Hope for action to relieve The Deadbeat State

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Gov. Pat Quinn speaks with reporters Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, at the start of the fall veto session at the state Capitol in Springfield, Ill. | AP photo

Updated: May 9, 2012 9:56AM

Deadbeat: A derogatory term for a person who deliberately avoids paying debts. A welcher. A sponger. A disreputable person.

It’s something you never want to be called. It’s something that describes the state of Illinois. Maybe we should replace “Land of Lincoln” on our license plates with “The Deadbeat State.”

A newspaper story last weekend reported that Illinois has a growing list of about 166,000 debts to all sorts of vendors — hospitals, doctors, social service agencies and businesses small and large. The creditors include taxing bodies such as towns and school districts.

Because the state is chronically late in paying its bills, by an average of six months, every major credit-rating agency has downgraded its rating. That means that every dollar we borrow to try to scrape out of our mess costs us more.

It’s a travesty that’s adversely affecting many businesses and service providers. When they contract with the state, they expect the state to live up to its half of the deal. Or at least they did. Not so anymore.

Because the state has dependable revenue sources, taxes and fees, hope springs eternal for these contractors that they’ll eventually be paid. And if you have some political clout and/or know how to manipulate the system, your chances are better of getting paid quicker.

That secret, many state contractors have learned, is calling lawmakers who can put in a good word with those who control the state’s checkbooks. The more influential the politician, the quicker one gets his bills paid. So cozy. So Illinois.

Deadbeat Illinois is a warning to the other states, an example of what they must try to avoid. What has happened to us could happen to your state.

But only if you have key public officials who are as irresponsible about the public trust as we have here in Illinois.

Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) and Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) were mistaken if they thought they’d get a federal bailout like the too-big-to-fail banks and the auto companies.

Last week, the governor received a letter from U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-6th) containing a warning: Neither Illinois nor any other state will be getting federal funds to help them from sinking in their sea of red ink. It’s not going to happen.

So for now, all that’s left to get us out of this mess are loans with interest rates comparable to sleazy payday rates.

But like the spending addicts that our state leaders are, they not only don’t pay overdue bills, they spend billions more on new projects and insider deals.

The abuses with the legislative scholarship program — in which lawmakers dole out tuition waivers for the sons and daughters of family members, friends and campaign donors — have been well documented.

Quinn vetoed a “reform” bill that would prevent legislators from granting the waivers to relatives, saying the entire freebie program needs to go. But Madigan has said he won’t let the House vote on Quinn’s revised bill because the governor exceeded his authority in changing it.

Only in The Deadbeat State.

And rather than seriously address the state’s deep debt, lawmakers look for a quick and easy fix. They and municipal officials push for new casinos, slots at airports and racetracks and video poker expansion — betting that their deficit budgets will be solved by the pot of fool’s gold at the end of the gambling rainbow.

Quinn has vowed to veto the gambling bill that passed last spring and has proposed a downsized plan. Lawmakers will grapple with the governor’s suggested changes during the veto session.

Meanwhile, each and every pay period Illinois residents’ see their shrinking net income reflect last year’s 67 percent income tax hike, much of which is going to pay the high interest on the borrowing done to date.

And the state’s total of unpaid bills stacks up to about $5 billion. No matter how much our taxes are, it’s clear what we pay will never be enough.

So we’re angry. The public trust has been shattered. Our last two governors were convicted of felonious acts.

What will it take to change? How about a heavy mix of political responsibility and courage. It hurts to see Illinois scorned and mocked not only by our Midwest neighbors but by states and media on the East and West coasts. They say, “Don’t be like Illinois.”

We implore our lawmakers and their leaders — Quinn, Madigan and Cullerton — to come together this week in Springfield with sobriety and determination to begin to change our state’s direction and restore fiscal sanity.

We’re tired of living in The Deadbeat State.