Editorial: Another challenge to taxpayer protection looms

A couple of suburban Democrats - state Reps. Jack Franks of Marengo and Scott Drury of Highwood - showed no small amount of political backbone last fall when they bucked Speaker Michael Madigan and refused to overrule the governor's veto of arbitration legislation that would have ominous repercussions for the state.

Need some idea of the political consequences they could face? After a third Democrat, Rep. Ken Dunkin of Chicago, broke ranks on the bill, Madigan rounded up a primary opponent for him and enlisted the help of the president of the United States to assure his defeat last March.

This week, sadly, Franks and Drury - not to mention other suburban lawmakers - may face the unwelcome call of duty again as an arbitration bill that's even more distasteful than the one that failed in September could take center stage. Like last year's failed law, the new arbitration bill, known as HB 580, lets an arbitrator choose which offer to accept when the state and its employees reach a contract impasse. AFSCME, the union representing state employees, touts the bill's provision forbidding a labor strike, but that's not a particularly worrisome concession when the tilt of the system gives you confidence you'll win the arbitration, a factor that no doubt influences AFSCME's strong desire for approval of this process.

And, worse, HB 580 tacks on a couple of new items that are still more troubling for taxpayers - one would reinstate automatic employee raises Gov. Bruce Rauner blocked last fall when he allowed employees to continue working under terms of the current disputed contract; another would take out of the hands of the state Labor Relations Board the determination of whether the parties are actually at impasse. The latter is a procedurally dangerous technicality. The former would cost taxpayers $400 million right off the bat - and this in a year when social services agencies are barely clinging to life because of the leaders' inability to provide a budget.

Despite its flaws, the union-backed law passed again in March along partisan lines - with the help, we're sorry to note, of at least 13 suburban Democrats in the House and seven in the Senate, whose names you can find with this editorial online at www.dailyherald.com. Now, the governor faces a Tuesday deadline to veto the law. Assuming he will, an override attempt could be made at any time during the session, possibly as early as this week.

After the showdown last fall, Madigan said he would have had the votes to override if Dunkin hadn't left town the day of the vote, providing political cover so Franks and Drury didn't have to vote in favor. However, the two dissenters said afterward that they would not have supported the bill even if Dunkin had been on hand to vote. Should they face a similar opportunity this session, we hope they'll show they meant it - and we hope every suburban lawmaker will stand with them, including the Democrats whose questionable judgment helped pass the bill in the first place. We and every taxpayer in Illinois should be watching to see that they do.

The concept of arbitration has much to recommend it, but in Illinois the process has not proven very objective and is heavily tilted toward the interests of the union. With HB 580 specifically limited to apply only during his term of office, the governor has good reason to fear - as we all should - that if an arbitrator is forced during his tenure to select between the state's contract offer and that of AFSCME costing $3 billion more, the impact will be devastating to a state already reeling from budgetary crisis.

Last year, we stood strong in opposition to this untimely, ill-conceived, taxpayer-offending approach. Nothing has changed for us since then; we hope the same holds true for the legislature. And we hope that those lawmakers who don't have the taxpayers' best interest at heart regarding this bill will justly fear from voters, as Rep. Dunkin unjustly had to experience from his own party, the potential for retribution at the polls.