'Piglet Book' guts pork politics
The Illinois Policy Institute and Citizens Against Government Waste issued "The 2010 Illinois Piglet Book" Tuesday, claiming to document $350 million in excess state spending.
Yet some of the agencies cited would no doubt take issue with being listed as pork-barrel projects, such as the Chicago Horticultural Society, which the study said is allotted $72,000 in the 2010 budget for the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Chicago Zoological Society, which is to receive $1,000 for Brookfield Zoo, and even the Friends of Ryerson Woods, which receives $2,890 from the state.
"The 2010 Illinois Piglet Book" is a sequel to a study put out two years ago, likewise sponsored by the IPI and CAGW and likewise written by Nicole Kurokawa of the Independent Women's Forum.
Its basic tenet, it says, is: "The state cannot attempt to fund everything it wants today while passing the costs on to future generations."
For instance, it attacks $24 million in state funding sent to Arlington Park, which it blames on deals made by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Arlington spokesman David Zenner said he could not respond to the study without seeing it, and that track officials were unavailable with the snowstorm.
The book knocked $1 million in spending for 80 local library districts, insisting they could make do with book donations and local funding.
"Local library districts should be self-sufficient and not rely on state aid," the book dictated.
"The programs mentioned in the Piglet Book should be eliminated because they don't fall within the purview of the state government," it stated, "and are wasteful and duplicative."
The book attacked $10,000 spent on a gala for the feature film "The Dark Knight" and its director, Christopher Nolan. Yet Marcelyn Love, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, pointed out that gala was part of the Chicago International Film Festival. "It's a way to market our state and our film industry," she said, and was technically paid for out of revenues from the Hotel and Motel Tax. S
he said it was money well invested and contributed to the $141 million spent on films in Illinois in 2008, the most recent year with overall figures available. "It's a key driver of our Illinois economy," she added.
Gov. Quinn's office issued a response without really taking issue with the study.
"Gov. Pat Quinn is a longtime taxpayer advocate who is committed to greatly increasing the efficiency of state government while lowering its cost structure," it read. "Since taking office, the Quinn administration has cut approximately $2 billion from the state's budget while continuing to provide for education, necessary human services, veterans' care and other basic needs. During these difficult economic times, the Quinn administration welcomes feedback from every group as it develops the Illinois Fiscal Year 2011 budget."