Kiss non-essential services goodbye

When you think about it, the state budget crisis isn't that complex.

Owing to the Great Recession and years of shortsighted budgeting, the state is essentially bankrupt.

The state's inability to pay its bills in any reasonable time frame is leaving schools, social service agencies and other entities dependent on state funding in the lurch.

This year, the state was able to maintain spending for schools because it received millions in federal stimulus cash.

Next year, no such luck.

Without the federal government to bail them out, state policymakers have three choices: increase revenue, slash costs or do a little of both.

As for revenue, the ill-advised video gambling expansion doesn't seem to be panning out so far. Gov. Pat Quinn still hopes to raise taxes and says the Feb. 2 Democratic primary is a referendum on taxes.

But Quinn can't raise taxes unilaterally, and in the meantime, the state still can't pay its bills. The state has taken out a series of short-term loans to meet some of its obligations but still has a backlog of nearly $9 billion.

It's been said before but bears repeating: the state can't borrow its way out of this budget crisis. It can merely forestall the inevitable: higher taxes, reduced services or both.

But state decision makers' indecision is being felt throughout the state as local governments and service providers reliant on state funding fear they will never receive the money they are owed this year.

Schools are among the hardest hit. This week witnessed a number of school districts contemplating layoffs and program cuts because of the uncertainty surrounding state funding.

Community Unit District 300 is mulling $6.4 million in cuts. West Chicago Community High School District 96 is looking to cut almost $800,000. Maine Township High School District 207 plans to layoff almost 140 teachers.

But all those cuts will look like a blessing if the state doesn't get its treasury in order - and local officials are starting to realize it.

To illustrate the gravity of the state crisis, District 300 staff have prepared a budget scenario in which the state cuts education funding by 50 percent.

While that may be a remote possibility, school officials are worried the state will cut or eliminate funding for a variety of programs, including transportation and bilingual education.

This, school officials acknowledge, could be disastrous.

"You would have to do away with major state mandates, no transportation, no deLacey, no Oak Ridge," District 300 Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates said.

The deLacey Family Education Center is a school for at-risk preschoolers. It would be a shame if it had to close its doors.

But deLacey doesn't provide a required service, and when the state is struggling just to meet its essential obligations, something's gotta give.