When the state becomes a deadbeat

If it were a typical debtor, the state of Illinois would no doubt be trying to change its phone number right now - if it could even afford the phone.

Service agencies, libraries, school districts, municipalities - you name it - they've all been making very public noises lately about the millions of dollars the state owes them.

Unlike typical bill collectors, though, taxpayers and the local agencies they support cannot just shut off access to services until the deadbeat pays up. They can only protest or march or call a meeting or, as in the case of Indian Prairie Unit District 204 this week, put up a sign trying to shame the state into paying.

The problem, though, as with so many individuals fighting to pay more debts than they can afford, is that, in the words of Aurora Democratic state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, "we can't give what we don't have."

Local agencies, of course, are trying, justifiably, to avert blame for their problems. They want their taxpayers to be aware that one big reason for their own budget problems is the state's foot dragging.

The latest group to haul lawmakers in for an earful are the region's libraries, which hosted a gathering Monday in Buffalo Grove.

Naperville state Rep. Darlene Senger's message for them and for other agencies writhing in need for some $400 million in bills on which the state is behind?

"The money is on its way."

The ring of that phrase sounds bone-shiveringly close to that of the tired cliché, "The check is in the mail," words that have come to indicate a promise that won't be kept.

To some extent, one wonders why all these agencies feel compelled to lean so hard on the state right now. It's been no secret that the state has been tens of millions of dollars in arrears on its promises for years.

Perhaps, there's something of an explanation in Mundelein Republican Rep. Ed Sullivan's observation that the funding crisis could come down to libraries or schools, but not both. Surely, every indentured institution in the state must be realizing by now that its fiscal lifeline to the state may come down to that agency or some other worthy competitor, but not both. The libraries were told as much in their meeting with lawmakers Monday

Long-suffering local agencies hardly need to be told that the state is not going to be the funding foundation it has been in the past. But perhaps the message in all the public protests at present is that the state's coming budgets have to be not only more stringent than in the past but also more honest.

It is bad enough for local governments to deal with steep declines in assistance. It is especially painful for them to find their budgets crippled because they included promises of funding the state can't keep.