Despite bipartisan support for pension and Medicaid reform — two programs Gov. Pat Quinn acknowledged during his State of the State speech Wednesday need fixing — Illinois lawmakers are on course to spend the least amount of time in Springfield since 2006.
Members of the House and Senate are scheduled to meet for a total of 15 days before the March 20 primary election. They’re scheduled to report to Springfield for six days during April, leaving any serious business for May, the final month of the spring session.
On their second day of the new session Wednesday, lawmakers adjourned early at 1 p.m., canceled a work day scheduled for Thursday and decided to meet only two days next week instead of three.
“Not exactly off to a rip-roaring start,” said state Rep. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago), who was working at his desk in an empty House chamber an hour after Quinn’s speech. Most lawmakers were heading home.
The state faces a backlog of unpaid bills nearing $8.5 billion, including $2 billion in Medicaid spending. An unfunded liability within the state’s five pension systems is around $85 billion, the highest in the country. Those two factors contributed to Moody’s Investors Service downgrading Illinois’ credit rating last month to the lowest in the nation.
Both sides of the aisle agreed that pensions and Medicaid require a thorough overhaul to avoid plunging the state into deeper debt.
“Fixing the pension problem will not be easy, but we have no choice,” Quinn said during his address, echoing the concerns of Republican leaders, who criticized him for failing to fix the state’s financial problems.
Quinn said he would say more about the state’s fiscal condition when he delivers his budget proposal on Feb. 22.
But there appears to be little time to get any major work done this year. All lawmakers are up for re-election — and in unfamiliar territory. New legislative districts have been drawn based on shifts in the state’s population.
This year’s schedule brings legislators to the Capitol for a total of 53 work days, including the fall veto session. Last year, they met 74 times.
In 2007, they convened for 110 days during a contentious standoff with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who called them into special sessions repeatedly.
Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said that not all the work of the legislature is done in Springfield–lawmakers work in their districts, too. She pointed out that the Democrats control both chambers and they decide the calendar. When asked if lawmakers would have enough time between now and May 31 to address the complex issues of Medicaid and pensions, she said, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, said the light schedule is not unusual this time of year. March marks the first deadline to move bills through committees, so January and February require less face time among elected officials.
Quinn created a working group to propose pension-reform ideas, and his Department of Healthcare and Family Services has tried to move some Medicaid recipients into less expensive managed-care programs.
But the budget realities remain “stark,” Cunningham said.
“We’re in a terrible budget situation, and it’s been in the making for decades,” he said. “Everyone likes to blame Rod Blagojevich, and that’s part of it, but this has been going on forever, putting off making difficult decisions.”
Even Madigan, one of the state’s longest-serving elected officials, acknowledged lawmakers’ propensity to spend more than the state brings in a speech last week.
Quinn devoted most of his State of the State address to broad themes of job creation and economic development. The speech gave him a chance to tout his accomplishments, including reforming workers’ compensation, tightening teacher tenure processes and legalizing civil unions between same-sex couples.
Quinn announced a $2.3 million investment in a new technology center at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart to foster digital start-up companies. He also announced $6 million for a statewide competition to build a high-speed broadband network across Illinois. And he called for tax relief in the form of a child tax credit to provide $100 of direct relief to a typical family of four.
Quinn didn’t say how he would pay for the programs, which frustrated GOP leaders. They wasted no time in excoriating his proposals.
“I was focused on my son, who plays fantasy football and fantasy baseball, and I felt like I was listening to fantasy government,” House Republican Leader Tom Cross said at a news conference.
Sitting beside Cross at a long conference table, Radogno chimed in, “I felt like I was listening to the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” He’s saying, ‘Aren’t my clothes beautiful?’ but the rest of the citizens are saying, ‘He’s naked.’ It’s like he totally doesn’t get it.”
Kristen McQueary covers state government for the Chicago News Cooperative and WBEZ.