Time to limit legislative session

On Tuesday, the Illinois legislature finally adjourned for 2011, with the House and Senate having put in a combined three extra days since their scheduled adjournment on Nov. 10 to negotiate and vote on a tax-breaks package that includes money for Sears Holdings, CME Group, other Illinois businesses, state income taxpayers and the working poor.

Lawmakers took an extra day to iron out state spending differences after the scheduled May 31 end of the spring session, contributing to the total of 74 days at the Capitol in 2011 for the House, 67 in the Senate.

Now, 2011’s session is hardly the longest for the General Assembly. Consider 2007, when lawmakers kept going all summer for a total of 110 days in session for the House.

How do you account for the routine of legislative overtime? Is it a case of “too much work, too little time?” Or simply an example of not knowing how to work with a deadline?

Here at the Daily Herald, we know enough about deadlines to understand the folly of leaving the toughest, most pressing issues until the last minute, and legislators might be learning. They spread the heavy work on the state budget throughout the spring session and very nearly made their May 31 deadline this year. Not quite, but they showed what can be done.

Still, we think the overtime trend adds up to an argument for limiting Illinois’ legislative session, saving taxpayers money and enforcing productivity.

Illinois is one of just 11 states with no real restriction on the number of days in session, says the National Conference of State Legislatures.

At least 14 states limit the days each year that the legislature is in session to 60 or fewer. Alabama gives lawmakers just 30 days to conduct state business. Wyoming limits the session to 20 days in even-numbered years, 40 in odd-numbered years, the national conference says.

Now, we’re no Wyoming or Alabama, and those limits might be draconian for a state as populous as ours. But limits still make sense.

For one thing, keeping lawmakers in Springfield isn’t cheap. Each gets a $111-per-day stipend to cover food and housing for most days in session (72 in the House and 66 in the Senate this year). Taxpayers also cover 39 cents per mile for lawmakers who drive to Springfield.

Together, the per diems added up to $1.71 million last year, on top of $13.1 million in salaries and leadership stipends.

Other states have made it work. Colorado, Louisiana, Nevada and Alaska limited legislative sessions in recent decades, while just one, South Dakota, lengthened the session, the National Conference of State Legislatures says.

Illinois lawmakers should take a look at following suit. We bet that, especially if they used the extra time focusing on their districts, they could cut back on days in Springfield without cutting back on the work that gets done.