Back to the grind

It was nice having the lawmakers out of town for a few weeks, but to be honest, it will be good to have them back here for at least a couple days next week. It doesn't look like they're any closer to a budget deal, but it's possible that could change by next week; a slim possibility, sure, but a possibility nonetheless. Governor Pat Quinn is still warning of deep cuts to social service programs unless lawmakers agree to a tax hike. Republicans are sticking to their demands of reforms to Medicaid, pensions and other areas before they'll support any effort to raise taxes. They sound willing to let the state slide by with a month-to-month budget until they get their way. We'll see if Quinn and other supporters of a tax hike can change a few minds over the next week or so.

Meantime, social service groups are staging dozens of rallies across the state this week. They're targeting lawmakers who voted against a tax hike to fill the budget hole. They are warning of dire consequences if a tax hike does not go through and the cuts proceed. The groups say thousands of children will lose day care services, forcing parents to quit their jobs to stay home with the kids. Thousands of specialists who help care for the disabled would lose their jobs and their clients would be forced to move into nursing homes. Thousand of senior citizens would lose home care services, also being forced to move into nursing homes. Social service groups say all of that would cost the state more money in the long run through lost income tax revenue and increased demand for nursing homes and other services.

The Quinn administration has also been trying to convince the state's labor unions to agree to contract concessions to help reduce the budget shortfall. But the unions are resisting. Henry Bayer, executive director of AFSCME Council 31, the state's largest worker union, says the savings from any contract concessions would be just a drop in the bucket. The state is trying to get the union to agree to take unpaid furlough days and accept pay freezes or even pay cuts. It doesn't sound like that's going to happen, considering the state signed a new contract with AFSCME last fall. Bayer is right that union concessions would help the state with only a fraction of its estimated $9 billion budget shortfall, but there's a good argument to be made that every little bit helps avoid major tax increases or service cuts.