Eye on Illinois: Here’s a shocker: budget cut decisions only deepen partisan divides

The war of words is exhausting.

Gov. JB Pritzker detailed $711 million in spending cuts Tuesday afternoon, explaining he identified reductions he could enact without legislative involvement. Although he will need to negotiate with labor unions to realize $75 million in savings, it’s a good first step toward closing a hole in the current fiscal year budget pegged at $3.9 billion.

But in so doing, Pritzker took verbal shots at Republicans for working to defeat the graduated income tax amendment in November. Republicans fired back by blaming Pritzker for signing off on a budget in the spring that assumed the referendum would pass in the fall. There’s also argument over the plausibility of the federal government replacing revenue lost to coronavirus mitigation.

“It’s been two years since Republicans announced their wholesale opposition to the ‘Fair Tax,’ and it’s been 40 days since the election, and they have yet to produce any viable answer for balancing the budget,” Pritzker said. “They worked and spent endlessly to defeat the best option Democrats put on the table. And after all their bluster, it turns out that Republicans have no plan at all, to put the state on a firm fiscal foundation.”

“The governor can blame others all he wants for the state’s financial mess, but the fact of the matter is this is a bed of his own making,” said Senate Minority Leader-elect Dan McConchie, of Hawthorn Woods. “Voters fundamentally rejected his graduated tax proposal because of their lack of trust in state government, which stems from years of Springfield increasing taxes and ignoring the reforms that Republicans have put on the table time and time again.”

If any of this sounds familiar it’s because you’ve been paying attention at any point over the last forever. Typically, each side leaves out a key aspect of their talking points. For the Democrats, it’s acknowledging the tax amendment didn’t fail only because Republicans voted in opposition. For Republicans, it’s admitting their golden goose of pension reform can only be fully realized through the same fraught process.

More than 6 million Illinoisans cast ballots in November. The drop-off from Joe Biden support to referendum approval exceeded 412,000. Even if Democrats tried to mount another effort in two years, it’s hard to see them reaching the 60% threshold.

Likewise, even imagining the minority party could get a pension reform amendment on the ballot, it’s difficult to envision a supermajority approving. Our political divisions are deep and the propaganda machines well oiled.

So the standoffs persist: dueling releases, casting blame and little progress. Pritzker has earned his criticism, and his grandest ambition failed, but he at least is making the cuts within his control. Lawmakers must follow suit.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media Illinois. Follow him on Twitter at @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.