No good reason to wait for budget

We would have liked to have devoted today's space to our take on the governor's 2010-2011 state budget proposal. There's no doubt it would be grim - closing a nearly $13 billion hole can't be done without pain. The best we could hope for is a first step toward climbing out of a very, very deep hole.

It would be a first step. And it'll have to wait.

Gov. Pat Quinn's budget proposal, originally due to be presented Wednesday, won't be coming until March 10. Quinn asked for, and the legislature gave him, an extension.

An extension - when Illinois is second only to California for the size of its budget gap.

When the state's credit rating dropped because of its inability to get a handle on finances.

When lawmakers have failed for each of the last three years to pass a budget by the July 1 beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the state payroll up in the air, local vendors unpaid, and social service providers at the point of collapse.

Not exactly good arguments for pushing off a tough deadline.

The reason for the delay - the distraction of the Feb. 2 primary election where Quinn won the Democratic nomination - leaves us with a sinking feeling. The looming fall general election threatens a major distraction of another sort: partisan mudslinging and fears of voter retribution that derail the kind of open and honest problem-solving our state needs. Yet another reason why it's crucial to get going now on the difficult job of budget building.

Quinn, who also got an extension on the budget last year just weeks after taking office, tried to atone for this year's delay by promising to post information about the state's finances by next Wednesday, Feb. 24, at www.budget.illinois.gov. Take a look, and take him up on the invitation to provide feedback.

If that's supposed to signal a more open process, Illinois Senate leaders didn't get the message.

Reporters and the public were barred Wednesday from a meeting where the entire Senate was invited to hear from the National Conference of State Legislatures on budgeting and economic issues. Good-government advocates dispute Senate President John Cullerton's contention that the meeting is allowed under the state Constitution. And it's simply bad precedent.

For too long state government has lurched forward with stopgap budget measures that prolong, and often worsen, the crisis.

It's time for the governor, the leadership and the legislators to put the state and the constituents first.

It's time to get down to business. And, unlike Wednesday's closed Senate meeting, it must be conducted in public.