50th House hopefuls discuss state finances

If the temporary state income tax increase is allowed to expire as planned in January 2015, what should the state do to make up for the loss of the nearly $5 billion it brings in annually?

The four candidates for the Republican nomination for the 50th District state house seat discussed what they would do during recent Daily Herald endorsement interviews.

Beth Goncher of Aurora said she doesn't think anybody currently knows what can be done, until they can get "a true picture" of the state budget and other documents, including accounts not listed in the general fund. "I think it is impossible to know until you get down to Springfield and get a budget in front of you," she said.

There are some low-hanging fruit, Goncher said, questioning the use of airplanes by state officials, and the allowance legislators have for spending on their district offices. But she said achieving a 3 to 5 percent cut isn't possible.

At minimum, she wants the budget to stop increasing. "We have to stop that pattern as well," said Goncher, the legislative and constituent services director for 50th District Rep. Tim Schmitz, who is not running for re-election.

Julie Cosimo would look to Medicaid reform and "wasteful earmarks." She cited as an example money given to Waubonsee Community College to improve safety, saying things like that should be the responsibility of the college. The Oswego resident also called for evaluating the interest paid to vendors with the state whose payments are past due. The state has to pay 1 percent interest on overdue approved payments for many of its contracts. In fiscal year 2010, that totaled $62 million, according to a report by the Civic Federation of Chicago.

Cosimo, director of career development at Benedictine University, called for better Medicaid eligibility verification. An ongoing review by a third party reported in November that nearly half of the participants' reviewed were not eligible.

Keith Wheeler, too, would look to Medicaid as a place to make up the revenue if the income tax increase isn't permanent. "How did we not put mechanisms into place at first (to check for fraud?)"

He also said that if Illinois would do things that would help businesses and lead to more employment, there would be reduced need for social services so the state could reduce that spending.

Avoiding the graduated income tax and reforming workers' compensation laws to make workers prove an injury occurred on the job would make Illinois attractive to businesses, said Wheeler, who lives in Oswego and is owner of a computer consulting business.

Bill Keck, the former longtime Kane County auditor, said a forensic audit of state spending is necessary to look for ways to increase efficiency in spending and see what kind of controls can be imposed on agencies. And legislators need to be responsible too, he said, in reviewing legislation. He said he would use the state auditor general's reports as a guide to determining whether to vote on particular bills. "In every bill there is some pork," the Sugar Grove resident said.