Editorial: We want 'right' but we need 'acceptable' on budget

"It's time to get it right."

So said Gov. Rauner's spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis on Wednesday, after an attempt by Senate President John Cullerton to move the so-called Grand Bargain budget bill through the Illinois Senate failed yet again for want of Republican votes.

To Demertzis, the governor, the Republicans and the Democrats, we say, it's time to pass a viable budget.

The notion that the document has to be perfect - which admittedly the Grand Bargain is not - or even "right," is no longer the most important thing. That ship sailed about the time the state's social service agencies started cutting back and closing, and vendors started going bankrupt waiting for the state to pay them. Now, we can only hope something gets passed before Illinois' credit rating drops to junk bond status.

By necessity, "right" must be replaced with "good enough" for the time being.

S&P Global Ratings said as much in February, when it issued a report titled, "For Illinois, Having A Plan Beats No Plan."

The agency was referring to the Grand Bargain, the bipartisan compromise hammered out by Cullerton and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, as it urged state lawmakers to exercise legislative control over the process before things get even worse.

Let's be clear. We want to get the budget "right" as much as anybody, and we're certainly in favor of reforms that would fairly put Illinois back on firm financial footing.

But "right" will continue to be a moving target. It is obviously going to take a lot more discussion and reflection before we as a state have a realistic consensus on what "right" is. Many plans have sprung up since the bargain was introduced. To introduce more now is dithering - if there was a better plan out there, we'd have it by now, but the dithering only invites more complications and further delays.

The framework of the Grand Bargain is good enough - maybe a bit better than that - and it's all we're going to get for the time being. Yes, we're disappointed that it makes no serious provision for meaningful cuts in spending, and we would hope for continued refinements, especially regarding the need for spending controls, monitoring the income tax increase and modifying the vast expansion of casino gambling it calls for.

But passing something in its spirit, and tweaking that later, is what makes sense now. It will move the state forward and can continue to be modified and improved.

Illinois and its people already have lost so much in this stalemate - treasure, population, basic care for citizens who need it, the trust of our business community, and our very dignity. It's time to triage the worst wounds and save the tricky operation for later. Illinois can't wait any longer.