12:17 PM
While at the Rock Island County Fair on the 17th, I took time out to look at the exhibits. Several caught my eye and I was glad to talk to folks about the campaign. The theme has not changed....we need change.
They are not satisfied. For your info, Illinois, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania did not have budgets in by the start of their fiscal years as of July 8, 2008. This could now be different....but NOT for Illinois. Still NO finalized budget and with that, the shutdown of State government is a real possibility. But the pay raise the state Senate wouldn't reject is still a go!
I support legislation requiring the State Comptroller to release the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) within six months after the close of the fiscal year. The deadline for that would be December 31. That would be ready for the state legislature's new session which begins around the 10th of January. This info is crucial when considering the new fiscal year budget. As it stands now, the report is released generally one year after the close of the fiscal year.
The situation now is not suitable to good legislative fiscal management. Simply put, the House and Senate do not have enough information going into the new fiscal year budget process, and when they do receive information, they don't have enough time to discern it.
This seems simple enough, but we need to get back to basics so Illinois can function properly once again. Is the legislative pay raise deserved? I'll let you be the judge. But Illinois' taxpayers deserve better from their legislators and timelier fiscal information is one way to make that happen.