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Illinois Budget Deadline Brings Chaos, Exhaustion
Produced by Sam Hudzik on Friday, June 26, 2009
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Bird Ladder is co-owned by Richard Carlson, who's tired of last-minute budget politics. (WBEZ/Sam Hudzik) |
Illinois' budget expires Tuesday at midnight. This time of year can bring chaos to the state. Politicians toss around threats, tout conflicting budget numbers and stage competing press conferences. They're all trying to gain an upper hand in last-minute negotiations. And, for the 13-million Illinois residents caught in the middle, it's become an exhausting routine.
You can be forgiven for dozing off as we report on politicians warning of big budget cuts, the need for higher taxes, and how the clock is ticking on fiscal responsibility. You've heard it all before.
POLITICAL MONTAGE: Receipts from sales, fuel, parking and cigarette taxes are down...and do the responsible thing and reduce the budget...there simply are not enough cuts left to fully close our budget gap...we must ask taxpayers for more...while maintaining vital services.
Political leaders, including Governor Pat Quinn, say it's different this year, because the economy's so battered. But to the people and agencies fearing the brunt of the budget problems, to them, there is a definite sense of déjà vu about all this.
Ambi: (ring) Illinois Poison Center.
One of those agencies is the Illinois Poison Center, which operates a 24-hour hotline. Health professionals take about 300 calls each day from worried parents, babysitters - and even emergency room doctors - who just need some advice.
Ambi: And just part pouring luke warm, room temperature, comfortable water over the bridge of his nose so that it flows over his eyes for a good 10-15 minutes to try to flush all this out of his eyes, okay?
WAHL: We get about 40-percent of our funding from the state. And it is a line item that has to be passed every year by the House and the Senate.
Michael Wahl is medical director at the poison center.
WAHL: Year to year it is a constant effort to educate the legislature as to the importance of the Illinois Poison Center.
A number of states are threatening to stop funding poison hotlines. In Illinois, about $2-million are on the line, a loss that Wahl says could wipe out the center.
WAHL: Every year, it is a fight. It's sort of a defensive fight.
A few years ago, it looked like the poison center might have found a way out of this perennial fight. A 2005 study commissioned by the legislature recommended a big boost in state funding, some of which has been realized. And the study also found a need for more stability.
WAHL: One of the recommendations was to look at some other sort of stable revenue enhancement.
By that, Wahl means a stream of money not bound by the whims of the legislature's annual budget process. Ideas included a surcharge on phone lines and cell phones, a health insurance fee, or an extra tax on booze and cigarettes. But, it never happened. So Wahl continues to spend a lot of time each year trying to get lawmakers to OK the poison center's funding, time he'd have back if there were a stable funding source.
WAHL: We [could] spend more time reaching out to the general public in how to prevent a poisoning. We can really achieve our mission, as opposed to spending a lot of time trying to educate the legislature.
This year, the debate over cuts at the poison center and other agencies is closely tied to the debate over taxes...
CARLSON: We sell a full line of ladders, and scaffolding, truck and van equipment, shelving, pressure washers, power hoists, etcetera.
...bringing us to another Illinoisian keeping a close eye on the state's budget debate.
CARLSON: My name's Richard Carlson. I'm owner - part owner - of a small construction equipment supply firm on the Northwest Side of the city.
And business right now is going, well - go ahead and guess.
CARLSON: Oh, it's awful. The average cost of my sales ticket has been slashed by 50-60-70-percent.
Carlson and other business owners say they're just trying to hang on in this economy - an effort they say that's hampered by city, county and state leaders. From jumping property and sales taxes, to Governor Quinn's recent push for higher income and corporate taxes, both of which would hit Carlson. The process has made him sound exhausted, and a bit cynical.
CARLSON: I am worried about it, but what can I do? Unfortunately, people throughout the state lose focus. It's a focus issue when it happens, but by the time two years goes by, or four years goes by, everyone forgets all about that.
The head of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce says the business community is always on the defensive, trying to fight off tax increases politicians say are needed to prevent brutal cuts to vital services.
It's a high-stakes game over public money, and it has both the poison center's Michael Wahl, and ladder salesman Richard Carlson, once again waiting for Illinois politicians to blink.
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