Let government units file for bankruptcy

Illinois should enact legislation like that proposed by Rep. Ron Sandack, a Downers Grove Republican. It would enable such Illinois governmental units as municipalities and school systems to file for bankruptcy.

Among the chief benefits flowing from this ability would be a strengthening of the governments' hand during their negotiations with public sector unions.

Private sector unions' demands are typically constrained by awareness of the need for their employers to remain competitive and solvent. If the employer doesn't and files for bankruptcy, union members' wages, benefits, pensions, working conditions, and jobs themselves are placed in serious jeopardy.

Illinois' public sector unions, however, operate in an environment that prevents their employers from filing for bankruptcy. There's no price, consequently, for unions and their members to pay if their employers can't deliver what the unions have negotiated, often with legislators and boards they were themselves instrumental in electing.

The only recourses for the governing body are slashing social services and capital improvements to infrastructure, borrowing beyond the ability to repay, and/or taking more money from taxpayers.

Each of these is counterproductive, making the governmental unit a less desirable place to live in and ultimately eroding the tax base - the classic death spiral that brought down Detroit.

Bob Foys

Inverness