Hope springs for Springfield?

An amazing and much-too-rare thing happened at the Roselle village hall Tuesday.

Republican state Sen. John Millner of Carol Stream and, gasp, Democratic freshman state Rep. Michelle Mussman of Schaumburg hosted a joint town hall meeting.

Not only did the competing party members stand together and talk to constituents, they talked about cutting out-of-control spending.

We’re going to have to find ways to cut, Millner and Mussman agreed. That means not spending money on new and good programs and cutting funds for schools, social service programs and other worthy causes.

Best of all? The Democrat and the Republican delivered the painful truth to their constituents and were applauded for it by the 60 or so people in attendance.

Mussman and Millner should be applauded. They and their colleagues should make the painful cuts needed to fix a state budget deficit some have said reached $15 billion and then we all should applaud them. We hope they tell all their colleagues they delivered the difficult news and didn’t suffer for it.

This bipartisan display of courage and honesty is just one sign of hope. At least in the state Senate, there are indications that business-as-usual might be dying on the vine.

The Senate Democratic majority already has voted to fund this year’s pension payments for state employees. Typically and too often, that payment has been deferred, creating a significant portion of the budget deficit problem. Historically, the budget gets hammered out by the handful of people who hold all the power in the waning hours of the legislative session before a new fiscal year begins in summer.

Last week, though, Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, told Democratic and Republican senators to have their ideas for cutting drafted in bill form so they could be discussed openly in early May and voted on.

That move has generated debate. There are several suburban Republican senators who oppose the pension funding vote and the idea of cutting up the budget and debate into pieces. Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, believes all budget-related matters still should be considered as a whole. State Sen. Dan Duffy, a Lake Barrington Republican, also believes the pension spending decision should not have been decided outside the context of other spending and that pension changes ought to have been debated.

They may have a point. And there may be plenty of politicking going on. It remains to be seen if spending is cut enough and if all ideas are considered fairly. Still, Millner, Mussman and Cullerton deserve credit. Cullerton announced his process and is getting it going far earlier than we’ve seen in some time. Is that a bud of hope for good change sprouting? It just may be.