Statehouse gridlock a lose-lose situation
SPRINGFIELD - Political gridlock in Illinois may run headlong into congressional shortsightedness and possibly cost Illinois taxpayers $9 billion.
Recently, congressional leaders and fiscal forecasters began warning that the highway construction account could run dry next year. That's the account motorists pay into every time they buy gas. It's also the account that helps pay for the massive highway building deal President Bush signed in the suburbs three years ago that saw Illinois' share of the cash increase nearly 40 percent.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, warring Democratic factions have been unable to agree on how to pay for an Illinois construction-spending spree, which would leverage the $9 billion in promised federal funding.
The potential problem for Illinois occurs if that fund goes broke before Illinois lawmakers get a deal.
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Tuesday the state would simply be out of luck.
"If states don't use it, they lose it," Hastert told reporters during a teleconference. He, along with Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard, a Democrat, was recruited by Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich to sell a $34 billion state construction deal to lawmakers.
The deal calls for more and bigger casinos and leasing the state lottery. It cleared the Illinois Senate in May but met opposition in the House and in Chicago, where Mayor Richard Daley is not pleased with the Chicago casino provisions.
Blagojevich has ordered lawmakers back to the Capitol today in hopes they'll address not only state construction, but a state budget that's nearly $2 billion out of whack. He's threatened to slash funding for everything from a veterans home addition to senior programs if lawmakers don't come up with more money.
But lawmakers aren't expecting either to be resolved during the two-day special session.
"The speaker agrees with the need to try to put a claim on that federal money as quickly as possible. He's said that for more than a year now," said Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat. "The problem is, with the gambling bill, they've sent one the city of Chicago opposes."
As for the federal dollars, Brown said the state could easily match the initial money needed for engineering and planning. He also said Madigan has confidence in Illinois' congressional delegation to look after the state's interests.
"You don't really need a $34 billion plan to do what needs to be done," Brown said. "The kind of take-it or leave-it legislation that Poshard and Hastert sent over to the House is going to be hard to deal with."
Hastert also previously criticized Blagojevich's priorities regarding the federal highway dollars, suggesting that money is already available.
Asked about that Tuesday, Hastert said it never came up in recent meetings with legislative leaders and the Blagojevich administration and everyone "acquiesced" to moving forward with a gambling-backed construction plan.