First, governor should handle the ‘serious matters’

Perhaps the gravest disappointment in Gov. Pat Quinn’s State of the State message on Wednesday is contained in a phrase that appeared in his closing remarks.

“Illinois,” the governor said, “is back on track.”

Such a statement can only be described as utter fantasy. That the governor could express it with such confidence while the state faces an up to $8.5 billion backlog of bills going unpaid because of ever-deepening demands of public pension and Medicaid obligations is disturbing, to say the least. That he could build his vision for the future of the state around it suggests nothing short of political absurdity.

True, Gov. Quinn made passing reference to the state’s budget problems and the need for Medicaid and pension reform. And he promised to have “more to say about these serious matters” three weeks from now. But unfortunately, all of the other ideas the governor proposed Wednesday link directly to “these serious matters.” How, one wonders, does he propose to offer tax incentives to business and to families and simultaneously undertake a “major investment” in early childhood education, a “major investment” in our classrooms and a “significant increase” in state scholarships with deficits looming by one estimate this week in the tens of billions of dollars?

True, as the governor said, we cannot cut ourselves to prosperity. But it’s just as true that the state remains in its precarious financial condition despite the infusion of the governor’s own 67 percent increase in state income taxes.

So, Gov. Quinn may acquire some public relations points in spirited acknowledgments that Ford and Chrysler continue to have commitments in the state, in praise for Caterpillar’s business success (despite the company’s not-so-veiled threats to leave), in calls for targeted tax reductions, in half-hearted expressions of support for “working families,” in even more half-hearted nods to the need for politicians to “work together,” even in the interesting notion of raising the mandatory school age to 18. But unless he demonstrates an awareness of the magnitude of the impending financial disaster and demands a whole new way of addressing it, all those ideas come across as insincere hogwash, as evidenced by the smatterings of barely polite applause that punctuated, rarely, the address.

In short, at a time when Illinois cries out for leadership and vision, Gov. Quinn came before both houses of the General Assembly to give an address that was flatly inconsequential.

Perhaps some of his ideas deserve more attention, and no doubt they will get it in the days ahead. But meanwhile, the best thing the governor can do for the state is to sharpen his pencil and resolve to bring a lot more passion, creativity and commitment to the table three weeks from now when he takes up those “serious matters” he scrupulously avoided on Wednesday.