something that was put in place by a 2006 law. The service’s inspector general says this mandate is “a primary” cause for its financial difficulties. Supporters of the postal service say this requirement isn’t put upon other federal agencies.

There are other challenges, too. The postal service, which is required to provide universal service, has lagged in keeping its infrastructure up to date. Thus, the need for capital expenditures. It also is constrained by a statutory price cap.

We’re not crazy about the price of mail going up, but the cap should be recognized as an impediment.

Congress and the White House must find a way to keep the postal service operating. Mail delivery is, and always has been, vital. But now, there is an even greater reason for keeping the postal service operating: its potential role in upcoming elections.

Americans are turning more than ever to voting from home, by casting a ballot and dropping it in the mail.

In Iowa, voters have, in unprecedented numbers, asked for absentee ballots for the June 2 primary. That happened in large part because Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, decided to mail absentee requests to every registered Iowa voter.

Illinois also is moving toward expanding its vote by mail program.

This has been a bipartisan phenomenon.

In Wisconsin, 70% of primary voters cast absentee ballots last month.

Even if the dire predictions of the coronavirus’ spread this fall don’t come to pass, we still believe Americans in large numbers will want to have the convenience and added security of voting from the comfort and safety of their homes.

For this and many other reasons, our leaders must find a way to keep this uniquely American institution operating.

Fix its problems, yes. But don’t expect that to happen quickly or easily. The priority right now should be to ensure the postal service has the funds to withstand these unprecedented challenges.

For that, it will require America’s political leaders to deliver - and quickly.