43rd House candidates debate budget fix

Both candidates running for state representative in Elgin-based District 43 agree that solving the Illinois' budget mess is a top priority.

But incumbent Democrat Keith Farnham and Republican challenger Ruth Munson have different views on how to correct the multibillion dollar deficit.

Farnham, who derailed Munson's re-election attempt in November 2008 when he won by 322 votes, said the budget mess provides lawmakers with a unique chance to evaluate spending at every level.

He also advocates budgeting from the ground up, looking at what revenues the state will get as opposed to revenues lawmakers hope to receive.

"I think a time of crisis is a time of opportunity," he said. "We've created so many programs based on revenue growing and growing and now everybody's suffering. We're still living in the myth that we could do everything like we did before."

Farnham says funding for essential services, such as Elgin-based agencies Community Crisis Center and the Ecker Center for Mental Health, need to continue but some programs will inevitably face reductions or be eliminated.

"There is going to be pain because there is pain already," he said.

Farnham said that during his 19 months in office he was able to identify unnecessary overtime in the Human Services Department and has done his small part to reduce spending by returning nearly $20,000 out of his state-funded office budget that he didn't need.

He also wants input from residents on what services they need and ones they can do without.

Munson, who was appointed to the seat in December 2002 and re-elected in 2004 and 2006, noted she had voted against some budgets in the past because they were not balanced. She also called for a forensic audit.

"It's really about understanding what's really in the budget," she said. "If we don't, we'll continue to base budgets on bad budgets. We have to fight to get the budget back in order. We have to eliminate the waste, eliminate the fraud."

She said creating more jobs will be key to pumping more money into state coffers and, in turn, helping balance the budget. One way to do this is through an "innovation economy" that encourages more manufacturing and marketing of new technology.

Farnham has worked with other are lawmakers to persuade Gov. Pat Quinn to include $13 million in his capital plan for a project called the Riverside Drive Promenade, a plan to reconstruct a 1,500-foot-long road in downtown Elgin to convert it into a gathering place with overlooks facing the Fox River.

That funding hasn't been released yet, but Munson says every one manufacturing job created results in three ancillary jobs. In her view, that's better a long-run solution than a single construction project.

"It's not a sustainable source of income for families, It's not what's going to grow our economy," Munson said.

The 43rd House District includes parts of Elgin, South Elgin, East Dundee and Carpentersville.