Wasteful Government Spending
Our government needs to balance the state’s budget, just as we do at our homes. We reduce our expenses to match our income. We don’t borrow our way out of a mess.
We cannot tax our way out of these deficits. Massive tax increases only feed the addiction of bad government and avoid the pain and discipline of spending controls. Springfield can and must become more cost-effective, efficient, and responsible with taxpayer funds. We are willing to pay reasonable taxes to support our state, but cannot permit the political establishment to support their lifestyle with OUR money.
We cannot simply wait for the market to "change"- just like families cannot simply stop paying the mortgages or food bills until the market "changes". We need to adjust our spending in these lean years. There is huge risk in continuing to spend without control over this budget. We cannot continue to elect those who got us into this mess, or the candidates specifically chosen to succeed them. If we do not fight for change, we will never get change.
I advocate for true budget reform which includes cutting expenses, rooting out waste, eliminating corrupt practices and reducing bureaucracies; all of which will improve the economic environment, producing more jobs and tax dollars. It is appalling that the only cuts Springfield could find to make in the 2010 budget were to teachers, special education and pre-K education. Medicaid, pension and waste are the largest pieces of the budget and must be addressed first.
Medicaid Crisis
According to estimates by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), the costs of Medicaid liability are growing at an annual rate of 7%. If this trend continues, Medicaid spending will reach approximately $22 billion in 2019, which represents approximately 50% of Illinois' entire state budget. It will crowd out other state spending priorities, such as public safety and education. Something has to be done.
Under President Obama’s federal stimulus plans, states must maintain current Medicaid eligibility levels in order to ensure the preservation of federal matching dollars. In Illinois, where Medicaid represents one of the largest and fastest growing portions of the State budget, this federal restriction poses a problem, but the greater problem is legislators’ out of control spending. We cannot begin the discussion of reducing Medicaid eligibility until we agree to stop expanding it. I advocate imposing a moratorium on all Medicaid expansions during this fiscal crisis. To date, Illinois has an unresolved budget deficit of more than $13 billion, not including the near $5 billion owed in unpaid bills and the $83 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities. We CANNOT continue expanding programs when we are unable to fund them at current levels.
Medicaid Reform
In addition to a moratorium on further expansion of the Medicaid program, we must increase the program’s efficiency and make it more cost-effective. We must make our Medicaid system more efficient and cost-effective. I am a strong proponent of managed care systems. Many tax-paying residents in Illinois are currently in HMOs and PPOs. Switching Medicaid to a managed care system is projected to result in a 20% annual savings. As Medicaid costs Illinois $13 billion annually, this measure will result in $2.6 billion in annual savings. Governor Quinn's proposal to increase personal income taxes by 33% and corporate taxes by 21% is anticipated to draw a combined additional $2.8 billion of state revenue annually. Switching to managed care will not only essentially eliminate the need for a tax hike, but it will also make Medicaid more efficient, sustainable, and will provide better care for participants.
Medicaid spending totals over $13 billion in Illinois and, of that, we are losing $1 billion annually to fraud. As your State Representative, I will support focusing resources towards Medicaid fraud prevention. Please note, that for every $1 we spend on Medicaid fraud enforcement, we will recover $12.50 in savings.
Pension Reform
Pensions are a major aspect of Illinois' budgetary problems and are a prime example of our state's lack of financial planning. Our pension system is unsustainable and the worst in the nation (funded at a mere 55%). Year after year our government has chosen to borrow in order to meet our minimum pension obligations. When we borrow to pay these bills, we enhance the problem, avoid accountability, and worst of all, we pass the consequences of our actions onto our children and grandchildren. I support switching the pension systems from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan. Defined contribution plans are sustainable whereas defined benefit plans are not.
I will support legislation that includes new police officers and new firefighters into the new system. I will not consider any legislation which would reduce already earned benefits for current employees. Public pension is more than a simple contract between the State and public employees, it is a promise. We must honor our promises and restore faith in our government. We must also honor the IL Constitution which explicitly states that public pensions "shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired".
In lieu of renegotiating existing pension plans, we must stop costly corruption in the pension system and double-dipping practices as well as expand recent pension reform legislation and new municipal workers. If we do not reform the system going forward, we will be unable to keep the promise that we have made to the thousands of men and women who have dedicated their careers to the State. We must work in a nonpartisan manner to tackle the budget line by line in order to quickly address unfunded retiree health obligations.
Forensic Audit
I am a strong proponent of a statewide forensic audit administered by a nonpartisan third party to definitively identify and eliminate the waste, fraud, corruption, duplication and inefficiency that has crippled our state and detracted from our ability to make good on our bills and fund essential services. Other states, such as Texas and Kansas, have identified billions of dollars in savings in their state budgets through a similar process. These states first completed a full audit of their governments’ services and then used that information, along with innovative budget tools such as zero-based budgeting and forensic audits, to identify waste, duplication, and inefficiency in the state budget. According to a report issued by the Illinois Auditor General in 2007, Illinois does not have such a list.