Ayes for Fiscal Reform

by Ashley Muchow Hats off to Governor Pat Quinn and State Senator Pamela Althoff (R-McHenry) for their vocal support of greater transparency and responsible financial decision making in Springfield. It comes in the wake of a recent Institute report that showed 97 percent of the bill’s awaiting the governor’s signature have no fiscal note attached. After the legislature’s unprecedented...

by Ashley Muchow

Hats off to Governor Pat Quinn and State Senator Pamela Althoff (R-McHenry) for their vocal support of greater transparency and responsible financial decision making in Springfield. It comes in the wake of a recent Institute report that showed 97 percent of the bill’s awaiting the governor’s signature have no fiscal note attached.

After the legislature’s unprecedented move to push the thorny task of budget balancing on the current governor, it would seem that support for more fiscal analysis would be advantageous for Governor Pat Quinn.  And so it is.  Galesburg Radio 14 WGIL reports that the governor agrees that such price tags would be helpful.  “The more we ascertain costs the better,” Quinn says.  The unprecedented maneuver to shuffle the bulk of the legislature’s job on one man illustrates quite vividly the lack of responsibility amongst our law making body.  So we get why Quinn supports this measure, but why not tackle it?  Let’s hold our governor to his claim that if fiscal notes were more prevalent, lawmakers themselves would be more careful about the cost of the legislation they are proposing.

In addition, State Senator Pam Althoff deserves our commendation; Althoff has joined us in our aim to expand fiscal transparency in Springfield.  Althoff will become a lead Senate sponsor of a measure that would greatly expand the use and scope of fiscal notes.  Althoff agrees with the Institute’s assessment of the current fiscal note process and claims that “under the current system, lawmakers have little idea how much a bill will cost taxpayers over the long-term.  As we face record budget deficits and debt, that must change so we can be sure the measures we pass are good for our long-term fiscal health.”

Illinois needs to use the tools it has available to clean up the state budget; the support of a simple measure to improve transparency and fiscal consideration is something many of us can agree upon.